Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CARTIER, JACQUES (149.1-'1557)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 434 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CARTIER, JACQUES (149.1-'1557) , See also:French navigator, discoverer of the See also:Canadian See also:river. St See also:Lawrence, was See also:born at St Malo in See also:Brittany. Of his See also:early See also:life nothing is known. On the suppression by See also:Admiral See also:Chabot of the See also:trade to See also:Brazil, an expedition consisting of two See also:ships and sixty-one men was despatched from St Malo under Cartier on the loth of See also:April 1534, to look for a See also:north-See also:west passage to the See also:East. Cartier reached See also:Newfoundland an the See also:lath of May, and at once entered the strait of Belle Isle, then known to the fishermen as the See also:bay of Castles. While the ship§ renewed their See also:supply of See also:wood and See also:water in Belles Amours See also:harbour on the north See also:side of the strait, the See also:long-boats discovered that the See also:coast farther west was barren, rocky and uninviting. In view of this Cartier set See also:sail on See also:Monday, the 15th of See also:June, for the See also:south side of the.strait, by following which he was led down almost the whole west coast of Newfoundland. Off St See also:George's Bay a See also:storm drove the ships out, into the gulf,,but on resuming his course Cartier See also:fell in with the See also:Bird Rocks.. The See also:island south of these he named Brien Island, after Chabot. Cartier mistook our Magdalen and See also:Prince See also:Edward Islands for the See also:main See also:shore on the south side of this inland See also:sea. Following the coast of New See also:Brunswick northward he was greatly disappointed to discover Chaleur Bay was not a strait. During a ten days' stay in Gaspe Harbour Cartier made See also:friends with! a tribe of See also:Huron-See also:Iroquois See also:Indians from See also:Quebec, two of whom he carried off with him.

A See also:

mirage deceived him into thinking the passage up the river south of See also:Anticosti was a bay, whereupon' he proceeded to coast the See also:southern, eastern and See also:northern shores of Anticosti. On discovering the passage between this island and the Quebec shore a See also:council was held, at which it was decided to postpone the exploration of this strait until the following See also:year. Heading eastward along the Quebec shore, Cartier soon regained the Strait of Belle Isle and, entering the See also:Atlantic on the 15th . of See also:August, reached St Maio in safety on the 5th of See also:September. Cartier set sail again from St Male with three vessels on the 16th of May 1536, and passing through the strait of Belle Isle anchored on the 9th of August in Pillage Bay, opposite Anticosti. The next See also:day he named this the bay of St Lawrence. In course of See also:time the name spread to the gulf and finally to the river. Proceeding through the passage north of Anticosti, Cartier anchored on the 1st of September at the mouth of the See also:Saguenay, which''.the two Indians who had passed the See also:winter in See also:France informed him. was the name of a See also:kingdom " See also:rich and wealthy in See also:precious stones." Again on reaching the island of See also:Orleans, so named after the third son of. See also:Francis I., they told Cartier he was now in the kingdom of See also:Canada, in reality the Huron-Iroquois word for See also:village. Leaving his two larger vessels in the St See also:Charles, which there enters the St Lawrence, Cartier set off westward with the bark and the long-boats. The former grounded in See also:Lake St See also:Peter,'but0 in the latter he reached, on the 2nd of See also:October, the Huron-Iroquois village of Hochelaga on the site of the See also:city of See also:Montreal. Further progress was checked by the See also:Lachine Rapid. From the See also:top of See also:Mount Royal, a name still in use, Cartier beheld the St Lawrence and the See also:Ottawa stretching away to the west.

On his return to the St Charles, where during the winter ' twenty-five men died of See also:

scurvy, Cartier sought further See also:information ' about the rich See also:country called Saguenay, which he was informed could be reached more easily by way of the Ottawa. In See also:order to give Francis I. See also:authentic information of this l ibrthern See also:Mexico, Cartier seized the See also:chief and eleven of the headmen of the village and carried them oil to France. This time he passed 'south of Anticosti and, entering the Atlantic through See also:Cabot Strait, reached St Malo on the .16th of See also:July 1537. Francis I. was unable to do anything further. until the See also:spring of 154x, when Cartier set' sail with five vessels and took up his quarters at Cap See also:Rouge, g M. above Quebec. A soldier, the seigneur de See also:Roberval, had been chosen to See also:lead the men to the See also:conquest of Saguenay; but when he did not arrive, Cartier made a fresh examination of the rapid of Lachine, preparatory to sending the men up the river Ottawa. Roberval at length set sail in April 1542, but on reaching St See also:John's, Newfoundland, met Cartier on his way back to France. In the summer of 1543, Cartier was sent out to bring See also:home Roberval, whose See also:attempt to make his way up the Ottawa to this mythical Saguenay had proved futile. From 1544 until his See also:death at St Malo, on the 1st of September 1557, Cartier appears to have done little else than give technical See also:advice in nautical matters and See also:act as Portuguese, interpreter. A See also:critical edition of Cartier's Brief Recit de la See also:navigation faicte es isles de Canada (1545), from the See also:MSS., has been published by the university of See also:Toronto. The best See also:English version is that by See also:James Phinney See also:Baxter, published at See also:Portland, See also:Maine, in 1906. (H. P.

End of Article: CARTIER, JACQUES (149.1-'1557)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CARTHUSIANS 		[next]
CARTIER, SIR GEORGES ETIENNE

Site © 2006 - Net Industries