Cartier’s earlier voyages to the St.

Lawrence had demonstrated the navigability of the approach to the interior of North America and had generated speculation about the wealth that might be found there.

The furs of the Canadian interior would eventually prove to be a genuine economic resource, but the sixteenth-century expeditions were still hoping for something more immediately spectacular — gold, silver, the rumored passage to Asia.

Roberval’s expedition was conceived in this context: a royal investment in French colonial claims, backed by the authority of the crown and the resources of a lieutenant-general, aimed at establishing a lasting French presence in territory that Spain was not yet occupying.