4. Jacques Cartier's first voyage in 1534
Fearless and skilled navigator but a poor diplomat
Updated: January 20, 2024
In April 1534, two French sailing ships sighted breakers hitting cold and forbidden looking cliffs of the New World. They had sailed from France following a well-known sailing route west across the north Atlantic and after 33 brutal days of treacherous seas, rotten food and the usual sea sicknesses reached the most easterly coasts of the new world. Jacques Cartier arrived at the easternmost point of an island called by the English New Founde Land but the French called it Terra Nova.
The French fishermen were well aware of the rich fishing resources of Terra Nova. Fishermen from the Basque country, Brittany and Bristol kept the old world supplied with abundant fish, whale meat and whale oil for their Friday meat fasts. These fishermen had no interest in creating settlements nor were they interested in spreading awareness of where exactly they were catching all this fish. They worked hard to keep the location of Terra Nova a tr…
