CA RT I ER SA IL S
T HE
ST
.
LA WREN C E
R T IER
S A IL S T H E
ST L A W R E
.
T O L D B Y E ST H ER A V E R I L L
IL L US T RA T E D
B Y > F EOD OR
R OJ A N K OV S KY
HAR P ER
R OW,
P UB LI SHER S
,
N EW Y OR K A ND E V A N S T ON
E
E
C py i g h t 93 7 95 6 by E t h e A e i ll
P i te d i n t h U te d S tate
f Am e i ca
All i gh t i th i b k
r e e ve d
epr d c ed i
N pa t f t h b k m y b u e d
e w h at e e w i th t w i tte pe mi i
y ma
em b d i e d
e cept i t h ca e f b i ef qu tati
ti c le
d e i ew
F
i f m ati
i n c i ti cal
a dd e H a pe 59 R w P bli h e I c p ated
4 9 Ea t 3 3 d St eet N w Y k 1 6 N Y
TH E S T
C AR TI R S AIL S
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6
5 5 59
C O N T EN T S
F I R ST
V OY A G E
Th e N ort h w e s t Pas s a ge t o
Th e Is l e
f B i rds
o
T h e Gul f
o
L a n d f or
t h e K i ng
f
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.
L a w re n c e
T h e R e t u rn t o St
T HE
SEC ON D
C h in a
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o
f
F ra n ce
M a lo
V OY A G E
R ea dy t o S a i l A ga i n
Th e S t
L a w re n c e R i ve r
.
Th e V oya g e t o S t a da c o n a
$ Q ue b e c $
I n di a n I n t rigu e
Th e V oya ge t o Hoc h e l a g a
Th e Vi e w
f rom M o u n t
Wi n t e r a t
t h e F o rt
D ea t h
A
i n t he
D rea m
Th e
$ M on t re a l $
R oya l
Wild e rn ess
C ol o n i z e C a n a da
to
C apt u re of Ch i ef D o n n ac on a
T HE T H I RD V O Y A G E
f Wa i t i ng
Ye a rs
o
K i n gs
a nd
Th e
Spi es
C ol on i a l Exped it i on
In S e a rc h
Th e F am e
f
o
t h e K i n g d om
f
o
f j a c q ues Ca rt ie r
o
Sa g u e n a y
F OR
A S F A R AS
WE
E WOR D
K N O W, THE EVEN TS A ND THE
C ON VER SA
TI ONS IN THIS S T OR Y A RE TR UE THE Y ARE TA K EN F R OM
THE L OGB O OK S OF j A C Q UES C AR TI ER A ND F R OM O T HER
H I S T OR I CA L D O C UM EN TS OF HIS TI ME
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By logbooks we mean the original narratives which were
written from Cartier s own records of his voyages It is believed
that parts of the original narratives were written by Cartier and
other parts by a person unknown to us today w h o based his
text on Cartier s logbooks T o simplify matters these narratives
are referred to in ou r story as the logbooks o f Cartier
Like real detectives modern historians have searched the
European libraries the town records and the old secret papers
of the kings f or scraps of information which have contributed
greatly to our understanding of these voyages We are especially
indebted to the research work of D r H P Biggar a Canadian
historian who has written two books which we have used as
source material through the courtesy of his publishers the Public
A rchives of Canada The first of these books is Th e V oy a g es of
j a c q u es C a rt i e r published with translations and notes $ the sec
ond A C ol l e c t i o n of D o c u m e n t s R e l a t i ng t o j a c q u es C a rt i e r a n d
t h e S i e a r d e R o b e rva l from which we have gathered many of
the facts in o u r chapter on t he Portuguese spy the King of
France and the Emperor of Spain
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T HE
F I R ST
V OY A GE
T HE
FI R ST
V OY A G E
THE N OR TH WES T PA SS A G E
TO CHINA
The people of St Malo had built their town on a granite island
close to the north coast of France The island was surrounded
by a sea and the sea was an arm of the great uncharted ocean
the A tlantic which covered the world in the west
The force of the A tlantic pulsed through the sea and could
be felt in the tides at St Malo Twice each day a galloping tide
rushed toward the town and covered the white beach where the
sailboats had been lolling on their sides Sometimes the tide
rose as high as fifty feet and hurled its waves against the granite
walls that protected the town Tides such as these taught boys
to use their wits in handling a boat I t is no wonder that St Malo
became famous for her seamen
In 1 4 9 1 there was b orn in St Malo a boy destined to take
his place among the great sea ca ptains o i the world Hi s name
was Jacques Cartier Of Cartier s early life no trace can be
found today But the times in which he lived and the historical
events that shaped his thoughts have b een well recorded
I t was the period when men felt a pull toward the West— a n
urge to navigate the long dreaded A tlantic The urge was
prompted by a new and exciting theory that the earth instead
of being flat like a table is round like a globe If that be true a
person might sail westward around the earth and eventually
arrive in the East in the coveted lands of silks and spices
Men in wes t Europe unaware o f the true size of the earth
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believed that a western route to the East would prove much
shorter than the long and dangerous eastern route But
Columbus who led the westward search when he sailed from
Spain in 1 4 9 2 was thwarted by a strange new world the world
of the A mericas which loomed on his course A n d none of the
navigators who followed in his wake succeeded in reaching the
East because the huge continent of South A merica blocked
the way
The h 0pe o f finding a quick sea route to A sia shifted to the
northern part of N orth Am erica John Cabot for one believed
that in those northern waters up where the earth s circum
ference dimini shes as it nears the pole could be found the shor t
western trade route of which men dreamed This trade route
came to be known as the N orthwest Passage t o
o r passage
China
In 1 4 9 7 when Jacq u es Cartier was still a small boy in St
Malo Cabot set sail from England t o seek the N orthwest
Passage Hi s voyage however ended in an icy region which
was afterward called the N ew Lands or N ewfoundland
Cabot s discovery o f N ewfoundland failed to in t erest most
Europeans since he brought home with him no gold or other
treasure But the merchants of St Malo pricked up their ears
on hearing his report that the waters OH the ocean coast of
N ewfoundland abounded in c o dfi sh France was a Catholic
country whose people needed fish to eat on meatless days So
the St Malo merchants began to send fleets each spring to the
fishing grounds o r Banks ofi N ewfoundland I t is likely that
Jacques Cartier along with other young men of the town
accompanied some of these transatlantic expeditions But of
this we cannot be sure
O f Cartier s early voyages we know only that he once sailed
in a Portuguese ship that crossed the South A tlantic to Bra z il
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Col umb u s Cabot D a G ama an d Magellan we re among the
navigato rs whose voyages made men awa r e of the bigness of the
wo rl d Ea c h of the fou r navigators sou ght a sea rou te to A sia
Col umb u s sailed from Spa in and st u mble d u pon the A me ri c an
islands
Cabot sailed from England and d i s c ove red N ewfou ndland
D a G ama sailed from Po rtu gal battled his way a roun d the
sou the rn tip of A fri c a and u p th rou gh the Indian O c ean to India
Magellan saile d from Spain to the sou the rn tip of Sou th A me ri c a
whe re he st ru ggle d th rou gh a pe rilou s str ait to the Pa c ifi c O c ean
H e died in the Philippine Islan d s b u t a few of his s u rviving men
with one of his ships c ontin u ed to sail westwa rd and afte r rou nding
the sou the rn tip of A fri c a ret u rne d to thei r home por t in Spain
The fi rst voyage a rou n d the world had been c omplete d It ha d
taken th ree long yea rs
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Cartier chose t w o small vessels each of sixty tons burden
They were woo den vessels typical of the times which means
broad of beam with high poop deck and two or three masts
rigged wi t h wide square sails Hi s crew numbered about sixty
men and t he ships were stocked wi t h provisions t o las t from
A pril un t il early fall
Spring wi t h its eas t erly winds was t he best time to sail wes t
ward O n t he twen t ie t h o f A pril 1 534 Jacques Car t ier lef t S t
Malo on t h e ou t going t ide In t wen t y days the wind blew his ships
across t w o thousand miles o f sea and ocean and he sighted
Cape Bonavista on the east coas t o f the island of N ewfoundland
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N OR TH
A
ME R I CA
THE I S L E OF B I R D S
The stiff east winds which swept Cartier s o rapidly across the
A tlantic had driven masses of A rctic ice against the N ewfound
land coast Cartier was obliged to navigate a few miles south of
Cape Bonavista and take shelter in Ca t alina Harbor where he
waited t en days for the winds t o change and the ice t o clear
Then he sailed toward t he northern tip of N ewfoundland
Hi s course led him along the border be t ween the known and
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t he unknown regions Here in the mis t s and t he fogs and in t h e
ice capped seas t here s t i ll lin gered $ s o mos t Europeans believed $
t he fan t as t ic crea t ures of medie v al legend
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Those crea t ures were usually t he frigh t ening k i nd : hi deous
mons t ers and fi re spi t t ing demons t ha t symboliz ed man s fear
o f t he un explored seas Bu t o n e famous o ld legend t he V oy a g e
of S t B ra n d a n described t he N ewfoundland region in happier
t erms F o r the V oy a g e of S t B ra n d a n expressed man s hope t hat
somewhere wes t ward from Europe toward t he far horiz on
where t he sun se t nigh t ly in a blaze of glory lay a land wor t h
finding
In t he m i nd of t he Irish monk S t Brandan the promised
land in t he wes t was t he earthly Paradise which God had re
se rved f o r Hi s blessed ones St B ra n d a n s ques t led him from
Ireland t o t he cold wa t ers whi ch Car t ier w a s n ow naviga t ing
In t hese wa t ers s o ran the legend S t Brandan discovered a small
island known af t erw ard as t he Isle of Birds $ n ow called Funk
Island $ where t housands of snow whi t e birds sang ma t ins and
vespers and t old him o f t heir dreams and visions S t Brandan
was so deligh t ed t ha t he rema i ned there seven weeks D uring
all t hat t ime his only nourishm en t was the sin g i ng o f t he birds
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In Cartier s day the island was known t o a few fishermen who
went there from t he Banks t o kill birds for food But an air of
mystery still hovered around the rocky ledges N ot un t il Cartier
arrived had there been anyone to view the island with the eyes
of a naturalist and report accurately on what he saw Here is
Cartier s description o f the Isle of Birds taken from his logbook
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The bi rds a re the re in su c h great n u mbe rs that it is u nbelievable unless
you have seen it A lthou gh the island is abo u t a leagu e in c i rc u mfe ren c e
it is so ve ry m u c h filled with bi rds that they look as if they had been
stowed the re R ou n d abou t and in the a i r the re a re a h u nd red times as
many as on the island Some a r e as big as geese and bla c k and white
with beaks like a c row s and they a re always in the sea witho u t eve r
being able to fly f or they have small wings abou t half a hand in length
with whi c h they sk i m as q u i c kly th ro u gh the wate r as othe r bi rds d o
th ro u gh the a i r A n d these bi rd s a re so fat that it is a ma rvelou s thing
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W e c all them a p p on a t s $gr eat a u ks $ and in less than half an hou r we
loaded ou r two longboats with them as if they we re stones On ea c h
ship fou r o r five c asks of them we re salted down aside from those we
c o u ld eat f r esh
The r e is also anothe r kind of bi rd whi c h goes both in the a i r and sea
These a re smalle r and a r e c alled gode z $tinke rs $ and they pla c e them
selves u nde r the p rote c tion of the la rge r bi rd s
The re a re othe rs even la rge r and they a re white and stay by them
selves in anothe r pa rt of the island an d they a re vi c iou s to atta c k f or
they bite like dogs and a r e c alled m a rgau l x $gann ets $
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Cartier s account of t he Isle o f Birds is c haracteristic of his
logbook as a whole A c c uracy of observation is the dominan t
note and from his entries we can recons t ru ct his course and fol
low h i m as he sails his t w o ships over the un c harted waters o f
the N ew World
O f the daily rou t ine aboard the ships he makes no mention
But n ow and then he records some lit t le inciden t which would
indica t e that life was n ot dull f o r his crew Hi s account of a bear
cha s e near t he Isle of Birds gives evidence of this
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this island is fo u rteen leagu es from shore bea rs c ome he re
from the ma i nlan d $N ewfou ndland $ to feast u pon the bi rds O u r men
c ame u pon a bea r as big as a c alf and white as a swan leaping befo r e
them in the sea On the follow i ng day whi c h was W hits u nti d e as we
we re t ravelling towa rd land we fou nd this same bea r abou t midway
and he was swim ming towa rd land as q u i c kly as we went with ou r sails
H aving sighte d him we c hased him with ou r longboats an d se i z ed h im
by fo rc e and his fl esh was as good to eat as that of a two yea r old heife r
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in pelts b u t the women a re mo re w rappe d in thei r pelts and a re belte d
at the waist They all paint themselves with tawny c olo rs They have
c anoes in whi c h they go to sea made of bi rc h ba rk and f rom whi c h they
c at c h many seal
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By the tenth of June Cartier had brought his two ships safely
t hrough t he S t rai t of Belle Isle a n d had reached the harbor o f
Bres t n ow called Bonne E s peran c e w hi c h is nine t y m iles from
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the A tlantic This was the last western port of which Europeans
had any common knowledge
Cartier remained at Bonne Esperance for almost a week D u r
ing that time his men stocked the ships with fresh food and water
while he himself went in a longboat and explored the coast for
