Abstract
ON December 25 the tercentenary occurs of the death of Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who founded Quebec, and was the first governor of Canada. Born in 1567 at the village of Brouage in the ancient province of Saintonge, now the Department of Charente-Inferieure, he served in the wars of the League under Henry IV, but after a voyage to the West Indies, he was placed in charge of an expedition to continue the work of Jacques Cartier, the discoverer of the St. Lawrence; On May 24, 1603, Champlain anchored in that river, and for the next four years was engaged on exploring the Bay of Fundy and other parts. A visit to France was followed by another expedition, and in July 1608 he founded the settlement which he named Quebec. Thence he made a journey up the Richelieu, and discovered and explored the lake which bears his name. Other explorations took him to the western shores of Lake Huron and to Ottawa. Again in France in 1620, he returned with his family and with a commission as governor of the new settlement. About seven years later, owing to the outbreak of war between France and England, his supplies were cut off, and Quebec had to be surrendered. After the declaration of peace, however, in 1633, he was again able to return, and it was in Quebec that he died. He wrote accounts of his voyages, and these were republished in Quebec in 1870.
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Tercentenary of Champlain. Nature 136, 980 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136980b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136980b0