, in order that the
resolutions of the council might be submitted to the king for his
approval, and with a view of obtaining substantial assistance. The
voyage was a pleasant one, and Champlain and his party arrived at
Honfleur on September 10th, 1616.

The merchants whom they interviewed at Paris were ready to promise to
support the mission, but nothing was realized from their promises, and
it soon became apparent that they cared more about the fur trade than
about religion. Champlain saw many people who he believed could assist
the settlement, but the winter was passed in useless negotiations. He
therefore prepared a greater shipment than usual from his own resources,
and he was fortunate in finding that his old friend, Louis Hebert, an
apothecary of Port Royal, was willing to accompany him. Hebert took his
family with him, composed of three children and his wife, named Marie
Rollet. Hebert afterwards rendered very valuable assistance to the
founder of Quebec.

Father Jamet did not return to Quebec, and he was therefore replaced as
commissary by Father Le Caron, who appointed Father Huet as his
assistant. The vessel conveying the party sailed from Honfleur on April
11th, 1617, under the command of Captain Morel. The passage was very
rough, and when within sixty leagues of the Great Bank of Newfoundland,
numerous icebergs bore down on the ship like huge mountains. Father Le
Clercq says that in the general consternation Father Joseph, seeing that
all human succour could not deliver them from shipwreck, earnestly
implored the aid of heaven in the vows and prayers which he made
publicly on the vessel. He confessed all, and prepared himself to appear
before God. All were touched with compassion and deeply moved when Dame
Hebert raised her youngest child through the hatchway to let it share
with the rest the good father's blessing. They escaped only by a
miracle, as they acknowledged in their letters to France.

The ship arrived at Tadousac on July 14th, and mass was said in a little
chapel which Father Huet had constructed with poles and branches, and a
sailor stood on either side of the altar with fir branches to drive away
the cloud of mosquitoes which caused great annoyance to the celebrant.
The mass was very solemn. Besides the French, there were many Indians
present who assisted with devotion amid the roar of the cannon of the
ship, and the muskets of the French. After the service a dinner was
given by Champlain on