THE CLOSE OF CARTIER'S CAREER
Great doubt and uncertainty surround the ultimate fate of Roberval's
attempted colony, of which Cartier's expedition was to form the advance
guard. Roberval, as already seen, had stayed 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 year after the departure of Cartier. It has been suggested
that Roberval did set sail at some time in the summer of 1541, and that
he reached Cape Breton island and built a fort there. So, at least, a
tradition ran that was repeated many years later by Lescarbot in his
Histoire de la Nouvelle France. If this statement is true, it must mean
that Roberval sailed home again at the close of 1541, without having
succeeded in finding Cartier, and that he prepared for a renewed
expedition in the spring of the coming year. But the evidence for any
such voyage is not conclusive.
What we know is that on April 16, 1542, Roberval sailed out of the port
of Rochelle with three tall ships and a company of two hundred persons,
men and women, and that with him were divers gentlemen of quality. On
June 8, 1542, his ships entered the harbour of St John's in
Newfoundland. They found there seventeen fishing vessels, clear proof
that by this time the cod fisheries of the Newfoundland Banks were 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 bringing
home from Canada. He gave to Roberval a glowing account of the country
that he had seen, but, according to the meagre details that appear in
the fragment in Hakluyt's Voyages, he made clear that he had been
compelled to abandon his attempt at settlement. 'He could not with his
small company withstand the savages, which went about daily to annoy
him, which was the cause of his return into France.'
Except what is contained in the few sentences of this record we know
nothing of what took place between Roberval and Cartier. But it was
quite clear that the latter considered the whole enterprise as doomed
to failure. It is more than likely that Cartier was dissatisfied with
Roberval's delay, and did not care to continue under the orders 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, he and
his company, moved as it seems with ambition, because they would have
all the glory of the discovery of those parts themselves, stole privily
away the next night from us, and, without taking their leaves, departed
home for Brittany.' The story, it must be remembered, comes from the
pen of either Roberval or one of his associates.
The subsequent history of Roberval's colony, as far as it is known, can
be briefly told. His ships reached the site of Charlesbourg Royal late
in July 1542. He landed stores and munitions and erected houses,
apparently on a scale of some magnitude, with towers and fortifications
and with great kitchens, halls, and living rooms. Two ships were sent
home in the autumn with news of the expedition, their leader being
especially charged to find out whether 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 to put the whole company on carefully measured rations.
Disease broke out among the French, as it had broken out under Cartier,
and about fifty of their number perished before the coming of the
spring. Their lot was rendered more dreadful still by quarrelling and
crime. Roberval could keep his colonists in subjection only by the use
of irons and by the application of the lash. The gibbet, reared beside
the fort, claimed its toll of their number.
The winter of their misery drew slowly to its close. The ice of the
river began to break in April. On June 5, 1543, their leader, Roberval,
embarked on an expedition to explore the Saguenay, 'leaving thirty
persons behind 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 with messages to the fort: that five
days later still others came back with instructions that the company at
the fort were to delay their departure for France until July 19. And
here the narrative of the colony breaks off.
Of Roberval's subsequent fate we can learn hardly anything. There is
some evidence to show that Cartier was dispatched from France to Canada
to bring him back. Certain it is that in April 1544 orders were issued
for the summons of both Cartier and Roberval to appear before a
commission for the settling of their accounts. The 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 colonists, whose enterprise was recognized as a
failure. After this, Roberval is lost to sight in the history of
France. Certain chroniclers have said that he made another voyage to
the New World and perished at sea. Others have it that he was
assassinated in Paris near the church of the Holy Innocents. But
nothing is known.
Cartier also is practically lost from sight during the last fifteen
years of his life. His name appears at intervals in the local records,
notably on the register of baptisms as a godfather. As far as can be
judged, he spent the remainder of his days in comfortable retirement in
his native town of St Malo. 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 is
just possible that in recognition of his services he was elevated in
rank by the king of France, for in certain records of St Malo in 1549,
he is spoken of as the Sieur de Limoilou. But this may have been merely
the sort of courtesy title often given in those days to the proprietors
of small landed estates.
It was sometimes the custom of the officials of the port of St Malo to
mark down in the records of the day the death of any townsman of
especial note. Such an entry as this is the last record of the great
pilot. In the margins of certain documents of September 1, 1557, there
is written in the quaint, almost unreadable penmanship of the time:
'This said Wednesday about five in the morning died Jacques Cartier.'