about twelve leagues toward the wes t O n e day he chanced
upon a large French fishing vessel whose pilot had lost his way
Cartier boarded the vessel and guided her to safety in a nearby
harbor Then he returned t o his own ships
On the fifteenth of June Cartier left Bonne Esperance and
headed south along the west coast o f N ewfoundland which has
a length of about three h undred miles He was now sailing on a
vast uncharted expanse of water that was believed to be a bay
Cartier at this point had no way of knowing t hat he was on the
gulf of one of the world s great rivers the St Lawrence
A s Cartier sailed down the G ulf o f St Lawrence he had to
fight his way through heavy mists and fogs Hi s only instruments
of navigation were the crude ones then in use : the compass the
cross staff and the astrolabe
The compass gave the points N orth South East and West
while t he cross s t a ff and the astrolabe served to determine lati
tude or the north and south position of a ship Both the cross
sta ff and the astrolabe were hand instruments which a pilot used
for astronomical observation U nder the be s t conditions they
were liable to an error of fifty or si xty miles In a heavy gale
when the ship rolled and the wind slapped the instruments the
readings could err by as much as three hundred miles
Longitude or the east and west posi t ion of a ship was an
almost hopeless problem Time and speed must be calculated
scientifically if longitude is to be determined But in Cartier s
day time on shipboard could be told only by hourglasses filled
with dribbling sand N o r was there an accurate method for
measuring a ship s speed A captain never knew the exact dis
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tance his ship had run during a day However it has been said
that the early navigators like Cartier had a feel for t he sea
an ins t inc t that took t he place of scien t ific equipment
O n the twenty four t h of June Cartier reached N ewfound
land s southwes t headland Cape A nguille Then he turned
southwest on the G ulf o f St Lawren c e to search f or the Passage
to China
Summer had come and the green islands he discovered made
a pleasing contrast t o the bleak coasts he had lef t behind A
t hrill of joy may be de t ected in the simply writ t en pages of his
logbook O f o n e particularly beau t iful island which he named
Brion Island in honor of the A dmiral o f France Cartier had
this to say
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This island is the most exc ellent land we have seen f or two a cres of i t
a re wo rth mo r e than all the N e w Lands
$N ewfou ndland $ W e fo u nd i t
filled with Splendid t rees and heaths fields of wild oats and fl owe ring
pease as thi c k and as fine as I eve r saw in Brittany and whi c h seem as
if planted the re by fa rme rs The re a re many goosebe rry b u shes st raw
be rry plants P rovins roses and othe r good st rongly f rag rant he rbs
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Brion Island the sailors found bears foxes and many o t her
animals known to Europeans However there was on e strange
creature the walrus which few Frenchmen had ever seen
Cartier had di ffi culty in describing it $ he said clumsily t hat
it was like a large ox and had two tusks like an elephant
Two of the sailors were sent in a longboat t o seize a walrus
that was snoozing on t he shore But when they drew close the
beast awoke and slipped away thro u gh the water
A s Cartier sailed over the southern waters of the G ulf o f St
Lawrence he named the islands and t he other notewor t hy places
after prominent French people or the Catholic saints But to one
headland $ the present N orth Point on Prince Edward Island $
he gave the name Cape Savage in honor of a lone A merican
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Indian who had stood there beckoning to the sailors The Indian
however grew alarmed when they rowed toward him and he
fled The sailors left two presents for h im : a European knife and
a woolen girdle hanging on a tree
Woolen girdles scarlet caps bright red necklaces and k ni ves
and hatchets were among the articles Cartier had brought with
him from France He planned to trade these with the inhabit
ants of whatever lands he touched He hoped of course that
he might soon arrive in China
On the fourth o f July Cartier reached a headland $N orth
Point on Miscon Island $ which he named Cape Hope because
to the north he could see highlands running toward the north
west Between the highlands and Cape Hope lay miles and miles
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of glittering water which seemed to say Thi s is the route to
China
T he air was so warm and balmy that a sailor might well i m a g
ine he could smell the scent of A siatic spices in the wind He
might dream that he could see in the far distance the bright
golden roofs of some great palace of the Chinese Emperor But
t h e men w h o went in longboats to explore the stretch of water
brought back the discouraging news that this was only a very
deep bay Cartier called it Chaleur Bay meaning Bay of Heat
a name suggested by those hot days in July
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F R A N C IS I
L A ND
F OR THE
K IN G OF F R A N CE
What was this land tha t lay between Jacques Cartier and China $
What was this wilderness he had discovered $ It had n o Euro
pean name I t did not exist on any map He could not know that
the waters of Chaleur Bay lapped the mainland of what is now
called Canada
Cartier anchored his two ships in a cove o f the b ay a n d went
o ff in a longboa t to e x plore the neighboring shores He found that
the land toward the south was flat and would make good farm
land The land toward t he nor t h now called Ga s p é Peninsula
was a highland covered with a fores t o f wonderful trees $ among
t hem cedars and spruces that would make good mas t s for ships
o f three h u ndred tons or even more
While Cartier was reconnoitering in his longboat a fleet of
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about fifty Indian canoes slipped into t he bay and surrounded
him A lthough the Indians made signs of friendship Cartier
was afraid to trust them He shot two small cannon over their
heads and this made the Indians draw ba c k A fter a while they
returned and he discharged t w o fire lances $ long sticks filled
with explosive powder $ This time the Indians kept at a distance
N ext day the Indian c hief came t o Cartier s ships with nine
canoes The Indians waved pelts from the ends of sticks until
Cartier went in a longboat and gave the chief a bright red cap
and exchanged knives and hatchets f o r the pelts
The following day three hundred Indians— men squaws and
children— crowded the shore They bartered their furs and all
that they owned until they were naked But more valuable t o
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Cartier than the Indian furs were two native words which he
learned and entered in his logbook
c o ch y :
whi c h means hat c het
ba c an : whi c h means knife
He wished to collect as many Indian words as possible so that
he might make a useful glossary of them
On the twelfth of July Cartier returned t o the G ulf of St
Lawrence A fter several days of violent storms he entered
G as p é Bay Here he met another band of Indians who were on
a fishing trip and they amazed him by their way of living with
almost no possessions In his logbook he observed :
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This t ribe m ay r eally be c alled savage be c a u se it is the poorest t ribe
the re c a n be in the world A l l of them togethe r have not the val u e of
five sou s as i de from thei r c anoes and fishing nets They go enti rely nake d
exc ept fo r a small skin with whi c h they c on c eal thei r sex an d othe r old
pelts whi c h they th row ove r themselves f o r s c a rves They a re not of the
same nat u re or langu age as those we met befo re They have thei r heads
shaved all a round exc ept for a bit on the top of the head whi c h they
leave long like a ho rse s tail and whi c h they tie an d knot on thei r heads
with leathe r They have no othe r lodging b u t thei r c anoes whi c h th ey
t u rn u p an d sleep u n d e r on the grou n d They eat the i r meat nea rly raw
afte r they have wa rmed it slightly on the c oals and also thei r fish
They a re ma rvelou s thieves and steal eve rything they c an
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Cartier gave the Indians many gifts including knives and
hatchets combs tin rings and bells The Indians were delighted
A n d now the time had come for Jacques Cartier to observe
a pra c tice common among European e x plorers This wilder
ness he had discovered must be claimed for his king O n the
twenty fourth of July Cartier erected a giant cross on the head
land a t Cape G a sp é The shaft rose thirty feet in the air and the
crossbar stretched out its long arms as if to claim possession of
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the surroun ding lands Beneath the crossbar hung a shield en
graved with the fl eu r de lis o f France A bove t he s hi eld on a
wooden bar were carved t he words
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LON G L IV E
T HE
KI N G
OF
F RAN CE
In the shadow o f t he cross the sailors knel t in prayer Then
t hey pointed t o t he sky and made the Indians understand t hat
the cross was also a symbol of religion The Indians gazed in
silen t admiration
But afterward when the Frenchmen were aboard their ships
a chief paddled toward them in a canoe with three of hi s sons
and a brother The chief would not c ome so near as usual and
from a di stance began shoutin g He pointed to the cross and with
his t w o fingers formed a similar cross and by other signs made it
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clear that he was saying This land belongs to me Y o u have n o
right t o plant the cross without my permission
Cartier paid no attention t o these protests Hi s m i nd was busy
thinkin g up a scheme f o r takin g t he chi ef s t wo sons to France
European e x plorers often carried home a few Indians as curiosi
ties to show the kings Car t ier had a second reason f o r w ishing
the chief s two sons t o go to France Whil e they were in France
they could learn t o speak French Then they wo u ld be able t o
act as interpre t ers if he brought them back to t he wilderness
So after th e chief had protes t ed f o r a while agains t t he plant
ing of the cross Cartier bade t he sailors wave a ha t chet in the
air
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Come nearer the sailors called t o the chi ef We would
like t o t rade this ha t chet for tha t old bearski n you are wearing
A t firs t the chief hesitated Then in his eagerness for t h e
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hatchet he approached the ships When the hatchet was almost
within his grasp the sailors seized the canoe and forced the
Indians to board Cartier s vessel
The Indians were at Cartier s mercy but he treated them
kindly and gave them a feast
“
Eat drink and be merry he said to the chief We are not
going to harm you We have planted the cross simply as a land
mark In the near future we shall return and bring y ou iron
goods and other gifts We should also like to take t w o of your
sons t o France If you permit this we shall return later and bring
them to this same harbor
Then Cartier turned to two of the chief s young sons who
were named T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya He gave each o f
them a French shirt trimmed with ribbons and a bright red cap
and a shining necklace T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya were de
lighted and with a little help they donned their fine new raiment
T hen they told Cartier that they would like to accompany him
t o France and their father consented to their going
Cartier gave the chief two hatchets and a knife Similar gifts
were made to the chief s brother and remaining son and the
three Indians went ashore In the afternoon twenty five tribes
men paddled t o the ships with fish for T a i gn oa gn y and D om
A gaya By means of signs the tribesmen promised Cartier that
they would not tear down the cross which stood on the headland
o f Cape G a s p é and which was decorated with the fl e u r de lis
of France
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THE R
E T UR N
TO ST
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MAL O
Cartier left G a sp é Pen i nsula on the twenty fif t h of July t h e
day after he took t he t w o Indian bro t hers aboard his ships Im
mediately he headed t oward land sighted in the northwest Thi s
land is n ow called A nticosti Island In sailing to A nticosti from
G a sp é Cartier slipped unsuspectingly across the lower arm o f the
St Lawrence R iver at its j unction with t he G ulf
Hi s failure to pause and explore the sou t hern arm of the S t
Lawrence has puz zled the e x perts Up to this point he had probed
every promis i ng indentation in t he coastline f or an outlet to the
China Sea Why did he o v erlook an arm o f a grea t river that
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led toward the west The simplest explanation is that he was i n
a hurry Hi s time i n N orth A merica was running out By the
t erms of his commission he mus t return to France within the
year
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when Car t ier reached the s outheast headland of A nticosti
Island he did pause t o examine a stretch o f water he could not
resist This was the upper arm of the St Lawrence R iver which
flows betwe en An ticosti Island and the mainland of Canada
Cartier worked his way wes t ward along the north coast of
A ntico s ti Finally he reached a strait now called Jacques Cartier
Strai t and en t ered it although the wind blew heavily against
him When the wind became t oo strong he manned a long
boat Thirteen sailors rowed with all their might They struck
a rock j um ped from t he longboa t pushed her afloat and
continued westward until they reached a cape $N orth Point $
almost at the northwest tip of A nticosti A head lay an expanse
