USA > Maine > A history of the discovery of Maine > Part 28
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West of these Bird Rocks there was another island, about two leagues long, and one league broad ; which, according to this description, must have been the present " Byron Island;" and then another, which was large, full of beautiful trees, woods, pleasant meadows covered with spring flowers, and
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having large fertile tracts of land, interspersed with great swamps. Along its shores were many sea-monsters with two large tusks in the mouth, like elephants ; and the forests were thronged with bears and wolves. This island was four leagues from the continent, and was named in honor of the admiral of France, who had favored this expedition, " Isle de Brion." According to this description, " Brion's Island " must be our large " Prince Edward Island," though the name " Isle de Brion," on some old maps, is given to a small islet, which we now call " Byron Island."
Regarding this Brion's Island, Cartier makes the following remark : " According to what I understand," he says, "I must think that there is some passage between the island of Brion and Newfoundland ; and if this passage should be found navigable, it would shorten the voyage a great deal." From this remark it would appear, that in 1534 Cartier was not acquainted with the broad passage by which the Gulf of St. Lawrence is now commonly entered.
Cartier sailed along the north coast of Isle de Brion, giving now and then a name to some cape or island ; for instance, "Cap d'Orleans" and " Isle Alezay," names which are still found on old maps, and which appear to have been placed near the "North Point" of Prince Edward Island. Thence he went over to the continent, entering a bay, which, from the great number of canoes filled with Indians which he saw there, he named " la baye des Barques ; " and another triangular gulf, in 47º N., which he named "the Gulf of Santo Lunario" (the present Miramichi Bay). "He hoped here to find a passage like the strait of the Chateaux " (Belle Isle ), and therefore named one of the capes of the bay, " the Cape of Hope." All the country round was covered with thick forests and green meadows.
In the same hope " of finding a passage," Cartier entered
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another deep inlet on the north. He sailed into it for more than twenty-five leagues, found it to be a beautiful bay and country, but discovered no opening in the west. As it was now carly in the month of July, he suffered much from heat ; thought the region to be hotter than Spain ; and there- fore called it "La Baye des Chaleurs " (the bay of heat), a name which has remained to the present time.
Having convinced himself that this inlet was land-locked, he left it, sailing along the coast of the great peninsula, which afterwards was called "la Gaspesic," to the north-east and north, and arrived at another opening, where he searched in vain to find a passage, and which afterwards was called "Gaspé Bay." Here he was detained for some time by bad weather and contrary winds, and was at leisure to deal with the Indians of the place, who assembled in great numbers around his vessels. Here, also, quite near to the mouth of the great river of Canada, he formally, in the name of his king, took possession of the country, erecting on a prominent headland a large cross, with the inscription " Vive le Roy de France," which, in presence of the assembled aborigines. he consecrated and venerated, making the ceremony as solemn and imposing as possible.
On the 25th of July, "having a great wind," he left Gaspé Bay, taking two Indians with him, and sailed toward the north-east. He was now in the midst of that broad chan- nel between the island of Anticosti and the peninsula of Gaspésie, which shows open water at the west and east, and which forms the principal entrance of the great river St. Lawrence. One would think, at the present time, that Cartier would readily have discovered this wide channel. and would have sailed at once to the west, where lay before him the open passage, for which he had searched in vain every little bay on the coast of New Brunswick. But to our aston-
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ishment he failed to do this ; and, sighting the island of Anti- costi, directed his course northerly to it, and sailed along its coast in an easterly direction. Why he did so does not ap- pear from his journal, nor is any reason given for his course ; though it is easy to conjecture, that the open west was cov- ered with fogs, or that he was driven eastward by stress of weather. He soon reached the eastern end of the island, which, from the Saint of the day, he called " Cap de St. Alovise," now "East Point;" observing at the same time that it stood in 49° 30' N. He rounded it, and proceeded along the north coast of Anticosti, "sailing in a north-western direction." He extended his voyage to 50º N., and came in sight of the south coast of Labrador, where he perceived that the channel between the two coasts became more narrow. He went over to the northern side, and again to the southern, to see whether it was a channel or a gulf. Though he had con- trary winds, great waves, currents, and a high tide against him, and though he was in the narrowest place of the strait, among dangerous rocks (probably the so-called Mingan Islands), still he succeeded in advancing so far westward, that he could see the country (Anticosti) turn and fall off to the south-west. Here he must have observed, what he was so eager to find, open water to the west. But now his men and his means were exhausted. He saw the beginning of a great, pro- tracted, and perhaps difficult undertaking, the introduction to a series of discoveries. The season was already far advanced for these northern regions ; for it was in the month of August. So he assembled a council of all his officers, masters, and pilots, and it was concluded to return to France, to obtain a new outfit for another attempt.
