eight only had survived, and half of these were ailing.
On June 5 relief came in the person of Des Marais, who
announced that his father-in-law, Pontgrave, was already
at Tadoussac. Champlain at once set out to meet him, and
it was arranged that Pontgrave should take charge of the
settlement for the coming year, while Champlain fulfilled
his promise to aid the Algonquins in their war with the
Iroquois. The full plan required that Pontgrave should
spend the winter in Canada, while Champlain, after his
summer campaign, was to return to France with a report
of his explorations.

The Indians had stated that the route to the land of the
Iroquois was easy, and Champlain's original design was
to proceed in a shallop capable of carrying twenty
Frenchmen. Early in July he reached the mouth of the
Richelieu, but on arriving at Chambly he found it quite
impossible to pass the falls with his shallop. Either
the expedition must be abandoned or the plan be radically
changed, with the consequence of incurring much greater
risks. To advance meant sending back the shallop with
its crew and stores, embarking in a canoe, and trusting
wholly to the good faith of the savages. The decision
was not easy. 'I was much troubled,' says Champlain. 'And
it gave me especial dissatisfaction to go back without
seeing a very large lake, filled with handsome islands
and with large tracts of fine land bordering on the lake,
where their enemies lived, according to their
representations. After duly thinking over the matter I
determined to go and fulfil my promise and carry out my