But Cartier was not to be baulked in his design.

He cast anchor at the eastern mouth of the strait, in what is now the little harbour of Kirpon (Carpunt), and there day after day, stormbound by the inclement weather, he waited until June 9.

Then at last he was able to depart, hoping, as he wrote, 'with the help of God to sail farther.' Having passed through the Strait of Belle Isle, Cartier crossed over to the northern coast.

Two days of prosperous sailing with fair winds carried him far along the shore to a distance of more than a hundred miles west of the entrance of the Strait of Belle Isle.

Whether he actually touched on his way at the island now known as Belle Isle is a matter of doubt.