There is no need to enlarge upon the greatness of Cartier's
achievements. It was only the beginning of a far-reaching work, the
completion of which fell to other hands. But it is Cartier's proud
place in history to bear the title of discoverer of a country whose
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 pages of its history
and the noblest inspiration of its future; a country upon whose soil,
majestic in its expanse of river, lake, and forest, was to be reared a
commonwealth built upon the union and harmony of the two great races
who had fought for its dominion.
Jacques Cartier, as much perhaps as any man of his time, embodied in
himself what was highest in the spirit of his age. He shows us the
daring of the adventurer with nothing of the dark cruelty by which such
daring was often disfigured. He brought to his task the simple faith of
the Christian whose devout fear of God renders him fearless 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 reality of Canada. Since
Cartier's day four centuries of history have hallowed the soil of
Canada with memories and associations never to be forgotten. But
patriotism can find no finer example than the instinctive admiration
and love called forth in the heart of Jacques Cartier by the majestic
beauty of the land of which he was the discoverer.
ITINERARY OF CARTIER'S VOYAGES
Adapted from Baxter's 'Memoir of Jacques Cartier'
VOYAGE OF 1534
April 20 Monday Cartier leaves St Malo.
May 10 Sunday Arrives at Bonavista.
" 21 Thursday Reaches Isle of Birds.
" 24 Sunday Enters the harbour of Kirpon.
June 9 Tuesday Leaves Kirpon.
" 10 Wednesday Enters the harbour of Brest.
" 11 Thursday St Barnabas Day. Hears Mass and explores
coast in boats.
" 12 Friday Names St Anthoine, Servan; plants cross and
names river St Jacques, and harbour Jacques
Cartier.
" 13 Saturday Returns to ships.
" 14 Sunday Hears Mass.
" 15 Monday Sails toward north coast of Newfoundland.
" 16 Tuesday Follows the west coast of Newfoundland and
names the Monts des Granches.
June 17 Wednesday Names the Colombiers, Bay St Julien, and Capes
Royal and Milk.
" 18 Thursday Stormy weather to 24th; explores coast between
Capes Royal and Milk.
" 24 Wednesday Festival of St John the Baptist. Names Cape St John.
" 25 Thursday Weather bad; sails toward the west and
and south-west; discovers Isles Margaux, Brion, and
" 26 Friday Cape Dauphin.
" 27 Saturday Coasts toward west-south-west.
" 28 Sunday Reaches Cape Rouge.
" 29 Monday Festival of St Peter. Names Alezay and Cape
St Peter, and continues course west-south-west.
" 30 Tuesday Towards evening describes land appearing like
two islands.
July 1 Wednesday Names Capes Orleans and Savages.
" 2 Thursday Names Bay St Leonarius.
" 3 Friday Continues northerly course and names Cape Hope.
" 4 Saturday Arrives at Port Daniel; remains there until 12th.
July 16 Thursday Enters Gaspe Bay, and remains until 25th on
account of storm.
" 22 Wednesday Lands and meets savages.
" 24 Friday Plants a cross.
" 25 Saturday Sets sail with good wind toward Anticosti.
" 27 Monday Approaches coast.
" 28 Tuesday Names Cape St Louis.
" 29 Wednesday Names Cape Montmorency and doubles East Cape
of Anticosti.
Aug. 1 Saturday Sights northern shore of the Gulf of
St Lawrence.
" 8 Saturday Approaches west coast of Newfoundland.
" 9 Sunday Arrives at Blanc Sablon, and makes preparations
to return home.
" 15 Saturday Festival of the Assumption. Hears Mass and sets
sail for France.
Sept. 5 Saturday Arrives at St Malo.
SECOND VOYAGE, 1535
May 16 Sunday First Pentecost. The crew commune at Cathedral
and receive Episcopal Benediction.
" 19 Wednesday Departure from St Malo.
" 26 Wednesday Contrary winds.
June 25 Friday Ships separated by storm.
July 7 Wednesday Cartier reaches the Isle of Birds.
" 8 Thursday Enters Strait of Belle Isle.
" 15 Thursday Reaches the rendezvous at Blanc Sablon.
" 26 Monday Ships meet.
" 29 Thursday Follows north coast and names Isles St William.
" 30 Friday Names Isles St Marthy.
" 31 Saturday Names Cape St Germain.
Aug. 1 Sunday Contrary winds; enters St Nicholas Harbour.
" 8 Sunday Sails toward the southern coast.
" 9 Monday Contrary wind; turns toward north and stops
in Bay St Lawrence.
" 13 Friday Leaves Bay St Lawrence, approaches Anticosti,
and doubles the western point.
" 15 Sunday Festival of the Assumption. Names Anticosti,
Isle of the Assumption.
