Renaissance · North America · Exploration

1603

Champlain Maps Tadoussac Whales

1603

At the confluence of the Saguenay and the Saint Lawrence, Samuel de Champlain spent days observing beluga and minke whales for his journal, sketching their spouts and comparing notes with Innu hunters. French natural history was being written in the margins of exploration by a cartographer with a genuinely curious pen.