hastes were under the command of Pontgrave [Footnote:
Francois Grave, Sieur du Pont, whose name, strictly speaking,
is Dupont-Grave, one of the most active French navigators of the
seventeenth century. From 1600 to 1629 his voyages to the St Lawrence
and Acadia were incessant.] and Prevert, both mariners from St Malo.
Champlain sailed in Pontgrave's ship and was, in fact, a superior
type of supercargo. De Chastes desired that his expedition should be
self-supporting, and the purchase of furs was never left out of sight.
At the same time, his purpose was undoubtedly wider than profit, and
Champlain represented the extra-commercial motive. While Pontgrave was
trading with the Indians, Champlain, as the geographer, was collecting
information about their character, their customs, and their country.
Their religious ideas interested him much, and also their statements
regarding the interior of the continent. Such data as he could collect
between the end of May and the middle of August he embodied in a book
called Des Sauvages, which, true to its title, deals chiefly with Indian
life and is a valuable record, although in many regards superseded by
the more detailed writings of the Jesuits.

The voyage of 1603 added nothing material to what had been made known by
Jacques Cartier and the fur traders about Canada. Champlain ascended
the St Lawrence to the Sault St Louis [Footnote: Now called the Lachine
Rapids. An extremely important point in the history of New France, since
it marked the head of ship navigation on the St Lawrence. Constantly
mentioned in the writings of Champlain's period.] and made two side
excursions--one taking him rather less than forty miles up the Saguenay
and the other up the Richelieu to the rapid at St Ours. He also visited
Gaspe, passed the Isle Percee, had his first glimpse of the Baie des
Chaleurs, and returned to Havre with a good cargo of furs. On the whole,
it was a profitable and satisfactory voyage. Though it added little to
geographical knowledge, it confirmed the belief that money could be made
in the fur trade, and the word brought back concerning the Great Lakes
of the interior was more distinct than had before been reported. The one
misfortune of the expedition was that its author, De Chastes, did not
live to see its success. He had died less than a month before his ships
reached Havre.

CHAPTER II. CHAMPLAIN IN ACADIA

[Footnote: This word (Acadia) has sometimes been traced to the Mi