of water that stretched in to the west as far as the eye could
reach It looked like a sea Maybe at last Cartier had found the
sea that would take him t o China
Cartier was tempted to spend a few more days exploring his
discovery But he weighed the risks and they were great indeed
Summ er was passing and the winds at any time might change
A n d if they changed he and his men might be held prisoners in
this huge wilderness throughout t he winter He had not brought
enough provisions to last so long N or had he hired his men for
such a stay Perhaps it might be wiser to turn homeward and
come back here the following year O u t o f consideration for his
crew $ a consideration rarely found among the bold explorers of
the day $ Cartier asked his offi cers and sailors to decide They
voted to return to France
Jacques Cartier pointed his two small ships toward home and
sailed along the Labrador coast for more than four hundred
miles O n the fifteenth of A ugus t in the little harbor of Blanc
Sablon near the Strait of Belle Isle he held religious services to
celebrate the feast day of the A ssumption Then he passed
th rough the Strait to the A tlantic Favorable winds accompanied
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until in mid ocean there arose a s t orm tha t raged three
days and nights Cartier fel t t hat only by t he grace of Go d did
the two ships ride through the storm
On the fifth o f September I 5 34 the men in Cartier s expedi
tion saw a small speck in the distance It was their island seaport
o f St Malo G radually there loomed into sight the tall Spires of
the cathedral and the square towers o f the old palace and the
granite houses that stood huddled close together on the crooked
streets That day every man w h o had set sail with Cartier
reached home safely
R emarkable stories must have been told that night when the
sailors were snug in their houses It was good t o be dressed again
in dry warm clothes and to sit on a chair and have a candle
flickering softly at one s elbow A n d then a glass of Breton wine
loosened one s tongue and helped to lend magic touches t o one s
stories Sitting at home and spinning a yarn was the cream of the
voyage especially if t here were children listening
Perhaps on e sailor insisted that in the wild Strait o f Belle Isle
he had heard fiends howling about the mas t heads o f his ship $
another that off Labrador he had glimpsed the Bishop of the
Sea $ This renowned c haracter o f medieval legend was often
sighted in regions frequented by seals Probably the smooth
glistening head the high broad fins and the tapering body o f
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the seal became t hrough a twist o f the imagination t he shaven
head the surplice and t he robes o f the elusiv e Bishop $
A s for the whale sailors c ould n ot le t the creature alone They
made him spou t fire ins t ead o f water and constantly changed his
shape and size They turned him into a monster big enough t o
swallow a ship an iceberg a mouthful of the A tlantic O cean
and parts of Labrador until the whale s belly looked like a
crazy map of the polar regions
But Jacques Cartier was not concerned with these travels of
the imagination He was impatient wi t h the fabulous world and
its phantom maps $ he cared only f or charts drawn accurately on
paper according to the true findings of a voyage Hi s circuit of
the G ulf of St Lawrence the first circuit ever to be recorded by
a European navigator— had contributed greatly t o man s knowl
edge of the region west o f N ewfoundland Cartier was now eager
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to return as soon as po s sible t o explore the unknown sea which
he had discovered beyond the G ulf and which he hoped would
prove to be the waterway to China
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The
B ishop
of the
Se a
THE
O N D V OYA G E
REA D Y TO SA IL
A GA IN
Jacques Cartier had not found gold on any of the shores or the
islands of the G ulf o f St Lawrence and the Indians he had met
there seemed to be poor wandering tribes possessing nothing
more valuable than birchbark canoes The King was d i s a p
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pointed i n this Bu t the unknown sea which Cartier had dis
covered beyond A nticos t i Island gave such promise of leading
westward to China that King Francis agreed to send him on a
second voyage to N orth A merica O n the thirty firs t of O ctober
I 5 34 Brion Chabot A dmiral o f France signed the R oyal Com
mission instructing Captain Cartier to press forward with h i s
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explorations and t o convert the Indians
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T he conversion of the Indians was an idea which appealed
strongly t o King Francis He had lis t ened with in t eres t t o Car
t ier s report tha t t he Indians by the G ulf of St Lawrence espe
c i a l l y those a t Chaleur Bay
could undoub t edly be per s uaded
to embrace t he Catholic fai t h This was an Opportunity which
the King could no t afford t o mis s a t a time when many French
men were deserting the Catholic Chur c h t o be c ome Pro t estants
F o r centuries France like t he other c ountries in wes t Europe
had been a Catholi c na t ion under t he spiritual leadership of the
Pope at R ome People did no t begin t o question t he authori t y
of the Catholic Chur c h until t he six t een t h cen t u ry which was
Cartier s cent u ry and in all respe c ts a period o f new ideas N ew
con t inents had been dis c overed and sea captains had navigated
so far from home tha t they saw s t ars in t he sky which could not
be seen from Europe A l l t hese discoveries st i mula t ed men t o
thi n k along new lines somet i mes righ t ly and some t imes wrongly
until at last a few people and then more and more people p ro
tested a n d that is why they were called Pro t es t a n t s t h a t
Catholicism was n ot t he best form of Chris t ian worship
A bou t t he time o f Cartier s first voyage to N orth A merica the
number of Protestants in Fran c e was increasin g to an alarming
degree In O ctober the month after his re t urn t o St Malo the
Protestants nailed posters in the streets of Paris and other French
towns These posters pro c laimed that the Catholic Mass was a
pagan c elebra t ion and that the statues o f t he Catholic sain t s were
n o better than heathen idols Many sa c red images were smashed
t o bits as terror spread through France
King Francis was at a loss to find a solution for the crisis Politi
cal reasons obliged him to let the Protestants keep their new
religious beliefs f o r a while at least O n the other hand he did
no t wish the strength of the Catholic Church to be weakened
and he dared n o t risk the anger o f t he Pope Sudde nl y it oc
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34
curred to Francis that the Pope might overlook the growth of
Protestantism in France if new members could be w on in N orth
A m erica f or the Catholic Church
Jacques Cartier seemed t o be the ideal person to send over
seas on such a mission for he was a Breton and Brittany of all
the French provinces had shut her doors the most firmly against
Protestantism Cartier in other words was a devout Catholic
and though he was only a sea captain he could help prepare the
mi nds of the Indians to accept the Catholic faith at a later date
when priests might be sent from France
But the merchants of St Malo opposed Cartier s second voy
age to N orth A m erica j ust as they had opposed his first A gain
they prevented him from getting men and ships which they them
selves might need Cartier was obliged to appeal to Brion
Chabot A dmiral of France who came to his aid by granting
hi m first choice in ships and a crew
Cartier obtain ed three good ships The largest the Gra n de
He rm i n e would be his flagship She was of one hundred and
twenty tons burden— twice the tonnage of either of the ships
used on the first voyage N ext in size came the Pe t i t e He rm i n e of
sixty tons while the third and smallest the E m e ri ll on was of
only forty tons But the E m e ri l l on a slender galleon made up in
speed and gracefulness for what she lacked in size
The ships would carry provisions to last fifteen months and a
crew of about one hundred sailors Cartier also enlisted some
extra hands including carpenters an apothecary and a barber
surgeon Hope of discovering the N orthwest Passage t o China
induced several gentlemen of good birth to join the vent
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St N i c holas ,
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a pat ron sa int of sailo rs
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TH E S T
LA
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WR E N C E
On
RI V ER
the sixteenth of May I 53 5 Captain Jacques Cartier and his
men received t he bishop s blessing in the cathedral of St Malo
O n the nineteenth of May feast day o f St Y ves the patron
saint of Breton sailors they boarded their ships A mong those
embarking were the Indian bro t hers T a i gn o a gn y and D om
A gaya whom Cartier had brought from Canada O f their stay
in France we know only tha t they had been well treated They
themselves declared so at a later date
The expedition set sail with favorable winds but presently
a storm arose which swept the three ships far apart from one
another N ot until the twenty sixth of July did they come
together at their rendezvous which was Blanc Sablon Harbor
j ust west of the Strait o f Belle Isle
From Blanc Sablon Cartier led his expedition westward along
the Labrador coast as far as Bonne Esperance Then ins t ead
o f turning south to circle the G ulf o f St Lawrence as he had
done t he previous year he headed straight across the north sec
tion o f t he G ulf toward his obj ective : A nticosti Island and the
“
unknown sea beyond it
This course took him along a part o f the Labrador coast which
is made perilous by thousands of small islands and innumerable
shoals and hidden rocks Cartier s t opped frequently t o take
soundings which he recorded in his logbook together with other
data of interest to navigators since this migh t become a much
used route if he discovered the N orthwest Passage to China
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Cartier reached A nticosti Island in t he early days of A u gust
But heavy storms in the channel between A nticosti and the main
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land kept him back from his unknown sea that lay beyond
the island He and his men spent the tenth o f the month at a bay
on the mainland A s the day happened to be the feast day of S t
Lawrence Cartier named the bay in honor of this saint who had
once been archdeacon of Rome and whose festival was celebrated
with great love throughout Brittany
A s soon as the winds abated the three ships resumed their
westward course With pennants flying they passed the north
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west tip o f A nticosti and entered the unknown sea which
looked as bright and promising as ever Indeed its salty waters
and regular tides gave every indication of its being a sea— the
long sought sea over which a ship might sail t o China
N ow it happened that Cartier s two Indian passengers Taig
n o a gn y and D om A gaya
recognized this region A n d since
they had learned a little French in Europe they could talk with
Cartier and understand his questions When he asked them if
this were a sea they shook their heads
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It is not a sea they said It is a river Farther up it grows
narrower and the waters become fresh Y ou can go so far up it
that we have never heard of anyone coming to its source
A river instead o f a sea $ A river so long that no Indian had
ever reached its source $ Then the world must be bigger than
anyone had dreamed and China tremendously far away China
was still Cartier s goal and reach it he would if any man could
But right now this river that lay in the way— this mighty river
he had discovered — absorbed his attention
O ddly enough Cartier never gave the river a European name
Y ears later it became known as the St Lawrence the name hav
ing come from the li t t le bay t ha t had been bap t ized on the tenth
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of A ugust But Cartier himself in wri t ing of t he river calls it the
River of Hochelaga o r the R iver of Canada both of them Indian
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T H E V O YA G E T O S T A D A C O N A
$ Quebec $
When Car t ier realized t hat he had discovered a grea t river he de
cided to spend a few more days e x ploring its mouth So he sailed
southward to G a s p é Peninsula and by doing this he learned that
the waters between A nticosti Island and G a sp é form the lower
arm of the S t Lawrence A n d he learned too of the tremendous
wid t h of the R iver s mouth a ma x imum of about eighty miles
N ature on all sides both on land and in the waters matched
the huge scale of the R iver G as p é Peninsula had its rugged
c lifl s and towering forests while in the waters o ff G a s p é there
“
were so many whales that in Cartier s ow n words they sur
passed all experience
From Ga sp é Cartier returned t o the north shore o f the St
Lawrence and e x amined a stretch of coastline he had not yet
explored Then he headed westward up the R iver
There are scholars today w h o claim that long long before
Jacques Cartier was born V iking and Basque sailors h a d b e en on
the S t Lawrence N o t everyone agrees t o t his But of one thing
we may be sure : by Cartier s time all records of any early voy
ages to these parts had disappeared To Jacques Cartier goes the
credit o f discovering the R iver for white men of the modern
world
The j oy of discovery o f seeing c uriosities and wonders for the
first time with fresh eyes colored Cartier s voyage up the R iver
He and his hundred sailors and the gentlemen who had come
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along to share his adventures were quite unprepared for the
beauty of what they saw
First there was the tremendous spectacle which N ature her
