his homeward voyage he noticed the Gulf and then turned northward, examining the Stream. This was the last voyage from England made by Sebastian Cabot. On the death of Henry VII., he took service with Ferdinand of Spain, and under him and his grandson, Charles V., he made many voyages, and was for nearly sixty years the foremost man in Europe in maritime enterprises. A Renowned Explorer. He explored the eastern coast of South America, and in his efforts to find the northwest passage sailed within twenty degrees of the North Pole, and explored the eastern coast of North America from Hudson's Straits to Albemarle Sound. He was in He was in many things one of the most remarkable men of his day, and besides his own discoveries contributed generously by his advice and encouragement to those of others. "He gave England a continent, and no one knows his burial place." The English made no effort to take advantage of the discoveries of the Cabots. They sent a few vessels every year to fish on the banks of Newfoundland, but pursued even this industry without vigor. The other nations were more energetic, and showed a keener appreciation of the value of the new lands. The French were especially active in this respect. Their vessels engaged in the fisheries far outnumbered those of the English, and many plans were proposed in France for the colonization of those regions. In 1523 Francis I. employed a Florentine named John Verrazzani, an experienced navigator, to undertake the discovery of a northwest passage to India. Verrazzani sailed on the seventeenth of January, 1524, and, after a stormy voyage of fifty days, reached the American coast in the latitude of Wilmington, North Carolina. Failing to find a good harbor, he sailed southward for 150 miles, coast as he proceeded on his journey. An Earthly Paradise. Verrazzani was surprised and delighted by the appearance of the new country and its inhabitants. The latter welcomed with hos pitality the strangers whom they had not yet learned to fear, and the Europeans, on their part, regarded with wonder the "russet"colored natives in their dress of skins ornamented with feathers. Judging from the accounts which they carried to Europe, the voyagers regarded the country as a sort of terrestrial paradise. Their imagination could not conceive of more delightful fields and forests; the groves spreading perfumes far from the shore, gave promise of the spices of the East; and the color of the earth argued an abundance of gold." The harbors of New York and Newport were carefully explored, and in the latter the voyagers remained fifteen days. They then proceeded along the New England coast to Nova Scotia, and still farther to the north. They found the natives here less friendly than those farther south. A Portuguese commander, Gaspar Cortereal, had visited their coast a few years before, and had carried away some of their number and sold them into slavery. Returning to France, Verrazzani published an account of his voyage. This narrative forms the earliest original description now in existence of the American coast, and added very much to the knowledge of the Europeans concerning this country. France at a subsequent period based, upon Verrazzani's discoveries, her claim to the whole coast of America from Newfoundland to South Carolina. The French, however, were not destined to obtain a foothold in the new world. The struggle in which Francis I. was engaged with the Emperor Charles V. pre name of that saint, which was subsequently applied to the great river emptying into it. The A Beautiful Country. voyagers ascended the stream to the island since called Orleans. There the fleet anchored, while Cartier proceeded farther up the river to the chief Indian settlement on the island of Hochelega. It was the delightful season of September, and the country was beautiful and inviting. Cartier ascended a vented him from taking advantage of these | Lawrence the Martyr, and gave to the gulf the discoveries, and nothing was done with regard to them by the French until ten years later, when Chabot, Admiral of France, induced King Francis to make another effort to explore and colonize America. An expedition was fitted out, placed under the command of James Cartier, a mariner of St. Malo, and despatched in April, 1534, for the purpose of exploring the American coast with a view to colonizing it. A quick voyage of twenty days carried Cartier to Newfoundland. Having passed through the straits of Belleisle, he crossed the gulf and entered a bay which he named Des Chaleurs, from the extreme heats he experienced there. France Sends Out a Colony. He proceeded along the coast as far as the small inlet called Gaspé, where he landed and took formal possession of the country in the name of the king of France. Leaving Gaspé Bay, Cartier discovered the great river of Canada, and sailed up the stream until he could see the land on either side. His explorations consumed the months of May, June and July. Being unprepared to pass the winter in America, the fleet sailed for Europe. The reports of Cartier concerning America aroused the deepest interest in France, and it was determined by the government to proceed at once to the founding of a colony in the new world. A fleet of three well-equipped ships was fitted out, and volunteers from some of the noblest families in France were not lacking. The whole company repaired to the cathedral, where they received the bishop's blessing, and on the nineteenth of May, 1535, the expedition sailed from St. Malo. The voyage was long and stormy, but Newfoundland was reached at length. Passing through the straits of Belleisle, they entered the gulf lying west of Newfoundland on the tenth of August, the festival of St. hill at the foot of which the Indian settlement lay, and gazed with admiration at the magnificent region which spread out before him. He named the hill Mont Real, or Royal Mount, a name which is now borne by the island and by the great city which marks the site of Indian village. The balminess of the autumn induced Cartier to hope that the climate would prove as mild as that of France; but a rigorous winter, which was rendered horrible by the prevalence of scurvy among the ships' crews, disheartened the whole expedition. The winter was spent at the Isle of Orleans, and in the early spring Cartier erected a cross on the shore, to which was affixed a shield inscribed with the arms of France and a legend declaring Francis I. the true and rightful king of the country. The fleet then sailed for France, and arrived at St. Malo on the sixth of