Jacques Cartier: New Land for the French King

After

Cartier did not travel to Canada again. He settled in his home town of St. Malo, France and became a successful and respected businessman. He died in 1557 at the age of 66.

Cartier failed to find anything that seemed interesting or useful to the people at the time. This was one reason there was no serious exploration in Canada for another 80 years.

Worthless Rock
On his third voyage, Cartier collected some rocks that he thought contained diamonds and gold, but they turned out to be worthless.

Samuel Purchas's 1625 map with illustrations of the early whaling industry Copyright/Source

Go Fish!
The cod and whales that Cartier reported, when he returned, were true moneymakers. A whaler who sailed to Labrador and Newfoundland could harpoon enough whales to become rich in a single trip.

Jackson, Lawrence. Newfoundland and Labrador. Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1998, 1995, p. 24.

	Whalebone, from the upper jaw of certain whales, was used to stiffen women's corsets. Corsets were undergarments that shaped the upper body. The first corsets were reinforced with wood, then whalebone and metal. No matter what they were made of, they weren't very comfortable! At least the wood and whalebone didn't rust!