Champlain was reappointed lieutenant, but remained in France two years, fully occupied with public and private duties, and in frequent consultations with the viceroy as to the best method of advancing the future interests of the colony. On the 15th of April, 1626, with Eustache Boullé, his brother-in-law, who had been named his assistant or lieutenant, he again sailed for Quebec, where he arrived on the 5th of July. He found the colonists in excellent health, but nevertheless approaching the borders of starvation, having nearly exhausted their provisions. The work that he had laid out to be done on the buildings had been entirely neglected. One important reason for this neglect, was the necessary employment of a large number of the most efficient laborers, for the chief part of the summer in obtaining forage for their cattle in winter, collecting it at a distance of twenty-five or thirty miles from the settlement. To obviate this inconvenience, Champlain took an early opportunity to erect a farm-house near the natural meadows at Cape Tourmente, where the cattle could be kept with little attendance, appointing at the same time an overseer for the men, and making a weekly visit to this establishment for personal inspection and oversight. The fort, which had been erected on the crest of the rocky height in the rear of the dwelling, was obviously too small for the protection of the whole colony in case of an attack by hostile savages. He consequently took it down and erected another on the same spot, with earthworks on the land side, where alone, with difficulty, it could be approached. He also made extensive repairs upon the storehouse and dwelling.