At The End Of These
Five Miles, We Could Plainly See Land On Both Sides, Which Appeared To
Spread Out;
But as we were unable to work up to windward, we proceeded
to another cape to the southward, being the
Farthest out to sea within
sight, and about five leagues from us. On coming up to this head-land,
we found it nothing but rocks, stones, and craggy cliffs, such as we had
not seen the like of since leaving Cape St Johns. The tide being now in
our favour carried our ships to the westwards against the wind, when
suddenly one of our boats struck on a rock and overset, so that our
people had to leap out and set it to right again. After going along this
coast for two hours, the tide turned against us, so that it was
impossible to advance any farther with all our oars. We went therefore
to land, leaving 10 or 12 of our people to keep the boats, and going by
land to the cape, we observed the land beyond to trend S.W. After this
we returned to our boats, and then to the ships, which had drifted four
leagues to leeward of the place where we left them.
[Footnote 35: In a side-note, Hakluyt expresses an opinion that this
harbour is what is now called Gaspay, or Gaspe Bay in lat. 48 deg. 44' N.,
near Cape Rosiers, the south cape of the river St Lawrence. - E.]
On our return to the ships, we convened a council of all the officers
and experienced mariners, to have their opinion of what was best for us
to do in the farther execution of our instructions. The general opinion
was, considering that the east winds seemed now set in, and that the
currents were so much against us, we could not expect to advance to any
purpose in exploring the coast; and as storms and tempests began to
prevail in Newfoundland, where we were so far from home, we must resolve
either to return to France immediately, or to remain where we were
during the winter. Having duly weighed the various opinions, we resolved
to return home. The place where we now were, we named St Peters
Straits[36], in which we found very deep water; being in some places 150
fathoms, in others 100, and near the shore 60, with clear ground. From
thence for some days we had a prosperous gale of wind, so that we
trended the said north shore east, south-east, west-north-west[37], for
such is the situation of it, except one cape of low land, about 25
leagues from St Peters Strait, which bends more towards the south-east.
We noticed smoke on that cape, made by the natives; but as the wind blew
fresh toward the coast, we did not venture to approach them, and twelve
of the savages came off to us in two canoes. They came freely on board,
and gave us to understand that they came from the great gulf under a
chief named Tiennot, who was then on the low cape, and were then about
to return loaded with fish to their own country, whence we had come with
our ships.
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