CHAPTER III. THE FOUNDING OF NEW FRANCE Champlain's portrait,
attributed to Moncornet, shows us a sturdy, broad-shouldered
frame, with features in keeping. Unhappily we have no assurance
that it is a faithful likeness. No one, however, can deny that
the mariner of Brouage, with his extraordinary perseverance and
energy, was admirably fitted to be the pathfinder to a new
realm. Not often does one encounter in the annals of any nation
a man of greater tenacity and patience. Chagrin and
disappointment he had to meet on many occasions, but he was
never baffled nor moved to concede defeat. His perseverance,
however, was not greater than his modesty, for never in his
writings did he magnify his difficulties nor exalt his own
powers of overcoming them, as was too much the fashion of his
day. As a writer, his style was plain and direct, with, no
attempt at embellishment and no indication that strong emotions
ever had much influence upon his pen. He was essentially a man
of action, and his narrative is in the main a s