But her claim obtained a more substantial support than the hasty visit of Verazzani was able to bestow upon it. [Sidenote: 1534 A.D.] Ten years later, Jacques Cartier, a famous sea-captain, sailed on a bright and warm July day into the gulf which lies between Newfoundland and the mainland. He saw a great river flowing into the gulf with a width of estuary not less than one hundred miles. It was the day of St. Lawrence, and he opened a new prospect of immortality for that saint by giving his name to river and to gulf. He erected a large cross, thirty feet high, on which were imprinted the insignia of France; and thus he took formal possession of the country in the King’s name. He sailed for many days up the river, between silent and pathless forests; past great chasms down which there rolled the waters of tributary streams; under the gloomy shadow of huge precipices; past fertile meadow-lands and sheltered islands where the wild vine flourished. The Indians in their canoes swarmed around the ships, giving the strangers welcome, receiving hospitable entertainment of bread and wine. At length they came where a vast rocky promontory, three hundred feet in height, stretched far into the river. Here the chief had his home; here, on a site worthy to bear the capital of a great State, arose Quebec; here, in later days, England and France fought for supremacy, and it was decided by the sword that the Anglo-Saxon race was to guide the destinies of the American continent. Cartier learned from the Indians that, much higher up the river, there was a large city, the capital of a great country; and the enterprising Frenchman lost no time in making his way thither. Standing in the midst of fields of Indian corn, he found a circular enclosure, strongly palisaded, within which were fifty large huts, each the abode of several families. This was Hochelaga, in reality the capital of an extensive territory. Hochelaga was soon swept away; and in its place, a century later, Jesuit enthusiasts established a centre of missionary operations under the protection of the Holy Virgin. It too passed away, to be succeeded by the city of Montreal, the seat of government of an Anglo-Saxon nation. The natives entertained Cartier hospitably, and were displeased that he would not remain longer among them. He returned to Quebec to winter there. Great hardships overtook him. The winter was unusually severe; his men were unprovided with suitable food and clothing. Many died; all were grievously weakened by exposure and insufficient nourishment; and when their condition was at the lowest, Cartier was led to suspect that the natives meditated treachery. So soon as the warmth of spring thawed the frozen river, Cartier sailed for France, lawlessly bearing with him, as a present to the King, the chief and three natives of meaner rank.