Cropped screenshot of David Niven from the trailer for the film The Toast of New Orleans. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Although they were supposedly still looking for a route
to the Orient by travelling down the St. Lawrence and into the Great Lakes, the
truth is that the French were so enamoured of their new land that by 1611 the
Jesuits had set up shop.
They were quickly followed by the first settlers.
Many babies later New
France was thriving.
If the British were having
sex and making babies in those days it wasn't happening in the New World.
They were too busy channeling their inner David Niven.
Against all odds, (and all reason), they continued to search for a north-west passage to China.
Talk about British bull doggedness
in the face of impossible odds ...
Anyway, while all of this
activity was happening on our side of the ocean, Europe was
self-destructing.
In 1631, when it was safe to venture out on the water again there were two more voyages to search for the north-west passage.
They were so terrible that no more attempts were made for 100 years.