a group
of three two-storeyed buildings. 'Each one,' he says, 'was three fathoms
long and two and a half wide. The storehouse was six fathoms long and
three wide, with a fine cellar six feet deep. I had a gallery made all
round our buildings, on the outside, at the second storey, which proved
very convenient. There were also ditches, fifteen feet wide and six
deep. On the outer side of the ditches I constructed several spurs,
which enclosed a part of the dwelling, at the points where we placed our
cannon. Before the habitation there is a place four fathoms wide and
six or seven long, looking out upon the river-bank. Surrounding the
habitation are very good gardens.'

Three dwellings of eighteen by fifteen feet each were a sufficiently
modest starting-point for continental ambitions, even when supplemented
by a storehouse of thirty-six feet by eighteen. In calling the gardens
very good Champlain must have been speaking with relation to the
circumstances, or else they were very small, for there is abundant
witness to the sufferings which Quebec in its first twenty years might
have escaped with the help of really abundant gardens. At St Croix
and Port Royal an attempt had been made to plant seeds, and at Quebec
Champlain doubtless renewed the effort, though with small practical
result. The point is important in its bearing on the nature of the
settlement. Quebec, despite such gardens as surrounded the habitation,
was by origin an outpost of the fur trade, with a small, floating, and
precarious population. Louis Hebert, the first real colonist, did not
come till 1617.

Lacking vegetables, Quebec fed itself in part from the river and the
forest. But almost all the food was brought from France. At times there
was game, though less than at Port Royal. The river supplied eels in
abundance, but when badly cooked they caused a fatal dysentery. The
first winter was a repetition of the horrors experienced at St Croix,
with even a higher death-rate. Scurvy began in February and lasted till
the end of April. Of the eighteen whom it attacked, ten died. Dysentery
claimed others. On June 5, 1609, word came that Pontgrave had arrived
at Tadoussac. Champlain's comment is eloquent in its brevity. 'This
intelligence gave me much satisfaction, as we entertained hopes of
assistance from him. Out of the twenty-eight at first forming our
company only eight remained, and half of these were ailing.'

The monopoly granted to De Monts had now r