self provided Here was a vast wilderness a primeval stage upon
which there seemed to be no human actors except the Frenchmen
aboard Jacques Cartier s three ships But the huge forests that
stretched back from the R iver abounded in wild life and so did
the R iver
Salmon eels and lampreys in the salt waters of the R iver elk
deer and moose in the gigantic woods— these were among the
inhabitants of the wilderness Jacques Cartier was entering Some
of t he creatures were familiar to Europeans while others were
strange and unknown When they were strange Cartier de
scribed them in his logbook as best he co u ld Here are his notes
on the beluga or white whale
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W e bec ame a c q u ainted with a ki nd of fish whi c h has not been seen or
hea rd of in man s memo ry These fish a re abou t as la rge as po rpoises b u t
witho u t fins and a re made abou t the bo d y and head like a greyhou n d
as white as snow and witho u t a spot The re a re many of them living in
the R ive r between the salt and fr esh wate r The natives c all them
a d o t h u s and say that they a re ve ry good to eat
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The first white whales had been encountered near t he mouth
o f the Saguenay R iver which cuts through the north shore of the
S t Lawrence I t is here tha t the waters of the St Lawrence begin
to lose their saltiness t hough the influence of the ocean tides may
still be felt
Cartier s arrival at the mouth o f the Saguenay ended one
phase of his voyage for the human inhabitants of the wilderness
began to emerge on the scene A s his ships neared the mouth of
t he Saguenay four canoes filled with Indians could be seen in
the distance The Indians who had been fishing quie t ly would
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have fled in terror as the three ships loomed into sight but
Cartier s t w o Indian passengers T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya
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called ou t in their native language t o t he fishermen Be not
afraid Finally some o f the canoes drew near and their o c c u
pants came aboard the ships for a brief visit
A s Cartier proceeded up the St Lawrence T a i gn oa gn y and
D om A gaya told him abou t t he territory through which he was
passing They said t hat the land on t h e north shore of the St
Lawrence was divided into three grea t tribal hunting grounds
which Cartier called kingdoms
The first kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Saguenay
From the Kingdom of Saguenay came the copper used by the
tribe to which T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya belonged They
themselves inhabited t he middle kingdom which t hey called
Canada an Indian word f or t own Far far up the R iver was
the third and most im por t ant kingdom It was called Ho c helaga
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an Indian word meaning beaver dam or place where the
river is obstructed M od ern students of the Indian race have
identified t he Indians of all t hree kingdoms as Huron Iroquois
Cartier was now approaching the middle kingdom t he one
known as Canada where T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya lived The
R iver was growing narrower and narrower and beyond the for
ests to the north rose t h e purple peaks o f the Laurentian Moun
tains
In early September Car t ier passed t he isle n ow called Hare
Island and the verdant isle which he named Isle aux Co u dres
meanin g Isle of Hazel Trees Finally he came t o a larger island
where t he wild grapes were so plentiful that his sailors called it
Isle of Bacchus in honor of the G reek god of wine Cartier
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himself named it the Isle of O rleans after his King s young son
the D uke of O rleans The island has retained the name
N ear the Isle of O rleans T a i gn o a gn y and D om A gaya saw a
band of their own tribesmen fishing The tribesmen were startled
by the sight of the two brothers who had sailed away to France
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But the brothers called out Have no fear We are alive and
well
Braves squaws and children heard the news and hastened t o
the ships with food and presents The dancing and rejoicing
lasted for many hours N e x t day D onnacona chief of all the sur
rounding tribes came down the R iver with twelve canoes of war
riors He welcomed Cartier with a long speech of friendship
A fterward Cartier entered the chief s canoe and ordered the
sailors to bring wine and bread with which to celebrate
When Cartier had met these tribesmen the previous year they
were fishing off G a s p é Peninsula T hey n o w explained to him
that their real home was St a d a c on a a village about four miles
beyond the Isle o f O rleans
Cartier sailed his ships toward St a d a c on a and on the four
t e e n t h of September he reached the j unctio n o f the St Lawrence
and the little St Charles R iver which flows down from the north
He left his smallest ship t he E m e ri l l on at anchor on the St Law
rence f o r he planned to use her on a voyage of exploration far
ther up the R iver Hi s t w o large ships were brought into the
mouth of the St Charles and grounded f or the winter A fort
would be erected next to them and the ships and the fort together
would serve as the headquarters of the e x pedition
In the woods across the St Charles near the towering cliffs
on which the city of Quebec n ow stands lay St a d a co n a the vi $
lage of Chief D on n aco n a s Indians
The A tlantic O cean was more than eight hundred miles away
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IN D I A N I N TR I G UE
Most of the St a d a c on a tribe— the Quebec Indians— seemed de
lighted to have the Frenchmen settling in their neighborhood
Cartier gave them many presents and the Indians climbed j oy
fully over his ships But T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya the two
brothers w h o had gone with him to France did n ot j oin in the
merrymaking A l t hough t hey had always been friendly toward
Cartier they suddenly began to t urn against him They had
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44
promised to guide him up the R iver to Hochelaga $ Montreal $
N ow they refused t o accompany him
Their change in attitude is hard t o account for Maybe they
felt j ealous because Cartier wished to go to Montreal where he
would bestow his gifts upon another tribe But it seems more
likely that T ai gn o a gn y was a born troublemaker who enj oyed
sowin g the seeds of discontent and his true character was begin
ning t o emerge
Cartier himself was puzzled by T a i gn oa gn y Why do you
refuse to go with me to Hochelaga P he asked
“
Captain our chief is angry because yo u and your sailors
carry so many weapons while we carry none
“
replied Cartier Y ou know that
Y o u have been in France
it is a custom o f my people I am sorry but I cannot change the
custom
O n one occasion Cartier gave a feast aboard the ships for the
leaders of the tribe Each Indian received a present according to
his rank In the midst o f the festivities T a i gn oa gn y t he clever
one said to Cartier Captain my chief is vexed because you
plan to go t o Hochelaga He says that the R iver is n o t worth the
risk of the j ourney There is nothing there f or you He does not
wish me t o be your guide
Cartier replied My King wishes me to make the j ourney
If you are n o t willing to accompany me I shall go alone If you
are willing I shall give you a handsome present— o n e that will
surely please you Y o u shall be well treated and feasted on the
j ourney I am going no farther than Hochelaga
T a i gn oa gn y could not be persuaded O n the following day all
the tribe fiv e hundred strong— c ame singing and dancing
down the beach They drew a large circle in the sand and asked
Cartier and his men to step inside Then Chief D onnacona pre
sented Cartier with three Indian children : two small boys and a
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girl ten or twelve years o l d The tribesmen uttered shou t s of
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peace and friendship but T a i gn oa gn y said Captain the little
girl is our chief s ow n niece and o n e of the boys is my brother
We are givin g you these children so tha t you will not go to
Hochelaga
“
If that is the reason f or your gift said Cartier then the
children must be taken back N othing can prevent my going
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“
Captain interrupted D om A gaya these children are given
through pure affection and as a sign of brotherhood I myself
am willing to accompany you to Hochelaga
T a i gn o a gn y turned angrily to D om A gaya and they s t ood
arguing for a long time Meanwhile Cartier sent men t o fetch two
swords and two washbasins f or Chief D onna c ona The chief was
so delighted with these gifts that he shouted to his people to
dan c e sing and rejoice Then he begged t he captain to fire t he
guns on the G ra n d e H e rm i n e and the P e t i t e H e rm i n e the t w o
large vessels at the mo u th of t he St Charles R iver D onnacona
said that none of the tribe except T a i gn o a gn y and D om A gaya
had ever heard a cannon fired
Cartier granted the request and twelve cannon balls were shot
harmlessly across the harbor The Indians were so terrified by the
thunderous noise that they yelled with frigh t T a i gn oa gn y took
advantage of their fear He poin t ed to the St Lawrence where
the E m e rill o n rode quietly at her anchor G uns on the E m e ri ll on
“
were also fired he said slyly to a friend and t w o of o u r tribe
have j ust been killed
N o t a word of this was t rue but all the Indians believed it and
ran like hun t ed rabbits into the woods
O n the following day T a i gn oa gn y appeared o n the riverbank
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with Chief D onnacona and D o m A gaya D o you wish to come
aboard $ Cartier called o u t
“
N ot n o w
in a lit t le while answered T ai gn oa gn y w h o
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What is wrong asked Cartier
Bad news $ Bad news $ wailed both t he Indians
But tell me friends what can this bad news be $
Captain our god h a s sent three devils to predict that there
will be ice and snow up the R iver and that if you venture there
you will perish
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My friends retorted Cartier your god is a fool and does
not know what he is saying Tell your messengers that ou r Jesus
will keep them safe from cold if they trust in Hi m
“
T a i gn oa gn y the clever o n e asked
Have y ou spoken to
Jesus $
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I have not but my priests have and He predicts fine
weather
T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya pretended to be very pleased $
they tha nk ed Cartier and went into the woods to fetch the tribe
The tribesmen came with three glad shouts and danced and sang
while the brothers had a final word with Cartier They said
“
Unless you leave a hostage with our chief he will not let us go
with you t o Hochelaga
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If you cannot come willingly said Cartier then you may
stay at home I shall n ot change my plans on your account
A ccordingly on the following day the nineteenth o f Septem
ber 1 5 35 Jacques Cartier set sail f or Hochelaga $ Montreal $
without an Indian guide
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T HE
V O YA G
E TO HOCHEL
$ Montreal $
A GA
Part of Cartier s crew had been appointed to remain at Quebec
to build the fort and prepare the winter quarters A board the
E m e ri ll o n which had been c hosen for the voyage to Montreal
were Captain Cartier all the gentlemen and fifty sailors
The St Lawrence had narrowed at Quebec but the explorers
soon entered broadening wa t ers and sailed westward on a river
t w o to three miles wide The valley through which the R iver
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49
flowed was level and wooded and the trees were turning to
scarlet and gold f or this was the fall of the year
O f the land itself Cartier said
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both shores we saw the most exc ellent and beau tifu l lan d that
c a n be seen smooth as a pond and c ove r ed with the finest t r ees in the
wo rld and along the R ive r we re so many vines laden with grapes that
they seemed to have been planted by hu man hands
A long
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A ll
along the route friendly Indians wel c omed the explorers
and brought fish t o exchange f o r hatchets knives and beads A t
A c h el a c y by the R ichelieu R apids t he chief o f the village
boarded the ship greeted Cartier and by signs gave warning
that navigation became more dangerous farther up the R iver
Cartier thanked the chief and gave him a feast and European
gifts Then the Chief of A c h e l a c y presented Cartier with a small
boy and girl These are my s on and daughter said the chief
They will accompany y ou o n your j ourney
The chief wished Cartier to take these children as a token of
friendliness and trust although the b o y was only two o r three
years o f age and the girl was nine The b oy is f a r t oo young
“
said Cartier but I am pleased t o have the little girl
When the child embarked aboard the galleon with its slender
prow and billowing sails she must have felt that she was riding
on the back of an enchanted bird
Forests of superb trees continued t o cover the level valley
throu gh which the e x plorers sailed In his logbook Cartier listed
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O aks ,
elms waln u ts pines c eda rs sp ru c e ash boxwood willows
osie rs and what is still bette r many vines whi c h we re so ab u ndant in
grapes that ou r c om rades c ame ba c k laden with them
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A mong
the birds he listed
C ranes swans b u sta rds geese d u cks la rks pheasants pa rt ridges
bla ckbi rds th ru shes tu rtledoves gol d fin c h es c ana ries linnets n i gh t i n
gales spa rrows— ju st as in F ran c e
