The report of Cartier's first voyage, written by himself,
brought to him the immediate favour of the king. A
commission, issued under the seal of Philippe Chabot,
admiral of France, on October 30, 1534, granted to him
wide powers for employing ships and men, and for the
further prosecution of his discoveries. He was entitled
to engage at the king's charge three ships, equipped and
provisioned for fifteen months, so that he might be able
to spend, at least, an entire year in actual exploration.
Cartier spent the winter in making his preparations, and
in the springtime of the next year (1535) all was ready
for the voyage.

By the middle of May the ships, duly manned and provisioned,
lay at anchor in the harbour of St Malo, waiting only a
fair wind to sail. They were three in number--the Grande
Hermine of 120 tons burden; a ship of 60 tons which was
rechristened the Petite Hermine, and which was destined
to leave its timbers in the bed of a little rivulet beside
Quebec, and a small vessel of 40 tons known as the
Emerillon or Sparrow Hawk. On the largest of the ships
Cartier himself sailed, with Claude de Pont Briand,
Charles de la Pommeraye, and other gentlemen of France,
lured now by a spirit of adventure to voyage to the New
World. Mace Jalobert, who had married the sister of
Cartier's wife, commanded the second ship. Of the sailors
the greater part were trained seamen of St Malo.
Seventy-four of their names are still preserved upon a
roll of the crew. The company numbered in all one hundred