July, 1536. Cartier published a truthful account of his voyage, setting forth the severity of the Canadian climate and the absence of mines of precious metals. His report checked for the time the enthusiasm with which the French had regarded America, and for four years the plan of colonizing the new country was laid aside, and all attempts were abandoned until a more favorable opportunity should present itself. Some ardent spirits, however, still believed in the possibility of planting successful colonies in the new world and bringing that vast region under the dominion of France. Among these was Francis de la Roque, lord of Roberval, a nobleman of Picardy. He was appointed, by King Francis, Viceroy of the territories on or near the gulf and river of St. Lawrence, to which the high-sounding name of Norimbega was given, and was empowered to colonize it. The assistance of Cartier was necessary to such an undertaking, and he had the additional advantage of possessing the entire confidence of his royal master the king. Roberval was forced to employ him, and Cartier was given authority by the king to search the prisons and take from them such persons as he needed for the expedition. Roberval and Cartier, however, failed to agree, and their dissensions defeated the object of the undertaking. Cartier sailed from St. Malo in May, 1541, and ascended the St. Lawrence to a point near the present city of Quebec, where he built a fort. The winter was passed in idleness and discord, and in the spring of 1542 Cartier abandoned the attempt, and sailed away for France with his ships just as Roberval arrived with a large reinforcement, prepared to render aid. Nearly thirty years passed away, during which the French made no effort to secure to themselves the region of the St. Law Their fishermen, however, continued to frequent the American waters. By the close of the sixteenth century one hundred and fifty vessels were engaged in the fisheries of Newfoundland, and voyages for the purpose of trading with the Indians had become common. In 1598 the Marquis de la Roche, ERONJAT Roberval was unable to accomplish more than Cartier. His new subjects had been largely drawn from the prisons, and they gave him considerable trouble, if we may judge from the efforts resorted to to keep them quiet. One One of them was hanged for theft during the winter, several were put in irons, and a number of men and women were whipped. After remaining in Canada for a year, Roberval became disheartened, and re-embarked his subjects and returned to France. Thus ended the attempt to colonize Canada. SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN. a nobleman of Brittany, attempted to plant a colony on the Isle of Sable. The colonists consisted of criminals from the prisons of France, and the effort proved a failure, as might have been expected from the outset. In 1600, Chauvin obtained a patent from the crown, conferring upon him a monopoly of the fur trade, and Pontgravé, a merchant of St. Malo, became his partner in the enter prise. Two successful voyages were made to Canada, and Chauvin intended founding a colony there. His death, in 1602, prevented the execution of this plan. In 1603, a company of merchants of Rouen was organized, and Samuel Champlain, an able and experienced officer of the French navy, was placed in charge of an expedition, CABOT ON THE SHORES OF LABRADOR. and sent to Canada to explore the country. He was in every way qualified for the task committed to him, and after making a thorough and systematic examination of the region of the St. Lawrence, and fixing upon Quebec as the proper site for a fort, returned to France, and laid before his employers his report, which is still valuable for its accurate description of the country and the manners of the natives. Soon after Champlain's return to France, a patent was issued to Des Monts, conferring upon him the sole right to colonize the vast region lying between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels of latitude. As this territory embraced the St. Lawrence region, the Rouen company were unable for the present to accomplish anything. Des Monts proceeded with his preparations, and in March, 1604, an expedition, consisting of two ships, was sent out to Acadie or Nova Scotia. The summer was passed in trading with the Indians and exploring the coast, and in the autumn the colonists made a settlement on the island of St. Croix, at the mouth of the river of the same name. In the spring of 1605, they abandoned this settlement and removed to Port Royal, now known as Annapolis. Efforts were made to find a more southern location in the latter part of 1605 and 1606, but the expeditions sent out for this purpose were driven back by storms or wrecked among the shoals of Cape Cod, and the colonists decided to remain at Port Royal. Thus the permanency of the colony was established. Some years later a number of Jesuit missionaries were sent out to Port Royal. These labored diligently among the tribes between the Penobscot and the Kennebec, and not only spread the Christian faith among them, but won for the French the constant affection of the savages. During all her contests with the English in America, these tribes remained In 1609, Champlain, with but two Europeans, joined a party of Hurons from Mon the faithful and unwavering allies of France. In 1613 a French colony was planted on the eastern shore of Mount Desert. The settle-treal, and Algonquins from Quebec, in an ment was named St. Sauveur, and became another centre of missionary enterprise among the savages of Maine. In the meantime the French merchants had succeeded in obtaining a revocation of the impolitic monopoly of Des Monts. A company of merchants of St. Malo and Dieppe was formed, and an expedition was sent out to Canada under Champlain, who "aimed not at the profits of trade, but at the glory of founding a state." On the On the third of July, 1608, the city of Quebec was begun by the erection of one or two cottages. expedition against the Five Nations. He ascended the Sorel, explored the lake which is now called by his name, and examined a considerable part of northern New York. The religious disputes of France spread to the colony, and Champlain was obliged to use all his energy and authority to overcome the evils which these inflicted upon the infant settleinent. He succeeded in overcoming them, and by his energy and perseverance the fortunes of Quebec were placed beyond the reach of failure. Champlain died in 1635, and was buried in “New France," of which he is called "the father." |