"Of all the most useful and excellent arts, that of navigation has always seemed to me to occupy the first place. For the more hazardous it is, and the more numerous the perils and losses by which it is attended, so much the more is it esteemed and exalted above all others, being wholly unsuited to the timid and irresolute. By this art we obtain a knowledge of different countries, regions, and realms. By it we attract and bring to our own land all kinds of riches; by it the idolatry of paganism is overthrown and Christianity proclaimed throughout all the regions of the earth. This is the art which won my love in my early years, and induced me to expose myself almost all my life to the impetuous waves of the ocean, and led me to explore the coasts of a part of America, especially those of New France, where I have always desired to see the Lily flourish, together with the only religion, catholic, apostolic, and Roman." In addition to his natural love for discovery, Champlain had a combination of other qualities which rendered his explorations pre-eminently valuable. His interest did not vanish with seeing what was new. It was by no means a mere fancy for simple sight-seeing. Restlessness and volatility did not belong to his temperament. His investigations were never made as an end, but always as a means. His undertakings in this direction were for the most part shaped and colored by his Christian principle and his patriotic love of France. Sometimes one and sometimes the other was more prominent. His voyage to the West Indies was undertaken under a twofold impulse. It gratified his love of exploration and brought back rare and valuable information to France. Spain at that time did not open her island-ports to the commerce of the world. She was drawing from them vast revenues in pearls and the precious metals. It was her policy to keep this whole domain, this rich archipelago, hermetically sealed, and any foreign vessel approached at the risk of capture and confiscation. Champlain could not, therefore, explore this region under a commission from France. He accordingly sought and obtained permission to visit these Spanish possessions under the authority of Spain herself. He entered and personally examined all the important ports that surround and encircle the Caribbean Sea, from the pearl-bearing Margarita on the south, Deseada on the east, to Cuba on the west, together with the city of Mexico, and the Isthmus of Panama on the mainland. As the fruit of these journeyings, he brought back a report minute in description, rich in details, and luminous with illustrations. This little brochure, from the circumstances attendant upon its origin, is unsurpassed in historical importance by any similar or competing document of that period. It must always remain of the highest value as a trustworthy, original authority, without which it is probable that the history of those islands, for that period, could not be accurately and truthfully written.