[6] (p. [41]).—See vol. ii., note [48].
[7] (p. [41]).—This chart is probably the one mentioned by Biard in doc. x.; see vol. ii., note [12].
[8] (p. [41]).—On Norembega, see vol. i., note [11].—Cf. Dionne's Nouv. France, pp. 257-263. Biard himself uses this term (post) to designate the region wherein lay St. Sauveur.
The name Acadia (see vol. i., note [2]) was in general use up to the downfall of the French régime (1763).
[9] (p. [41]).—The first of these attempts at colonization was inspired by the explorations of Jacques Cartier (who, according to Harrisse, was born at St. Malo, December 31, 1494; died September 1, 1557). Having obtained letters patent from Francis I., he sailed to Canada in April, 1534, with two ships, and explored the coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but did not enter the great river. On his second voyage, however (1535), he explored the St. Lawrence, Saguenay, and St. Charles, and ascended as far as Hochelaga, on the island of Montreal. Building a fort near Quebec, he spent the winter there, losing many of his men through sickness, and returned to France in July, 1536. A list of the ship's company on this voyage, taken from an old register of St. Malo, is given by Ramé in his Documents Inédits sur Jacques Cartier (Paris, 1865), pp. 10-12. Cartier's third voyage was made in 1541, as master-pilot of an expedition undertaken by Jean François de la Roque, Sieur de Roberval (a town near Boulogne), whom the king had appointed lieutenant and governor of Canada. (For the latter's commission, with other documents concerning him, see Harrisse's Notes, pp. 243-247.) Cartier sailed several months earlier than his patron, whose preparations were not completed; again ascended the St. Lawrence, and again spent the winter in that region,—this time about four leagues above Quebec. Meanwhile, Roberval carried from France some 200 persons, including a few adventurous gentlemen, but largely recruited from the condemned criminals of Paris, Toulouse, and other cities, both men and women. According to Gosselin (cited by Dionne, Nouv. France, p. 25, note 3), there were among them, also, fifty from St. Malo, convicted of heresy and lèse-majesté. With this motley throng, he established a residence at Cartier's abandoned fort, below Quebec, and spent the ensuing winter there, many of the people dying from famine and scurvy. It is uncertain whether Cartier was with him during any part of this sojourn; but the former seems to have returned to France in 1542; some writers claim that this action resulted from a quarrel between him and Roberval. In 1543, however, Cartier went, by command of the king, to rescue Roberval and what remained of his unfortunate colony.—See Harrisse's Notes, pp. 1-5, 11, 12; Faillon's Col. Fr., vol. i., pp. 38-55, 496-523; Winsor's N. and C. Hist., vol. iv., pp. 56-59; and Dionne's Nouv. France, pp. 9-54.
The next enterprise of this sort was attempted in 1598, by a nobleman, Troïlus de Mesgouez, marquis de la Roche, etc.; governor of Morlaix from 1568 to 1586, afterwards of St. Lô. Lescarbot gives, in his Nouv. France (1612), pp. 422-429, La Roche's commission from Henry IV. Gathering from the prisons a shipload of convicts, as material for a colony, and landing them temporarily on Sable Island (see vol. ii., note 20), he was driven thence by a storm, and forced to return to France. Broken by misfortunes, he died in 1606.—See Faillon's Col. Fr., vol. i., pp. 66-71; Dionne's Nouv. France, pp. 151-189, 299-310; and Harrisse's Notes, pp. 12-14. Ferland (Cours d'Histoire, vol. i., pp. 60, 61) argues that La Roche's voyage was made in 1578, or soon afterward.
No other colonial enterprises seem to have been actually undertaken until those of Champlain.
[10] (p. [47]).—Now Cornouaille; a district, then a part of Lower Brittany; also the name of a port near Quimper.
[11] (p. [47]).—Now Fuenterrabia, in the province of Guipuzcoa, Spain, close to the French boundary-line; noted for its strong fortress (until 1494), and for Wellington's passage here of the Bidassoa (1813).
[12] (p. [57]).—Sir Francis Drake, one of England's most renowned navigators and explorers; named "the Dragon" (by a play upon his name), in Spanish annals of the time, on account of his fiery and merciless attacks upon the commerce and colonies of Spain. He was a native of Devonshire, England, probably born about 1540; and became a sailor in his boyhood. After several voyages to foreign lands, he commanded one of Sir John Hawkins's ships (the "Judith"), on a voyage to the West Indies, in 1567-68; and from this time until his death was actively engaged in navigation, in war, or in the public service. His most famous voyage is that around the world (December, 1577-September, 1580), in which he discovered (March-July, 1579), the coasts of California and Oregon, of which he took possession in the name of England—a claim never advanced, however, by the English crown. To this country he gave the name of New Albion, which for some time was applied by cartographers to the present Oregon; it is shown on Lady Virginia Ferrer's map (London, 1651). Another notable voyage was that to America (September, 1585-July, 1586), in which Drake, under royal commission, ravaged the Spanish main, taking many towns and much treasure. While on a voyage with Hawkins, he died (January 28, 1596), and was buried at sea.