Читать книгу Canada and its Provinces - Various - Страница 11

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The discoveries in the New World made a favourable impression on the court of France. On October 30, 1534, Cartier was granted a new commission by the king, giving him more extensive powers. He was authorized to equip and provision three ships for fifteen months. From this it may be inferred that he was expected to winter with his crews in the newly discovered regions. The enterprise was strongly opposed by the merchants of St Malo, and not unnaturally, for Cartier was left free to select and equip his own vessels before any ship was permitted to sail to the fisheries of the West.

Early in May everything was in readiness for the voyage. Cartier’s fleet consisted of the Grande Hermine, 126 tons burden, commanded by Cartier; the Petite Hermine, 60 tons burden, commanded by Mace or Marc Jalobert; and the Emerillon, 40 tons, under Guillaume le Breton. A number of French gentlemen accompanied Cartier. The entire company numbered one hundred and twelve persons, among them Taignoagny and Domagaya, who were to act as guides and interpreters.

On May 16 all went to the cathedral of St Malo, where they heard mass and were blessed by the venerable bishop, Denis Briconnet. On May 19 the little fleet sailed under a favouring wind, but a few days later it encountered storm and fog and the ships lost sight of each other. The Grande Hermine reached Isle des Oiseaux on July 7 and Blanc Sablon on July 15. Here she waited for her companions. On the 26th the Petite Hermine and the Emerillon arrived. Water and wood were taken on board, and on July 29 the exploration of the north shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence began. Cartier was a careful navigator, and it is not difficult to trace his course. He examined and accurately described headlands, bays and islands, and, with the help of his soundings, with few exceptions, every place he mentioned can readily be identified. By the end of July the Island of Anticosti was reached, and on August 1, on the north shore, Cartier entered a fine harbour fronted by four islands. On one of these islands he placed a cross to serve as a guide to mariners. In the shelter of these islands, now known as the Mingan Group, he stayed until August 7. When about to pass through St Peter’s Strait he was driven back by contrary winds, and for shelter entered a bay which he called Baye Sainct Laurens (now Pillage Bay). This name was later extended to the Gulf and River St Lawrence. After passing Anticosti the vessel crossed to the Gaspe shore. Here Taignoagny and Domagaya were on familiar ground. According to them the vessels were entering the district of Saguenay,^[1] out of which flowed a deep, dark river. Leagues beyond was Canada, where their village nestled in the shadow of a mighty rock, and further still the populous country of Hochelaga. In the narrative of Cartier’s voyage Canada is spoken of sometimes as a district, but more often as a town or village, and this is how Cartier understood the word. For a time Cartier sailed along the south shore, then recrossed to the north side, passed the mouth of the Saguenay with its precipitous cliffs blackening the waters with their shadows, and on to the Isle aux Coudres, which was so named from the hazel-nuts found there. He continued his ascent of the ever-narrowing river till he reached an island, which he named Isle Bacchus, from the wild grapes found there. Before he returned from the second voyage Cartier changed the name of the island to Orleans. In his ascent he was greatly impressed by the numerous whales he had encountered about Anticosti, and by the walrus and beluga catadon or white whales.

On September 8, while the three ships lay at anchor, Donnacona, the Agouhanna or chief of Stadacona, approached with twelve canoes and gave Cartier an enthusiastic welcome. Cartier accompanied him back to his village on the bank of the river that skirted the western side of the rock of Quebec. This river, now known as the St Charles, was by Cartier named the St Croix. Here the visitors were received with dancing and singing and wild gesticulation, which was renewed when their leader distributed among the savages presents of knives and trifling ornaments. Cartier returned to his vessels, which on the following day were brought to the St Croix. A site on the north bank, where the little stream Lairet enters the river, was at once selected for a fort. On the 14th the Grande Hermine and the Petite Hermine were brought into winter quarters in the St Croix, but the Emerillon was left in the Hochelaga (St Lawrence), as Cartier intended to visit the town of Hochelaga at the head of the river.

