west, and were enveloped in dense banks of fog. During
a month of buffeting against adverse seas, they were
driven apart and lost sight of one another.

Cartier in the Grande Hermine reached the coast of
Newfoundland safely on July coming again to the Island
of Birds. 'So full of birds it was,' he writes, 'that
all the ships of France might be loaded with them, and
yet it would not seem that any were taken away.' On the
next day the Grande Hermine sailed on through the Strait
of Belle Isle for Blanc Sablon, and there, by agreement,
waited in the hope that her consorts might arrive. In
the end, on the 26th, the two missing ships sailed into
the harbour together. Three days more were spent in making
necessary repairs and in obtaining water and other
supplies, and on the 29th at sunrise the reunited expedition
set out on its exploration of the northern shore. During
the first half of August their way lay over the course
already traversed from the Strait of Belle Isle to the
western end of Anticosti. The voyage along this coast
was marked by no event of especial interest. Cartier, as
before, noted carefully the bearing of the land as he
went along, took soundings, and, in the interest of future
pilots of the coast, named and described the chief
headlands and landmarks as he passed. He found the coast
for the most part dangerous and full of shoals. Here and
there vast forests extended to the shore, but otherwise
the country seemed barren and uninviting.

From the north shore Cartier sailed across to Anticosti,