The cause assigned for the delay in finishing the dwellings and constructions planned by Champlain, previous to his departure was, that fully one half of the men were employed during two months and a half of the best part of the year, in collecting and bringing in forage for the cattle, which they were obliged to fetch from Cape Tourmente, quite eight leagues from the settlement. To obviate this difficulty, Champlain established a farm in a favourable spot at the foot of the said cape, where the cattle could remain at pasture, and but few men be required to look after them. He also appointed an overseer to stay there permanently, and take care that the labourers did not waste their time; and every week he paid a visit of inspection to the new establishment. Considering also that the fort which he had commenced was but small, that, by and bye, as the population increased, more soldiers would be required for the defence of the colony; and that "selon l'oyseau il fallait la cage,"--he resolved to make the "cage according to the bird," and pull down and enlarge it. He pushed on the works so that they might be in a fit state of defence in the spring; and erected two bastions, well flanked, to protect the land side, by which alone it could be approached, and only then with difficulty. In the autumn, he received news of an outbreak of his old acquaintances the Iroquois, who had slain five Dutchmen, being at war with the Mahiganathicoit (Mohicans), in whose country the Dutch were settled about the fortieth degree of latitude, "near to Virginia, where the Englishmen were established." His old friend, Du Pont Gravé, who seems to have been a martyr to the gout for some time past, resolved to return to France, and he little expected ever to see him again. About this time Champlain suffered much anxiety on account of the insufficient supplies of provisions from France, which had become most necessary,--the people, notwithstanding their long sojourn in the country, depending chiefly on the arrival of the ships for support; he had even been obliged to send some families back to France, who, instead of working or cultivating the land, did nothing but hunt, and shoot, and fish, and amuse themselves from morning till night, being idle themselves and the cause of idleness in others. He notices (January, 1627) the death of one Hebert, "the first head of a family who lived by what he cultivated." The Missionaries seem to be making progress among the natives at this time, as the Reverend (Jesuit) Father Lallemand, "baptised a little savage of only ten or twelve days old," who was buried the next day in the cemetery of the settlement.