r with traders,
but with explorers and authors.

It was in March 1601 that Champlain reached France on his return from
the West Indies. The next two years he spent at home, occupied partly
with the composition of his Bref Discours and partly with the quest
of suitable employment. His avowed preference for the sea and the
reputation which he had already gained as a navigator left no doubt as
to the sphere of his future activities, but though eager to explore some
portion of America on behalf of the French crown, the question of
ways and means presented many difficulties. Chief among these was the
fickleness of the king. Henry IV had great political intelligence, and
moreover desired, in general, to befriend those who had proved loyal
during his doubtful days. His political sagacity should have led him
to see the value of colonial expansion, and his willingness to advance
faithful followers should have brought Champlain something better than
his pension and the title of Geographer. But the problems of France were
intricate, and what most appealed to the judgment of Henry was the need
of domestic reorganization after a generation of slaughter which had
left the land desolate. Hence, despite momentary impulses to vie with
Spain and England in oversea expansion, he kept to the path of caution,
avoiding any expenditure for colonies which could be made a drain
upon the treasury, and leaving individual pioneers to bear the cost of
planting his flag in new lands. In friendship likewise his good impulses
were subject to the vagaries of a mercurial temperament and a marked
willingness to follow the line of least resistance. In the circumstances
it is not strange that Champlain remained two years ashore.

The man to whom he owed most at this juncture was Aymar de Chastes.
Though Champlain had served the king faithfully, his youth and birth
prevented him from doing more than belongs to the duty of a subaltern.
But De Chastes, as governor of Dieppe, at a time when the League seemed
everywhere triumphant, gave Henry aid which proved to be the means of
raising him from the dust. It was a critical event for Champlain that
early in 1603 De Chastes had determined to fit out an expedition to
Canada. Piety and patriotism seem to have been his dominant motives, but
an opening for profit was also offered by a monopoly of the Laurentian
fur trade. During the civil wars Champlain's strength of character had
become known at first hand to De Cha