Cartier first came to anchor at the foot of Cape Diamond.
During this period no one had challenged the title of
France to the shores of the St Lawrence; in fact, a
country so desolate made no appeal to the French themselves.
Roberval's tragic experience at Cap Rouge had proved a
warning. To the average Frenchman of the sixteenth century
Canada meant what it afterwards meant to Sully and
Voltaire. It was a tract of snow; a land of barbarians,
bears, and beavers.

The development of the fur trade into a staple industry
changed this point of view to a limited extent. The
government, as we have seen, considered it desirable that
colonists should be established in New France at the
expense of traders. For the St Lawrence, however, the
first and only fruits of this enlightened policy had been
Chauvin's sixteen derelicts at Tadoussac.

The founding of Quebec represents private enterprise,
and not an expenditure of money by Henry IV for the sake
of promoting colonization. De Monts and Champlain were
determined to give France a foothold in America. The
rights upon which the venture of 1608 was financed did
not run beyond the year. Thenceforth trade was to be
free. It follows that De Monts and his partners, in
building a station at Quebec, did not rely for their
expenses upon any special favours from the crown. They
placed their reliance upon themselves, feeling confident
of their power to hold a fair share of the trade against
all comers. For Champlain Quebec was a fixed point on