Since the year 1608 there had been only seven births, three marriages, and forty deaths.  One man had been hanged, six had been murdered, and three drowned.  A Recollet father, called Nicholas Viel, had perished in the Sault au Recollet; and there had been sixteen victims of the scurvy.

CHAPTER XII

QUEBEC RESTORED

Through the exertions of Champlain negotiations were soon entered into for the purpose of restoring the colony of New France to the French.  Champlain had visited the French ambassador, M. de Chateauneuf, when in London, and had laid before him a statement of the events which had recently taken place, together with the treaty of capitulation and a map of New France, so far as it was explored.  According to Champlain, the country comprised all the lands which Linschot thus describes:  “This part of America which extends to the Arctic pole northward, is called New France, because Jean Verazzano, a Florentine, having been sent by King Francois I to these quarters, discovered nearly all the coast, beginning from the Tropic of Cancer to the fiftieth degree, and still more northerly, arboring arms and flags of France; for that reason the said country is called New France.”

Champlain was not quarrelling with the English for the Virgines, although this country had been occupied by the French eighty years before, and they had also discovered all the American coast, from the river St. John to the peninsula of Florida.  No one can deny that Champlain had given names to the rivers and harbours of New England as far as Cape Cod, about the fortieth degree of latitude.

After having spent about five weeks with the ambassador in furnishing him with information to guide him in his negotiations with the English authorities, Champlain resolved to visit France, as he had a reasonable hope of seeing his designs accomplished.  He left London on November 20th, and embarked at Rye, in Sussex, for Dieppe.  Here he met Captain Daniel, who had just returned from his expedition to Canada, and it was here also that he received his commission of governor of New France, which had been forwarded by the directors of the Company of New France.

Champlain paid a visit to Rouen, and then went to Paris, where he had interviews with the king, with the cardinal, and some of the associates of the company.  A prominent topic of discussion was, naturally, the loss of New France, and the best means of recovering it.  Champlain’s ideas were excellent, and he did his best to have them acknowledged and agreed to by all those who were interested in the fate of New France.

Events progressed favourably, and Champlain was pleased to learn that Doctor Daniel had been sent to London with letters for King Charles I. Louis XIII demanded the restoration of the fort and habitation of Quebec, and the forts and harbours of the Acadian coast, for the reason that they had been captured after peace had been concluded between the two countries.  Doctor Daniel returned to France, bearing despatches by which Charles I answered that he was ready to restore Quebec, but no mention was made of Acadia.  The directors of the company immediately ordered Commander de Razilly to equip a fleet, and, as we have already stated, to take possession of Quebec by force or otherwise.