money could be made in the fur trade, and the word brought
back concerning the Great Lakes of the interior was more
distinct than had before been reported. The one misfortune
of the expedition was that its author, De Chastes, did
not live to see its success. He had died less than a
month before his ships reached Havre.



CHAPTER II

CHAMPLAIN IN ACADIA

[Footnote: This word (Acadia) has sometimes been traced
to the Micmac akade, which, appended to place-names,
signifies an abundance of something. More probably,
however, it is a corruption of Arcadia. The Acadia of De
Monts' grant in 1604 extended from the parallel of 40
degrees to that of 46 degrees north latitude, but in the
light of actual occupation the term can hardly be made
to embrace more than the coast from Cape Breton to
Penobscot Bay.]

The early settlements of the French in America were
divided into two zones by the Gulf of St Lawrence.
Considered from the standpoint of colonization, this
great body of water has a double aspect. In the main it
was a vestibule to the vast region which extended westward
from Gaspe to Lake Michigan and thence to the Mississippi.
But while a highway it was also a barrier, cutting off