Less than three months afterwards, that is, on the
18th of October of that year, General Wolf took Quebec. Goldsmith wrote
some stanzas on this event, eulogizing the heroism of the exploit.
England's consolation for the loss of Wolf is found in his heroic
example, which the poet refers to in his closing line,
"Since from thy tomb a thousand heroes rise."
_11th_. Names are the pegs of history. Velasco, it is said, on visiting
the gulf which receives the St. Lawrence, and finding the country cold
and inhospitable, cried out _aca nada_--"there is nothing here." This is
said to be the origin of the word Canada. Nothing could be more
improbable: Did the Indians of Canada hear him, and, if so, did they
understand or respect the language of a foreigner hovering on their
coast? We must look to the Iroquois for the origin of this word. Jacques
Cartier, in 1534, evidently mistook the Indian word Canada, signifying a
town, for the whole country. The Indians have no geographical terms for
districts.
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