18 GANONG ON ST. LAWEENCE 



Harbor, to the west of Shecatica Bay,' visiting and naming several harbors on the way. 

 At Cumberland Harbor he turned back and retraced his steps to the port of Brest, the 

 present Old Fort Bay." Thence, on June 15th, he crossed to Newfoundland, making laud 

 in the vicinity of the present Point Rich. From this place he coasted to the south-west, 

 visiting and naming several bays and capes, until he reached the present Cape Anguille, 

 which he sighted in a storm on June 24th, and named Cape St. John. 



Up to this point, Cartier's narrative is so clear that there never has been any doubt, 

 except in a few minor instances, as to the course he followed. From this point until he 

 reached Bay Chaleur, however, there has been great difference of opinion as to his route. 

 As traced in the present writer's former paper, it is as follows : — 



Leaving Cape Anguille, he came next day to the Bird Rocks and later to Brion Island, 

 all of which he describes fully and faithfully. Then he approached North Cape {cap du 

 Daidplim) of the Magdalene Islands, and on the 2*7th of the month coasted along the 

 western side of the larger of the group, until Entry Island was reached, one cape of which 

 was named St. Peter. The present Deadman's Island, oif to the west, was named Allezay. 

 The course was now laid to the west, and he sailed forty leagues before again coming in 

 sight of land. On the morning of June 30th, he saw to the south-west what appeared to 

 be two islands, but what proved later to be really firm land lying S.S.E. and N.N.W., on 

 which was a cape named Cape Orleans. He entered the mouth of a beautiful but shallow 

 river which he named River of Boats (ripuiere de Baroques) and describes very fully the 

 shores and banks of the region. The land, like two islands, was the high land near Greu- 

 ville ; the River of Boats was Richmond Bay ; Cape Orleans was Cape Kildare ; and the 

 Cape of the Savages,-^ visited and named by him later, was the present North Cape. 



After landing at the latter point, he coasted nine or ten leagues along the land, finding 



' All writers hitherto have considered Shecatica Bay to be the Port of Jacques Cartier, and a small inlet to the 

 east of the mouth of the latter {B. du Petit Penc) to be the River of St. James. They are so marked in the excellent 

 French and English charts of the last century, which give both Cartier's and the modern names. The reason for 

 my view is, that Cartier describes St. James as a very large river, " bonne ripuiere plus grande." This would by no 

 means apply to the small inlet referred to, but it would apply well to Shecatica Bay w hich on the charts does 

 look like a river. Again, the Port of Jacques Cartier was clearly a harbor, not a river, and Cumberland Harbor 

 would be more likely to be spoken of as a harbor than Shecatica Bay. See good modern charts of the coast. It is 

 worth noticing by the way, that Kingsford, in his History of Canada (i. 3), suggests that "Shecatica" is an 

 Indianized survival of Jacques Cartier, an improbable supposition it seems to me. 



- There is some question as to the exact locality of lirest. Thus Hind (Labrador, ii. 352), Packard (Bull Am. 

 Geog. Soc. XX. 352), Rev. M. Harvey (Ency. Brit. xiv. 177) say that Brest was on Bradore Bay, a few miles 

 from Blanc Sablon, and that it was founded in 1500 (Packard), or 1520 (Harvey) Yet Cartier's narrative is quite 

 clear on this point. Bradore Harbor he entered and called its islands the Islettes. He mentions no town there. 

 Brest, he says, was ten leagues from the Islettes. Tlie conclusion must be that Cartier's Port of Brest was really 

 Old Fort Bay, and that the town of Brest, if on Bradore Harbor (where its ruins are said to be) must either have 

 been founded later, or else was unknown to Cartier. Tlie latter can hardly be credited. 



' It seems probable that this word survives, in an altered form, in Cape Tormentine on the Strait of Northum- 

 berland coast of New Brunswick. During the early part of tlie seventeenth century a large number of maps were 

 published in Europe, which followed Champlain's 1612 or 1613 map, neither of which showed any trace of Prince 

 Edward Island. Some of these retained Cartier's names, which, of course, had as a consequence to be on the 

 mainland. Later, however, Prince Edward Island was added to them (following, no doubt, Champlain's 1632 

 map), but naturally the names were left where they were and not removed to the island. Hence " River of 

 Boats," "Cape of the Savages," etc., appear on some maps on the New Brunswick coast, even with Prince Edward 

 Island clearly shown. De Laet's map of 1632 is a conspicuous example, the name "C de Sauvages " being applied 

 by him to Point Escumenac and "Fleue de Barques " to Baie Verte. Some maps of the hist century have " C of 



