all proceeded to the fort, which was delivered to the admiral.  Quebec was definitely put under the authority of the English, who had not fired a single shot.  Louis Kirke placed Le Baillif, who had been dismissed by Guillaume de Caen for his bad conduct, in charge of the storehouse.  This was the first reward for his treason.  Champlain asked the English commander to protect the chapel of Quebec, the convents, and the houses of the widow of Louis Hebert and of her son-in-law, Guillaume Couillard, and he offered him the keys of his own room within the fort.  Louis Kirke refused to accept the latter, and left Champlain in possession of his room.  This courteous action was followed by another one, when Kirke delivered to Champlain a certificate of all that he had found within the fort and the habitation.  This document was found useful later on, when it was necessary to settle the value of the goods.

In the meantime the English crew robbed the convent of the Jesuits, but they did not find the beaver skins, as they expected.  Kirke and the Lutheran minister took for their own use the nicest volumes of the library, and three or four pictures.  The Recollets had filled a leather bag with the ornaments of their church, and had hidden it underground, far in the woods, thinking that they might return sooner or later.

On the Sunday following the capitulation, July 22nd, Louis Kirke hoisted the English flag over one of the bastions of the fort, and in order to render the official possession of Quebec more imposing, he placed his soldiers in ranks along the ramparts, and at a precise hour a volley was fired from English muskets.  In the afternoon, Champlain, the Jesuits, and the greater number of the French took passage on the Flibot for Tadousac, leaving behind the families of Couillard, Martin, Desportes, Hebert, Hubou, Pivert, Duchesne the surgeon, some interpreters and clerks, and Pont-Grave who was too sick to leave his room.  It was understood that all those who desired to return to France should start on the day fixed by Kirke.

The fate of the colony was thus decided.  Those who had any authority, by reason of their character or their official mission, were compelled to leave.  The others were at liberty to remain, especially the interpreters, who would be useful in trading with the Indians.  Before Champlain’s departure, some had taken his advice.  Would they remain in Quebec under a new regime, with nothing to hope for?  Who was this victorious Kirke, so captivating in appearance?  Perhaps a lion clothed with the skin of a lamb!  They knew the Kirke brothers had been guilty of burning the habitation at Cape Tourmente.  Knowing that they were Protestants, they could not expect sympathy on the score of religion.  A danger existed from every point of view.  Nevertheless, Champlain advised many of them to remain at Quebec in order to save their property.  The only objection was that they would be obliged to observe their religion for an indefinite time without the ministrations of their priests.