In his notice of De Monts' cruise along the Bay of Fundy
in June 1604, Champlain says: 'Continuing two leagues
farther on in the same direction, we entered one of the
finest harbours I had seen all along these coasts, in
which two thousand vessels might lie in security. The
entrance is 800 paces broad; then you enter a harbour
two leagues long and one broad, which I have named Port
Royal.' Here Champlain is describing Annapolis Basin,
which clearly made a deep impression upon the minds of
the first Europeans who saw it. Most of all did it appeal
to the imagination of Poutrincourt, who had come to Acadia
for the purpose of discovering a spot where he could
found his own colony. At sight of Port Royal he had at
once asked De Monts for the grant, and on receiving it
had returned to France, at the end of August 1604, to
recruit colonists. Thus he had escaped the horrible winter
at St Croix, but on account of lawsuits it had proved
impossible for him to return to Acadia in the following
year. Hence the noble roadstead of Port Royal was still
unoccupied when De Monts, Champlain, and Pontgrave took
the people of St Croix thither in August 1605. Not only
did the people go. Even the framework of the houses was
shipped across the bay and set up in this haven of better
hope.

The spot chosen for the settlement lay on the north side
of the bay. It had a good supply of water, and there was
protection from the north-west wind which had tortured
the settlers at St Croix. 'After everything had been
arranged,' says Champlain, 'and the majority of the