20 GANONG OÎT ST. LAWEENCB 



a recent map.^ The course among tlie Magdalene Islands docs not differ very greatly from 

 that of the present writer," but the long sail to the west is made to take Cartier to 

 Miramichi Bay which, as usual, is called the Bay of Saint Lunario. Thence he is made 

 to go southward to Richibucto River, which is made the River of Boats, and thence 

 north again to Bay Chaleur. This is about the course which is given also in the Quebec 

 Literary and Historical Society's reprint of Cartier's voyages (Vol. I, pp. 10, 11). It is 

 remarkable how persistently he has been sent to the mainland and kept away from Prince 

 Edward Island. This is no doubt because it has not been remembered that his directions 

 were invariably not for the true but for the magnetic meridian. Forty leagues true west 

 would take him to the New Brunswick shore, but forty leagues magnetic west would 

 take him to Prince Edward Island. As to whether the interpretation of the course as 

 given by the present writer is consistent and clear, or, in other words, the correct one, he 

 must leave others to judge. 



Cartier, leaving his ships at Port Daniel, explored in his boats to the head of Bay 

 Chaleur, and, of course, did not find the passage to the west which he came to seek. On 

 July 12th he left his anchorage and coasted to the east,^ leaving so clear a narrative 

 that he is easily followed to G-aspé Bay. On the 25th he sailed away again to the east- 

 north-east for about twenty leagues, which brought him to Anticosti. He followed the 

 laud to the eastward, giving us a clear account of his progress. To East Cape he gave 

 the name of Cape St. Loys (or Aluise, i.e. St. Louis), and to Fox Point that of Cap de 

 Memorancy.* He kept on to opposite North Point, and named the strait between Anticosti 

 and Labrador the Strait of St. Peter. Here the lateness of the season and other causes 

 made him turn back and sail away for France. He followed the coast of Labrador, 

 Ai^isiting Natashquan Point (which he named Cape Thiennot),'' to Blanc Sablon, and, 

 passing through the Strait of Belle Isle, reached France on September 5th. 



It is rather surprising that there has been a difference of opinion as to his course 



' Carte de la Nouvelle France, pour servir à l'Etude de l'Hi.stoire du Canada, etc. Par P. M. A. Geiiest, 1875. 



' I bad not seen this map when my former paper was written. 



'' He visited the present White Head, near Bonaventure Island, and named it Cape Pratto. This name, De 

 Costa says, ho found there (America, iii- 186), implying that Cartier did not give it on this voyage. I quote this 

 here to illustrate the difference of opinion which has prevailed as to Cartier's or his companions' previous know- 

 ledge of the Gulf. Many names Cartier simply writes, without saying whether he gave them or not, while many 

 others he distinctly says he gave. I believe that all names on the south and west of the Gulf used by him he 

 gave himself on this and his following voyages. This was apparently ])r. Kohl's view. We have no maps, no 

 evidence of any kind to show that this region was at all known either to him or to his companions, while his 

 actions and language throughout are those of an entire stranger. On the east coast of Newfoundland, however, 

 and possibly in the Strait of Belleisle, some of the names were used before his time. Bonavista and Chasteaux 

 appear to be among these. Compare America, iv. 72, last paragraph. As to the origin of the word Pratto, De 

 Costa states (America, iii. 186) that Albert de Prato, a priest and mathematician, was on tlie coast of New- 

 foundland with Jean Rut in 1527. He is probably the man referred to in Hakluyt (iii. 1G7| in the narrative of a 

 voyage of 1527 to the east coast of Newfoundland and Cape Breton Cartier may have known him, and named 

 the cape for him. The name must not be confounded with "Plato," "Plateau" or "Flat Island," near Point 

 Peter, on the opposite point of Mai Bay. The latter names were given on account of its shape. 



' Doubtless meant for Montmorency. This was the name of one of the noblest old families of France. At this 

 time, Anne, Duke of Montmorency, a brave and illustrious man, was held in high honor in France by Francis I, 

 and it was probably in his honor that Cartier named the cape. (See Encyclopaedia Britannica, xvi 791.) 



* Most writers consider C. Thiennot to be Mount Joli, a little to the east of Natashquan Point. Yet Cartier 

 tells us distinctly that C. Thiennot was a " low cape." Why, then, seek to place the name on Mount Joli ? It 

 may have been just at the mouth of Natashquan River. 