The Indians of Stadacona tried every means in their power to prevent this visit. They even resorted to a most absurd theatrical display, in which mimic devils figured, to terrify the French into abandoning their plan. But the warning of the Indian god Cudragny, that death menaced the French if they should visit Hochelaga, had no effect. Taignoagny and Domagaya now, instead of a help, became a hindrance. For some unexplained reason they had turned against the French, held aloof from them, and during the entire winter tried to rouse the enmity of their tribe against the men with whom they had spent a year. They refused to act as pilots to Hochelaga, but on September 19 Cartier, with the gentlemen of his company, in the Emerillon and two longboats manned by fifty sailors, began the ascent of the river. When the head of Lake St Peter was reached the Emerillon, on account of the shallow water and uncertainty with regard to the river above, was left at anchor, and Cartier and a part of his company proceeded in the boats to the island (Montreal) on which the town of Hochelaga was situated. They reached the swift waters of St Mary’s current on October 2. The Indians had heard of their approach, and fully one thousand of them—men, women and children, in separate bands—crowded to the shore, dancing, singing, and shouting a welcome. Hochelaga was about five miles away, situated between what is now the main business part of Montreal and the foot of the mountain; and on the following day Cartier and his men journeyed over a well-beaten road to one of the most remarkable Indian settlements of North America.

Hochelaga was a strongly fortified place, surrounded by three rows of palisades. Platforms for stones were ranged along the top of the palisades, and ladders leading to the platforms were placed at intervals. The dwellings within the enclosure were substantial structures, ‘finely and cunningly built.’ They were ‘about fifty paces long and twelve paces broad.’ There were about fifty of them, but each one could accommodate as many people as an average modern apartment block. Round the town was much cultivated land, where golden corn glistened in the autumn sunlight. The inhabitants looked upon the Frenchmen with awe and reverence, and brought their lame and sick, among them their Agouhanna suffering from paralysis, to be touched by Cartier, in the hope that they would be restored to health. The situation puzzled the honest mariner. He was no worker of miracles, but he seized the occasion to read to the natives a portion of the first part of the first chapter of St John and the story of the Crucifixion. After this strange and impressive scene Cartier climbed the mountain, which he named le Mont Royal, and viewed from its summit the distant hills, the flashing waters of the Lachine Rapids, and the Ottawa River, which he was told led to the province of Saguenay, rich in copper, gold and silver, and where men of appearance, manner and customs like the French lived. As the season was getting late he did not attempt to go beyond Hochelaga, but returned to the Emerillon, and was back in the St Croix on October 11. A strong fort had meantime been constructed. It was needed. The Indians were already unfriendly, due no doubt to the plotting of Taignoagny and Domagaya. Careful guard was kept night and day, and attack was thus prevented. From the end of November until April 15 the ships were shut in by ice. The cold was intense, and the Frenchmen, unaccustomed to it, suffered greatly. During the winter scurvy broke out among the Indians and many of them died. It spread to the garrison of the little fort, and soon nearly every man was down with this strange and loathsome disease. At length Cartier heard of a tree, called by him the ameda, a decoction of whose leaves and bark was a sure cure for the disease. This was the balsam fir. Under the influence of a liquor prepared from this tree all the sick were soon restored to health, but not until twenty-five of Cartier’s men had perished. With the return of spring strange Indians of warlike mien were seen mingling with the natives of Stadacona. Cartier feared hostilities and decided to avert danger by returning to France. On May 3 he erected on the bank of the St Charles a cross thirty-five feet high, on which were the words: FRANCISCUS PRIMUS DEI GRATIA FRANCORUM REX REGNAT. He thus claimed the country for France.

The Indian chief Donnacona professed to have visited the rich province of Saguenay, and Cartier decided to kidnap him and a number of other chiefs, who, when they had become familiar with the French language, might give information that would lead to a discovery of this wealthy region. He lured Donnacona, Taignoagny, Domagaya and seven other chiefs on board his vessel, and held them prisoners. He treated them well, and Donnacona does not seem to have been an unwilling captive.

On May 6 the Grande Hermine and the Emerillon set sail—the Petite Hermine having been left behind, not being required owing to the reduced number of the band. On his homeward voyage Cartier sailed direct for Brion Island, skirted the Magdalen Islands and the southern shore of Newfoundland. At St Pierre he met fishing vessels. He rested for a brief space in Renowes Harbour, where he left one of his longboats. He then bade farewell to the New World and reached St Malo on July 6, 1536.

[1]

The Indians apparently divided the St Lawrence region into four districts. Gaspe Peninsula was known as Honguedo; Saguenay extended from the gulf to Isle aux Coudres; Canada from this island to a point some leagues beyond Quebec; the district thence to the Lachine Rapids was called Hochelaga. The mythical province of Saguenay was at the head waters of the Ottawa and beyond.