training-school for military command. In this association, whether near or
remote, young Champlain, with his eagle eye and quick ear, was receiving
lessons and influences which were daily shaping his unfolding capacities,
and gradually compacting and crystallizing them into the firmness and
strength of character which he so largely displayed in after years. His
education, such as it was, was of course obtained during this period. He
has himself given us no intimation of its character or extent. A careful
examination of his numerous writings will, however, render it obvious that
it was limited and rudimentary, scarcely extending beyond the fundamental
branches which were then regarded as necessary in the ordinary transactions
of business. As the result of instruction or association with educated men,
he attained to a good general knowledge of the French language, but was
never nicely accurate or eminently skilful in its use. He evidently gave
some attention in his early years to the study and practice of drawing.
While the specimens of his work that have come down to us are marked by
grave defects, he appears nevertheless to have acquired facility and some
skill in the art, which he made exceedingly useful in the illustration of
his discoveries in the new world.

During Champlain's youth and the earlier years of his manhood, he appears
to have been engaged in practical navigation. In his address to the Queen
[10] he says, "this is the art which in my early years won my love, and has
induced me to expose myself almost all my life to the impetuous waves of
the ocean." That he began the practice of navigation at an early period may
likewise be inferred from the fact that in 1599 he was put in command of a
large French ship of 500 tons, which had been chartered by the Spanish
authorities for a voyage to the West Indies, of which we shall speak more
particularly in the sequel. It is obvious that he could not have been
intrusted with a command so difficult and of so great responsibility
without practical experience in navigation; and, as it will appear