Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, vol 2 | Page 4

to him, he made great and excessive outlays, and carried out with him a large number of men of various vocations. Upon his arrival, he caused the necessary number of habitations for his followers to be constructed. This expenditure he continued for three consecutive years, after which, in consequence of the jealousy and annoyance of certain Basque merchants, together with some from Brittany, the monopoly which had been granted to him was revoked by the Council to the great injury and loss of Sieur de Monts, who, in consequence of this revocation, was compelled to abandon his entire undertaking, sacrificing his labors and the outfit for his settlement.
But since a report had been made to the king on the fertility of the soil by him, and by me on the feasibility of discovering the passage to China, [11] without the inconveniences of the ice of the north or the heats of the torrid zone, through which our sailors pass twice in going and twice in returning, with inconceivable hardships and risks, his Majesty directed Sieur de Monts to make a new outfit, and send men to continue what he had commenced. This he did. And, in view of the uncertainty of his commission, [12] he chose a new spot for his settlement, in order to deprive jealous persons of any such distrust as they had previously conceived. He was also influenced by the hope of greater advantages in case of settling in the interior, where the people are civilized, and where it is easier to plant the Christian faith and establish such order as is necessary for the protection of a country, than along the sea-shore, where the savages generally dwell. From this course, he believed the king would derive an inestimable profit; for it is easy to suppose that Europeans will seek out this advantage rather than those of a jealous and intractable disposition to be found on the shores, and the barbarous tribes. [13]
ENDNOTES:
1. The first commission was granted by Henry VII. of England to John Cabot and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, March 5, 1496.-- _Rymer's Foedera_, Vol. XII. p. 595. The first voyage, however, was made in 1497. The second commission was granted to John Cabot alone, in 1498.--Vide Hakluyt, 1600, London, ed. 1810, Vol. III. pp. 25-31.
2. Cortereal made two voyages under the patronage of Emmanuel, King of Portugal, the first in 1500, the second in 1501. In the latter year, he sailed with two ships from Lisbon, and explored six hundred miles or more on our northern coast. The vessel in which he sailed was lost; and he perished, together with fifty natives whom he had captured. The other vessel returned, and reported the incidents of the expedition. The next year, Michael Cortereal, the brother of Gaspar, obtained a commission, and went in search of his brother; but he did not return, and no tidings were ever heard of him.
3. Jacques Cartier made three voyages in 1534, 1535, and 1540, respectively, in which he effected very important discoveries; and Charlevoix justly remarks that Cartier's Memoirs long served as a guide to those who after him navigated the gulf and river of St. Lawrence. For Cartier's commission, see _Hazard's State Papers_, Vol. I. p. 19.
4. Roberval's voyage was made in 1542, and is reported by Jean Alfonse.-- Vide Hakluyt, 1600, London, ed. 1810, Vol. III. p. 291. On an old map, drawn about the middle of the sixteenth century, Roberval is represented in a full-length portrait, clad in mail, with sword and spear, at the head of a band of armed soldiers, penetrating into the wilds of Canada, near the head-waters of the Saguenay. The name, "Monsr. de Roberual," is inserted near his feet,--_Vide Monuments de la Géographie_, XIX., par M. Jomard, Paris.
5. For the narrative of the voyages of Frobisher, Gilbert, and Davis, vide Hakluyt, Vol. III. Of the fleet of five vessels commanded by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in 1583, the Ralegh put back to England, on account of sickness on board; the Golden Hinde returned safely to port; the Swallow was left at Newfoundland, to bring home the sick; the Delight was lost near Sable Island; and the Squirrel went down on its way to England, some days after leaving Sable Island. Thus two only were lost, while a third was left.
There must have been some error in regard to the voyage of Captain Georges. There is no printed account of a voyage at that time by any one of this name. There are two theories on which this statement may be explained. There may have been a voyage by a Captain Georges, which, for some unknown reason, was never reported; or, what is more likely, Champlain may refer to the voyage of Captain George Weymouth, undertaken in 1602 for the