Cartier called the narrow strait which terminated this voyage, "le detroit de St. Pierre " (St. Peter's channel). He had sounded it in many places, and found it to be very
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deep, sixty, a hundred, and even a hundred and fifty fathoms ; and therefore, perhaps, he supposed it to be, not a river's mouth, but a sea-channel, a passage from the Atlantic to the western sea of Verrazano. Nowhere in his journal does he say that he expected to find, or that he had as yet heard, of a great river. He always declares his desire to find a passage to the west.
On his homeward voyage he sailed at first along the south- ern coast of Labrador, toward the Strait of Belle Isle, which he had entered in May. On the Labrador coast, he touched at a place which he named "Cap Tiennot" (or Tieno), a very prominent headland, afterwards often mentioned, and now called Cape Montjoli. And, after a quick and prosperous passage over the ocean, he arrived at St. Malo on the 5th of September of the same year.
2. SECOND VOYAGE OF JACQUES CARTIER TO THE GULF AND RIVER OF ST. LAWRENCE, IN 1535.
The report of Cartier, made soon after his return, to the admiral and the king, of the fine-looking coasts, and a strait promising to lead to new regions in the west, was very favor- ably received. And on the 30th of October, 1534, the ad- miral gave him, in the name of the king, a new commission, by which were placed under his command three well-equip- ped vessels, victualled for fifteen months for a new voyage to the north-west, " to complete the discovery beyond the New- foundlands, already commenced " (la navigation ja commencée à descouvrir oultre les Terres Neufves).
Having everything in readiness, and having received the benediction of the bishop of St. Malo, Cartier left this port on the 19th of May, 1535, with his three ships .* He took
* The report of this second voyage of Cartier is preserved in an Italian translation by Ramusio, in his third volume, folio 441, Venetia, 1556. The
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with him many expert pilots and sailors of St. Malo, and several enterprising gentlemen and noblemen of Brittany, all under his command. In crossing the ocean this time he had much bad weather, and arrived late, July .7th, on the east coast of Newfoundland.
He entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, as on his first voy- age, through the Strait of Belle Isle, and coasting along the southern part of Labrador, he arrived early in August, at that strait, which he had before called "St. Peter's chan- nel " (the present Canadian channel), not far east of the termination of his former voyage. On the 10th of Au- gust, the day of Saint Lawrence, he entered a little port on the northern shore, to which he gave the name "Bay of St. Lawrence." This name has disappeared from that place, which is now called " St. John's river," and was after- wards applied, we cannot say how or when, to the whole great river of Canada, at the mouth of which this little bay was situated. This extension of the name "St. Lawrence," must soon have been introduced and become general ; for the Spanish historian, Gomara, in his work published in 1553, applies the name "San Lorenco" to the entire river and gulf.
At the Bay of St. Lawrence, Cartier, seeing unknown waters before him, examined the two Indians whom he had taken at Gaspé Bay on his first voyage, and carried to France. They told him, that the water to the west was only the mouth of a large river, which, by degrees, grew more and
French original of this report had previously been printed in France in 1545. But so little attention had been paid to this interesting publica- tion, that the whole edition was soon dispersed and lost, and there remains but one copy, which is preserved in the British Museum. In 1864, the li- brarian Tross, in Paris, published a new edition of the French original of this report, under the direction of, and with an introduction by, the distin- guished French geographer, M. D'Avezac.
