Worksheet # 18          Home Questions Puzzle Links Next

THE FRENCH IN THE NEW WORLD

Now, of course, other great nations did also aspire

To match Spanish success and her mighty empire.

Holland, England and France all took to the seas

To seek riches and more in new territories.

France, for her part, sought wealth in the north,

When the King said to Cartier: “Brave Captain, go forth!”

“And with our colors flown high, let your travels commence.”

-- And so Captain Jacques sailed le fleuve Saint Lawrence.

This river ran far into the lands of Canada,

As did the French woodsmen, called “coureurs de bois”.

-- And should you go pay a visit and hear an accent,

It’s most probably French, so many there went.

And one Samuel de Champlain did cleverly start

A French town at Quebec to serve as the heart

Of trade by the fishers, the trappers and merchants,

Breathing fresh air in lands they called New France.

And the French Empire did grow quickly throughout

The maw of America and down into the south,

As men made their way down “The Father of Waters”,

Or Mississippi River, as it was known in those quarters.

Now, of Indian tribes, the French didn’t despise,

Having come less to conquer than to find new allies.

Indeed, the settlers from France wandered far and wide,

And paid in fine goods to the land’s native guides.

And what a life it was, for those French pioneers,

Long months in the forests to catch beavers and bears.

But all of Europe was keen to dress in those furs,

And their money flowed back to those rugged trappeurs.

Of course, camping today is more friendly and tame,

In many ways better, but in still others a shame.

Since the rugged outdoors and the free open wood

Provide a taste of the wild that does a soul good.