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Page 34
[1] From a letter addrest to Francis I, King of France, on July 8,
1524. Three copies of Verazzano's letter exist. One was printed by
Ramusio in 1556 and translated for Hakluyt's "Voyages" in 1583.
The second was found in the Strozzi Library in Florence, and
published in 1841 by the New York Historical Society with a
translation by J.G. Cogswell.
The third copy is the one now owned by Count Gulio Macchi di
Cellere, of Rome. It was first published in Italy in 1909, and the
first English translation of it was made by Dr. Edward Hagaman
Hall, secretary of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation
Society, and published in the report of that society for 1910.
This copy has the distinction of being contemporaneous. Dr. Hall
says its value "consists not only in confirming the voyage itself,
but also in supplying a wealth of names and details not previously
known to exist." Verazzano's account of his visit to New York
harbor here given is taken from Dr. Hall's translation.
Giovanni de Verazzano was born in Italy about 1480, and died about
1527. He early became a Florentine navigator and afterward a
corsair in French service. His expedition to America was of French
origin and sailed in 1523.
[2] Off the coast of Virginia or Maryland.
[3] This river is now known as the Hudson.
[4] Verazzano's Bay, St. Margarita, was New York Bay.
[5] Aloysia is now called Block Island.
[6] Newport.
[7] Cape Cod.
[8] A Reference to the discovery of Newfoundland in 1497.
CARTIER'S EXPLORATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE
(1534)
I
THE ACCOUNT GIVEN BY JOHN A. DOYLE[1]
Jacques Cartier was a brave and experienced sea captain from St. Malo.
In 1534, Cartier made a preliminary voyage of exploration. Touching at
Newfoundland, he sailed through the straits of Belle Isle and explored
the east shore of the island, a region which for the barrenness of its
soil and the severity of its climate seemed the very spot whither Cain
had been banished. The coast of New Brunswick held out a more inviting
prospect. The fertility of the soil reminded the voyagers of their
native Brittany, and one field there seemed worth more than the whole
of Newfoundland. Thence Cartier sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
and would have explored the great river of Canada, but storms arose
and he deemed it prudent to return to France before bad weather set
in. His report of the country was encouraging. The soil, as we have
seen, promised well, and the voyagers had not yet learned the terrors
of a Canadian winter. The natives were rude in their habits, but they
were uniformly peaceful and ready to trade on easy terms for such
goods as they possest. There seemed good reason to hope, too, that
they might be converted to Christianity, and one of them had shown
confidence enough in the strangers to trust them with his two
children, who were easily reconciled to their captivity by the gift of
red caps and colored shirts.
In the next year Cartier again went forth with three ships. After
confessing and taking the sacrament in the church of St. Malo, the
adventurers set sail on Whit Sunday. Among them was the cup-bearer to
the Dauphin, Claudius de Pont-Briand. As before, the strangers were
well received by the Indians, and landed safely at Quebec. There
Cartier left his sailors with instructions to make a fortified camp,
while he himself, with the greater part of his men-at-arms and his two
Indian captives of the year before, should explore the upper banks of
the St. Lawrence, and penetrate, if possible, to the great Indian city
of Hochelaga.[2] The Indians, tho outwardly friendly, seem either to
have distrusted the French, or else grudged their neighbors at
Hochelaga such valuable allies, and would have dissuaded Cartier from
his expedition. When their remonstrances proved useless, the savages
tried to work on the fears of the visitors. Three canoes came floating
down the river, each containing a fiendish figure with horns and
blackened face. The supposed demons delivered themselves of a
threatening harangue, and then paddled to the shore, and whether to
complete the performance, or through honest terror, fell fainting in
their boats. The Indians then explained to Cartier that their god had
sent a warning to the presumptuous strangers, bidding them refrain
from the intended voyage. Cartier replied that the Indian god could
have no power over those who believed in Christ. The Indians
acquiesced, and even affected to rejoice in the approaching
discomfiture of their deity. Cartier and his followers started on the
voyage.
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