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more narrow, and was called "the river of Hochelaga ;" that at a place called " Canada," it was very narrow, with water quite pure ; and that at a greater distance, only small boats could pass on it. Cartier appears not to have cared so much for a fresh-water river, as for a salt-water channel, and he therefore went first over to the southern coast, called by the Indians " Honguedo," afterwards named " la Gaspésie," to find a passage, but seeing none, he returned to Port St. Lawrence, searching carefully the northern coast, in hope of finding a north-west passage there. He had seen in St. Peter's channel a great number of whales ; and thus was confirmed in his opinion, that there must be, somewhere in that direction, a hidden salt-water passage from one ocean to the other.
Having found no passage, he shaped his course west and south-west directly into the mouth of that inlet, which the Indians called a fresh-water river. Having now ascertained that the country which the Indians called " Natiscotec " was a large island, he gave to it the name " l'isle de l'assomption " (Assumption Island), which has been since changed to the original Indian name "Natiscotec;" by Europeans pro- nounced and written, with a transposition of its letters, Anti- costi.
The first remarkable object which Cartier discovered in sailing along the northern shore of the great river of Hoche- laga, was the mouth of another river, coming down from a country west-north-west, of which the two Indians had spok- en to him, under the name of " the river and country of Sague- nay." Cartier explored the mouth of this river, and, sounding, found it extremely deep, " more than a hundred fathoms." This observation afterwards gave rise to the opinion enter- tained for a long time by many geographers, that this " Sague- nay " was not a river, but a passage conducting to a northern
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sea. The remarkable and beautiful river Saguenay has pre- served its ancient and original name to the present day.
At some distance south-west of the Saguenay, Cartier came to an island, which he named " Isle aux Coudres " (Hazel Island), which still retains this name ; and at a further dis- tance, another larger island, extremely pleasant, covered with fine woods of all sorts, and abundance of vines. From this circumstance Cartier called this island " Isle de Bacchus," which name was afterwards changed by him to " Isle d'Or- léans." "Near this island the country of Canada begins."
From these last-named islands, the north-western bound- ary line of the State of Maine is only about ten leagues dis- tant, and Cartier may have seen, on this part of his sail, from some elevation near the shore, some of its. blue hills in the southern horizon ; and if so, it was the first instance in which this State had been seen from the interior by any European.
The principal events and transactions of this voyage oc- curred in the vicinity of the Isle of Bacchus, where the St. Lawrence, from a broad estuary, contracts its channel to a river, near the locality where afterwards was founded Que- bec, the capital of New France,-that critical position, in which the fate of the country was afterwards so often de- cided. Cartier found in this important geographical position a village "Stadacone," the residence of a powerful Indian chief, Donnacona, who made carnest efforts to dissuade him from ascending the river any further, saying, that he would find nothing there worth his while, and that the navigation was very dangerous. Cartier took no notice of these objec- tions, which were accompanied by threats and other marks of ill will. He astonished and silenced his Indian friends with the thunder of his cannon ; and putting the two largest vessels of his fleet in a safe harbor near Bacchus Island, called by him the Port of the Holy Cross, began to ascend
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the river with the smallest of his ships, " I'Emerillon," which had been purposely prepared in France for navigating in shoal water. He took with him all his young gentlemen, and fifty mariners, and, on the 19th of September, left behind his har- bor and his two ships.
He ascended this splendid river, admiring its magnificent scenery, its broad deep channel of clear water, the elevated banks on both sides, covered with gracefully grouped trees of various sorts, richly embellished everywhere with vines, and enlivened by beautiful birds. Here and there he found a vil- lage or fishing-station of Indians, who were all very peaceful, and saluted the party with eloquent speeches. On the 28th of September he arrived at a lake where the water became so shallow, that they were obliged to leave their ship safely an- chored in port.
Cartier then in two small boats crossed the lake, called by him " lac d'Angoulême " (now St. Peter's Lake), and ar- rived on the 19th of October at the Indian village of " Ho- chelaga," of which his two Indians had spoken so highly. Ile found this place well peopled with Indians, with whom he held daily friendly intercourse by speeches and festivals. Hochielaga, the residence of an Indian chief, was pleasantly situated at the foot of a mountain at some distance from the river. Cartier with his party ascended this mountain, and enjoyed the beautiful view of the surrounding country, spread out widely before them. He discovered distant mountain ranges, north and south ; saw his great river running far to the west, and observed the rapids near by, which seemed to put an end, at this point, to further navigation.
