The oldest fortification of Quebec was commenced in the year 1620, on the summit of Cape Diamond, and the work was continued in 1621, when Champlain was able to establish a small garrison within the walls.  Communication was opened between the habitation and the fort during the winter of 1623-4, by means of a small road, less abrupt than the former one.  The fort was named Fort St. Louis.

In April 1624, a strong wind carried away the roof of the fort, and transported it a distance of thirty feet, over the rampart.  During this storm the gable of Louis Hebert’s residence was also destroyed.  This accident caused some delay to the works, and the merchants still maintained their opposition to the construction of the fort.  “If we fortify Quebec,” they said, “the garrisons will be the masters of the ground, and our trade will be over.”  Guillaume de Caen supported the opposition by saying that the Spaniards would take possession of New France, if a boast were made of its resources.  The king, finally, had to undertake the defence of the colony alone.

Before leaving for France in 1624, Champlain had ordered the workmen to gather fascines for the completion of the fort, but upon his return to Canada, two years later, he found that nothing had been done.  Champlain therefore decided to demolish the old fort, and to construct a more spacious one with the old materials, composed of fascines, pieces of wood and grass, after the Norman method.  The fort was flanked with two bastions of wood and grass, until such time as they could be covered with stone.  The fort was ready for habitation at the commencement of the year 1629, and Champlain took up his residence there at this date, with two young Indian girls whom he had adopted as his children.  After the capitulation of Quebec in 1629, Louis Kirke resided in the fort with a part of his crew.[25]

Although Champlain was not satisfied with the conduct of the merchants towards the French, he was nevertheless pleased with the Indian tribes.  This noble care and management of these poor natives constitute one of the brightest pages of his life.  If we wish to form an impartial judgment of the heroic qualities of Champlain, we must study his daily relations with the chiefs of the various tribes.  It is here that his true character is revealed to us, and we are forced to admire both the patience and care which he bestowed upon these people, and also his exercise of diplomacy which rendered him from the first the most beloved and respected of the French.  His word commanded passive obedience, and to maintain his friendship they were willing to make any sacrifice which he desired.  In this respect Champlain was more successful than the missionaries, nor is it a matter of surprise that his memory was cherished among the Indians longer than that of Father Le Caron or of Father de Brebeuf.  In their appreciation of character, the Indians recognized instinctively that the calling of the missionaries