" 16 Monday Continues along coast.
" 17 Tuesday Turns toward the north.
" 19 Thursday Arrives at the Seven Islands.
" 20 Friday Ranges coast with his boats.
" 21 Saturday Sails west, but obliged to return to the Seven
Islands owing to head winds.
Aug. 24 Tuesday Leaves the Seven Islands and sets sail
toward south.
" 29 Sunday Martyrdom of St John Baptist. Reaches harbour
of Isles St John.
Sept. 1 Wednesday Quits the harbour and directs his course
toward the Saguenay.
" 2 Thursday Leaves the Saguenay and reaches the
Bic Islands.
" 6 Monday Arrives at Isle-aux-Coudres.
" 7 Tuesday Reaches Island of Orleans.
" 9 Thursday Donnacona visits Cartier.
" 13 Monday Sails toward the River St Charles.
" 14 Tuesday Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Reaches entrance
of St Charles River.
" 15 Wednesday Plants buoys to guide his ships.
" 16 Thursday Two ships are laid up for the winter.
" 17 Friday Donnacona tries to dissuade Cartier from
going to Hochelaga.
" 18 Saturday Donnacona's stratagem to deter Cartier
from going to Stadacona.
" 19 Sunday Cartier starts for Hochelaga with his
pinnace and two boats.
Sept. 28 Tuesday Enters Lake St Peter.
" 29 Wednesday Leaves his pinnace, and proceeds with
his boats.
Oct. 2 Saturday Arrives at Hochelaga.
" 3 Sunday Lands and visits town and mountain, which he
named Mount Royal, and leaves Sunday.
" 4 Monday Regains his pinnace.
" 5 Tuesday Takes his way back to Stadacona.
" 7 Thursday Stops at Three Rivers, and plants cross
upon an island.
" 11 Monday Arrives at the anchorage beside Stadacona.
" 12 Tuesday Donnacona visits Cartier.
" 13 Wednesday Cartier and some of his men visit Stadacona.
1536
April 16 Sunday Easter Sunday. The river clear of ice.
" 22 Saturday Donnacona visits Cartier with large number
of savages.
" 28 Friday Cartier sends Guyot to Stadacona.
May 3 Wednesday Festival of the Holy Cross. A cross planted;
Cartier seizes Donnacona.
May 5 Friday The people of Stadacona, bring provisions for
Cartier's captives.
" 6 Saturday Cartier sails.
" 7 Sunday Arrives at Isle-aux-Coudres.
" 15 Monday Exchanges presents with the savages.
" 22 Monday Reaches Isle Brion.
" 25 Thursday Festival of the Ascension. Reaches a low,
sandy island.
" 26 Friday Returns to Isle Brion.
June 1 Thursday Names Capes Lorraine and St Paul.
" 4 Sunday Fourth of Pentecost. Names harbour
of St Esprit.
" 6 Tuesday Departs from the harbour of St Esprit.
" 11 Sunday St Barnabas Day. At Isles St Pierre.
" 16 Friday Departs from Isles St Pierre and makes
harbour at Rougenouse.
" 19 Monday Leaves Rougenouse and sails for home.
July 6 Friday Reaches St Malo.
THIRD VOYAGE, 1541
May 23 Monday Cartier leaves St Malo with five ships.
Aug. 23 Tuesday Arrives before Stadacona.
" 25 Thursday Lands artillery.
Sept. 2 Friday Sends two of his ships home.
" 7 Wednesday Sets out for Hochelaga.
" 11 Sunday Arrives at Lachine Rapids.
(The rest of the voyage is unknown.)
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
A Great many accounts of the voyages of Jacques Cartier have been
written both in French and in English; but the fountain source of
information for all of these is found in the narratives written by
Cartier himself. The story of the first voyage was written under the
name of 'Relation Originale du Voyage de Jacques Cartier au Canada en
1534.' The original manuscript was lost from sight for over three
hundred years, but about half a century ago it was discovered in the
Imperial Library (now the National Library) at Paris. Its contents,
however, 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 Cartier: his Life
and Voyages' (Ottawa, 1890). The student is also recommended to read
'The Saint Lawrence Basin and its Borderlands,' by Samuel Edward
Dawson; papers by the Abbe Verreau, John Reade, Bishop Howley and W. F.
Ganong in the 'Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada;' the
chapter, 'Jacques Cartier and his Successors,' by B. F. de Costa, in
Winsor's 'Narrative and Critical History of America,' and the chapter
'The Beginnings of Canada,' by Arthur G. Doughty, in the first volume
of 'Canada and its Provinces' (Toronto, 1913).