De Monts’ position at Port Mouton was indeed difficult.  By changing his course in mid-ocean he had missed rendezvous with the larger of his two ships, which under the command of Pontgrave looked for him in vain from Canseau to the Bay of Islands.  Meanwhile, at Port Mouton provisions were running low, save for rabbits, which could not be expected to last for ever.  The more timid raised doubts and spoke of France, but De Monts and Poutrincourt both said they would rather die than go back.  In this mood the party continued to hunt rabbits, to search the coast north-easterly for Pontgrave, and to await Champlain’s return.  Their courage had its reward.  Pontgrave’s ship was found, De Monts revictualled, Champlain reappeared, and by the middle of June the little band of Colonists was ready to proceed.

As De Monts heads south-west from Port Mouton it is difficult to avoid thoughts regarding the ultimate destiny of France in the New World.  This was the predestined moment.  The Wars of Religion had ended in the reunion of the realm under a strong and popular king.  The French nation was conscious of its greatness, and seemed ready for any undertaking that promised honour or advantage.  The Huguenots were a sect whose members possessed Calvinistic firmness of will, together with a special motive for emigrating.  And, besides, the whole eastern coast of America, within the temperate zone, was still to be had for the taking.  With such a magnificent opportunity, why was the result so meagre?

A complete answer to this query would lead us far afield, but the whole history of New France bears witness to the fact that the cause of failure is not to be found in the individual French emigrant.  There have never been more valiant or tenacious colonists than the peasants of Normandy who cleared away the Laurentian wilderness and explored the recesses of North America.  France in the age of De Monts and Champlain possessed adequate resources, if only her effort had been concentrated on America, or if the Huguenots had not been prevented from founding colonies, or if the crown had been less meddlesome, or if the quest of beaver skins farther north had not diverted attention from Chesapeake Bay and Manhattan Island.  The best chance the French ever had to effect a foothold in the middle portion of the Atlantic coast came to them in 1604, when, before any rivals had established themselves, De Monts was at hand for the express purpose of founding a colony.  It is quite probable that even if he had landed on Manhattan Island, the European preoccupations of France would have prevented Henry iv from supporting a colony at that point with sufficient vigour to protect it from the English.  Yet the most striking aspect of De Monts’ attempt in Acadia is the failure to seize a chance which never came again to the French race.  In 1607 Champlain sailed away from Port Royal and the English founded Jamestown.  In 1608 Champlain founded Quebec, and thenceforth for over a century the efforts of France were concentrated on the St Lawrence.  When at length she founded Louisbourg it was too late; by that time the English grasp upon the coast could not be loosened.