As in 1609, there was a mutuality of interest between
Champlain and the Indians who traded at the Sault. His
desire was to explore and theirs was to fight. By compromise
they disclosed to him the recesses of their country and
he aided them against the Iroquois. In 1615 the Hurons
not only reminded him of his repeated promises to aid
them, but stated flatly that without such aid they could
no longer attend the annual market, as their enemies were
making the route too unsafe. On their side they promised
a war-party of more than two thousand men. A further
proof of friendship was afforded by their willingness to
receive a missionary in their midst--the Recollet, Father
Joseph Le Caron.

Champlain's line of exploration in 1615-16 took the
following course. He first ascended the Ottawa to the
mouth of the Mattawa. Thence journeying overland by ponds
and portages he entered Lake Nipissing, which he skirted
to the outlet. French River next took him to Georgian
Bay, or, as he calls it for geographical definition, the
Lake of the Attigouautan [Hurons]. His own name for this
vast inland sea is the Mer Douce. That he did not explore
it with any degree of thoroughness is evident from the
terms of his narrative as well as from his statement that
its length, east and west, is four hundred leagues. What
he saw of Lake Huron was really the east shore of Georgian
Bay, from the mouth of French River to the bottom of
Matchedash Bay. Here he entered the country of the Hurons,
which pleased him greatly in comparison with the tract
before traversed. 'It was very fine, the largest part