MONTS OBTAINS A CHARTER, AND PREPARES FOR AN EXPEDITION TO CANADA.

The service of Champlain as quarter-master in the war in Brittany commenced
probably with the appointment of Marshal d'Aumont to the command of the
army in 1592, and, if we are right in this conjecture, it covered a period
of not far from six years. The activity of the army, and the difficulty of
obtaining supplies in the general destitution of the province, imposed upon
him constant and perplexing duty. But in the midst of his embarrassments he
was gathering up valuable experience, not only relating to the conduct of
war, but to the transactions of business under a great variety of forms. He
was brought into close and intimate relations with men of character,
standing, and influence. The knowledge, discipline, and self-control of
which he was daily becoming master were unconsciously fitting him for a
career, humble though it might seem in its several stages, but nevertheless
noble and potent in its relations to other generations.

At the close of the war, the army which it had called into existence
was disbanded, the soldiers departed to their homes, the office of
quarter-master was of necessity vacated, and Champlain was left
without employment.

Casting about for some new occupation, following his instinctive love of
travel and adventure, he conceived the idea of attempting an exploration of
the Spanish West Indies, with the purpose of bringing back a report that
should be useful to France. But this was an enterprise not easy either to
inaugurate or carry out. The colonial establishments of Spain were at that
time hermetically sealed against all intercourse with foreign nations.
Armed ships, like watch-dogs, were ever on the alert, and foreign
merchantmen entered their ports only at the peril of confiscation. It was
necessary for Spain to send out annually a fleet, under a convoy of ships