November, 1535
Quebec City
Jacques Cartier’s ship was trapped by ice. It was the harshest winter in the arctic region. Half of his crew were dying of an unknown disease. Their gums bled, teeth fell out. Their skin were spotted with bleeding, and bodies were swollen with pain.
Winter was harsh in Canada that year. Only 40 years ago, Columbus had discovered a sea route to America and the Spaniards had monopolised the newly found huge land mass of Latin and South America full of minerals and Gold. How can France be left behind ? By the order of the French king, Captain Jacques Cartier had led a ship with 118 crew due north and had reached what we today know as Canada. But the winter in Canada was bitter and harsh and all but 3 of his crew were down with this unknown disease what we today call Scurvy.
The land was inhabited by a native Iroquoian tribe who called it Stadacona.
Domagaia, the indigenous chief of Stadacona, took pity on these sick aliens. He sent two women who brought a bundle of cedar branches. The natives boiled the bark and the leaves of the cedar tree and prepared a concoction of cedar needle. The French sailors were reluctant to partake it. But the Captain forced 3 prisoners to drink the liquid at the point of Gun. Lo and behold, those three felt immediate relief. Soon this native concoction became a hit. Sailors queued up to get their alternate day rations of the tonic. Within one week all the crew of Jacques cartier were free from disease. ( Vitamin C has always been a magic cure for Scurvy.)
Jacques Cartier claimed the land in the name of the king of France and named it as the New France. The place was made the capital of the New France and was called the Quebec City. The sailors were so enamoured with the miraculous power of the tree that they named it as the Tree of Life. The sailors of france brought the saplings and planted an avenue it in the town of Jardine in France.
Scurvy continued to plague sailors world wide though. In fact, the crew of Vasco da Gama suffering from scurvy were cured by the physicians of Zamorin of Calicut with oranges and lemons.
400 years after the recovery of the French crew by the Cedar needle drinks, scientists isolated the active ingredients of the citrus fruits. They named it Ascorbic acid. We call it Vitamin C.
A detailed account of this trip with the First hand narrative by the crew of Cartier’s ship was published in medical journal of NLM.
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