XIX

THE ISLAND OF DEMONS


Those American travellers who linger with delight among the narrow lanes
and picturesque, overhanging roofs of Honfleur, do not know what a strange
tragedy took place on a voyage which began in that quaint old port three
centuries and a half ago. When, in 1536, the Breton sailor Jacques Cartier
returned from his early explorations of the St. Lawrence, which he had
ascended as high as Hochelaga, King Francis I. sent for him at the lofty
old house known as the House of the Salamander, in a narrow street of the
quaint town of Lisieux. It now seems incredible that the most powerful
king in Europe should have dwelt in such a meagre lane, yet the house
still stands there as a witness; although a visitor must now brush away
the rough, ready-made garments and fishermen's overalls which overhang its
door. Over that stairway, nevertheless, the troubadours, Pierre Ronsard
and Clement Marot, used to go up and down, humming their lays or touching
their viols; and through that door De Lorge returned in glory, after
leaping down into the lions' den to rescue his lady's glove. The house
still derives its name from the great carved image of a reptile which
stretches down its outer wall, from garret to cellar, beside the doorway.

In that house the great king deigned to meet the Breton sailor, who had
set up along the St. Lawrence a cross bearing the arms of France with the
inscription _Franciscus Primus, Dei gratia Francorum Rex regnat_; and
had followed up the pious act by kidnapping the king Donnacona, and