310 Evidence of French Discoveries of New York, etc. 



which he named Maragnon. mi id which has since been 

 son. Cousin, by taking an altitude on shore, ascer- 

 ined that to reach the coast of Adra in Africa, he needed to sail 

 » the south-east; by this means he was first to discover the southern 

 >int of Africa. He gave the name of the Needles to a range of hills or 

 reef which he noticed there. This young captain, having made a 

 )te of these places and their position, returned to the coasts of 

 ongo and Adra where he made exchange of his merchandise and 

 ■rived at Diepp ' ' 



Jieppe during the year 1489. 

 lip-owners of this town agreed for theii 

 t he discoveries of their men; they conce 



keep secret the discoveries of their men: thev concealed also the fact 

 of Cousin's discovery of the southern terminus of Africa: thev thought 

 that by this means they could he the onlv ones to reach the' Last In- 

 dies by sea, and draw therefrom a large 'commercial profit. Besides, 

 the French Government was then entirely occupied with intestine 

 wars. * * * The people of Dieppe did not inform the government 

 of these discoveries, of tb 

 tion. * * * The' 

 exclusion of every otl 



On page 99 of the same volume, the author says: " The inhabitants 

 of Dieppe were carrying on their commerce in the East Indies, when 

 they learned the discoveries which the Spanish had made in America. 

 Their emulation thereat was piqued, aid thev fitted out two vessels 

 to learn if that part of the world was prolonged to the north. Thev 

 intrusted the command of these, to two of their most skillful cap- 

 tains. Thomas Aubert and John (or (iiovanni) Verazzano. These 

 two ships departed from Dieppe at the beginning of loOS and discov- 

 ered the same year the river St. Lawrence, to which thev gave this 

 name, because it was on that Saint's day that thev began to explore; 

 which they did for about eights leagues", finding the natives peaceable, 

 with whom thev made the most prolitahle h ar ter for furs. It is with- 

 toundation that the inhabitants of St. Malo attribute to Jacques 

 Cartier the discovery of Canada. The fact is the latter having learned 

 of the voyage of Aubert and Verazzano and of the trade in furs made 

 by the people of Dieppe m that countrv. fitted out several vessels and 

 there made an establishment which proved unsuccessful." 



We may add in confirmation of this narrative of French discovery, 

 that on the map of the German cartographer, John Ruysch, in 1508, 

 the only portions of the western continent given, are the West India 

 Islands and the northern coast of South America. 



It was as late as 1534 when Cartier made his first visit to the mouth 

 of the St. Lawrence. 



Until the reign of Francis I, who was crowned in 1515, the ship- 

 ping of France, both mercantile and naval, was quite insignificant. 

 For a hundred years France was too much embroiled in wars, foreign 

 and domestic, to engage in schemes of colonization. As the Memoirs 

 just quoted say, the founding of colonies involves the necessity of 

 troops to protect and money to maintain colonies, neither of which 



