CAETOGEAPHY TO CHAMPLAIN. 53 



Gaspé. — There are two explanations of this word. Sir William Dawson (Canadian Naturalist, 

 III., p. 323), calls it a Micmac word, meaning " as nearly as possible, the ' land's end,' " and suggests 

 that it may be identical with the termination "gash" in names of points in New Brunswick and Nova 

 Scotia. Vetromile (The Abnakies, p. 46) derives it from " Gachepè or Kech'pi (the end)," very appro- 

 priately, to signify the extreme end of Micmac terri tiu-y and the last promontory between St. Law- 

 rence and Bay of Chaleurs. De Mont's commission of 1603 has Gachepé, and Champlain and Do 

 Laot use both Gachepé and Gaspé. On the other hand, Abbé Laverdière (Œuvres de fUiamplain, 

 j). 1085) derives it fi-om " Katsepioui, qui est séparément," referring to a rock known as Le Forillon, 

 just off Cape Gaspé. In Howley's " Ecclesiastical History of Newfoundland " (p. 99) it is said to bo 

 from the Abenaquis word " Katespi, which means separately, or that which is separated fri)m the 

 mainland," thus agreeing in the main with that given by Laverdière. 



The very earliest use of the word that I know of is b}' AUofonsce in his Cosmographie of 1542. 

 As translated by HakUiyt, it is spelled Gaspay. If it be an Indian word, either Allefonsce or Cartier 

 must have obtained it from the Indians. Now, it seems highlj' probable that at the time of the visits 

 of Cartier, the Indians resident there were neither Micmacs nor Montagnais, but Hurons (see N. E. 

 Dionne, " Etudes Historiques," Quebec, 1880, pp. 5Y-60, and Trans. Eoy. Soc. Canada, II. ii. TY, 80, 

 Faillon, Histoire, I, 524). If this be so, it is rather to the Huron tongue that we are to look for the 

 meaning of the word, not to the Micmac, and both of the interj^retations given above may fail in the 

 light of new evidence. 



Newfoundland. — -Probably the very oldest geographical name given by Europeans on the 

 American continent, which has survived to the present time. It probably dates back to the first 

 voyage of the Cabots in 149'7. Cartier does not appear to use the woid for the island itself, though 

 he speaks of the coast of Labrador as Terre Neuffue. He was the lirst, so far as we know, to prove 

 that Newfoundland was an island; before his time the name had to appear on the mainland. On the 

 map of Euysch, of 1508, Terra Nova appears on a peninsula certainly meant for Newfoundland. On 

 that of Cosa, of 1500, it appears as Tierra Nuera, but, as no peninsula or island is shown, it covers a 

 considerable tract on the mainland. Cosa's map in this region is supposed to have been deiived from 

 the Cabots' maps. The name also appears in other records, as mentioned by Kohl (Discovery of 

 Maine, p. 186), the most interesting of which is the entry in the privy-purse accounts of Henry VII 

 in 1497 of " 10 pounds to him that found the new isle." Other later entries speak of the New Islande, 

 New Isle, and one in 1503 of the Neicfound island. It appears, then, that our word " Newfoundland " 

 is a direct descendant of the name given to this region bj' the Cabots. It was used in its present form 

 at least as long ago as the time of Champlain. 



Isle St. John (See antea, p. 45). — It bore this name until 1798, when it was changed to Prince 

 Edward Island, in honor of the father of our Queen, by an Act of the Provincial Legislature, which 

 was confirmed by the King in 1799. The name ''Northumberland Strait " is, however, much older. 



St. Lawrence. — This name rapidly extended to the whole Gulf, and later to the river. Early 

 names for the former, or parts of it, were Grand Baie, Golfo Qiiadrado. The river was called Biver of 

 Canada, Hiver of Hochelaga. Purchas states (Pilgrimage, p. 869) that the river was also called the 

 Strait of the Three Brothers, though the statement does not appear to occur elsewhere. 



Grand Baie. — This name was vei-y clearly applied to the north eastern part of the Gulf by 

 Allefonsce and other early writers. Yet some have supposed it applied to the Bay of Fundy. (A. L. 

 Adams, Field and Forest, Eambles, p. 15, N. Y. Hind, Eep. Geology, N.B., p. 18.) 



Isle of Demons. — An unceitain, almost mythical locality, based chiefly uj^on the imagination of 

 Thevet. The legend is given by Parkman (Pioneers of France), and has been made the subject of 

 one of Canada's best narrative poems, viz. "Marguerite or the Isle of Demons" by Mr. George 



