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degree of latitude, that is, from
Philadelphia to beyond
Montreal; a still wider monopoly of the fur-trade; the exclusive control of the soil, government, and trade; freedom of religion for
Huguenot emigrants,—these were the privileges which the charter conceded.
Idlers, and men without a profession, and all banished men, were doomed to lend him aid. A lucrative monopoly was added to the honors of territorial jurisdiction.
Wealth and glory were alike expected.
An expedition was prepared without delay, and left
the shores of
France, not to return till a permanent French settlement should be made in
America.
All New France was now contained in two ships, which followed the well-known path to
Nova Scotia.
The summer glided away, while the emigrants trafficked with the natives and explored the coasts.
The harbor called
Annapolis after the conquest of
Acadia by Queen Anne, an excellent harbor, though difficult of access possessing a small but navigable river, which abounded in fish, and is bordered by beautiful meadows, so pleased the imagination of
Poutrincourt, a leader in the enterprise, that he sued for a grant of it from
De Monts, and, naming it
Port Royal, determined to reside there with his family.
The company of
De Monts made their first attempt at a settlement on the island of St.
Croix, at the mouth of the river of the same name The remains of their fortifications were still visible,
when our eastern boundary was ascertained.
Yet the island was so ill suited to their purposes, that, in the following spring, they removed to
Port Royal.
For an agricultural colony, a milder climate was more desirable; in view of a settlement at the south,
De Monts explored and claimed for
France the rivers, the
coasts and the bays of
New England, as far, at least, as
Cape Cod.
The numbers and hostility of the savages
