The Conquest of Canada, Vol. 1. George Warburton
Florida; thence he steered northward in search of the long-hoped-for passage to India, till he reached Cape Race, on the south-eastern extremity of Newfoundland. The further details of his voyage remain unknown, but there is reason to suppose that he entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and traded upon its shores. An ancient Castilian tradition existed that the Spaniards visited these coasts before the French, and having perceived no appearance of mines or riches, they exclaimed frequently, "Aca nada;"64 the natives caught up the sound, and when other Europeans arrived, repeated it to them. The strangers concluded that these words were a designation, and from that time this magnificent country bore the name of Canada.65
CHAPTER II
In the year 1534, Philip Chabot, admiral of France, urged the king to establish a colony in the New World,66 by representing to him in glowing colors the great riches and power derived by the Spaniards from their transatlantic possessions. Francis I., alive to the importance of the design, soon agreed to carry it out. Jacques Cartier, an experienced navigator of St. Malo, was recommended by the admiral to be intrusted with the expedition, and was approved of by the king. On the 20th of April, 1534, Cartier sailed from St. Malo with two ships of only sixty tons burden each, and one hundred and twenty men for their crews:67 he directed his course westward, inclining rather to the north; the winds proved so favorable, that on the twentieth day of the voyage he made Cape Bonavista, in Newfoundland. But the harbors of that dreary country were still locked up in the winter's ice, forbidding the approach of shipping: he then bent to the southeast, and at length found anchorage at St. Catharine, six degrees lower in latitude. Having remained here ten days, he again turned to the north, and on the 21st of May reached Bird Island, fourteen leagues from the coast.
Jacques Cartier examined all the northern shores of Newfoundland, without having ascertained that it was an island, and then passed southward through the Straits of Belleisle. The country appeared every where the same bleak and inhospitable wilderness;68 but the harbors were numerous, convenient, and abounding in fish. He describes the natives as well-proportioned men, wearing their hair tied up over their heads like bundles of hay, quaintly interlaced with birds' feathers.69 Changing his course still more to the south, he then traversed the Gulf of St. Lawrence, approached the main-land, and on the 9th of July entered a deep bay; from the intense heat experienced there, he named it the "Baye de Chaleurs." The beauty of the country, and the kindness and hospitality of his reception, alike charmed him; he carried on a little trade with the friendly savages, exchanging European goods for their furs and provisions.
Leaving this bay, Jacques Cartier visited a considerable extent of the gulf coast; on the 24th of July he erected a cross thirty feet high, with a shield bearing the fleurs-de-lys of France, on the shore of Gaspé Bay.70 Having thus taken possession71 of the country for his king in the usual manner of those days, he sailed, the 25th of July, on his homeward voyage: at this place two of the natives were seized by stratagem, carried on board the ships, and borne away to France. Cartier coasted along the northern shores of the Gulf till the 15th of August, and even entered the mouth of the River St. Lawrence, but the weather becoming stormy, he determined to delay his departure no longer: he passed again through the Straits of Belleisle, and arrived at St. Malo on the 5th of September, 1534, contented with his success, and full of hope for the future.
Jacques Cartier was received with the consideration due to the importance of his report. The court at once perceived the advantage of an establishment in this part of America, and resolved to take steps for its foundation. Charles de Moncy, Sieur de la Mailleraye, vice-admiral of France, was the most active patron of the undertaking; through his influence Cartier obtained a more effective force, and a new commission, with ampler powers than before. When the preparations for the voyage were completed, the adventurers all assembled in the Cathedral of St. Malo, on Whitsunday, 1535, by the command of their pious leader; the bishop then gave them a solemn benediction, with all the imposing ceremonials of the Romish Church.
