The Mariner of St. Malo: A Chronicle of the Voyages of Jacques Cartier

ayed behind in France when Cartier sailed in 1541, because his equipment was not yet ready for the voyage. Nor does he seem to have finally started on his expedition for nearly a ye

ment is true, it must mean that Roberval sailed home again at the close of 1541, without having succeeded in finding Cartier, and

e well known. They were, indeed, visited by the French, the Portuguese, and other nations. Here Roberval paused to refit his ships and to replenish his stores. While he was still in the harbour, one day, to his amazement, Cartier sailed in with the five ships that he was bringing away from his abandoned settlement at Charlesbourg Royal. Cartier showed to his superior the 'diamonds' and the gold that he was

s of a leader inferior to himself in capacity. Be this as it may, their final parting stands recorded in the following terms, and no historical document has as yet come to light which can make the exact situation known to us. 'When our general [Roberval], being furnished with sufficient forces, commanded him [Cartier] to go back with him

hether the rock crystals carried back by Cartier had turned out to be diamonds. All the other colonists remained and spent the winter in this place. In spite of their long preparation and of their commodious buildings, they seem to have endured sufferings as great as, or even greater than, those of Cartier's men at Stadacona seven years before. Supplies of food ran short, and even in the autumn before the stern winter had begun it was necessary

in the fort, with orders that if Roberval had not returned by the first of July, they were to depart for France.' Whither he went and what he found we do not know. We read that on June 14. certain of his company came back

he report of the royal auditors credits Cartier apparently with a service of eight months spent in returning to Canada to bring Roberval home. On the strength of this, it is thought likely that Cartier, returning safely to France in the summer of 1542, was sent back again at the king's command to aid in the return of the c

Besides his house in the seaport he had a country residence some miles distant at Limoilou. This old house of solid and substantial stone, with a courtyard and stone walls surrounding it, is still standing. There can be no doubt that the famous pilot enjoyed during his closing years a universal esteem. It i

special note. Such an entry as this is the last record of the great pilot. In the margins of certain documents of September 1, 1557, ther

annals were later to be illumined by the exploits of a Champlain and a La Salle, and the martyrdom of a Brebeuf; which was to witness, for more than half a century, a conflict in arms between Great Britain and France, and from that conflict to draw the finest p

of the perils of sea and storm. The darkest hour of his adversity in that grim winter at Stadacona found him still undismayed. He came to these coasts to find a pathway to the empire of the East. He found instead a country vast and beautiful beyond his dreams. The enthusiasm of it entered into his soul. Asia was forgotten before the reali

OF CARTIER

ter's 'Memoir of

GE O

ay Cartier le

ay Arrives

y Reaches Is

nters the har

esday Lea

Enters the ha

arnabas Day. Hears

in b

St Anthoine, Serva

Jacques, and

rt

day Return

nday He

toward north coa

ws the west coast

Monts de

es the Colombiers, Ba

and

weather to 24th; ex

oyal an

l of St John the Bapti

ther bad; sails t

iscovers Isles Ma

day Cape

Coasts toward

y Reaches

al of St Peter. Na

ontinues course

s evening describes

isla

Names Capes Orl

Names Bay S

s northerly course

at Port Daniel; rem

ers Gaspe Bay, and r

nt of

y Lands and m

ay Plants

sail with good wi

ay Approa

y Names Cap

s Cape Montmorency

ntic

ights northern sh

awre

oaches west coast

at Blanc Sablon, an

turn

al of the Assumption

for F

rday Arrives

VOYAG

Pentecost. The crew

Episcopal

ay Departure

sday Contr

y Ships separ

Cartier reaches t

Enters Strait

ches the rendezvo

nday Sh

s north coast and na

Names Isle

y Names Cape

ary winds; enters S

ls toward the

y wind; turns towa

St La

Bay St Lawrence, ap

s the west

al of the Assumpti

the As

Continues

Turns towar

Arrives at the

anges coast w

west, but obliged to

wing to h

aves the Seven Isl

rd s

om of St John Bapti

les S

uits the harbour an

the S

ves the Saguenay

Isla

rives at Isle

Reaches Isla

Donnacona v

ls toward the R

tion of the Holy Cr

Charle

Plants buoys to

ships are laid u

cona tries to dis

to Hoc

nacona's stratage

ng to St

ier starts for H

and tw

sday Enters

aves his pinnace,

bo

day Arrives

nd visits town and

Royal, and l

Regains h

kes his way ba

s at Three Rivers

an is

s at the anchorage

Donnacona v

ier and some of his

5

ster Sunday. The r

acona visits Carti

sav

tier sends Guyo

ival of the Holy Cro

seizes D

ople of Stadacona,

r's ca

day Carti

rives at Isle

anges presents w

y Reaches

ival of the Ascens

y is

Returns to

Names Capes Lorr

th of Pentecost

t Es

rts from the har

arnabas Day. At

rts from Isles S

at Rou

es Rougenouse an

day Reache

VOYAGE

tier leaves St Ma

ay Arrives be

day Lands

Sends two of

y Sets out f

Arrives at L

the voyage

GRAPHI

owever, had long been familiar to English readers through the translation which appears in Hakluyt's 'Voyages,' published in 1600. In the same collection is also found the narrative of the second voyage, as translated from the 'Bref Recit' written by Cartier and published in 1545, and the fragment of the account of the third voyage of which the rest is lost. For an exhaustive bibliography of Cartier's voyages see Baxter, 'A Memoir of Jacques Cartier' (New York, 1906). An exceedingly interesting little book is Sir Joseph Pope's 'Jacques