of that century, Canada was absolutely a _terra incognita_--being one
vast forest, inhabited only by the red man, and by beasts as wild and
untamable as he. In the year 1534, James Cartier, a skilful navigator,
being provided with a commission from the King of France, set sail from
St. Malo, with two ships of sixty tons burden, carrying one hundred and
twenty-two well-equipped seamen, in order to reconnoitre that part of
the New World. Cartier's first voyage was quite successful. He
discovered Canada and took possession of it, in the name of the French
King. Having made his observations from the different posts which
surround the Gulf that receives into its bosom the waters of the great
river of Canada, since called the St. Lawrence, he conversed as well as
he could with the savages, whenever an opportunity offered, in order to
study their characters, and thought he occasionally discovered in them
dispositions favorable to Christianity.

This led him to hope that the King would form a colony in the country,
that might be equally useful to commerce and religion. He accordingly
returned to France, to acquaint his sovereign with his projects and the
success of the expedition that inspired them.

His plans met with a very favorable reception, and were immediately
acted upon. The following year he received a new commission from the
King and three well-appointed ships, several Breton gentlemen at the
same time volunteering to accompany him. They left the port of St. Malo
on the 3rd of May, but did not arrive at the Canadian Gulf until the
10th of August. This being the festival of St. Lawrence, they called the
Gulf by the Saint's name, in thanksgiving for their safe arrival. Having
entered the river with his little fleet, he sailed as far as the Jacques
Cartier River, so named in _his_ honor. Here they landed, and tradition
says, he lost one of his ships at this place, although his biographers