ted. It was a
short way to wealth that all hoped for. And the St. Lawrence has,
indeed, been a short way to wealth, if not to China, as will afterwards
be shown.[1]

[1] The title of Henepin's book is "Nouveau Voyage d'un pais plus
grand que l'Europe, avec les reflections des enterprises du Sieur
de la Salle, sur les Mines de Ste. Barbe, &c., * * * et des
avantages qu'on peut retirer du chemin racourci de la Chine et du
Japon, par le moyen de tant de vastes contrees et de nouvelles
colonies," (published at Utrecht in 1698.)

In the commissions granted to Champlain, on the 15th October,
1612, and 15th February, 1625, the same objects are adverted
to:--"_pour essayer de trouver le chemin faite pour aller par de
dans le dit pays au pays de la Chine et Indes Orientales_."

Passing over the exploration of what is now the Coast of the United
States, by Verrazzano, I come to the discovery of Gaspe Basin and the
River St. Lawrence, by Jacques Cartier, of St. Malo, in France. With
ships of one hundred and twenty tons, and forty tons, Cartier arrived
in the St. Lawrence--as some spring traders of the present day
occasionally do--before the ice had broken up, and found it necessary
to go back and seek shelter in some of the lower bays or harbours. He
left St. Malo in April, 1534, and arrived in the St. Lawrence early in
May. Returning to Gaspe, he entered the Bay Chaleur, remained there
until the 25th July, and returned to France. Next year, Cartier arrived
in the St. Lawrence, after various disasters to his three vessels, and
viewed and named Anticosti, which he called L'Isle de L'Assomption;
explored the River Saguenay; landed on, and named the Isle aux Coudres,
or Island of Filberts; passed the Isle of Bacchus, now Island of
Orleans; and at length came to anchor on the "Little River" St. Croix,
the St. Charles of these times, on which stood the huts of Stadacona.
Cartier chatted with the Indians for a season. He found them an
exceedingly good tempered and very communicative people. They told him
that there was another town higher up the river, and Cartier determined
upon visiting that congregation of birch bark tents or huts, pitched on
a spot of land called Hochelaga, now the site of Montreal. At Hochelaga
the "new Governor" met with a magnificent reception. A thousand natives
assembled to meet him on the shore, and the compliment was returned by
presents of "tin"