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).