In the next chapter we shall attempt to follow Champlain through the wilderness, accompanied by its inhabitants, who were his guides and friends.  For the present we must pursue the fortunes of Quebec, whose existence year by year hung upon the risk that court intrigue would prevail against the determination of two brave men.

From 1608 till 1611 De Monts had two partners, named Collier and Legendre, both citizens of Rouen.  It was with the money of these three that the post at Quebec had been built and equipped.  Champlain was their lieutenant and Pontgrave the commander of their trading ships.  After four years of experience Collier and Legendre found the results unsatisfactory.  ‘They were unwilling,’ says Champlain, ’to continue in the association, as there was no commission forbidding others from going to the new discoveries and trading with the inhabitants of the country.  Sieur de Monts, seeing this, bargained with them for what remained at the settlement at Quebec, in consideration of a sum of money which he gave them for their share.’

Thus the intrepid De Monts became sole proprietor of the habitation, and whatever clustered round it, at the foot of Cape Diamond.  But the property was worthless if the fur trade could not be put on a stable basis.  Quebec during its first three years had been a disappointment because, contrary to expectation, it gave its founders no advantage over their competitors which equalled the cost of maintenance.  De Monts was still ready to assist Champlain in his explorations, but his resources, never great, were steadily diminishing, and while trade continued unprofitable there were no funds for exploration.  Moreover, the assassination of Henry iv in 1610 weakened De Monts at court.  Whatever Henry’s shortcomings as a friend of Huguenots and colonial pioneers, their chances had been better with him than they now were with Marie de Medicis [Footnote:  The second and surviving wife of Henry iv—­an Italian by birth and in close sympathy with Spain.  As regent for her son, Louis XIII, she did much to reverse the policy of Henry iv, both foreign and domestic.] Champlain states that De Monts’ engagements did not permit him to prosecute his interests at court.  Probably his engagements would have been less pressing had he felt more sure of favour.  In any event, he made over to Champlain the whole conduct of such negotiations as were called for by the unsatisfactory state of affairs on the St Lawrence.

Champlain went to France.  What follows is an illuminating comment upon the conditions that prevailed under the Bourbon monarchy.  As Champlain saw things, the merchants who clamoured for freedom of trade were greedy pot-hunters.  ‘All they want,’ he says, ’is that men should expose themselves to a thousand dangers to discover peoples and territories, that they themselves may have the profit and others the hardship.  It is not reasonable that one should capture the lamb and another go off