coasted up Labrador in 1657 seeking the Bay of the North; and on their
last trip the explorers had learned from the Crees who came through the
dense forests of the hinterland that there lay round this Bay of the
North a vast country with untold wealth of furs. The discovery of a
route overland to the north sea was to become the lodestar of
Radisson's life.[1]

[Illustration: Montreal in 1760: 1, the St. Lawrence; 20, the Dock;
18-19, Arsenal; 16, the Church; 13-15, the Convent and Hospital; 8-12,
Sally-ports, River Side; 17, Cannon and Wall; 3-4-5, Houses on Island.]

"We considered whether to reveal what we had learned," explains
Radisson, "for we had _not_ been in the Bay of the North, knowing only
what the Crees told us. We wished to discover it ourselves and have
assurance before revealing anything." But the secret leaked out.
Either Groseillers told his wife, or the Jesuits got wind of the news
from the Indians; for it was announced from Quebec that two priests,
young La Vallière, the son of the governor at Three Rivers, six other
Frenchmen, and some Indians would set out for the Bay of the North up
the Saguenay. Radisson was invited to join the company as a guide.
Needless to say that a man who had already discovered the Great
Northwest and knew the secret of the road to the North, refused to play
a second part among amateur explorers. Radisson promptly declined.
Nevertheless, in May, 1661, the Jesuits, Gabriel Dreuillettes and
Claude Dablon, accompanied by Couture, La Vallière, and three others,
set out with Indian guides for the discovery of Hudson's Bay by land.
On June 1 they began to ascend the Saguenay, pressing through vast
solitudes below the sombre precipices of the river. The rapids were
frequent, the heat was terrific, and the _portages_ arduous. Owing to
the obstinacy of the guides, the French were stopped north of Lake St.