In the footsteps of Jacques Cartier: the third and last trip (3/3)

After a first trip full of discoveries and a second very enlivened exploration, follow the traces of Jacques Cartier’s last trip to Canada!

Never two without three: the expression is perfect to summarize Jacques Cartier’s adventures on Canadian lands, once named Nouvelle-France. After discovering Newfoundland, the Gaspésie, Stadaconé and Hochelaga, and despite the cunning failure of the second trip, Jacques Cartier again obtained the green light of François I to return to the Atlantic.

But the Malouin still doesn't know that this final expedition has many surprises...

A trip under tension

Change of course

Five years have elapsed since Jacques Cartier returned to Saint-Malo. Even if the second trip was hard, the desire for wealth and discovery is still an obsession for the Governor of New France. It is therefore logical that Malouin asks François One third expedition, to finally find the way to Asia, as well as the famous riches of the Kingdom of Saguenay.

Problem, the previous trip doesn't play in its favor. Credibility with the king is no longer a fixed one. Indeed, the Malouin could not navigate the entire St. Lawrence River, and François I has no precious stone to get under the tooth. The odds of seeing Cartier returning to the offshore for the crown of France seem weak. Yet the Breton is going to succeed.

Remember, before turning back to the Breton coast, Cartier trampled the Iroquois at a so-called party, allowing the French to kidnap some Amerindians, including Chief Iroquois Donnaconna. Once in France, the latter understands what France is looking for: the gold of the Saguenay. So Donnaconna will tell the French what they dream of hearing, by congratulating the legend of Saguenay and what he hides there. Revelations that, over the years, have yielded Francis I. Cartier can leave in New France.

Nevertheless, the monarch wishes to focus this third journey on riches and colonization. End the maritime adventure, we must conquer these lands and find resources.

A new commander

But the main objective is not the only change required by François I. The king now mistrusts Cartier and wishes to keep an eye on him, especially since he also doubts his ability to colonize New France.

It thus decides to put it under guardianship and entrusts the responsibility of the trip to Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval , a man of court and in whom François I fully trusted.

Jacques Cartier is therefore only the second of this trip. A demotion that scandalizes the individual. Moreover, the relationship between the explorer and Roberval is virtually non-existent, as soon as the trip is prepared. The first reproach for the second to take a crazy time in vain. On May 23, 1541, it’s too much for the malignant explorer, the wait is too long. The Malouin takes the sea off without waiting for Roberval, who will have to find another ship to get to the other side of the ocean.

The discovery of minerals

Stadaconé and her caps

If the few settlers accompanied him quickly decided to settle on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, the Breton had nothing to do with it. The now rebel has only one obsession: finding resources. Cartier believes in his destiny, the one who will make him a rich man. It is here that we take back our adventure.

Remember, during the last episode, we just discovered Quebec, the city built on and around the Iroquois village of Stadaconé. After driving along the St.Lawrence and taking a little height, it is time to go hunting the caps.

The first course Cartier searches is Cap Rouge. Our explorer spotted cliffs whose color of the stone is reddish, creating a color contrast with the blue of the river, whose water caresses the edge. His flair reminds him that the precious stones are not far away. He ordered to install a fort, which he appointed Charlesbourg-Royal.

Notwithstanding, after a small rust, the eyes of Breton notice an even more interesting place. A course where many stones scintillate. Cartier is convinced of this, his dream comes to realisation. According to him, such a shine can only come from a diamond! Perched on the heights of this hill, the emotion overflowing it, the Malouin no longer touches earth. The panoramic view gives him the same feeling as in Mount Royal: that of being on the roof of the New World.

This feeling, we can also feel it. The panorama on Quebec is of the most beautiful effect, and the presence of a 19th century citadel reinforces this impression. Like nothing could stop us.

It is also a unique moment, where we can realize all that our ancestors have managed to build in just 500 years. A chance that our explorer obviously did not have. And today, even if the Citadel of Quebec is now the main attraction of the place, some will not forget who named this hill the Cap Diamant.

Finally, let's finish our tour of the caps below the Diamant Cap, where also the browser sees stones shining with a thousand lights. After borrowing the homonymous stairs, we are in Cape Blanc, whose name would be drawn from an Amerindian denomination that would refer to the primitive appearance of the cape.

Yet, it is indeed one of the most beautiful examples of the French colonial architecture that is proposed to us. Like Old Quebec and its centre, some houses immediately remind us of the 19th century French architecture. As if we were in the west of France, strolling in a village in Charente or Vendée. An impression that then amplifies, when we see the church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde.

