tier. It has been suggested
that Roberval did set sail at some time in the summer of 1541, and that
he reached Cape Breton island and built a fort there. So, at least, a
tradition ran that was repeated many years later by Lescarbot in his
Histoire de la Nouvelle France. If this statement is true, it must mean
that Roberval sailed home again at the close of 1541, without having
succeeded in finding Cartier, and that he prepared for a renewed
expedition in the spring of the coming year. But the evidence for any
such voyage is not conclusive.

What we know is that on April 16, 1542, Roberval sailed out of the port
of Rochelle with three tall ships and a company of two hundred persons,
men and women, and that with him were divers gentlemen of quality. On
June 8, 1542, his ships entered the harbour of St John's in
Newfoundland. They found there seventeen fishing vessels, clear proof
that by this time the cod fisheries of the Newfoundland Banks were well
known. They were, indeed, visited by the French, the Portuguese, and
other nations. Here Roberval paused to refit his ships and to replenish
his stores. While he was still in the harbour, one day, to his
amazement, Cartier sailed in with the five ships that he was bringing
away from his abandoned settlement at Charlesbourg Royal. Cartier
showed to his superior the 'diamonds' and the gold that he was bringing
home from Canada. He gave to Roberval a glowing account of the country
that he had seen, but, according to the meagre details that appear in
the fragment in Hakluyt's Voyages, he made clear that he had been
compelled to abandon his attempt at settlement. 'He could not with his
small company withstand the savages, which went about daily to annoy
him, which was the cause of his return into France.'

Except what is contained in the few sentences of this record we know
nothing of what took place between Roberval and Cartier. But it was
quite clear that the latter considered the whole enterprise as doomed
to failure. It is more than likely that Cartier was dissatisfied with
Roberval's delay, and did not care to continue under the orders of a
leader inferior to himself in capacity. Be this as it may, their final
parting stands recorded in the following terms, and no historical
document has as yet come to light which can make the exact situation
known to us. 'When our general [Roberval], being furnished with
sufficient forces, commanded him [Cartier] to go back with him, he and