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On
the twenty eigh t h of September Cartier entered a lake
$ now called Lake St Peter $ on t he north shore of the St Law
rence There he anchored the E m e ri l l o n and returned to the St
Lawrence with t w o longboa t s twenty eight sailors and several
gentlemen Three days later he rea c hed Mon t real one hundred
and sixty two miles from Quebec and nine hundred and eighty
si x miles from the A tlantic
Cartier could n ow understand why the Indians called the
place Hochelaga f o r as he had learned the word means n ot
“
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only beaver dam but also place where the river is obstructed
Here there were such swift rapids that Cartier could not cross
them even with skillful manning of his longboats
More than a thousand Indians crowded the banks t o wel
come Cartier The tribesmen danced in on e ring the women in
another and the children kept in a circle o f their own A fter the
dancing ceased the Indians came with great quantities of fish
and threw into the longboats loaf after loaf o f bread made
from Indian corn When Cartier went ashore the Indians sur
rounded him as i i he were a go d Squaws brought their babies
for him to touch and the rej oicing lasted f or more than half an
hour Then he bade the women sit together in a row and h e pre
sented them with beads $ to the tribesmen he gave knives with
shining blades A lthough he returned to his boats at suppertime
the Indians did not end their c elebration A l l night they danced
around great bonfires on the shore and called a g uya s e a g uyas e
which means s a l u t a t i o n a n d joy
Captain Cartier rose at daybreak donned his finest armor and
hung a silver whistle around his neck He organized a group of
gentlemen and twenty sailors the latter carrying trumpets and
gilt daggers and the party started through the meadows with
three Indian guides A headman w h o had built a bonfire on the
path bade the explorers pause to listen t o a speech of welcome
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For his speech the Indian received two hatchets two knives a
cross and a crucifix Then Cartier and his men continued to walk
through field after field of Indian corn until they reached the
village
The village was entirely surrounded by a palisade two lances
high and had a single gate which closed with bars A bove the
gate and at several other points of the enclosure were galleries
equipped with ladders and stocked with stones and rocks f or
defense In his logbook Cartier described the enclosure as follows :
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The re a re abou t fifty ho u ses in the village Ea c h of these is abou t fifty
o r mo r e pa c es long and twelve o r fifteen pa c es wide
b u ilt enti rely of
wood c ove red and t rimme d with la rge pie c es of ba rk and st rippings
from the t rees as b roa d as tables and well and a rtfu lly seamed as is
thei r fashion W ithin the hou ses a re n u me rou s rooms and c hambe rs and
on the ground in the c ente r is a la rge hea rth whe re they light thei r fi res
and live in c ommon A fte rwa rd the men withd r aw to thei r c hambe rs
with thei r wives and c hild ren
A n d likewise they have ga rrets aloft in thei r ho u ses whe r e they p u t
thei r c o rn from whi c h they make thei r b read whi c h they c all c a rra co nn y
and they make this in the following manne r They have woo d en mo rta rs
like those fo r making hemp and with wooden pestles they pou nd thei r
c o rn to powde r Then they l u mp this into d o u gh and make it into c akes
whi c h they pla c e u pon hot stones and c ove r with hot pebbles in pla c e
of an oven and thu s c ook thei r b read They also make many sou ps of
this com and of beans and peas of whi c h they have q u ite a su pply an d
also of la rge cu cu mbe rs and othe r fru its
They also have on thei r hou ses la rge vessels like c asks whe re they p ut
thei r fish s u c h as eels and othe rs whi c h a re smoked d u ring the s u mme r
an d on whi c h they live in the winte r $ of these they make a la r ge hoa r d
as we saw by expe rien c e A ll thei r vi c t u als a re w i thou t any taste of salt
A n d they sleep on the ba rk of t rees sp read u pon the g ro u nd with mean
c ove rings of pelts with whi c h they make thei r ga rments s u c h as otte rs
beave rs ma rtens foxes W ild c ats dee r stags an d many othe r savage
animals $ b u t the ma jo rity of them go p ra c ti c ally sta rk naked
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The most p re c io u s thin g they have in this wo rld is es n og uy $wampum $
whi c h is white as snow and they take this f rom c u ttle fi s h in the rive r
they make it into a kind of rosa ry bead whi c h they u s e as we do
gold and silve r
It has the vi rt u e of stopping nose bleeds be c a u se
we t ried it
A ll these people give themselves to tilling and fishing
sim ply to se cu re thei r livelihood f or they pla c e no sto re u pon the goods
of this wo rld be c a u se they a re u na c q u ainted with them and also be c a u se
they do not b u dge f rom thei r c ou nt ry and a re not wande re rs like those
of Canada $meaning D onn a c on a s t ribe $
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Plan of H o c helaga
a
ft er t h e
d ra w i n g
o
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a
Si x t e e n t h
C e n t u ry a rti s t
Lord while all the Indians stood by silently and crossed them
selves i n imitation of the Christians A f t erward he distributed
many European gif t s : knives and hatchets for the tribesmen
beads and trinkets for the women F or the children he had
brought a supply of images o f t he A g n us D e i or Lamb of God
shining little figures cut from tin in the shape o f lambs Each
lamb bore a Cross upon i t s shoulder and symbolized the Spirit
of Christ whom St John had called the Lamb o f Go d Cartier
threw handful upon handful o f these images into t he air where
they were caught by Indian children
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Then the sailors blew their trumpets and Cartier made a fare
well speech He could no t linger with this tribe although the
women surrounded him with dishes o f beans soup bread and
fish and begged him t o remain Win t er was approaching and he
must hurry t o his fort But first he wished t o get a bird s eye view
of t he Montreal region from a mountain which s t ood a quarter
o f a league away
Indian guides led Car t ier and his men t o the moun t ain which
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he called Mount R oyal $ These t w o words were afterward
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combined into the single word Montreal $ When Cartier reached
t h e summit of the mountain he could see the St Lawren c e flow
ing on through level lands with mountain ranges rising to the
north and to the south
He did n o t know the length of this great R iver but he felt
sure that although it might lead toward the O rient it could not
be used by trading vessels because of the rapids at Montreal Y et
he was eager to learn all that he could about the R iver and the
“
geography of the surrounding country How many rapids are
there in the R iver $ he asked his guides
“
T hree replied the Indians
A fter passing the rapids how far can a canoe go $
F or three moons
T hen the Indians pointed to the north and indicated the
existence of another river since named the O ttawa They took
Cartier s silver whistle and a gilt dagger from a sailor and re
“
marked T hese metals come from up that river $ the O ttawa $
Bad people live there armed to the teeth Their armor is made
of wood and cords woven and laced together
“
How far away is that country $ asked Cartier
The question was t oo di ff icult f o r the guides to understand
“
N ext Cartier showed them a piece o f copper D oes this metal
come from that river $ he inquired
“
The guides said N o that comes from a river to the east by
which they meant the Saguenay
Cartier vividly remembered the Sa gu en ay s deep mysterious
mouth which he had passed on his way from A nticosti Island t o
Quebec He remembered too that the Quebec tribe had told
him that its copper came from a region which lay up the river
and which was called the Kingdom o f Saguenay I t was a king
dom Cartier himself longed t o reach someday
Meanwhile he must bid farewell to Montreal A s he de
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scended t he slope s o f t he moun t a i n the Indian guides carried
several o f t he weary Frenchmen pickaback When he reached
hi s longboa t s he gave orders t o t he sailor s t o pu s h off without
delay A s the longboat s proceeded down t he St Lawren c e all
the sorrowi ng tribe followed h i m as far as possible along t he
shore
O n the fourth of O c t ober Car t ier en t ered Lake St Peter
where he had lef t the E m e rill o n He found a ll well aboard and
hastened t o set sail so tha t he migh t reach hi s headquarters at
Quebec before the R iver froze
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WIN T E R
A T
THE F OR T
On
the eleventh of O ctober Jacques Cartier arrived at his winter
quarters on the bank s of the S t Charles R iver D uring his a b
sence the crew had built a strong fort close to the two big ships
The walls had been made by driving logs upright into t he earth
and guns were mounted on all sides
There had been quarrels between the sailors and various
Indians w h o were under the influence o f T a i gn o a gn y the mis
chief maker but Cartier s presence helped to re establish an a t
m o s p h ere of good feeling O n the twelfth of O ctober Chief D o n
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and even T a i gn o a gn y and his brother D om A gaya came
with other headmen t o welcome the captain and to invite him
to their village
In Chief D on n a con a s W igwam were deerskins t o lie upon $
they were trophies o f his hunts There were also scalps of former
enemies ornamented with wampum beads This tribe loved war
and would travel hundreds of miles t o meet a f oe But as long as
Cartier remained in Canada the Indians stayed at home and
kept an eye on him They did this in a friendly way at first and
during the early win t er months Cartier paid frequent visits to
Chief D on n a con a s dwelling
n a con a
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Chief D onna cona
The chief would sit on one
of
his fine deerskins and smoke a
long pipe of tobacco while he talked Tobacco smoking was an
Indian habit which was new t o Cartier He thought it quite a
silly business and said so in his logbook
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They have an he rb whi c h they sto re u p in the s u mme r for the win te r
They esteem this he rb highly and only the men us e it as follows : they
d ry it in the su n and c a rry it at thei r ne c ks in a small animal skin instea d
of a b a g with a c o m et of wood or stone V e ry often they make a powd er
of this he rb and pla c e it in one end of the c o m et Then they pu t a red hot
c oal u pon it and s u c k th ro u gh the othe r end and so fill thei r bodies with
smoke that it iss u es fo rth from thei r mou ths and nost rils as from a c him
ney They say thi s keeps them healthy an d wa rm W e ou rselves t ried this
smoke b ut i t is so hot that we seemed to have p u t the powde r of peppe r
in ou r mou ths
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O ccasionally
Cartier and the Indians talked about religion
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They said to him We have a god named C u do u a gn y who some
times speaks to us and throws dirt in our eyes When we die we
t
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the stars and then sink down over the horizon like stars
o
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Then we go into fine green fields filled with trees and flowers and
luscious fruit
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Y our C u d o u a gn y is an evil spirit who is tricking you
re
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plied Cartier There is only one God Who is in Heaven and
Wh o gives all and is the Creator of all things
On e day Chief D onnacona with T a i gn o a gn y and D om A gaya
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and all the tribe came t o the fort and said Captain please
baptize us with the ceremony which T a i gn oa gn y and D om
A gaya saw performed in France
Cartier who was not sure that the Indians really believed in
“
Christ replied I have no chrism $ consecrated oil $ and I cannot
bapti z e without it O n my next trip I shall bring you priests and
chrism
Whenever it was possible Cartier turned his conversation with
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the Indians t o the subj ect of the Kingdom of Saguenay which
he wished to explore if he came again to Canada He asked
Chief D onnacona many questions about this kingdom
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D onnacona said
The Saguenay R iver leads to the King
dom o f Saguenay after on e moon s journey from its mouth
toward the northwest But after eight or nine days the Saguenay
can be navigated only by small boats The usual and straight and
safes t route is by way of the R iver of Hochelaga $ t he St Law
rence $ to a place above Hochelaga $ Montreal $ where t here is
another river $ the O ttawa $ which flows down from t he King
dom of Saguenay and enters the R iver of Hochelaga From the
mouth of the other river $ the O ttawa $ the j ourney takes on e
moon
“
In the Kingdom of Saguenay the natives wear woolen clothes
as you white men do There are many towns and tribes made up
of kindly people w h o have great quantities o f gold and copper
A ll the region between the Saguenay R iver as far as Hochelaga
$ Montreal $ and the Kingdom o f Saguenay is an island sur
rounded by rivers and by t he R iver of Hochelaga Beyond the
Kingdom of Saguenay runs t he second river $the O ttawa $ flow
ing through t w o or t hree large broad lakes until it reaches a
fresh water sea $ Lake Hu ron $ The people o f Saguenay have
told us that there is no record of anyone ever having seen the
