saw little of the rocky northland which, with its myriad
lakes and splendid streams, sweeps from the St Lawrence
to Hudson Bay. Southward and westward lay his course to
the cantons of the Iroquois south of Lake Ontario and
the villages of the Hurons north of Lake Simcoe. Above
all, the expeditions of 1609, 1613, and 1615 are the
central episodes of his work as an explorer, each marked
by a distinct motive and abounding with adventures. In
1609 he discovered Lake Champlain and fought his first
battle with the Iroquois. In 1613 he was decoyed by a
lying guide into a fruitless search for the North-West
Passage by the route of the Ottawa. In 1615 he discovered
Lake Huron, traversed what is now Central Ontario, and
attacked the Iroquois in the heart of their own country.
These three journeys make the sum of Champlain's
achievements as a pioneer of the interior. For all three,
likewise, we have his own story, upon which all other
versions are based and from which they draw their most
striking details.

The discovery of Lake Champlain had its root in Champlain's
promise to the Algonquins that he would aid them in their
strife with the Iroquois. In turn this promise was based
upon the policy of conciliating those savage tribes from
whom the French derived their supply of furs, and with
whom throughout the St Lawrence basin they most constantly
came in contact.

It was the year which followed the founding of Quebec.
Of the twenty-eight who entered upon the first winter