ing of the succeeding
year. On the 16th of April, 1542, he at length sailed from Rochelle with
three large vessels, equipped principally at the royal cost. Two hundred
persons accompanied him, some of them being gentlemen of condition,
others men and women purposing to become settlers in the New World. Jean
Alphonse, an experienced navigator of Saintonge, by birth a Portuguese,
was pilot of the expedition. After a very tedious voyage, they entered
the Road of St. John's, Newfoundland, on the 8th of June, where they
found no fewer than seventeen vessels engaged in the inexhaustible
fisheries of those waters.

While Roberval indulged in a brief repose at this place, the unwelcome
appearance of Jacques Cartier filled him with disappointment and
surprise. The lieutenant gave the hostility of the savages and the
weakness of his force as reasons for having abandoned the settlement
where he had passed the winter. He still, however, spoke favorably of
the richness and fertility of the country, and gladdened the eyes of
the adventurers by the sight of a substance that resembled gold ore, and
crystals that they fancied were diamonds, found on the bold headland of
Quebec. But, despite these flattering reports and promising specimens,
Jacques Cartier and his followers could not be induced, by entreaties or
persuasions, to return. The hardships and dangers of the last terrible
winter were too fresh in memory, and too keenly felt, to be again
braved. They deemed their portion of the contract already complete, and
the love of their native land overcame the spirit of adventure, which
had been weakened, if not quenched, by recent disappointment and
suffering. To avoid the chance of an open rupture with Roberval, the
lieutenant silently weighed anchor during the night, and made all sail
for France. This inglorious withdrawal from the enterprise paralyzed
Roberval's power, and deferred the permanent settlement of Canada for
generations then unborn. Jacques Cartier died soon after his return to
Europe.[92] Having sacrificed his fortune in the pursuit of discovery,
his heirs were granted an exclusive privilege of trade to Canada for
twelve years, in consideration of his sacrifices for the public good;
but this gift was revoked four months after it was bestowed.

Roberval determined to proceed on his expedition, although deprived of
the powerful assistance and valuable experience of his lieutenant. He
sailed from Newfoundland for Canada, an