limits of this sea We o u rselves have n o t been there
These informing t alks with Chief D onnacona came abrup t ly
t o an end O n e day while the Indians were paying a customary
visi t t o t he ships to exchange fish for European wares Taig
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n oa n y and D o m A gaya said
Bro t hers you are fool s t o be
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Snow fell and th e R iver froze The Frenchmen mu ffl ed them
selves thickly agains t the wind that whipped the cheeks and
stung t he blood cold beneath the skin A man from France co u ld
only marvel at the Indian children who ran laughing and s t ark
naked over the ice and snow
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64
D
EA TH
IN
TH E
WILD ERNESS
Sickness entered the wilderness stole across the snows of the
forest and over the ice of the River and into the Indian village
Forty members of the tribe including D om A gaya were dying
T a i gn oa gn y visited the fort and begged f or salt and bread to
“
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give his brother V ery well said Cartier but in return I ask
that none of you come near us for fear of spreading the disease
The sickness came of its o w n accord The ditches around the
fort and the gate the drawbridge and the night guard could n ot
hold it back nor could the trumpets warn of its approach I t
came and no one could fight it because no on e knew from which
side it would strike or why it struck or what it was O n e hun
dred of the on e hundred and ten men of the e x p edition were
stricken Eight men died and fifty more seemed doomed to die
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Cartier was among t he l u c ky ones to escape We know today
that this disease which we call scurvy is ca u sed by a lack of
fresh vegetables However no on e in the si x teenth century u n
d ers t oo d this and Car t ier was c omple t ely mystified as he studied
the symptoms He saw that t he victim s firs t los t their strength
and that afterward their legs became swollen and bloated with
t he sinews contrac t ing and blackening t o the c olor o f c oal Some
times a purpli s h blood blo t ched the legs before the disease crept
upward mounting t o the hips and t o the shoulders and spread
ing down the arms and up the neck The gum s be c ame so rot t ed
that the teeth fell out A n d s t ill Cartier was at a loss to find a
way o f checking the epidemic
In his despair he fas t ened a picture of the V irgin Mary to a
t ree near the fort O n S u nday he held a religious service beneath
the tree and there he sent all the sailors w h o were well and all
who were ill but could still walk They went stumbling and stag
gering and singing the psalms of D avid Car t ier made a v ow that
if he were permitted t o return alive t o Fran c e he wo u ld make a
pilgrimage t o the V irgin s shrine at Roc a d a m ou r
O n this same day there died a young man in his early twenties $
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his name was Philippe Rougemont In those times the belief pre
vailed in Europe that the bodies o f the dead belonged to God
O nly here and there did a rare and intelligent doctor take a
corpse and cut it open to study at close range the cause of death
Even at the great French medical center of Montpellier students
of anatomy were allowed t o disse c t only one dead body a year
and it must be the body o f a hanged man But Cartier had the
corpse of Philippe R ougemont opened and dissected The results
of the investigation were carefully recorded in the logbook :
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W e fou n d that his hea r t was white and withe red and s u rrounded
by mo re than a potful of wate r c olor ed re dd ish like dates H is live r was
exc ellent b u t his l ungs we re c ompletely bla c kene d and gangrene d and
all his blood had been d rawn f rom above his hea rt be c a u se when we
opened h im the re gu shed forth f rom above his hea rt a great q u antity of
bla c k and po i sonou s blood H e also ha d spleen nea r the spine an d abou t
two fi n ge r lengths of his spine we re somewhat d amage d as if i t ha d
been ru bbe d on a rou gh stone This seen we opened h i s thigh whi c h
was ve ry bla c k o u tside b u t inside the fl esh was fine enou gh That d one
we b u rie d h im as best we c ou ld God by H is H oly Gra c e fo rgive his sou l
and the sou ls of all ou r d ead A men
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Y et
the investigation did n ot suggest a cure for scurvy $ more
o f the men were stricken and more and more lay dying It was
D ecember and the snow stood four feet deep in the forest A s no
on e had strength to dig in the frozen ground the dead were buried
underneath the snow O f all the company only Cartier and thre e
others escaped the epidemic
Indians began to lurk about the fort and Cartier feared that
if they learned how weak his company had grown they might
think the time favorable f o r an attack Therefore he tried his best
t o give them the impression that life at the fort was running
smoothly Whenever the Indians appeared he ordered two or
three sailors sick or well t o follow him outside the walls and
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there he would pre t end to beat his men and to t hrow sticks at
“
them as if t o say See here the rest are working down below the
decks Y ou chaps can t loaf o u t here A board the ships the
feeble men took s t ones and hammers and faked as loud a sound
of caulking as was pos sible A l l t his happened while the ships
were locked in t w o fathoms o f river ice A bove and below t he
hatches the ice hung four fingers deep
Cartier lost all h Op e of seeing France again Bu t one day D om
“
A gaya paid an unexpected visit to the fort
How is this $ cried
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Cartier Twelve days ago you were despera t ely ill and here
$
yo u come as strong and well as any man What has cured you
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A brew made from the leaves o f a tree
answered D om
A gaya
$
Cartier said guardedly Is there on e o f these trees nearby I
wo u ld like t o cure on e of my sailors who caught the disease when
he visited D on n a con a s W igwam
“
I will send you two squaws with some of the branches said
D om A gaya w h o when he was sick had received bread and salt
from Cartier
The squaws came with nine or ten branches o f a tree which
Cartier called the a m e d a and which was probably a variety of
evergreen The women showed him h ow t o grind the bark and
boil it with the leaves A t first the sailors were afraid of the mix
ture but finally one o r two poor fellows were brave enough to
taste it They felt better immediately and then all the others
fought f or a drink Cartier dosed them every other day and with
the dregs he poulticed swollen legs and other diseased parts of
the body The remedy succeeded and within the next few days
a tall tree was consumed
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Cartier remarked in his logbook
If all the doc to rs of Lou vain and Montpellie r had been he re with all
the d ru gs of A lexand ria they c ou ld not have done as m u c h in a yea r as
this has done in eight days
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He gave thanks to heaven and added
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Go d
ou r
has had pity on
c u re
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us
and sent
us
the knowledge and reme d y for
EAM TO
ONI$ E CA NAD
A
COL
DR
A
By the end of March the snow was melting in the forest and the
ice was breaking in the R iver N early a year had passed since
Cartier sailed from France with his commission for a voyage of
fifteen months duration Hi s provisions now were almost ex
h a u s t e d and as soon as the R iver cleared itself of ice he must
return home Y et he had n o t found the N orthwest Passage for
even if the St Lawrence did lead eventually t o the China Sea
t radin g vessels could sail no farther than the rapids at Montreal
A ll that Cartier had actually discovered was a river and a
wilderness However his practical mind understood the great
ness of this R iver whi ch abounded in fish enriched the soil of
Canada and sustained the mighty forests In this wilderness
lived the elk the deer and the moose king of the forest the fox
the wolf the black bear rabbits woodchucks chipmunk s sq u i r
rels and game s o plentiful that i t was more t han enough for the
few scattered Indian tribes which inhabited the region But in
France food was scarce and poor people could hardly pay the
heavy taxes Jacques Cartier wished to make t he natural re
sources of the wilderness available to Frenchmen by establish
ing a colony in Canada
He dreamed of the day when French pioneers would clear the
land and sow French crops in the rich soil when French cattle
would graze in the Canadian meadows and when along the
banks o f the St Lawrence would s t and French settlements with
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70
THE
C A P T UR
CHIEF
E
OF
D ONNA C ONA
On e
day in early A pril D om A gaya came to the for t wi t h news
that Chief D onn acona had gone on a hunt But Cartier won
dered if t he chief had not really gone to secure reinforcements
from another tribe in order t o atta c k t he fort Cartier therefore
“
called his ma t es toge t her and said S t re n g t hen the fort so that
if t he chief comes wi t h all t he army o f Canada he can only
stare at us
On the twenty fi rs t o f A pril D om A gaya reappeared a t the
fort $ this t ime he was accompanied by several braves from a
tribe unk nown t o the e x plorers D om A gaya said to Cartier
“
Cap t ain my chief comes back t omorrow He will bring you
deer meat
O n the following day D om A gaya came t o t he riverba n k
near the fort and cried o u t that Chief D onnacona had re t urned
Cartier in vited D om A gaya t o board the ships but the Indian
remained sullenly on shore— and then vanished in t o the woods
Cartier s suspicions were thoroughly aroused and he decided
t o send two men to the village t o find o u t what was happening
Both men had previously been welcome visitors in t he village
but n ow when t hey went t here the atmosphere was hos t ile and
the place crowded wi t h powerful warriors from an unknown
tribe When the Frenchmen entered Chief D onn a con a s wig
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72
wa rn they found him lying on a deerskin $ he pretended t o be
too ill to receive them N e x t they visited T a i gn oa gny the mis
chief maker In his wigwam stood fi erc e looking warriors and
he wished t o get rid o f the t w o Frenchmen as soon as possible
Y e t he had a favor to ask
So the mischief maker led the two white visitors ou t o f his
wigwam and along the path toward the for t He said t o them
“
There is something you can d o f or me If your captain will
do this he can count on me for anything he asks There is a
chief living in this region who belongs t o our tribe He has done
me a great wrong Hi s name is A gona and I would like your
captain to take him t o France Will you bring me the answer
tomorrow $
A fter the Frenchmen promised T a i gn o a gn y to deliver his
message he accompanied them halfway t o t he fort and then
returned to his village
When Cartier learned that Quebec was filled with warriors
he realized that to avoid bloodshed t he Indians whom he wished
to take t o King Fran c is must be captured by tri c kery T a i gno
agny and his brother D om A gaya must also be seized so that they
could serve as interpreters o n the voyage Cartier was n o t inter
es t e d in the petty chief A gona whom T a i g n oa gn y wanted to
send t o France Y et one o f the Frenchmen w h o had bro u ght
the message was sent back to t he village where h e found Taig
n oa gn y and said to him
The captain promises t o do part of
what yo u ask but first he wan t s to see you
“
I will come tomorrow and bring Chief D onna c ona and D om
A gaya
replied T a i gn oa gn y But for t w o days not an Indian
ventured near the fort
Meanwhile Cartier began to make active preparations f o r the
homeward journey Hi s crew had been so reduced by scurvy that
he could n ot man his second vessel the P e t i t e He rm i n e He dis
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mantled and abandoned her and let some friendly Indians from
a neighboring t ribe dig t he pre c ious iron nails from her hull
Whe n Chief D on n a c on a s tribesmen saw this they paddled in
great haste t o the fort T a i gn oa gn y and D om A gaya stood talk
ing t ogether on the s hore f o r half an hour before t hey would
board t he vessel s Then T a i gn oa gn y w h o was still plotting
against his enemy A gona said to Cartier Captain please take
A gona back t o France
“
I cannot take A gona replied Cartier My King has f or
bidden me t o take any grown Indian man or woman O nly two
o r three boys can go with me to learn the language If
y o u wish
I will take A gona and leave him in N ewfoundland
“
A i l A i $ Tomorrow I shall bring Chief D onnacona and all
o u r t ribe to you
said T a i gn oa gn y A n d he went away rejoicing
Cartier had n o t been forbidden to take grown Indians to
France He told this lie because he wished to put the Indians off
their guard so that he might seize them wi t h as little violence as
possible and thus avoid the bloodshed that had c ast a blot on
most European e x plorations of the N ew World
From the day when Columbus discovered the A mericas the
Indians seemed to have been doomed t o yield sooner or later to
t he white race But the primitive law o f nature which decrees
t ha t the weak shall yield to the strong often gives the strong a
chance t o be unne c essarily arrogant and cruel Compared to the
average explorer of those days Ja c ques Cartier was remarkably
kind in his treatment o f the Indians Even on this occasion when
he felt that he was j ustified in lying to them and in forcing some
o f them t o accompany him to France he did hope t o bring his
captives back safe and sound to Canada af t er they had told the
King about the riches in Saguenay
