When the battle was joined, the invading savages cunningly kept the three Frenchmen hidden behind ranks until, by the sudden appearance of white men with death-dealing thunder, the greatest consternation might be created among the Iroquois. The effect upon the Iroquois was even more dramatic than was anticipated. “On a sodaine, all was in disorder, astonished at such a noise, and death so unexpected. Upon this feare, the men of Kebec loosing no occasion, followed earnestly their enemies, and killed about fiftie of them, whose heads they brought backe, to make therewith merry feasts, and dances, at their returne, according to their custome.” They also took back ten or twelve live prisoners reserved for torture. The Iroquois, when they recovered sufficiently from their shock to learn more about white men and guns, became the irreconcilable haters of the French. The flame blazed. And it would be fed even more by the Frenchmen--by surprise arquebus massacres and the savagery of the white men’s Algonkin and Huron allies. Champlain went back to France that fall. Once more the monopoly had been cancelled; the company had lost its exclusive patent. The government was permitting free trade to all Frenchmen in the St. Lawrence valley. However, the company decided to stick it out in the face of this competition. Champlain became affianced, under a marriage contract, to a girl of twelve who was to join him later as his wife, and then he returned to Canada. The French captain now carried the war to the Iroquois nations again, successfully urging his Indian allies to help him push farther west. All his battles with the Five Nations were not victories, for the Iroquois were fiercely stubborn foes. However Champlain forced his way to Lake Ontario and Niagara. He ascended the Ottawa and visited Lakes Nipissing and Huron, blazing a trail west for the beaver traders to follow. Because of his tireless efforts in the western wilderness the economy of the new country rested solidly on the fur trade for many years, and the beaver rightfully came to occupy a prominent place in the Canadian coat of arms. Samuel de Champlain became the first Governor of French Canada, the ruler of all New France. But he didn’t find the western sea, or a passage to China. He did force the Five Nations of the Iroquois into alliances with the enemies of the French, the incoming Dutch fur traders who furnished the savages with guns, and then with the English. The story of the brutal border wars that resulted is in large measure the story of the colonial struggle for most of the American continent. V _England Moves to Extend Her Realm_ England came of age in the sixteenth century. Labor troubles helped to bring this about.