In 1612 Champlain found it necessary to revisit France; some powerful patron was wanted to forward the interests of the colony, and to provide the supplies and resources required for its extension. The Count de Soissons readily entered into his views, and delegated to him the authority of viceroy, which had been conferred upon the count.[104] Soissons died soon after, and the Prince of Conde became his successor. Champlain was wisely continued in the command he had so long and ably held, but was delayed in France for some time by difficulties on the subject of commerce with the merchants of St. Malo. Champlain sailed again from St. Malo on the 6th of March, 1613, in a vessel commanded by Pontgrave, and anchored before Quebec on the 7th of May. He found the state of affairs at the settlement so satisfactory that his continued presence was unnecessary; he therefore proceeded at once to Montreal, and, after a short stay at that island, explored for some distance the course of the Ottawa, which there pours its vast flood into the main stream of the St. Lawrence. The white men were filled with wonder and admiration at the magnitude of this great tributary, the richness and beauty of its shores, the broad lakes and deep rapids, and the eternal forests, clothing mountain, plain, and valley for countless leagues around. As they proceeded they found no diminution in the volume of water; and when they inquired of the wandering Indian for its source, he pointed to the northwest, and indicated that it lay in the unknown solitudes of ice and snow, to which his people had never reached. After this expedition Champlain returned with his companion Pontgrave to St. Malo, where they arrived in the end of August. Having engaged some wealthy merchants of St. Malo, Rouen, and Rochelle in an association for the support of the colony, through the assistance of the Prince of Conde, viceroy of New France, he obtained letters patent of incorporation for the company (1614). The temporal welfare of the settlement being thus placed upon a secure basis, Champlain, who was a zealous Catholic, next devoted himself to obtain spiritual aid. By his entreaties four Recollets were prevailed upon to undertake the mission. These were the first[105] ministers of religion settled in Canada. They reached Quebec in the beginning of April, 1615, accompanied by Champlain, who, however, at once proceeded to Montreal.