the little flotilla of three tiny ships was often gm 
     
     greatly impeded. Bears, also, were very numerous, '7 / 
     
     and quite expert in catching the fish for their food 
     
     It was a common sight to see Bruin plunge intog 
     
     the water, fasten his claws in a great fish and drag ; 
     
     it ashore. '5 
     
     The native Indians were also seen, in , 
     
     canoes, hunting seals and catching white whales .» 
     
     Alarmed by the approach of the strange men in ' 
     
     their marvellous vessels, the savages paddled off with haste; but on 
     
     being addressed in their own tongue by the two returned captives 
     
     on Cartier's vessel, they abandoned their flight and returned to 
     
     gaze with astonishment and child-like wonder at all they saw. 
     
     Cartier was informed of the existence of an Indian village 
     
     of considerable size at Stadacona, quite near to Quebeio 0r Quelibec, 
     
     and there he met the great chief Donnacona, the ‘Lord of Canada.’ 
     
     There is no complete agreement on the origin and meaning 
     
     of the name ‘Quebec.’ Some have traced its derivation from the 
     
     word ‘Kepek,’ the aboriginal equivalent for ‘come ashore,’ sup- 
     
     posed to have been addressed to Jacques Cartier when he hove-to 
     
     near Stadacona. Others have surmised that it sprang trom the 
     
     exclamation of a Norman sailor on first seeing the great cape— 
     
     “Quelbec! ” (”VVhat a capel”) Again, the Abenaquis word ‘Quelibec,’ 
     
     meaning ‘narrowing’ or ‘closed,’ is supposed to be the real derivation; 
     
     while a very strong claimant for recognition is the Indian word 
     
     ‘Kebeque,’ which means ‘a narrowing of the waters.’ 
     
     Learning of another large native village on the St. Lawrence, 
     
     a considerable distance above Stadacona, Jacques Cartier deter-' 
     
     mined to proceed there with one of his vessels. 
     
     The chief Donnacona, a shrewd old savage, did 
     
     not favor further penetration of his domains, 
     
     and calling to his aid some of his tribe dressed as 
     
     ‘devils,’ he hoped to frighten the bold navigator 
     
     with the frightful whoopings and noisy invocation 
     
    
   
   
    
     to the demons who were suppOsed to inhabit the 
     
     forests. 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
         
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Cartier pushed on, however, and leaving 
     
     his vessel near the place now known as St. 
     
     Maurice, and proceeding in the ship’s boats, 
     
     reached Hochelaga, the site of the present 
     
     Montreal. The village was circular in form, with 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     31