Thinking that " Hochelaga" was the most convenient place for the capital of the French province to be established, he gave to it the Christian name, " Mount Royal." Thus Car- tier had now discovered and designated, and held under his
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command. the three principal geographical positions of Cana- da. Quebec. Montreal, and the central locality of St. Peter's Lake. But as now the favorable season was coming to an end, he resolved to return, collect all his scattered forces, and put them safely into winter-quarters.
He arrived, with his company in the ship l'Emerillon, early in November at his harbor of the " Holy Cross," where his two large vessels lay at anchor. During his absence, his mari- ners and soldiers had built a fort and sheds. Here he passed the winter of 1535-6 in the midst of ice and snow; much troubled and distressed by a sickness among his crew, proba- bly the scurvy, which carried off twenty-five of his men. He would have lost still more if the friendly Indians had not checked the disease, by preparing for the sick a won- derfully wholesome remedy, a decoction from the leaves and bark of a certain medicinal tree (ameda), with the virtues and uses of which they were familiar. This was the first time that history had witnessed a modern European explorer win- tering in these northern regions of America.
These friendly Indians were a great comfort to Cartier and his men ; and, always having amicable intercourse with them, he gained from their conversation much valuable information about the nature of the surrounding regions and their rela- tive position. " They informed him that from the place where he had left his ship in going to Hochelaga, " there is a river that goeth toward the south-west,"-our present Riche- lieu, -(y a vne riuere q va vers le Surouaist), * a country in which snow and ice never appeared, and where many delicate southern fruits were found; but in which the inhabitants were continually at war among themselves. They referred, no doubt, to the line of navigation formed by Lake Champlain
* Bref Recit de la Navigation faite par J. Cartier, p. 34. Paris, Librarie Tross, 1863.
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and Hudson River, and to the country of the warlike Five Nations. Cartier " thought that this was the way to Florida."
But the Indians spoke in still higher terms of the " coun- try of Saguenay," of which they gave a very extraordinary report. They said, that though the river of Saguenay had its origin in this country, and derived its name from it, yet the best and most direct way to it was by the great river Hochelaga, and then by another confluent river, which also had its origin in the country of Saguenay. This undoubt- edly referred to the Ottawa River. There, they said, were three large lakes, and also a sea of fresh-water of which no person had ever seen the end. Many wealthy nations were settled there, of a white color, clothed like the French, and possessing gold and copper. What Cartier thought of this report he does not state. He probably supposed that these lakes were the sea of Verrazano, and these nations, some of the cultivated nations of Eastern Asia. Is it possible that these Indians of Canada had heard of the Spaniards, who, some years previous, under Narvaez and Cabeça de Vacca, had been on the Lower Mississippi ?
Those of Canada said also "that it was from Hochelaga (Montreal), a navigation of one month, to a country where they gathered cinnamon and cloves " (cinamomo ed il garo- fano) .* Some stories, told by the old Indians, of men in distant lands with only one leg, and of others who did not eat, Cartier, of course, regarded as idle fables.
With respect to the neighboring territory of the State of Maine, and other parts of New England, we find no particu- lar information or allusion in Cartier's report. He repre- sents, however, his friend Donnacona, the chief of " Canada " or "Stadacona " (Quebec), as a great king, and speaks of all the Indian tribes as far down as the Saguenay and beyond,
* See notice of Cartier's voyage in Ramnusio, vol. 3, fol. 453.
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as his subjects. It is therefore possible that the native inhab- itants of the northern part of Maine may have been under his government, and that among the numerous Indians, who gathered at Cartier's winter station near Quebec, there were Indians from the forests of Maine, by whom, on their return, the news of the French and their presents would be spread from one settlement to another.
