116 THE FEENCH BLOOD IN AIMERICA 



" aud that we might aiford the savages an example of our 

 way of living." It is worthy of mention that Baron de 

 Poutrincourt, while nominally a Eoman Catholic, was 

 apparently in fnll sympathy with his Protestant asso- 

 ciates, and was an open enemy of the Jesuits. Lescarbot 

 was not only teacher of his countrymen, but reached a 

 number of the natives, for whose conversion the Hugue- 

 nots of La Rochelle daily prayed. 



Ill 

 France seemed destined to defeat in the new world. If 

 Trade Grant reliffious troublcs did not bring disaster, commercial 



Withdrawn ° ,., ^ ,, , . f ^^- i • i 



rivalries did. De Monts was just getting his new colony 

 in prosperous condition, when in 1607 his trade monopoly 

 was withdrawn at the instance of merchants of Brittany, 

 who learned with indignation that a rival threatened their 

 traffic along the American coast, and that exclusive rights 

 had been granted which shut them out from the fisheries 

 and fur trade. The withdrawal of his exclusive rights 

 crippled de Monts in his plans and led to the abandon- 

 ment of Port Royal. Already a small palisaded fort had 

 been built, besides a mill, storehouses and dwellings, and 

 friendly relations had been formed with the Indians. 

 De Poutrincourt held his grant to the site, and took 

 possession of it again, but the chance for a strong colony 

 was lost. 



De Monts now made another attempt, selecting the 

 interior for his new venture. For this purpose he ob- 

 tained a renewal of his trade monopoly for a single year, 

 and taking Champlain with him, made his way up the 

 St. Lawrence with two vessels, one equipped for the 

 expedition, the other for the fur traffic which was to 

 Quebec 1608 bring the needed funds. In the summer of 1608, Cham- 

 plain, under de Monts' authority, landed on the site of 

 Quebec, and established a trading-post at that strategic 

 point. De Monts now took in with him the rivals who 

 had formerly broken in upon his monopoly, and pros- 



