After the disastrous winter at Sainte-Croix, de Monts decided to go in search of a better place to settle. He led his men down the coast where they encountered quite a different group of Amerindians than the friendly folk they met further north. Champlain described them as “active people,” who grew corn, beans, pumpkins and squash.

On July 23, five sailors went ashore on Nauset beach to replenish the water supply. A local inhabitant snatched a water pail and a fight broke out. During the flare-up, Champlain tried to intervene. He fired his arquebus, but it blew up in his hands – the first of many injuries he would suffer in the New World.

De Monts ordered the settlement at Sainte-Croix dismantled and moved to a better location across the Bay of Fundy, which he called Port-Royal. There, Champlain wrote, “We began to clear the ground, which was full of trees, and to erect the houses as quickly as possible. Everybody was busy at work.” A “habitation” was completed in short order. De Monts decided to return to France. Those who stayed behind tried to be self-reliant. They planted crops and gathered game. Champlain himself dug a ditch to make a pond and stocked it with some fine trout. He also built a summer house “in order that I might enjoy the fresh air.” [See Map]

Unfortunately scurvy struck again, this time killing 12 men of 45.

Knowing how treacherous the seasons were, the French tried to make for France as early as they could. On July 17, with no sign of the provision ship, the French abandoned Port-Royal. They left only two men behind, having to bribe them to stay with 100 silver coins. Near Sable Island, the returning party miraculously spotted the supply ship, Jonas. Among the ship’s crew were the new governor, Poutrincourt, the writer Lescarbot and Louis Hébert, who was to pioneer agriculture in New France.

Together they all returned to Port-Royal. They prepared for winter while Champlain worked on completing his maps. [See Close-up]

Late in the season, Poutrincourt set out on another exploration. He took a leisurely course down the coast of Massachusetts, setting in at the beautiful harbour of Gloucester, where he saw magnificent crops of grapes, beans and other crops. The expedition pressed on around Cape Cod. Champlain mused that the land around there would be an earthly paradise, but it was already inhabited.

Poutrincourt was content to linger but the mood of the local First Nations soon turned hostile. They had no intention of allowing these interlopers to settle down. On October 15 hundreds of local inhabitants attacked, killing four French sailors. Humiliated and angry the French moved on, returning shortly after for revenge. This first skirmish in a long history of war between the invading Europeans and the First Nations was a significant event. It proved to Champlain that settling along the southern coast was going to be impossible and he never returned.