The first ships coming from France that summer brought letters from Colbert to Courcelle and Bouteroue intimating that Talon was returning to resume his charge. Bouteroue was probably surprised to learn that he was to be superseded so soon, and the governor may have been disappointed to hear of the early arrival of a man whose authority and prestige made him somewhat uneasy. But in the colony the rejoicing was general. Mother Marie de l'Incarnation wrote: 'We expect daily M. Talon whom the king sends back to settle everything according to His Majesty's views. He brings with him five hundred men. ...If God favours his journey and brings him happily to port he will find new means of increasing the country's wealth.' Several weeks elapsed, and Talon's ship did not appear. Some anxiety was felt. Mother Marie wrote again: 'M. Talon has not arrived; in his ship alone there were five hundred men. We are greatly concerned at the delay. They may have landed again in France, or have been lost in the storms which have proved to be so dreadful.' The autumn of 1669 had been a stormy season. Fearful hurricanes swept over Quebec. The lower town was flooded to an incredible height, many buildings were destroyed, and the havoc amounted to 100,000 livres. All this was painfully disquieting. To quote Mother Marie again: 'If M. Talon has been wrecked, it will be an irretrievable loss to the colony, for, the king having given him a free hand, he could undertake great things without minding the outlay.' In the meantime M. Patoulet, Talon's secretary, who had left France on another ship and had reached Quebec safely, wrote to Colbert: 'If he is dead, His Majesty will have lost a good subject, yourself, Monseigneur, a faithful servant, Canada an affectionate father, and myself a good master.' Fortunately, as we have already seen, Talon was not lost. At the very time when these letters were written he was on his way back to France, where he spent the winter hard at work with Colbert--preparing for the dispatch of settlers and soldiers in the spring. The minister displayed the same zeal as the year before. He appropriated ample funds, gave urgent orders, and seemed to make the Canadian reinforcements his personal affair. Talon sailed from La Rochelle about the middle of May 1670. He was accompanied by Perrot again, and also by six Recollets, four fathers and two brothers. After three months at sea he was nearly shipwrecked once more, this time near Tadoussac, almost at the end of his journey. On August 18, after an absence from Canada of one year and nine months, he landed once more at Quebec. CHAPTER VIII RENEWED EFFORTS AND PROGRESS