On the 19th of May Jacques Cartier embarked, and started on his voyage with fair wind and weather. The fleet consisted of three small ships, the largest being only one hundred and twenty tons burden. Many adventurers and young men of good family accompanied the expedition as volunteers. On the morrow the wind became adverse, and rose to a storm; the heavens lowered over the tempestuous sea; for more than a month the utmost skill of the mariners could only enable them to keep their ships afloat, while tossed about at the mercy of the waves. The little fleet was dispersed on the 25th of June: each vessel then made for the coast of Newfoundland as it best might. The general's vessel, as that of Cartier was called, was the first to gain the land, on the 7th of July, and there awaited her consorts; but they did not arrive till the 26th of the month. Having taken in supplies of fuel and water, they sailed in company to explore the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A violent storm arose on the 1st of August, forcing them to seek shelter. They happily found a port on the north shore, at the entrance of the Great River, where, though difficult of access, there was a safe anchorage. Jacques Cartier called it St. Nicolas, and it is now almost the only place still bearing the name he gave. They left their harbor on the 7th, coasting westward along the north shore, and on the 10th came to a gulf filled with numerous and beautiful islands.72 Cartier gave this gulf the name of St. Lawrence, having discovered it on that saint's festival day.73
On the 15th of August they reached a long, rocky island toward the south, which Cartier named L'Isle de l'Assumption, now called Anticosti.74 Thence they continued their course, examining carefully both shores of the Great River,75 and occasionally holding communication with the inhabitants, till, on the 1st of September, they entered the mouth of the deep and gloomy Saguenay. The entrance of this great tributary was all they had leisure to survey; but the huge rocks, dense forests, and vast body of water, forming a scene of somber magnificence such as had never before met their view, inspired them with an exalted idea of the country they had discovered. Still passing to the southwest up the St. Lawrence, on the 6th they reached an island abounding in delicious filberts, and on that account named by the voyagers Isle aux Coudres. Cartier, being now so far advanced into an unknown country, looked out anxiously for a port where his vessels might winter in safety. He pursued his voyage till he came upon another island, of great extent, fertility, and beauty, covered with woods and thick, clustering vines. This he named Isle de Bacchus:76 it is now called Orleans. On the 7th of September, Donnacona, the chief of the country,77 came with twelve canoes filled by his train, to hold converse with the strangers, whose ships lay at anchor between the island and the north shore of the Great River. The Indian chief approached the smallest of the ships with only two canoes, fearful of causing alarm, and began an oration, accompanied with strange and uncouth gestures. After a time he conversed with the Indians who had been seized on the former voyage, and now acted as interpreters. He heard from them of their wonderful visit to the great nation over the salt lake, of the wisdom and power of the white men, and of the kind treatment they had received among the strangers. Donnacona appeared moved with deep respect and admiration; he took Jacques Cartier's arm and placed it gently over his own bended neck, in token of confidence and regard. The admiral cordially returned these friendly demonstrations. He entered the Indian's canoe, and presented bread and wine, which they ate and drank together. They then parted in all amity.
After this happy interview, Jacques Cartier, with his boats, pushed up the north shore against the stream, till he reached a spot where a little river flowed into a "goodly and pleasant sound," forming a convenient haven.78 He moored his vessels here for the winter on the 16th of September, and gave the name of St. Croix to the stream, in honor of the day on which he first entered its waters; Donnacona, accompanied by a train of five hundred Indians, came to welcome his arrival with
Signifying "here is nothing." The insatiable thirst of the Spanish discoverers for gold is justified by the greatest of all discoverers, the disinterested Columbus himself, on high religious principles. When acquainting their Castilian majesties with the abundance of gold[ The historian Herrera, writing in the light of experience, makes use of the strong expression, that "mines were a lure devised by the evil spirit to draw the Spaniards on to destruction." "L'Espagne," says Montesquieu, "a fait comme ce roi insensé, qui demanda que tout ce qu'il toucheroit se convertit en or, et qui fut obligé de revenir aux Dieux, pour les prier de finir sa misère."—
"Les mines du Pérou et du Mexique ne valoient pas même pour l'Espagne ce qu'elle auroit tire du son propre fonds en los cultivant. Avec tant de trésors Philippe II. fit banqueroute."—Millot. "Pâturage et labourage," said the wise Sully, "valent mieux que tout l'or du Pérou."] to be procured in the newly-found countries, he thus speaks, "El oro es excelentisimo, del oro se hace tesoro; y con el quien lo tiene hace quanto quiere en el mundo, y elega a que echa las animas al paraiso." (Navarrete,
Father Hennepin asserts that the Spaniards were the first discoverers of Canada, and that, finding nothing there to gratify their extensive desires for gold, they bestowed upon it the appellation of El Capo di Nada, "Cape Nothing," whence, by corruption, its present name.—
La Potherie gives the same derivation.
