The misfortunes and ruin of the Marquis de la Roche did not stifle the spirit of commercial enterprise which the success of the fur trade had excited. Private adventurers, unprotected by any especial privilege, began to barter for the rich peltries of the Canadian hunters. [1600.] A wealthy merchant of St. Malo, named Pontgravé, was the boldest and most successful of these traders; he made several voyages to Tadoussac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, bringing back each time a rich cargo of rare and valuable furs. He saw that this commerce would open to him a field of vast wealth, could he succeed in obtaining an exclusive privilege to enjoy its advantages, and managed to induce Chauvin, a captain in the navy, to apply to the king for powers such as De la Roche had possessed: the application was successful, a patent was granted to Chauvin, and Pontgravé admitted to partnership. [1602.] It was, however, in vain that they attempted to establish a trading post at Tadoussac:[98] after having made two voyages thither without realizing their sanguine expectations of gain, Chauvin died while once more preparing to try his fortune.
At this time the great object of colonization was completely forgotten in the eager pursuit of the fur trade, till De Chatte, the governor of Dieppe, who succeeded to the privileges of Chauvin, founded a company of merchants at Rouen, for the further development of the resources of Canada. [1603.] An armament was fitted out under the command of the experienced Pontgravé; he was commissioned by the king to make further discoveries in the St. Lawrence, and to establish a settlement upon some suitable position on the coast. Samuel de Champlain, a captain in the navy, accepted a command in this expedition at the request of De Chatte; he was a native of Saintonge, and had lately returned to France from the West Indies, where he had gained a high name for boldness and skill. Under the direction of this wise and energetic man the first successful efforts were made to found a permanent settlement in the magnificent province of Canada, and the stain of the errors and disasters of more than seventy years was at length wiped away.
Pontgravé and Champlain sailed for the St. Lawrence in 1603. They remained a short time at Tadoussac, where they left their ships; then, trusting themselves to a small, open boat, with only five sailors, they boldly pushed up the Great River to the sault St. Louis, where Jacques Cartier had reached many years before. By this time Hochelaga, the ancient Indian city, had, from some unknown cause, sunk into such insignificance that the adventurers did not even notice it, nor deem it worthy of a visit; but they anchored for a time under the shade of the magnificent headland of Quebec. On the return of the expedition to France, Champlain found, to his deep regret, that De Chatte, the worthy and powerful patron of the undertaking, had died during his absence. Pierre du Guast, sieur de Monts, had succeeded to the powers and privileges of the deceased, with even a more extensive commission.
De Monts was a Calvinist, and had obtained from the king the freedom of religious faith for himself and his followers in America, but under the engagement that the Roman Catholic worship should be established among the natives. Even his opponents admitted the honesty and patriotism of his character,[99] and bore witness to his courage and ability; he was, nevertheless, unsuccessful; many of those under his command failed in their duty, and the jealousy excited by his exclusive privileges and obnoxious doctrines[100] involved him in ruinous embarrassments.
The trading company established by De Chatte was continued and increased by his successor. With this additional aid De Monts was enabled to fit out a more complete armament than had ever hitherto been engaged in Canadian commerce. He sailed from Havre on the 7th of March, 1604, with four vessels. Of these, two under his immediate command were destined for Acadia. Champlain, Poutrincourt, and many other volunteers, embarked their fortunes with him, purposing to cast their future lot in the New World. A third vessel was dispatched under Pontgravé to the Strait of Canso, to protect the exclusive trading privileges of the company. The fourth steered for Tadoussac, to barter for the rich furs brought by the Indian hunters from the dreary wilds of the Saguenay.
On the 6th of May De Monts reached a harbor on the coast of Acadia, where he seized and confiscated an English vessel, in vindication of his exclusive privileges. Thence he sailed to the Island of St. Croix, where he landed his people, and established himself for the winter. In the spring of 1605 he hastened to leave this settlement, where the want of wood and fresh water, and the terrible ravages of the scurvy, had disheartened and diminished the number of his followers. In the mean time Champlain had discovered and named Port Royal, now Annapolis, a situation which presented many natural advantages. De Monts removed the establishment thither, and erected a fort, appointing Pontgravé to its command. Soon afterward he bestowed Port Royal and a large extent of the neighboring country upon De Poutrincourt, and the grant was ultimately confirmed by letters patent from the king. This was the first concession of land made in North America since its discovery.
When De Monts returned to France in 1605, he found that enemies had been busily and successfully at work in destroying his influence at court. Complaints of the injustice of his exclusive privileges poured in from all the ports in the kingdom. It was urged that he had interfered with and thwarted the fisheries, under the pretense of securing the sole right of trading with the Indian hunters. These statements were hearkened to by the king, and all the Sieur's privileges were revoked. De Monts bore up bravely against this disaster. He entered into a new engagement with De Poutrincourt, who had followed him to France, and dispatched a vessel from Rochelle on the 13th of May to succor the colony in Acadia. The voyage was unusually protracted, and the settlers at Port Royal, at length reduced to great extremities, feared that they had been abandoned to their fate. The wise and energetic Pontgravé did all that man could do to reassure them; but, finally, their supplies being completely exhausted, he was constrained to yield to the general wish, and embark his people for France. He had scarcely sailed, however, when he heard of the arrival of Poutrincourt and the long-desired supplies. He then immediately returned to Port Royal, where he found his chief already landed. Under able and judicious management,[101] the colony increased and prospered until 1614, when it was attacked and broken up by Sir Samuel Argall with a Virginian force.[102]
The enemies of De Monts did not relax in their efforts till he was deprived of his high commission. A very insufficient indemnity was granted for the great expenses he had incurred. Still he was not disheartened: in the following year, 1607, he obtained a renewal of his privileges for one year, on condition that he should plant a colony upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. The trading company did not lose confidence in their principal, although his courtly influence had been destroyed; but their object was confined to the prosecution of the lucrative commerce in furs, for which reason they ceased to interest themselves in Acadia, and turned their thoughts to the Great River of Canada, where they hoped to find a better field for their undertaking. They equipped two ships at Honfleur, under the command of Champlain and Pontgravé, to establish the fur trade at Tadoussac. De Monts remained in France, vainly endeavoring to obtain an extension of his patent. Despite his disappointments, he fitted out some vessels in the spring of 1608, with the assistance of the company, and dispatched them to the River St. Lawrence on the 13th of April, under the same command as before.
Champlain reached Tadoussac on the 3d of June; his views were far more extended than those of a mere merchant; even honest fame for himself, and increase of glory and power for his country, were, in his eyes, objects subordinate to the extension