Grave, that he might see the wonders of France, thus exhibiting a
commendable appreciation of the advantages of foreign travel. They also
obtained the gift of an Iroquois woman, who had been taken in war, and was
soon to be immolated as one of the victims at a cannibal feast. Besides
these, they took with them also four other natives, a man from the coast of
La Cadie, and a woman and two boys from Canada.

The two little barques left Gaspe on the 24th of August; on the 5th of
September they were at the fishing stations on the Grand Banks, and on the
20th of the same month arrived at Havre de Grace, having been absent six
months and six days.

Champlain received on his arrival the painful intelligence that the
Commander de Chastes, his friend and patron, under whose auspices the late
expedition had been conducted, had died on the 13th of May preceding. This
event was a personal grief as well as a serious calamity to him, as it
deprived him of an intimate and valued friend, and cast a cloud over the
bright visions that floated before him of discoveries and colonies in the
New World. He lost no time in repairing to the court, where he laid before
his sovereign, Henry IV., a map constructed by his own hand of the regions
which he had just visited, together with a very particular narrative of the
voyage.

This "petit discours," as Champlain calls it, is a clear, compact,
well-drawn paper, containing an account of the character and products of
the country, its trees, plants, fruits, and vines, with a description of
the native inhabitants, their mode of living, their clothing, food and its
preparation, their banquets, religion, and method of burying their dead,
with many other interesting particulars relating to their habits and
customs.