Part 18 (1/2)

On this, his first voyage, Cartier discovered Newfoundland, and, sailing on, anch.o.r.ed off the northerly coast of the Gaspe Peninsula, by which the River St. Lawrence sweeps into the gulf of the same name. The season was very late, however, and bad weather was to be expected, so Cartier was obliged to set sail for France without delay. He took with him to France two sons of an Indian chief, and they caused great excitement in Paris.

King Francis I was so pleased with this exploit that on October 31, 1534, he nominated Captain Jacques Cartier to be ”Royal Pilot”

(_Pilote Royale_), and had three more s.h.i.+ps prepared for him to make a second voyage to Newfoundland. Preparations for the departure were hurried on at St. Malo, Cartier's birthplace, and at the beginning of May all was ready for the departure.

Three s.h.i.+ps took part in the voyage, viz.: _La Grande Hermione_, _La Pet.i.te Hermione_, and _La Hermionette._ The first two were vessels rated at 120 and 80 tons respectively, and the last was a galleon of 40 tons. On the after part of the first two vessels there were no less than three decks as superstructure, while forward there was only one deck. They were provided with the full naval armament of the sixteenth century; on the gunwale were mounted small cannon, and also a battery of mortars or similar weapons.

The galleon was a long slender s.h.i.+p of extremely low freeboard, rakish rigged as a single-master, both sails and oars being used as a means of propulsion; two small cannon were mounted forward, and a round dozen arquebuses were also carried. The total company and pa.s.sengers of the three s.h.i.+ps were only 110 all told.

On the morning of May 19th, 1535, the little flotilla set forth on its long voyage of exploration after having saluted the town with every gun on board.

On September 14th of the same year Cartier sighted land, which spread itself out on either side of the s.h.i.+ps as far as the eye could reach, and found signs of a village; the place was called Canada by the natives, the meaning of the word in the native language being ”The Town”. This village was the seat of ”government”, and was occupied by an Indian chief called Donnacona; it was situate right on the sh.o.r.e of the bay formed by the junction of the rivers St. Charles and St. Lawrence. The village seemed to consist of huts built irregularly on the steep sides of a mountain, the spot later being the position of the southerly and easterly quarters of Quebec.

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The historical moment of the arrival of Cartier's brave little ”fleet”

is interestingly depicted on the 20c value of the tercentenary series.

Samuel de Champlain, whose portrait is also shown on the 1c denomination, was born in 1570 and died in 1635. Again we are indebted to the article in _Gibbons' Stamp Weekly_ for the following particulars:--

In 1603 he was commissioned by King Henry IV of France to found a settlement in Canada. On his first voyage he sailed up the St.

Lawrence, and established friendly relations with the various native chiefs of the tribes inhabiting the country through which the river flowed. On his second voyage he was accompanied by only thirty people, and on July 3rd, 1608, he landed at the village of Canada, which was mentioned above. His first thought was to find a site suitable for the erection of an ”_abitation_” where he might pa.s.s the winter that was coming on. ”I could find no more comfortable or better spot than the land around Quebec, where countless nut trees were to be seen,” wrote Champlain. That was exactly the same place where Cartier had built his fort sixty years before.

Thanks to extreme industry, winter quarters were rapidly erected.

The habitation consisted of three princ.i.p.al buildings, each two stories high. Two of these buildings measured 18 ft. long by 9 ft.

wide, and the third, used as a storehouse, was 36 ft. long by 18 ft. wide and had a large cellar. In the first building Champlain lived with a few of the workmen in the lower story; in the other the remaining workpeople lived, and had with them the arms and ammunition of the whole party. An annexe was attached to one of the buildings, and it was used as a smithy; a few of the people also slept there. The whole of the buildings were enclosed by a trench or moat 15 ft. wide and 9 ft. deep, to protect the settlers from the ravages of wild beasts.

Champlain had earthworks thrown up on the inner side of the moat, on which cannons were mounted. Between the encampment and the river there remained a strip only 24 ft. wide; and behind, on the side of the mountain, there was a plot of arable land a little more than 100 ft. long and 60 ft. wide, where Champlain had corn sown and vines planted.

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This ”abitation” is shown on the 5c value of the series, while on the 10c is shown the city of Quebec as it had grown by 1700 from such small and modest beginnings.

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In the following May Champlain decided to explore the river and his departure on this momentous journey is depicted on the 15c stamp.

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On the 7c denomination are portraits of the two famous generals, Montcalm and Wolfe, both of whom were killed fighting each other on the heights of Quebec. Again, to quote from the article in _Gibbons' Stamp Weekly:_--

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So early as 1628 Quebec was captured by the English, in spite of Champlain's brave defence; but Canada was restored to France by one of the terms of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which was concluded in 1632. Richelieu at once sent Champlain back to Quebec as Governor-General of Canada.

Twice more, in 1690 and 1711, the English besieged Quebec, but they were not able to capture the town. But in 1759 General James Wolfe was ordered by Pitt to clear the French right out of Canada. The French troops were under the command of Marquis Ludwig Joseph Montcalm, of Saint-Veran. Although the latter was in command of only a small force, he was able to claim several victories, but finally he was besieged in Quebec by General Wolfe, at the head of 30,000 men. He was obliged to give battle under unequal conditions, and on September 13th was mortally wounded at the battle of the Heights of Abraham and died two days later. The victorious English general was also killed in the same battle.

The names of both these leaders, enemies though they were, have graven themselves inseparably on the memories of the inhabitants of Quebec. In 1827 the Governor of Canada, Lord Dalhousie, erected a marble monument to their memory, on which is a Latin inscription, which may be rendered freely thus:--

”Their courage caused their death.

History praises them both.