rrive till the 26th of
the month. Having taken in supplies of fuel and water, they sailed in
company to explore the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A violent storm arose on
the 1st of August, forcing them to seek shelter. They happily found a
port on the north shore, at the entrance of the Great River, where,
though difficult of access, there was a safe anchorage. Jacques Cartier
called it St. Nicolas, and it is now almost the only place still bearing
the name he gave. They left their harbor on the 7th, coasting westward
along the north shore, and on the 10th came to a gulf filled with
numerous and beautiful islands.[77] Cartier gave this gulf the name of
St. Lawrence, having discovered it on that saint's festival day.[78]

On the 15th of August they reached a long, rocky island toward the
south, which Cartier named L'Isle de l'Assumption, now called
Anticosti.[79] Thence they continued their course, examining carefully
both shores of the Great River,[80] and occasionally holding
communication with the inhabitants, till, on the 1st of September, they
entered the mouth of the deep and gloomy Saguenay. The entrance of this
great tributary was all they had leisure to survey; but the huge rocks,
dense forests, and vast body of water, forming a scene of somber
magnificence such as had never before met their view, inspired them with
an exalted idea of the country they had discovered. Still passing to the
southwest up the St. Lawrence, on the 6th they reached an island
abounding in delicious filberts, and on that account named by the
voyagers Isle aux Coudres. Cartier, being now so far advanced into an
unknown country, looked out anxiously for a port where his vessels might
winter in safety. He pursued his voyage till he came upon another
island, of great extent, fertility, and beauty, covered with woods and
thick, clustering vines. This he named Isle de Bacchus:[81] it is now
called Orleans. On the 7th of September, Donnacona, the chief of the
country,[82] came with twelve canoes filled by his train, to hold
converse with the strangers, whose ships lay at anchor between the
island and the north shore of the Great River. The Indian chief
approached the smallest of the ships with only two canoes, fearful of
causing alarm, and began an oration, accompanied with strange and
uncouth gestures. After a time he conversed with the Indians who had
been seized on the former voyage, and now acted as interpreters. He
heard from them of their wonder