CANADA. 



321 



Canada, ed in waggons to Chippfitva, or Fort Wetland, about 

 w "^ 'lich rnntaiiis Kcveral store-houses, 



two or thiw taverns, and a wooden fort, with a gar- 

 rison of 25 ii, 



Torts. The principal fortsor military postsare, FortCarllon, 



a lit t If higher up the river, uc/11 garrisoned and fortified, 

 and possessing an excellent harbour ; Fort Niagara, 

 situated at the ingress of the St Lawrence into Lake 

 Ontario, and of great importance fur the protection of 

 tli-' British Indians ; Fort Amhcrstburgh , between 

 Lakes Erie and Huron; and Fort Si ,A/.s //;//, upon an 

 island at the western end of Lake Huron, and particu- 

 larly essential to the commercial interests of Canada. 

 Name. The import of the word Canada, and the reason 



of the country having been so named, arc equally 

 unknown ; and, as a sufficient proof how little cer- 

 tainty there is on the subject, the following account 

 of the matter, more ludicrous than satisfactory, may 

 be submitted to the reader. A band of Spaniards 

 having landed on the coast in quest of gold, which 

 was then the sole object of pursuit with every voy- 

 ager to America, and finding that the country yield- 

 ed none of their favourite metal, frequently exclaim- 

 ed to one another on their departure, in the presence 

 of the natives, Aca nada, i. e. here is nothing. Up- 

 on the arrival of the French some time afterwards, 

 the Indians, with a view to hasten their departure 

 also, repeatedly pronounced the words which they 

 had heard from their former visitors at their re-em- 

 i barkation ; upon which their new friends, imagining 



that it was the name of the country, immediately 

 called it Canada. 



Discovery This country appears to have been first discovered 

 aiidhistory. i n 14.95, by the famous Italian adventurer John Ca- 

 bot, who sailed under a commission from Henry VII. 

 of England, but who was not permitted by that cau- 

 tious prince to attempt any regular settlement on the 

 coast. In the beginning of the 16th century, it was 

 visitrd by some French mariners, who were fishing 

 on the banks of Newfoundland ; and, in 1523, Fran- 

 cis I. sent four ships under the command of Vera- 

 zani, a Florentine, to make discoveries in North 

 America ; but, after two unsuccessful attempts, ha- 

 ving sailed on a third expedition, he was never heard 

 of more. In 1534-, Jaques Cartier, a native of St 

 Malo, sailing under a commission from the French 

 king, landed at several places on the coast of the 

 Gulf of St Lawrence, and took possession of the 

 country in the name of his sovereign. 



In the year following, he made a second voyage, 

 with a more formal commission, and with a much 

 larger force ; sailed up the St Lawrence, as far as 

 the island of Orleans ; experienced the most hospi- 

 table treatment from the natives ; and, after winter- 

 ing at St Croix, returned to France, with a flaming 

 account of the fertility of the soil, and the value of the 

 productions, hut with no specimens of the precious 

 metals. His failure in the discovery of these last 

 mentioned commodities, brought him into some de- 

 gret of disgrace ; and in 1 540, he was sent out only 

 in the capacity of pilot to M. de Roberval, who was 



appointed viceroy of Canada ; who made various at' 

 tempts to discover a north west passage to the East 

 Indies ; who frequently returned to France for new 

 recruits ; and who was lost, with a numerous train of 

 adventurers, in 1749, without any tidings ever being 

 received of his fate. By this calamitous event the 

 miciit of France was so much discouraged, that, 

 tor nearly 50 years afterwards, no measures were em- 

 ployed to support the few French settlers, who btill 

 remained in North America. At length, Henry IV. 

 appointed the Marquis de la Roche, lieutenant gene- 

 ral of Canada ; but that nobleman, sailing from 

 France* in 1598, having injudiciously attempted a 

 settlement on the isle of Sable, and cruized for some 

 time on the coast of Nova Scotia, without any suc- 

 cess, returned home in disgrace, and died of grief. 

 Other governors, however, were more successful in 

 their expeditions ; and by the increasing attractions 

 of tire fur-trade, were enabled to collect great num- 

 bers of settlers, and to form a permanent establish- 

 ment in Canada, or New France, as it was then de- 

 signated. One of the most active of these adventu- 

 rers was a naval officer called Cham plain, a man of 

 considerable enterprize and ability, who completely 

 explored the banks of the St Lawrence, discovered 

 the lake, which bears his name, and built the city of 

 Quebec in the year 1608. * At this period two In- 

 dian nations, the Algonqums and Hurons, who oc- 

 cupied the district in which the new colony was plant- 

 ed, happened to be very hard pressed by their inve- 

 terate enemies the Iroquois ; and, in the hope of pro- 

 curing important assistance to their cause, readily 

 welcomed and befriended the new settlers. Cham- 

 plain, instead of endeavouring to unite the natives in 

 general in an attachment to France, inconsiderately 

 took a side in their contests ; and thus raised up an 

 enemy, of whose power and ferocity he was little 

 aware, and whose routed hostility presented perpe- 

 tual obstructions to the future prosperity of the co- 

 lony. The Iroquois never forgave this interference 

 on the part of the French ; and kept them in such a 

 state of almost unceasing warfare, that, during a 

 whole century at least, the European residents were 

 never altogether free from alarms ; were seldom per- 

 mitted to reap and sow in safety ; and were frequently 

 in hazard of total extermination. 



The infant colony was, fora long time, very much 

 neglected by the mother country ; and its support 

 was chiefly entrusted to private individuals, whu fitted 

 out expeditions at their own expense and risk. As 

 the persons, however, who conducted these enter- 

 prizes, were generally men of rank and fortune ; and as 

 they received from government the exclusive right to 

 trade with the Indians in furs ; they found no diffi- 

 culty in procuri.ig as many individuals to accompar.) 

 them, as they were able to support ; but still, their 

 strength and numbers were never sufficient to ensure 

 protection against the barbarous incursions of the 

 savages 



The province of New France very soon became as 

 much a missionary station, as a commercial settle- 



Canadt. 



It is said that some of his followers, upon tlieir first view of the lofty point of land, on which the capital of Canada is 

 situated, anJ whirl, j> ton feet of perpendicular height, having exclaimed in astonishment, Quel bee ! Champlain immedi- 

 ately resolved t.. Ix-stow that name upon his projected town. 



OL. V. PART '.. 2s 



