Canada -- History -- 1763-1867; Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France)
Thus was the little colony made well again. Lest the Indians should
know how weak they were during that terrible winter, they continued
to dread; but no attack was made upon them, and in the spring Cartier
made ready to return to France. This time Donacona and four other
chiefs were seized by stratagem and taken on board ship. A cross 30
feet high, with the fleur-de-lys fastened to {9} it, was set up on
the shore, and in the middle of May the waters of the St. Lawrence
began to bear them down to the Gulf and the open Atlantic. Exactly
one month later Cartier was being greeted by the cheers of the people
of his native St. Malo.
Alas! Donacona and the other Indian braves whom the French had borne
away never returned to Stadacona and their forest haunts. Before
Cartier was ready to make another voyage to Canada, five years later,
all had pined away and died. It was then that the Sieur de Roberval,
a nobleman of Picardy, was appointed by King Francis as lieutenant,
with the high-sounding titles of Governor of Canada, Hochelaga,
Saguenay, Newfoundland, Belle Isle, Carpunt, Labrador, the Great Bay,
and of Baccalaos, as well as Lord of Norembaga, which latter country
existed only in imagination. Roberval meant to have gone out with
Cartier, but was detained until the following year. On his third
voyage Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga and tried to pass up the
river beyond the village, but the dangerous rapids of Lachine caused
him to pause. When he returned to France a year later, he took with
him some small transparent stones which he supposed were diamonds,
but which were really only quartz crystals; he also carried away what
he deemed to be gold ore, but which turned out to be merely mica. On
the way back he met the Sieur de Roberval, who afterwards built a
fort on the St. Lawrence and explored the surrounding country. But
Roberval wrought nothing, and famine at length reduced the survivors
to a state of abject dependence upon the natives. In vain Roberval
entreated the {10} King to come to his rescue with supplies of
colonists, food, and ammunition. Instead of acceding to this
petition, King Francis despatched orders for his lieutenant to return
home to France. Roberval reluctantly obeyed, and thus this first
attempt to establish a French colony on the banks of the St. Lawrence
ended in failure.
Cartier was allowed by the King to bear always the title of
"Captain." He undertook no more voyages into unknown lands, but died
about 1577 in his own manor-house close to St. Malo. While he was
thus spending his later years in an enforced retirement, eating his
heart out for want of adventure, a daring Spaniard, De Soto, was
facing dangers at the other and southern end of the Continent, close
to the triple mouths of the Mississippi, which he had discovered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account