fforts to have his colony restored. Champlain himself, in
spite of his great zeal and his love for the country which he had
founded, had been discouraged by the difficulties. He could foresee
better than any other the obstacles which the future would present, and
it caused him much uneasiness, and offered little consolation. At his
age most men would have preferred to rest after an agitated life of
thirty years, in the pursuit of an idea which it seemed impossible to
realize on account of the manifold difficulties by which it was
constantly beset.

CHAPTER XI

THE LAST EVENTS OF 1629

"Since the English have taken possession of Quebec," writes Champlain,
"the days have seemed to me as long as months." This dreariness is
easily explained. The unsettled state of affairs, of which he was an
eye-witness, had rendered his life at Quebec intolerable. Louis Kirke,
however, treated him with respect and courtesy, and had given him
permission to bring to Tadousac his two adopted girls, Esperance and
Charite. It was a favour wholly unexpected, especially as by one of the
clauses of the act of capitulation he renounced claim to them.
Champlain, however, was ready to buy their liberty, if necessary, as he
wished to civilize them and convert them to Christianity. Having no
desire to stay longer in a place where even the beauties of the sunset
seemed to remind him of his humiliation, Champlain only resided
temporarily at Tadousac, and was anxious to reach France. He left Quebec
on July 24th, and on the following day he perceived a vessel sailing
near Murray Bay. This was Emery de Caen's ship, which, as we have
already stated, was proceeding to Quebec to claim the peltry in the
storehouse which belonged to his uncle. This vessel, as has been
described, was captured by Kirke, and the same fate happened to Captain
Daniel, who had crossed the ocean from Dieppe with four vessels and a
barque laden with provisions and ammunition. Having heard on the passage
that a Scottish fisherman named James Stuart, had erected a fort on Cape
Breton, in a place called Port-aux-Baleines, to protect his countrymen
during the fishing season, Daniel went out of his way to destroy this
fort, and to build one at Grand Cibou to check the intruders, instead of
proceeding directly to Quebec, as was his duty. He left at this place
forty men and two Jesuits, Father Vimont and Father de Vieux-Pont, and
then having set up the arms of France, he returned to