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, 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