O n the morning of the third o f May the festival of the Holy
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Cross the sailors planted an enormous cross of possession near the
fort The shaft rose thirty five feet in the air and o n the crossbar
were the words :
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L O N G L I V E F RA N C I S T HE FI R ST B Y
G O D S G RA CE KI N G O F F RA N CE
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two o clock in the afternoon Chief D onnacona and the
brothers T a i gn o a gn y and D om A gaya came with other head
men toward the fort Cartier who was on the G ra n d e He rm i n e
went down to greet them A l t hough the chief seemed in a friendly
mood his eyes roamed anxiously toward the woods Cartier i n
v i t e d the Indians t o c ome aboard as was the c u s tom But D om
“
T a i gn oa gn y has warned
A gaya took Cartier aside and said
our chief not to board your ships under any circumstance
O ther tribesmen came and outside the ramparts they built a
fire for Chief D onnacona w h o had al s o been warned not t o enter
the fort Finally Cartier persuaded the chief to come inside and
T a i gn oa gn y D om A gaya and many o f the tribe went in with
D onnacona Suddenly Cartier ordered his sailors t o capture
D onnacona T a i gn oa gn y D om A gaya and six headmen The
other Indians were driven off and as they fled Cartier thought
“
with a touch of disgust They go like sheep before a wolf some
across the river others into the forest $ each man seeks his pri
vate safety
But the Indians had not abandoned their chief A t dusk they
gathered on the opposite shore and s tood there all night long
howling f o r D onnacona They wailed far into the morning and
by afternoon more than a thousand of them stood crying pite
o u s l y Finally at Cartier s req u est Chief D onnacona appeared
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on deck and reassured them I am going with the captain to see
cried D onnacona who had been soothed by prom
hi s King
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i s es from Cartier
I shall be given a fine present and in ten o r
twelve moons I shall return
“
Ho $ Ho $ Ho $ yelled the Indians in joy They c ame now to the
ships and presented Cartier with twenty four strings of precious
wampum He thanked the Indians and gave them European
gifts To D onnacona he gave t w o brass kettles eight hatchets
many knives and beads The chief seemed pleased and sent the
presen t s to his wives and children
On the following day four squaws boarded the ships with corn
fresh meat and other provisions f or the captives Cartier again
promised that the chief would be brought back within a year
Captain said the squaws each o ff ering him a string of wam
“
pum the day ou r chief returns and the other Indians with him
o u r tribe will give yo u many presents
D onnacona chose A gona the petty chieftain as temporary
head of the tribe O n the sixth o f May 1 5 3 6 Jacques Cartier
weighed anchor In addition to his nine captives there was one
other Indian aboard the ships : the little daughter of the Chief
of A c h e l a c y She had accompanied the Frenchmen to Montreal
visited them at their fort near Quebec and n ow was permitted
by her father to cross the seas with Captain Cartier
Cartier lost no time in heading down the St Lawrence R iver
toward its fork at A nticosti Island He knew that if he sailed
through the strait t hat separated the north coast of A nticosti
and the Canadian mainland he could then navigate along the
coast of Labrador to the A tlantic That was the long route by
which he had come t o Canada N ow he preferred to find a shorte r
way home
Previously while making his first exploration o f the G ulf of
St Lawrence Cartier had noticed that the tides at Brion Island
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CA T AL IN A
ran northwest southeast This observation had made him suspect
that possibly a short passage t o the A tlantic existed along the
south coast of N ewfoundland So this time he entered the G ulf
through the sou t hern arm o f the S t Lawrence R iver between the
south coast of A nticos t i and the Ga s p é Peninsula
It was a new rou t e for him but n ot a difficul t one and he was
soon in a familiar region He continued to navigate southeast
ward through the G ulf un t il he discovered a strait t he present
Cabot Strai t lying be t ween Cape Breton and the south coast o f
N ewfoundland He found t o his j oy tha t Cabot Strait led him
quickly to the A tlantic O n t he nine t eenth of June he began t he
ocean voyage G ood winds and a favorable sea permi t ted him t o
reach S t Malo o n t he sixth o f July I 53 6
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THE
THI RD
V OYA G
E
YEA RS
WA I T I N G
OF
of the ten Indians brought by Cartier to France in 1 5 3 6
saw Canada again The King was so weighed down by troubles
that he had no time to listen t o Cartier s plan to colonize In that
same year the King s eldest son the D auphin died suddenly
from poisoning most people thought— and the arch enemy the
Emperor of Spain came with his army to invade the south o f
France Furthermore it was disastrous for Cartier that his
“
friend at Court Brion Chabot A dmiral of France and favor
ite minister of King Francis had turned traitor to his country
and sold himself t o the enemy Portugal
The ten Indians w h o were staying in St Malo were well
lodged and treated kindly A n old church notice has been found
which tells us that three o f them were baptized O n e took the
name of Charles another chose the King s own name Francis
the third
but here a corner of the paper on which the notice
was recorded has been torn off The name of the third Indian
will never be known
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last in I 5 3 8 peace between France and Spain was declared
by the Treaty o f N ice Then Cartier presented his plans to the
new royal advisor Constable de Montmorency w h o brough t
them t o King Francis attention In September Francis ordered
his treasurer t o pay Captain Cartier and his men salaries long
overdue $ the captain was also reimbursed f o r the money he had
paid t o lodge the Indians
Chief D onna c ona w h o was taken to court t hrilled King
Francis with glowing tales of the Kingdom o f Saguenay Prob
ably Fran c is saw t he other captive Indians and admired their
picturesque looks But they themselves could n o t grow used t o
civilization $ they found it difficul t t o live in hou ses and t o ward
o ff the germs t hat thrive in towns and c i t ies O n e by one the
Indian men fell ill and before Car t ier had the chance to take
t hem back to Canada they died O nly the little girl the daughter
of the Chief of A c h el a c y survived She had come to France when
she was ten or eleven years of age— young enough to become
accustomed t o her new surroundings
In September 1 53 8 Cartier drew up an outline o f a simple
plan f or establishing a se t tlement in Canada In this outline
which he sent in the form of a memorandum t o the royal pala c e
he asked for six large ships two small boats and one hundred
and twenty sailors as well as soldiers t o main t ain order priests
t o spread Catholicism carpenters and masons tailors black
smiths apothecaries t o s t udy the medicinal qualities of Cana
dian herbs goldsmi t hs t o e x amine ores in fact all the workmen
and technicians needed to establish the colony o n a sound basis
B u t the King though eager f o r the riches o f Saguenay could
n o t decide t o send a c olonial e x pedi t ion immediately
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82
K IN GS A ND SPIES
The k i ngs of Portugal and Spain were exceedingly annoyed by
the rumor that France intended to establish a colony in Canada
They believed tha t they alone possessed t he right of conquest in
the A mericas f o r in 1 4 9 3 the year after Columbus found the
N ew World the Pope at Rome had declared that all the heathen
lands discovered and to be discovered should belong t o Spain
and Portugal The Pope said that on e hundred and twenty
leagues west of the A zores a kind o f imaginary boundary line
should be drawn from Pole t o Pole Territory in the Eas t beyond
t his line should become the property of the Portuguese $ territory
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84
,
Pope Leo
in the West that o f the Spaniards R oughly speaking for no on e
could accurately measure longit u de this law gave the O rient to
Portugal and the A mericas to Spain
A fterward except for a colony in Brazil Portugal had ac
quired her territory in the O rient By navigating the ten —thou
sand mile route around A frica t o A sia she had managed to
acquire footholds in India Borneo the Spice Islands and even
t u a ll y in China and Japan A n d now Portugal was wondering
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if the French scheme to colonize Canada did no t mean that
France had found a quick N orthwest Passage which would
threaten Portug u ese supremacy in the East
King John o f Portugal sent a spy Lagarto t o France t o i n v es
t i ga t e the matter Lagarto s t ask was not too di ffi cult since there
were enemies on all sides of Cartier Even at t he French court
among the friends o f King Francis there were men w h o would
sell their honor f or a little gold Lagar t o met t hese traitors and
t hrough them he gained entry to the royal palace He claimed t o
be an exper t pilot and played t he role so well that in January
1 5 39 he ob t ained a private inte rview with Francis
Y our Maj esty
said Lagarto when he was presented to t he
“
King I have brought two maps and the astrolabe which b e
longed t o my brother i n law I place great value on them $ I have
never given a copy of the maps to anyone or been willing to sell
them
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Let me see the maps said Francis who watched eagerly
while Lagarto spread them out
The two men talked together for more than an hour until C on
stable de Montmorency the King s advisor entered the royal
“
chamber and said Y our Maj esty wi t h whom are yo u speak
ing $
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With a person well informed in naviga t ion He has splendid
sea charts and an astrolabe I am deligh t ed wi t h him $ he is going
to enter my service
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Y our Maj esty
said the cons t able abruptly t his ma t ter
should be examined and discussed in council
The King was somewha t taken aback but replied royally
If that is so let it be at desser t af t er supper
In spite o f his advisor s warning Francis saw Lagar t o several
other times The King was glad to play an indoor game o f exp l o
ra t ion with t his man whose knowledge o f the sea was so profound
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86
Opinion the St Lawrence R iver did not lead t o China but that
by crossing the rapids at Montreal Cartier did h Op e t o rea c h
Saguenay
In the Kingdom of Sagu enay Fran c is said there are
abundant mines Of gold and silver $ men dress and wear shoes as
we do and there is a quantity of clover nutmeg and pepper I
shall send six ships with over t w o hundred men a n d supplies to
last t w o years Cartier is t o build a fort well up the R iver That
will be done in t he summer and then because t he summers are
short and the winters long and e xt remely c old he shall set out
in the following spring t o cross the rapids and find the Kingdom
T w o Of t he ships will be brigan t ines so that they may be carried
overland when the rapids are reached Saguenay is a wonderful
country f or it has animals whose hides are worth ten cruzados
each and men w h o fly with wings on t heir arms like bats a l
though they fly only a little from the ground t o a tree and from
the tree t o the ground
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Y our Maj esty has Cartier seen t hose flying men $ inquired
Lagarto
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replied Francis He is the chief
D onnacona has seen them
of three or four villages He has told me about the Kingdom of
Saguenay What do you think $
Y our Maj esty your R iver lies in the Tropic of Cancer but
it is farther north than the distance Of the T rOp i c of Ca ncer to the
equator and it seems t o me that spices and gold c ould n ot be
found there although t here might be silver
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In Hungary argued the King there is a mine or rather
there are several mines o f excellent gold and that country is j ust
as cold —even colder because it lies farther north o f the equator
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Y our Maj esty that is so but is it n o t a rare thing and not the
general rule
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D onnacona has said it is true replied King Francis When
he went aboard Cartier s ship he was questioned and t h e notary
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wrote down hi s a n swers and since then Cartier has questioned
him many times and D onnacona has never varied in his state
ments He even says that he will go with all his people friends
and relatives to help us cross the rapids with the brigantines and
find the clover nutmeg and pepper plants
“
Y our Maj esty what if D onnacona should be like the on e
who tempted Christ by saying Ha e c om n i a t i bi d a b o $ all these
things shall I give to thee $ —i n order to return to his own
country $
King Francis laughed $ he was in a merry mood and there was
very little that he did n o t tell Lagarto about the colonial plans
“
A h Y our Maj esty is a Fountain o f Knowledge $ cried Lagarto
when the King had finished
Then the spy dispatched a long report on these proceedings to
“
King John of Portugal What the French King wants to do in
this colonial business is enough to make men marvel said La
ga r t o in his letter t o King John
But it was enough for King John t o know that Cartier had not
found the N orthwest Passage to China
Spain had much more reason to worry about French colonial
plans as her possessions lay in the southern part Of the N ew
World and were slowly creeping northward Charles the Fifth
the Spanish Emperor did not wish the French t o gain a foothold
