To this work the French brought one qualification peculiarly their own. It was this. Of the three nations who have contended for control in our country, none have so readily adapted themselves to the original people as the French have. None have so thoroughly respected their feelings and prejudices. And none have so easily won their confidence, or so fully commanded their services.
A WOOD RANGER.
Moreover, the French being rather traders than colonists in the true sense, because in Canada the fur trade[3] was chiefly looked to, and colonization was thought unfavorable to it, exploration became the profession, we might say, of many who trained themselves for it by living among the Indians, studying their language, their habits, learning how to use the paddle, making long canoe voyages, and so inuring their bodies to the toil and hardship of savage life. While the English remained in their villages, the French wandered everywhere.
If we add to this that the French are a nation of explorers, in whom discovery speedily develops into a passion, we shall get at the true animating spirit which carried them so far into the interior, whether as simple traders, soldiers, or missionaries.
The world could ill spare one of its pioneers. They are heralds of civilization following the guiding star of its destiny.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Jacques Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence as high as Montreal (Royal Mount), which he named for the mountain back of the city.
[2] The Road to India was no less the goal of early French explorers than with those of other nations.