he view of preparing the way for religious instruction, by making
himself acquainted with the habits and language of the Indians.
Champlain was appointed chief by the allies, but his savage followers
rendered slight obedience to this authority. The expedition proved very
disastrous: the Iroquois were strongly intrenched, and protected by a
quantity of felled trees; their resistance proved successful; Champlain
was wounded, and the allies were forced to retreat with shame and with
heavy loss.

The respect of the Indians for the French was much diminished by this
untoward failure; they refused to furnish Champlain with a promised
guide to conduct him to Quebec, and he was obliged to pass the winter
among them as an unwilling guest. He, however, made the best use of his
time; he visited many of the principal Huron and Algonquin towns, even
those as distant as Lake Nipissing, and succeeded in reconciling several
neighboring nations. At the opening of the navigation, he gained over
some of the Indians to his cause, and, finding that another expedition
against the Iroquois was in preparation, embarked secretly and arrived
at Quebec on the 11th of July, 1616, when he found that he and the
father Joseph were supposed to have been dead long since. They both
sailed for France soon after their return from among the Hurons.

In the following year, a signal service was rendered to the colony by a
worthy priest named Duplessys: he had been engaged for some time at
Three Rivers in the instruction of the savages, and had happily so far
gained their esteem, that some of his pupils informed him of a
conspiracy among all the neighboring Indian tribes for the utter
destruction of the French; eight hundred chiefs and warriors had
assembled to arrange the plan of action. Duplessys contrived, with
consummate ability, to gain over some of the principal Indians to make
advances toward a reconciliation with the white men, and, by degrees,
succeeded in arranging a treaty, and in causing two chiefs to be given
up as hostages for its observance.

For several years Champlain was constantly obliged to visit France for
the purpose of urging on the tardily provided aids for the colony. The
court would not interest itself in the affairs of New France since a
company had undertaken their conduct, and the merchants, always limited
in their views to mere commercial objects, cared but little for the fate
of the settlers so long as their warehouses were st