The autumn
scene as the little vessel ascended the stream was one
of extreme beauty. The banks of the river were covered
with glorious forests resplendent now with the red and
gold of the turning leaves. Grape-vines grew thickly on
every hand, laden with their clustered fruit. The shore
and forest abounded with animal life. The woods were loud
with the chirruping of thrushes, goldfinches, canaries,
and other birds. Countless flocks of wild geese and ducks
passed overhead, while from the marshes of the back waters
great cranes rose in their heavy flight over the bright
surface of the river that reflected the cloudless blue
of the autumn sky.
Cartier was enraptured with the land which he had
discovered,--'as goodly a country,' he wrote, 'as possibly
can with eye be seen, and all replenished with very goodly
trees.' Here and there the wigwams of the savages dotted
the openings of the forest. Often the inhabitants put
off from shore in canoes, bringing fish and food, and
accepting, with every sign of friendship, the little
presents which Cartier distributed among them. At one
place an Indian chief--'one of the chief lords of the
country,' says Cartier--brought two of his children as
a gift to the miraculous strangers.
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