VOYAGE OF JACQUES CARTIER--MARITIME PROJECTS OF FRANCIS I. OF FRANCE--GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE--A QUICK TRIP HOME--SECOND VOYAGE--CANADA, QUEBEC, MONTREAL--A CAPTIVE KING--VOYAGE OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND RICHARD CHANCELLOR--DISCOVERY OF NOVA ZEMBLA--DISASTROUS WINTER--FATE OF THE EXPEDITION--MARTIN FROBISHER--HIS VOYAGE IN QUEST OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE--GREENLAND--LABRADOR--FROBISHER'S STRAITS--EXCHANGE OF CAPTIVES--SUPPOSED DISCOVERY OF GOLD--SECOND VOYAGE--A CARGO OF PRECIOUS EARTH TAKEN ON BOARD--META INCOGNITA--THIRD VOYAGE--A MORTIFYING CONCLUSION. It would appear natural for the Spaniards to have sought to derive immediate profit from their discovery of a western passage to the South Sea. They did not do so, however; and a generation was destined to pass away before a second European vessel should enter Magellan's Strait. We must for a time, therefore, leave the Spanish and Portuguese in quiet possession of their Indian and American commerce, and turn to the several transatlantic and Arctic enterprises undertaken at this period by the French and English. [Illustration: SCENE ON THE CANADIAN COAST.] Jacques Cartier, a native of St. Malo in France, had, in 1534, finished his apprenticeship as a sailor. He conceived the idea of seeking a passage to China and the Spice Islands to the north of the Western Continent, and in the vicinity of the Pole. This was the origin of the various efforts made in quest of the renowned Northwest Passage. He also thought it incumbent upon France to assert her right to a share in the explorations and discoveries which were making Portugal and Spain both famous and rich. He caused his project to be laid before Francis I., who had long viewed with jealousy the successful expeditions of other powers, and who is said once to have exclaimed, "Where is the will and testament of our father Adam, which disinherits me of my share in these possessions in favor of Spain and Portugal?" He at once approved the proposition; and, on the 20th of April, 1534, Cartier left St. Malo with two ships of sixty tons each. No details of the outward voyage have reached us. It was rapid and prosperous, however, for the ships anchored in Bonavista Bay, upon the eastern coast of Newfoundland, on the twentieth day.