Donnacona, this powerful and hospitable chief, and some of his subjects, were seized by Cartier in a treacherous manner, and kept on board his ship ; as he was desirous of having some principal person of the new country to present to his king. He quieted the chief's alarmed subjects by assuring them, that he would be well treated and much honored on the otli- er side of the water; that he should be brought back in a year ; and by adding to these assurances trifling presents of European trinkets.
He left his harbor of the Holy Cross, May 6, 1536, with two of his vessels, having abandoned and destroyed one, which, from losses among his crew, he was not able to man. On his passage home, he made useful some discoveries, which enabled him to point out a shorter route from France to Can- ada. One of these discoveries was the broad channel on the south side of the island of Auticosti. This he had not before explored, and doubted whether it was a gulf or an open passage.
Ile also now avoided the longer northern route through the strait of Belle Isle, and passed from the gulf through the broad southern opening between Cape Breton and Newfound- land. And what seems incredible is, that he should not have known the existence of this channel in his former voyages. but should have considered it, at this time, as a new discov- ery. He mentions no old names in this region, but gives ev- erywhere " new names ; " for instance, to the most northern
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headland of Cape Breton the name "St. Paul," which is now called " North Point." He sailed along the southern coast of Newfoundland, touched at St. Peter's Island, where he met " many ships from France and Brittany," and passed Cape Race on the 19th of June.
Thus Cartier was the first explorer who completed the cir- cumnavigation of Newfoundland, and saw all its coasts. It had been regarded by Cortereal and others as continental, and so depicted on their maps. It is true, however, that some others before Cartier had called it " an isle ;" not be- cause they had proved it to be such, but because it was very natural in an age of discovery, to consider new countries as islands, until the contrary had been proved.
On the 16th of July 1536, Cartier, with his two ships, safely arrived in the port of St. Malo.
3. THE VOYAGE OF MASTER HORE, AND OTHER ENGLISHIMEN, TO CAPE BRETON AND NEWFOUNDLAND, IN 1536.
At the time when the French, under Cartier, undertook their first explorations of the River St. Lawrence, there was in London a certain " Master Hore, a man of great courage, and given to the studie of cosmographie," who took up the old project of the Cabots to discover a passage to the west in the northern parts of America. Perhaps his " study of cosmography " had convinced him, as Cabot had before been convinced by his knowledge of the globe, that the northern route to the East Indies, if open water could there be found, would be shorter than the usual route by the Cape of Good Hope.
Master Hore encouraged and persuaded "divers gentle- men of the Innes of court and of the Chancerie, desirous to see the strange things of the world," to associate themselves
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with him " for a voyage of discoverie upon the north-east parts of America." Many willingly engaged with him, and Henry VIII. favored and assisted the enterprise with his ap- probation.
These persons were probably stimulated to this " action " by the great and successful voyage of their French neigh- bors under Cartier, the rumor of which must have spread through England, and have excited there that emulation which has always been felt toward each other by these rival coun- tries.
Two ships, the " Trinitie " and the " Minion," were manned " with about six-score persons," whereof not less than thirty were gentlemen "fond of sport." " It was," as a modern author remarks,* " a characteristically English undertaking." Master Hore, probably taking the command of the two ves- sels, embarked in the Trinity, which was " the admiral." Amongst others, he had with him "a very learned and vir- tuous gentleman, Armigil Wade." t
The two ships sailed near the end of April, 1536, toward the north-west. They were very long at sea, more than two months, and at last " came to a part of the West Indies about . Cape Breton, shaping their course thence to Newfoundland," and along its coast toward the north. How far they went, is nowhere stated. But that they advanced a considerable distance in that direction, and contended a long time with the ice in Davis' Strait, is probable from the fact, that on
* Dr. Asher, in his "Henry Hudson," p. xcv. London, 1860. t All our original information on this interesting voyage was gathered and published by the indefatigable Richard Hakluyt. In his time some of the gentlemen, who had accompanied Master Hore, were still living. Bakluyt visited as many as he could find, and once rode not less than two hundred miles to meet one of them, "to learn the whole truth of that voyage." After these inquiries, he wrote the report, to be found in his work, "The principal navigations," etc., p. 517. London, 1580.
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