She also doesn't owe her name at random. Indeed, in the 19th century, Quebec navigators had winded up the construction of a church, located in Marseilles, dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, which the Marseilles sailors had aroused since it would protect them when they took the sea.

Thus, during its inauguration, sailors from Quebec would have asked that the church bear the same name.

If in our case, these places have a prime tourist attraction, for our explorer, there is no time to lose. It is necessary to collect the maximum of resources, until the boat can no longer float.

The kingdom of Saguenay

With the discovery of the three tracks, Jacques Cartier finally managed to find riches and knows that he can return to France without attracting the lightnings of François I. But don't think our adventure ends here! The former governor of New France will not return without piercing the mystery of the famous Saguenay kingdom. And neither do we!

According to Domagaya, the son of Chief Donnacona, the path for the Saguenay begins north of Stadaconé, at the mouth of the river that would lead to impressive lakes. The passage, Cartier manages to find it. What he did not know was that a fjord was waiting for him.

Here we are in front of one of the most beautiful landscapes in North America. From the beauty of the azur water to the magnificence of the green cliffs, everything is absolutely sublime. This reminds us of the emotion felt during our discovery of Gaspésie. But the best is coming.

Moreover, as a result of our journey, it is impossible to say that Jacques Cartier did so. If the browser has indeed seen the fjord, and found there also precious stones, it is impossible to know if the Breton went further. Even today, historians do not agree on the facts. He even thought that Malouin would have gone there on his second trip.

But whatever history says. The place of the Kingdom of Saguenay and its legend is central in the adventure of the Breton perfid. And above all, missing these landscapes would be a monumental mistake.

A mistake because, at the end of the river, it is simply one of the most beautiful lakes in the world that awaits us. Welcome to our final stage: Lac Saint-Jean. What strikes at the entrance is the vastness of the place, which confirms our beginnings. To know that everything is bigger, more majestic. Just put yourself in the centre of the lake to understand that Human is only a tiny element of nature.

This idea is also accentuated by the coasts, where the fir are kings, thanks to their great size and the green harmony they impose.

Let yourself be fooled by silence, admire the landscape and take the time to resurrect our entire adventure. Because this is where our expedition stops in the footsteps of Jacques Cartier. A trip not like others, for a story not like others.

A dramatic end

But if for us, the journey ends, it is not yet the case for the most famous browser of the Hexagon. Once the vessel was filled with precious stones, Cartier decided to start the return journey. The Gulf of St.Lawrence, to bypass Newfoundland and toss in the Atlantic.

Cartier's disobedience

But while Newfoundland is only a few knots away, Malouin sees another boat. The latter just arrived from the coasts of Newfoundland. It is simply Roberval, the commander of the expedition, who left behind and planted by an exasperated and impatient Cartier.

Their meeting away from the Kingdom of France is not happening as planned. Roberval requires Malouin to turn around, which categorically refuses. The king’s trusted man must therefore discover the New World without a lightning, and be acquainted with the Amerindians without intermediary.

Moreover, the first contacts with the natives are extremely complicated, Cartier’s fault and his manipulations.

Indeed, when the Iroquois see Breton landing a third time, they do not see their leader Donnacona, nor the other members of the tribe that the French had kidnapped. The browser tells them that their friends have married in France, are very happy and do not want to come back here.

Yet reality is quite different. Except for the young girl, the only survivor, all Amerindians did not survive Europe and the diseases of Old Continent. And even if the tribe will never know the truth about their companions, lies enough for them to beware of the French, once and for all.

As a result, the new governor faces defiance, and the various Amerindian tribes prevent the French from settled on Canadian lands. Colonization is a failure, and Roberval can only see the setback.

Great disappointment

In August 1542 Jacques Cartier finally arrived at the port of Saint-Malo. The Malouin is only thinking about one thing: to have the precious stones he has just brought back, and then to face François I as a hero. At this moment, Cartier is far from imagining that a bad surprise awaits him.

For yes, after expertise, the browser learns that all the stones it has brought from America are only quartz and pyrite. Stones with no value. After three bitter journeys, months of navigation and unscrupulous choices, Jacques Cartier’s dream collapses. In the end, everything he will bring to France is a proverb: "Fals like a diamond in Canada" .

He will finish his life in Saint-Malo, in his manor house, as he has always planned. But without the riches he has lorged all his life.