Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/36

, an able and scientific officer, was sent out in command of an expedition.

This celebrated man, after careful exploration and examination, selected the site of Quebec as a suitable place for a fort. This same year a patent was issued to De Monte, a Huguenot gentleman of the king's bedchamber, and the sovereignty of, from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of north latitude—i. e., from about the latitude of Philadelphia as far northerly as Cape Breton—was granted to him, together with a monopoly of the fur trade, etc. In 1604, the expedition, consisting of four ships, sailed for its destination. Poutrin-court, an officer of the expedition, obtained permission to remain in the harbor, which he called Port Royal, now Annapolis. Champlain explored the Bay of Fundy, discovered and named the River St. John's, and selected a site for a settlement on the island St. Croix, in the river of the same name. But the spot was not well chosen, and in the spring of the following year the colony removed to Port Royal. Here the first actual settlement on the American Continent by the French was made. The hostility of the natives along the coast rendered it dangerous to attempt settlements in the vicinity of Cape Cod. During the following ten years, numerous and successful efforts were made by Jesuit priests to convert the natives.

The monopoly of De Monts having been revoked, a company of merchants of Dieppe and St. Malo founded Quebec. This was principally due to Champlain, who not only laid the foundation of the city of Quebec, but also the next year explored and was the first of white men to enter the beautiful lake which bears his name and perpetuates his memory, This persevering and energetic man lived through many and severe trials and afflictions which beset his efforts in establishing the authority of his countrymen on the St. Lawrence. He died in 1635. Consequent upon the explorations of Champlain and others, the French laid claim to that vast tract of interior America, which, together with Canada and Acadie, was denominated.

In concluding the present chapter, in which has been attempted a brief sketch of some of the early voyagers and discoverers, to whom succeeding generations owe so large a debt of gratitude, the language of Mr. Bancroft may very appropriately be quoted: "Such were the voyages which led the way to the colonization of the United States. The daring and skill of these earliest adventurers upon the ocean deserve the highest admiration. The difficulties of crossing the Atlantic were new, and it required the greater courage to encounter hazards which ignorance exaggerated. The character of the prevalent winds and currents was unknown. The possibility of making a direct passage was but gradually discovered. The imagined dangers were infinite; the real dangers exceedingly great. The ships at first employed for discovery were generally of less than one hundred tons burden; Frobisher sailed in a vessel of but twenty-five tons; two of those of Columbus were without a