Duponçeau, in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, founds his conjecture of the Indian origin of the name of Canada upon the fact that, in the translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into the Mohawk tongue, made by Brandt, the Indian chief, the word Canada is always used to signify a village. The mistake of the early discoverers, in taking the name of a part for that of the whole, is very pardonable in persons ignorant of the Indian language. It is highly improbable that at the period of its discovery the name of Canada was extended over this immense country. The migratory habits of the aborigines are alone conclusive against it. They distinguished themselves by their different tribes, not by the country over which they hunted and rode at will. They more probably gave names to localities than adopted their own from any fixed place of residence. The Iroquois and the Ottawas conferred their appellations on the rivers that ran through their hunting grounds, and the Huron tribe gave theirs to the vast lake now bearing their name. It has, however, never been pretended that any Indian tribe bore the name of Canada, and the natural conclusion therefore is, that the word "Canada" was a mere local appellation, without reference to the country; that each tribe had their own "Canada," or collection of huts, which shifted its position according to their migrations.
Dr. Douglas, in his "American History," pretends that Canada derives its name from Monsieur Kane or Cane, whom he advances to have been the first adventurer in the River St. Lawrence.—Knox's
Hist. de la Nouvelle France, par le Père Charlevoix, de la Compagnie de Jésus, vol. i., p. 11; Fastes Chronologiques, 1534.
Prima Relatione de Jacques Cartier della Terra Nouva, detta la Nouva Francia, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 435.
"Se la terra fosse cosi buono; come vi sono buoni porti, sarebbe un gran bene, ma ella non si debba chiamar Terra Nouva, anzi sassi e grebani salvatichi, e proprij luoghi da fiere, per ciò che in tutto l'isola di Tramontana—[translated by Hakluyt "the northern part of the island"]—io non vidi tanta terra che se ne potesse coricar un carro, e vi smontai in parecchi luoghi, e all' isola di Bianco Sabbione non v'è altro che musco, e piccioli spini dispersi, secchi, e morti, e in somma io penso che questa sia la terra che Iddio dette a Caino."—J. Cartier, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 436.
The journal of the first two voyages of Cartier is preserved almost entire in the "Histoire de la Nouvelle France," by L'Escarbot; there is an Italian translation in the third volume of Ramusio. They are written in the third person, and it does not appear that he was himself the author.
"Sono uomini d'assai bella vita e grandezza ma indomiti e salvatichi: portano i capelli in cuna legati e stretti a guisa d'un pugno di fieno rivolto, mettendone in mezzo un legnetto, o altra cosa in vece di chiodo, e vi legano insieme certe penne d'uccelli."—J. Cartier, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 436.
De Laët., vol. i., p. 58.
This was ingeniously represented to the natives as a religious ceremony, and, as such, excited nothing but the "grandissima ammirazione" of the natives present; it was, however, differently understood by their chief. "Ma essendo noi ritornati allé nostra navi, venne il Capitano lor vestito d'im pella vecchia d'orso negro in una barca con tre suoi figliuoli, e ci fece un lungo sermone mostrandaci detta croce e facendo il segno della croce con due dita poi ci mostrava la terra tutta intorno di noi come s'avesse voluto dice che tutta era sua, e che noi non dovevamo piantar detta croce senza sua licenza."—J. Cartier, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 439.
"Trovavamo un molto bello e gran golfo pieno d'isole e buone entrate e passaggi, verso qual vento si possa fare."—J. Cartier, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 441.
"Carthier donna au golphe le nom de St. Laurent, ou plutôt il le donna à une baye qui est entre l'isle d'Anticoste et la côte septentrionale, d'où ce nom s'est étendu à tout le golphe dont cette baye fait partie."—
"Des sauvages l'appelloient Natiscotec, le nom d'Anticosti paraît lui avoir été donné par les Anglais."—Charlevoix, tom. i., p. 16. This island is one hundred and twenty-five miles long, and in its widest part thirty miles, dividing the River St. Lawrence into two channels. Throughout its whole extent it has neither bay nor harbor sufficiently safe to shelter ships. It is uncultivated, being generally of an unprofitable soil, upon which any attempted improvements have met with very unpromising results. Since the year 1809, establishments have been formed on the island for the relief of shipwrecked persons; two men reside there, at two different stations, all the year round, furnished with provisions for the use of those who may have the misfortune to need them. Boards are placed in different parts describing the distance and direction to these friendly spots; instances of the most flagrant inattention have, however, occurred, which were attended with the most distressing and fatal consequences."—Bonchette, vol. i., p. 169.
