July 21, 1536
It has been a joyous week! We returned home to France only five days ago into a crowd of people waiting to greet us. The drink from the Indians worked well and I was able to return with most of my crew, although about 25 were killed from scurvy. In addition to my crew, I was able to persuade Donnacona, and a few other natives to return with me to France. They did not know that they were my prisoners until we were already on the sea home, and it was easy to persuade them to come when I explained to them about Saguenay, a region I have heard has great riches. With these false promises, I was able to return with the Chief of Stadacona and make my return even more of a success. It has been a long voyage and my crew is tired and weak, and if I am to make a third voyage, I must prepare the tools and ships soon. I have only returned with two of my ships, the Grande Hermine and Emerillon because the third I left with the natives. Hopefully they will get good use out of it and use the ship for its iron. It is my idea to use Donnacona and the natives to help me navigate my next voyage back to Canada, and I hope that they will be able to help me to locate the Northwestern passage to China.