The attention of the lieutenant was at first directed to restoration and repairs. The roof of the buildings no longer kept out the rain, nor the walls the piercing fury of the winds. The gardens were in a state of ruinous neglect, and the fields poorly and scantily cultivated. But the zeal, energy, and industry of Champlain soon put every thing in repair, and gave to the little settlement the aspect of neatness and thrift. When this was accomplished, he laid the foundations of a fortress, which he called the _Fort Saint Louis_, situated on the crest of the rocky elevation in the rear of the settlement, about a hundred and seventy-two feet above the surface of the river, a position which commanded the whole breadth of the St. Lawrence at that narrow point. This work, so necessary for the protection and safety of the colony, involving as it did some expense, was by no means satisfactory to the Company of Associates. [86] Their general fault-finding and chronic discontent led the Duke de Montmorency to adopt heroic measures to silence their complaints. In the spring of 1621, he summarily dissolved the association of merchants, which he denominated the "Company of Rouen and St. Malo," and established another in its place. He continued Champlain in the office of lieutenant, but committed all matters relating to trade to William de Caen, a merchant of high standing, and to Émeric de Caen the nephew of the former, a good naval captain. This new and hasty reorganization, arbitrary if not illegal, however important it might seem to the prosperity and success of the colony, laid upon Champlain new responsibilities and duties at once delicate and difficult to discharge. Though in form suppressed, the company did not yield either its existence or its rights. Both the old and the new company were, by their agents, early in New France, clamoring for their respective interests. De Caen, in behalf of the new, insisted that the lieutenant ought to prohibit all trade with the Indians by the old company, and, moreover, that he ought to seize their property and hold it as security for their unpaid obligations. Champlain, having no written authority for such a proceeding, and De Caen, declining to produce any, did not approve the measure and declined to act. The threats of De Caen that he would take the matter into his own hands, and seize the vessel of the old company commanded by Pont Gravé and then in port, were so violent that Champlain thought it prudent to place a body of armed men in his little fort still unfinished, until the fury of the altercation should subside. [87] This decisive measure, and time, the natural emollient of irritated tempers, soon restored peace to the contending parties, and each was allowed to carry on its trade unmolested by the other. The prudence of Champlain's conduct was fully justified, and the two companies, by mutual consent, were, the next year, consolidated into one.