which could not be
expected to last for ever. The more timid raised doubts and spoke of
France, but De Monts and Poutrincourt both said they would rather die
than go back. In this mood the party continued to hunt rabbits, to
search the coast north-easterly for Pontgrave, and to await Champlain's
return. Their courage had its reward. Pontgrave's ship was found, De
Monts revictualled, Champlain reappeared, and by the middle of June the
little band of colonists was ready to proceed.

As De Monts heads south-west from Port Mouton it is difficult to avoid
thoughts regarding the ultimate destiny of France in the New World.
This was the predestined moment. The Wars of Religion had ended in the
reunion of the realm under a strong and popular king. The French
nation was conscious of its greatness, and seemed ready for any
undertaking that promised honour or advantage. The Huguenots were a
sect whose members possessed Calvinistic firmness of will, together
with a special motive for emigrating. And, {32} besides, the whole
eastern coast of America, within the temperate zone, was still to be
had for the taking. With such a magnificent opportunity, why was the
result so meagre?

A complete answer to this query would lead us far afield, but the whole
history of New France bears witness to the fact that the cause of
failure is not to be found in the individual French emigrant. There
have never been more valiant or tenacious colonists than the peasants
of Normandy who cleared away the Laurentian wilderness and explored the
recesses of North America. France in the age of De Monts and Champlain
possessed adequate resources, if only her effort had been concentrated
on America, or if the Huguenots had not been prevented from founding
colonies, or if the crown had been less meddlesome, or if the quest of
beaver skins farther north had not diverted attention from Chesapeake
Bay and Manhattan Island. The best chance the French ever had to
effect a foothold in the middle portion of the Atlantic coast came to
them in 1604, when, before any rivals had established themselves, De
Monts was at hand for the express purpose of founding a colony. It is
quite probable that even if he had landed on Manhattan Island, the
European {33} preoccupations of France would have prevented Henry IV
from supporting a colony at that point with sufficient vigour to
protect it from the English. Yet the most striking aspect of De Monts'
attempt in Acad