across the A tlantic no matter how far north
The position of King Francis in this matter was extremely
awkward Since the Treaty of N ice in I 5 3 8 he had been trying
to be friendly toward Emperor Charles Francis had even given
Charles permission to cut across France on his way t o suppress
a revolt in Flanders In the fall of 1 5 39 the Emperor planned
to take advantage of this O ff er N ot only would he travel across
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France but he would also pay a visit to dear Francis I t seemed
to the King that it would be more tactful to put the Canadian
proj ect aside during this year
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Empe ro r
Cha rles
The Emperor came and he and Francis rode together to the
forest of Fontainebleau to hunt They picni c ked under purple
canopies spread beneath great oak trees almost as old as the
land The forest was King Francis pride Thousands o f men
worked in his stables and wells had been dug in the woods so that
wild animals might drink and thrive to furnish sport f or the
royal hunt The ol d hunting lodge o f his ancestors had been torn
down and in its place stood a magnificent palace where the King
held his brilliant court A midst all the festivities at Fontaine
bleau the King forgot the sea captain o f St Malo
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the French colonial undertaking But John of Portugal knew t hat
hi s father had previo u sly sen t two fleets to N ewfoundland and
had lost them and he himself had lost t w o e xpeditions t here A s
far as he was concerned France might go where she wished on
“
the cold northern waters The O cean is so wide said John
“
that never could we form a fleet to keep those Frenchmen from
going t o explore If a t housand vessels were armed they could
n o t keep th e Frenchmen from sailing where t hey wish
Emperor Charles protested once more t o the French King
through the Spanish A mbassador in France The A mbassador
told King Francis tha t the colonial scheme was contrary to both
the Trea t y of N ice and t he Pope s Old law which ga v e the sole
ow nership Of the A mericas to Portugal and Spain King Francis
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answered The sun shines for me as i t shines for o t hers I should
like to see the clause in A dam s testament that prevents me from
sharing the world
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THE C O L ON I A L
E$
P ED I TI ON
Those alarming rumors abou t a giant fleet for Cartier were
false Five ships were all that he planned to take and once again
the merchants of St Malo were preventing him from getting
sailors In D ecember I 54 0 King Francis was obliged to write to
a government ofli c i a l in Brittany t o inquire why the people Of
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the Breton seaports were hindering d e a r a n d b e l o ve d j a c q u es
Suddenly at this point Francis spoiled sovereign that
C a rt i e r
he was grew weary and lost interest in the proj ect which had
been so long delayed
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Am ong
the royal courtiers there was a lord a dashin g man
whose name was Jean Fran cois de La R o c que de R oberval He
borrowed Cartier s plan and decked it out afresh in gay imperial
colors which caught t he fancy of the King In January 1 54 1
Francis appoin t ed R oberval to the post of commander in chief
o f the expedition with the ti t le o f Lieutenant G eneral of the
countries Of Canada Hochelaga and Saguenay and with the
righ t to conquer th e distant lands either by peace o r by force and
to build forts and castles on any territory n ot occupied by Spain
o r Portugal Captain Cartier was reduced to a subordinate posi
tion under this i n efli c i en t lord w h o had never had experience at
sea who could neither handle men nor organize an enterprise
and w h o had no notion o f what a wilderness was like
R oberval looked upon the establishment of t he colony as a
purely business venture He planned to divide the territory into
fi ef s and to share the profits with the King The vessels to be used
were the five that Cartier was equipping a t St Malo and he was
instructed t o con t inue with his preparations R oberval agreed to
take charge o f supplying the guns and ammunition but his
credit was so bad that in spite Of his titles and innumerable cas
tles he could n ot raise su ffi cient money to proceed with his part
o f the work By the first of May R oberval s war supplies had n ot
yet been delivered in St Malo King Francis fretted at the delay $
would the expedition never set sail $
But Jacques Cartier was ready $ he was blind to obstacles and
had the unbreakable will that has always sent great sea cap t ains
on their journeys over the world Hi s five ships lay waiting at St
Malo among them the G ra n d e He rm i n e and the E m e ri l l on A
group of noblemen and gentlemen who had decided to aecom
pany him were at hand and these included men Of his ow n family
whom he could t rust In his service were t wenty master pilots
one hundred and twenty sailors dressed in t he King s colors Of
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94
black and whi t e one hundred and fif t y me c hanics and soldiers
six pries t s t w o apothe c arie s and t w en t y plowmen wi t h car t s and
implemen t s L i ke a careful farmer Car t ier was pla n ning t o graft
a little of the O l d World upon t he N ew Hi s ships were s t ocked
wi t h barnyard animals : four b u lls ten pigs t wen t y horses
t wen t y cows and on e hundred goats
But it had been difficult t o Ob t ain volun t eers f or the colony
A n hones t freeman however poor he might be would no t dream
o f leaving his na t ive land f or a strange wilderness Therefore the
colonists had t o be recrui t ed from t h e prisons Murderers thieves
and prisoners of all kinds provided t hey were n o t Protestants
were given a chance t o s t ar t life again in Canada These men
w h o reached St Malo in chains were n o t of the stu ff t hat makes
good pioneers
King Francis ordered Cartier t o set sail with t he understand
ing tha t Lord de R oberval should follow shor t ly afterward wi t h
reinforcements of men and supplies R oberval went t o St Malo
and reviewed Car t ier s fleet O n the t wenty third of May 1 54 1
Jacques Car t ier weighed anchor and star t ed on his t hird offi cial
voyage across the A tlan t ic O cean Three months la t er after
terrific storms during which the anim als aboard almos t died of
thirst his five vessels met near Quebec
The fleet with which Spain had hoped t o fight all Frenchmen
bound f o r the Am ericas was never equipped O n e Spanish vessel
onl y was dispatched t o N ewfoundland but by t hen Jacques Car
t ier had disappeared u p t he St Lawrence R iver
Back on the coast o f N ormandy in nor t hern France Jean
Fran cois de La Rocque de R oberval commander in ch ief of t he
colonial enterprise became a rascally pira t e plunderin g ships
f o r t he money which he s t ill needed t o follow Cartier
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IN S EA R CH OF
K I N GD OM
THE
O F S A G UE N A Y
Five years had elapsed since the fateful day when Cartier seized
Chief D onnacona and the eight braves by trickery A l l that time
the tribe had waited for the chief and the other ca ptives to re
turn Cartier had promised to bring them back within twelve
moons But five times twelve moons had passed and when at last
the captain s ships reached Quebec none of the captives was
aboard
A gona who had been chief of the tribe during D onn a c on a s
absence came to t he ships t o greet the captain When A gona
asked about the Indians w h o had gone to France Cartier hoping
to protect his ow n men from t he vengeance Of the t ribe said
“
Some of those Indians have married and others are living in
France like grea t lords But D onnacona is dead $ his body rests in
t he earth
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longboats t o make a quick survey Of the route to the Kingdom of
Saguenay A s he would pass the village of A c h el a cy on his way
up the St Lawrence he took with him a cloak of Paris red
trim med with shin ing bells and buttons This was a present f or
the Chief of A c h el a c y who had le t his little daughter go with
Cartier t o France She had remained there when Cartier re
turned to Canada we do not know why N o r d o we know what
explanation Cartier gave her father But the chief appeared t o be
satisfied with the news he received He welcomed Cartier like a
long lost brother and agreed to take two French boys into his
tribe to learn the Indian language
A fter Cartier left A ch el a c y the records of his voyage become
more and more incomplete When he reached Montreal he suc
c ee d e d in crossin g the first rapid
the St Mary s Current by
double manning on e of his longboats Then he proceeded with
this single boat to the second rapid the Lachine which he could
not cross because the current was t oo swift and the rocks too
dangerous
A fterward he continued by foo t along a path on the R iver s
bank He me t a band of Indians and asked them h ow far the
rapids were from one another The Indians laid li t tle sticks on
the ground and indicated that the distance from t he foo t of t he
first rapid to the head o f the t hird and last was about sixteen
“
leagues or fifteen miles by land A n d the Kingdom o f Sague
“
$
nay asked Cartier Can the Kingdom be reached by water $
The Indians said tha t this was impossible and t hus denied
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Chief D on n a con a s words : The usual route t o the Kingdom Of
Saguenay is by way o f the O ttawa River
Winter was closing in on Cartier and he could reconnoi t er n o
far t her tha t year There was ano t her reason for his wishing to
leave Montreal as soon as possible : he was no longer sure Of the
Indians real feeling toward him They had appeared to be glad
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I OO
the diamonds which had been found near the Cap R ouge R iver
might make up f or the failure
He gathered together his surviving men trimmed his sails
and headed homeward He chose the shorter passage t o the A t
lantic by way o f t he sou t h coast of N ewfoundland There by
chance in St John s Harbor he met Lord de R oberval w h o had
j ust arrived with three tall ships and two hundred colonists
Lord de R oberval was strutting like a conqueror $ he wore gleam
ing armor and a plumed helmet his standard was decorated
with a cross
Cartier reported t o Lord de R oberval and showed him the
nuggets o f gold and the diamonds The sailors built a furnace
t o test the ore and the resul t s appeared to be satisfactory Then
R oberval ordered Cartier to accompany the new expedition to
Charlesbourg R oyal But Car t ier refused to d o s o because he
had not been engaged to serve indefinitely and he had already
suffered enough from the delays and i n efli c i en c y of this c om
mander Cartier gave R oberval directions for reaching Charles
bourg R oyal and afterward in the darkness Of the night slipped
away to France
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THE F A
7A
C
Q UES
ME
OF
CAR TIER
When the gold and diamonds were tested in France they
proved t o be copper and mica A saying sprang into usage : F a ls e
a s a d i a m o n d of C a n a d a and the laughter and mockery that fol
lowed brought Cartier s career as an explorer to an end Lord de
Roberval returned to France in I 5 4 3 after having failed misera
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1 05
bly both with his colony and in his attempts to find the riches Of
Saguenay Then King Francis abandoned Canada to the Indians
N o explorer ever found the fabulous riches o f the Kingdom of
Saguenay Those tales of rubies and pearls of silver and gold and
spices and of men who flew like bats had been invented by Chief
D onnacona They were somewhat like the Indian stories o f
Quivira the golden city which the Spanish explorer Coronado
had tried t o find in A rizona and N ew Mexico They were lik e the
legend told by South A merican Indians about El D orado the
golden king and the golden lake whi ch Europeans would seek
vain ly for many years to come
Between the Indian tales of fabulous riches and the Old medie
val legends which French people still loved there was little room
f o r Cartier s plain and accurate descriptions Of Canada which
were printed from his logbooks Kings and commoners alike
preferred to read the works of an author like T hevet the royal
cosmographer w h o collected fantastic stories about the A meri
cas T hevet interviewed Chief D onnacona and published much
of what the chief said n ot only about the riches in Saguenay but
also about the pygmies and on e legged men supposed to have
inh abited that ma rvelous country
A n d T hevet even after he had talked with Cartier wrote the
following description of an Isle of D emons near N ewfoundland
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T ru e it is an d I myself have hea rd it not from one b u t from a great
n u mbe r of sailo rs and pilots with whom I have ma d e many voyages that
when they passed t his way they hea rd in the a i r on the tops and abo u t
the masts a great c lamo r of men s voi c es c onfuse d and ina rti c u late s uc h
as you may hea r from the c rowd at a fai r or ma rket pla c e
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Probably Th eve t s most amazing creation was a map
world which he drew in the shape of a fleur de lis
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1 06
of
the
N ot
until the early seventeenth century did France begin to
appreciate Cartier s colonial plan Then in 1 60 8 another
Frenchman Samuel Champlain set sail f o r Canada and founded
a permanen t settlement at Quebec not far from the site o f Chief
D onn a c on a s former village Later other settlements sprang up
on the banks and the islands of the R iver A n d from these settle
ments went hunters trappers traders and brave and saintly
priests who carried a new civilization into t he wilderness that
Cartier had discovered
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