March 3, 1535

Today was cheerless. The sky was full of grey clouds, and the sun was hidden. This morning I recall getting out of bed, feeling cold and clammy. The breakfast was cold and not very satisfying, as we only received a small piece of bread and a cup of ice cold water. I worked my jobs assigned to me: washing the deck, bringing in water to the cook, and other such jobs. Jacques Cartier is the Captain of the ship on which we are sailing. Cartier is a brave captain, and I am very proud to be on his ship. As I lay here writing my notes in this orderly journal, I ponder on yesterday morning. I said goodbye to my father, mother, sister, brother, grandfather, and grandmother. At the age of nineteen and the oldest of three, I know enough of the sea to know what to expect and how to live on the waters. I boarded ship, and I found my eyes not wanting to leave the sight of France.

March 5, 1535

I have fallen from my journal since the day before yesterday because of the cold winds that have been blustering through our sails. It freezes one if one does not keep moving. My hands were icy cold so that it was not possible for me to write. The clothing I own here on the ship is providing of warmth. My clothing consists of a blue jacket, black breeches, thick woolen stockings, black gloves, a dark blue-green hat, and black-green knee high boots. During yesterday and today nothing worth writing happened. I leave my page until I write again.

March 6, 1535

Nothing is worse than sea sickness. The older men on board have not taken down with it; yet it has gripped the younger of the sailors. I continually was doing jobs that belonged to other sick sailors and lent a hand were it was needed.

March 9, 1535

The weather has warmed, and the sun has been beaming bright for eight days. When I looked out on the blue waters, they sparkled and the waves danced. The wind still blows cool, but no longer sharp and cold.

March 10, 1535

I have long studied the layout of the ship and now I have come to my journal to describe the ship’s lines, colors and movements, in order so that my memory will stray to this voyage of mine in later times. The ship’s wood is a fairly light color, dark in places where shadows crept or where the water came. The place of the wheel is a windy, higher place, than that of the main deck, and is occupied by the captain of the ship. The sails are of a cream color and rough material, thick enough to hold against the strong wind of the sea. Ropes are piled in many places on deck and are often used by the sailors for gathering water from the sea and other jobs. Below deck is warmer, as it is out of the wind’s path. The cabin where the men sleep is crowded with hammocks and bunks. The kitchen where the cook abides most of the day has a small table nailed to the floor with barrels of water and food along the walls. The captain’s cabin is below the place of the wheel of the ship. I do not know of the looks in that place. The ship is a grand old ship and is all the more grand with the French flag flying in the wind above the sails.

March 20, 1535

Storms have battered our ships, and I could not write. The rocking of the ship was too fierce and all hands were needed on deck. Sailors were taking buckets and trying to dump as much water off board as possible, or making sure the water supply in barrels on the ship did not topple over and spill. The day was very tiring.

March 21, 1535

The sea had been calm, and the weather, pleasant.

April 10, 1535

I wonder when the sea will end? It seems ages ago since we boarded. The waves are endlessly rolling up and down and the ship is continuously creaking and the sails flapping. How I wish land will be sighted!

May 2, 1535

Land has been sighted! How beautiful and wonderful does land look after two months at sea. We sighted it this morning near ten o’clock and have been watching the shoreline grow bigger and bigger throughout the day. Even as night fell, we still watched the land come in sight.

May 3, 1535

This morning we were about an hour from shore. As we came in, rowboats were sent out and the land was navigated. Our captain, Jacques Cartier, paced the deck impatiently, waiting for the men to return. When they returned later this evening, the men stated that the land was bare and the leaves were just now beginning to bloom. This was the sign of a late coming spring and it gave proof that we had reached Canada.

May 12, 1535

It has been ten days since we spotted land, and now we sail further north to find new lands. Just today, Cartier says we sail into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

May 15, 1535

After sailing a few days in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we came upon the St. Lawrence River, and we sail into its course.

May 18, 1535

This evening we sighted on land a huge rock, almost the size of a small mountain, with hardly anyone living near save a small number of wigwams.

(I add in this journal that this rock was to become Quebec.
September 14, 1608)

May 22, 1535

This morning we came upon an Indian village of log houses. Cartier went ashore to the Indians. The Indians reaction was quite confusing to Cartier. When the Indians came up to him, they asked him to heal their sick, for they thought he was a medicine man. Cartier was not sure what to do, so he prayed for God to heal the sick.

October 28, 1535

Cartier had decided for us to stay at that magnificent place, where the huge rock stood, for the winter.

December 19, 1535

How the winds and snow blow! My hands are frozen as I write this account of winter. The snow storms here are much worse than those in France. Many here have scurvy and are miserable.

December, 28 1535

This afternoon an Indian came to our encampment and saw how the men were ailing from scurvy, and he gave us the advice of eating leaves of evergreen trees.

May 5, 1536

Spring! How the good the warm weather feels! We sailed this morning back to France, and I am eager to see the place of my home.

July 10, 1536

We have come back to France. Cartier has been telling of Canada and how much beauty it held. He also brought with him the Indians’ tale of riches toward the west. As for me, I am home, and I enjoy the warm weather of France’s spring.

Written by: Darrell Chifrel

Source of information:

Christ and the Americas by: Anne W. Carroll
Copyright 1997 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.