"At present the whole island might be purchased for a few hundred pounds. It belongs to some gentlemen in Quebec; and you might, for a very small sum, become one of the greatest land-owners in the world, and a Canadian
This is the first discovery of the River St. Lawrence, called by the natives the River Hochelaga, or the River of Canada. Jacques Cartier accurately determined the breadth of its mouth ninety miles across. Cape Rosier, a small distance to the north of the point of Gaspé, is properly the place which marks the opening of the gigantic river. "V'è tra le terre d'ostro e quelle di tramontana la distantia di trenta leghe in circa, e più di dugento braccia di fondo. Ci dissero anche i detti salvatichi e certificarono quivi essere il cammino e principio del gran fiume di Hochelaga e strada di Canada."—J. Cartier, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 442.
J. Cartier always afterward speaks of the St. Lawrence as the River of Hochelaga, or Canada. Charlevoix says, "Parceque le fleuve qu'on appelloit auparavant la Rivière de Canada se décharge dans le Golphe de St. Laurent, il a insensiblement pris le nom de Fleuve de St. Laurent, qu'il porte aujourd'hui (1720)."
"Lorsque Jacques Carthier découvrit cette île, il la trouva toute remplie de vignes, et la nomma l'Île de Bacchus. Ce navigateur était Bréton, après lui sont venus des Normands qui ont arraché les vignes et à Bacchus ont substituté Pomone et Cérès. En effet elle produit de bon froment et d'excellent fruits."—
Charlevoix also mentions that, when he visited the islands in 1720, the inhabitants were famed for their skill in sorcery, and were supposed to hold intercourse with the devil!
The Isle of Orleans was, in 1676, created an earldom, by the title of St. Laurent, which, however, has long been extinct. The first Comte de St. Laurent was of the name of Berthelot.—Charlevoix, vol. v., p. 99.
"Il signor de Canada (chiamato Donnacona per nome, ma per signore il chiamano Agouhanna)."—J. Cartier, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 442. Agouhanna signified chief or lord.
Here, says Jacques Cartier, begins the country of Canada. "Il settimo giorno di detto mese la vigilia della Madonna, dopo udita la messa ci partimmo dall' isola de' nocellari per andar all'insu di detta fiume, e arrivamo a quattordici isole distanti dall' isola de Nocellari intorno setto in otto leghe, e quivi è il principio della provincia, e terra di Canada."—J. Cartier, in Ramusio, tom. iii., p. 442.
The writer of these pages adds the testimony of an eye-witness to the opinion of the ingenious author of the "Picture of Quebec," as to the localities here described. The old writers, even Charlevoix himself, have asserted that the "Port St. Croix was at the entrance of the river now called Jacques Cartier, which flows into the St. Lawrence about fifteen miles above Quebec." Charlevoix, indeed, mentions that "Champlain prétend que cette rivière est celle de St. Charles, mais," he adds, "il se trompe," &c. However, the localities are still unchanged; though three centuries have since elapsed, the description of Jacques Cartier is easily recognized at the present day, and marks out the mouth of the little River St. Charles[ It received this name, according to La Potherie, in compliment to Charles des Boües, grand vicar of Pontoise, founder of the first mission of Recollets in New France. The River St. Charles was called Coubal Coubat by the natives, from its windings and meanderings.—Smith's
The exact spot in the River St. Charles where the French passed the winter is supposed, on good authority, to have been the site of the old bridge, called Dorchester Bridge, where there is a ford at low water, close to the Marine Hospital. That it was on the east bank, not far from the residence of Charles Smith, Esq., is evident from the river having been frequently crossed by the natives coming from Stadacona to visit the French.—