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later became the city of Quebec. He then journeyed on to the village of Hoche-
laga, now the city of Montreal, and his report indicates that he went as far
west as the Lachine Rapids.
During the years that followed, an increasing number of attempts were
made to find a passage through North America. The English and Dutch sought
to find such a channel far to the north. In 1576-78, Martin Frobisher made
three attempts to find the passage in the seas lying between Greenland and
Labrador. John Davis sought for a passage in the sea between Greenland and
the North American mainland during the years 1585 and 1587.
In 1607, an Englishman named Henry Hudson reached the coast of Green-
land and proceeded north, seeking a passage between that island and Spitz-
bergen. Vast fields of ice, however, prevented him from sailing completely
around Greenland and he was forced to return home. In 1609 he made a second
voyage in the service of the Dutch, and this added considerably to the know-
ledge of the east coast of the continent. Setting forth on his last voyage in
1610, Hudson sailed to Iceland and Greenland, and proceeded westward to
the strait which bears his name, and entered a huge inland sea now known as
Hudson Bay.
Samuel de Champlain in 1603 began his work as a North American explorer
with a voyage to Nova Scotia. In 1608 he visited the St. Lawrence valley,
the scene of Cartier’s earlier voyages. The following year he made his first
journey of exploration into the vast wilderness, travelling up the valley of the
Richelieu River as far as the lake which bears his name. His discovery of
Lakes Champlain, Nipissing and Simcoe, together with accurate reports of
visits to Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, simplified the work of later explorers
who were to follow in his footsteps.
Sieur de La Verendrye, a native born Canadian, was at the trading post of
Nipigon on Lake Superior in 1728. Indian tales of a great sea.to the west led
him in search of this body of water. In the course of his journey, he established
trading posts on Rainy Lake and at Lake of the Woods. He also built a rude
fort on the site of the present city of Winnipeg, and a post on the approximate
site of Portage la Prairie. Lured ever westward in search of the sea, La Veren-
drye proceeded southwest to the upper reaches of the Missouri River, then,
following a great circle, he swung northwestwards and arrived finally on the
shores of the Saskatchewan River. His two sons, François and Louis, con-
tinued La Verendrye’s work of exploration and in 1742 they pushed westward
over the prairies. The exact extent of their journey is not known, but it is
possible that they saw the Rocky Mountains.
Alexander Mackenzie, one of the greatest explorers of the Canadian north-
west, set out in 1789 from a fort established on Lake Athabasca. He proceeded
to Great Slave Lake, and followed the Mackenzie River, which bears his name,
to its mouth. From Whale Island in the Mackenzie delta, he saw the Arctic
Ocean.
In 1793, Mackenzie decided to attempt to reach the Pacific Ocean by land.
Travelling by way of the Peace River, he entered the mountains by the head-
waters of the Fraser River, down which he continued to a point near the
modern town of Quesnel. He followed the Bellacoola River to its mouth,
arriving there on July 20, 1793. Two days later he reached the end of his
journey at Dean Channel, and from the heights gazed out over the waters
of the Pacific.
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