When, after fifty years of civil strife, the strong and wise sway of Henry IV. restored rest to troubled France, the spirit of discovery again arose. The Marquis de la Roche, a Breton gentleman, obtained from the king, in 1598, a patent granting the same powers that Roberval had possessed. He speedily armed a vessel, and sailed for Nova Scotia in the same year, accompanied by a skillful Norman pilot named Chedotel. He first reached Sable Island, where he left forty miserable wretches, convicts drawn from the prisons of France, till he might discover some favorable situation for the intended settlement, and make a survey of the neighboring coasts. When La Roche ever reached the Continent of America remains unknown; but he certainly returned to France, leaving the unhappy prisoners upon Sable Island to a fate more dreadful than even the dungeons or galleys of France could threaten. After seven years of dire suffering, twelve of these unfortunates were found alive, an expedition having been tardily sent to seek them by the king. When they arrived in France, they became objects of great curiosity; in consideration of such unheard-of suffering, their former crimes were pardoned, a sum of money was given to each, and the valuable furs collected during their dreary imprisonment, but fraudulently seized by the captain of the ship in which they were brought home, were allowed to their use. In the mean time, the Marquis de la Roche, who had so cruelly abandoned these men to their fate, harassed by lawsuits, overwhelmed with vexations, and ruined in fortune by the failure of his expedition, died miserably of a broken heart. The misfortunes and ruin of the Marquis de la Roche did not stifle the spirit of commercial enterprise which the success of the fur trade had excited. Private adventurers, unprotected by any especial privilege, began to barter for the rich peltries of the Canadian hunters. (1600.) A wealthy merchant of St. Malo, named Pontgrave, was the boldest and most successful of these traders; he made several voyages to Tadoussac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, bringing back each time a rich cargo of rare and valuable furs. He saw that this commerce would open to him a field of vast wealth, could he succeed in obtaining an exclusive privilege to enjoy its advantages, and managed to induce Chauvin, a captain in the navy, to apply to the king for powers such as De la Roche had possessed: the application was successful, a patent was granted to Chauvin, and Pontgrave admitted to partnership. (1602.) It was, however, in vain that they attempted to establish a trading post at Tadoussac:[98] after having made two voyages thither without realizing their sanguine expectations of gain, Chauvin died while once more preparing to try his fortune.