Royal from the surrounding hills dominating it. Archaeological excavations undertaken recently on the summit of the mountain, around the basin, and in the Jeanne-Mance Park east of Mount Royal have come up empty. The exact location of Hochelaga remains unknown. European contact Future site of Montreal The arrival of Jacques Cartier in Hochelaga in 1535, at the foot of what is now known as Mount Royal, was an episode especially consequential to the history of New France in his three exploration voyages to the West Indies. Under a mandate from King Francis I to find a waterway to Cathay (China) and to Cipango (Japan), he reached Stadacona (the future site of Québec City) at the end of the summer of 1535. Encouraged, he quickly continued further into the interior, but the rapids surrounding what is now the Island of Montreal blocked his route. He would then visit Hochelaga, which he described in Bref récit, a brief account of his second voyage to the Saint Lawrence Valley. In 1611, the European explorer Samuel de Champlain visited the area. In 1642, the village of Ville-Marie was founded by Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, but the inhabitants gradually dropped that name, preferring to use instead the name of the island upon which the colony was established, Montreal, a toponym derived from mont royal, the French name of Mount Royal. Entering via the Rivière des Prairies For a long time, it was considered obvious that Jacques Cartier had continuously followed the Saint Lawrence River; the rapids he mentioned were identified as the Lachine Rapids. Some think his description better corresponds to the rapids in the Rivière des Prairies at Sault-au-Récollet. Close examination of historical documentation in the 20th century raised the possibility that before the European arrival, the Rivière des Prairies was the usual waterway used by the indigenous tribes, as it was much less dangerous than the Saint Lawrence River with its rapids. It constituted a more direct waterway connecting to the upstream Rivière des Outaouais. Therefore, it is possible that Cartier traveled to Hochelaga via this river. Furthermore, the three rapids described by Cartier on a subsequent expedition are easier to locate on the Rivière des Prairies, the so-called "river of three saults", than on the Saint Lawrence River. Aristide Beaugrand-Champagne, the architect of the Grand Chalet of Mount Royal Park, wrote in detail about this. Reception by the Hochelagans On