After the departure of the Indians, Champlain returned to Quebec, and proceeded to put the buildings in repair and to see that all necessary arrangements were made for the safety and comfort of the colony during the next winter. On the 4th of July, Des Marais, in charge of the vessel belonging to De Monts and his company, which had been left behind and had been expected soon to follow, arrived at Quebec, bringing the intelligence that a small revolution had taken place in Brouage, the home of Champlain, that the Protestants had been expelled, and an additional guard of soldiers had been placed in the garrison. Des Marais also brought the startling news that Henry IV. had been assassinated on the 14th of May. Champlain was penetrated by this announcement with the deepest sorrow. He fully saw how great a public calamity had fallen upon his country. France had lost, by an ignominious blow, one of her ablest and wisest sovereigns, who had, by his marvellous power, gradually united and compacted the great interests of the nation, which had been shattered and torn by half a century of civil conflicts and domestic feuds. It was also to him a personal loss. The king had taken a special interest in his undertakings, had been his patron from the time of his first voyage to New France in 1603, had sustained him by an annual pension, and on many occasions had shown by word and deed that he fully appreciated the great value of his explorations in his American domains. It was difficult to see how a loss so great both to his country and himself could be repaired. A cloud of doubt and uncertainty hung over the future. The condition of the company, likewise, under whose auspices he was acting, presented at this time no very encouraging features. The returns from the fur-trade had been small, owing to the loss of the monopoly which the company had formerly enjoyed, and the excessive competition which free-trade had stimulated. Only a limited attention had as yet been given to the cultivation of the soil. Garden vegetables had been placed in cultivation, together with small fields of Indian corn, wheat, rye, and barley. These attempts at agriculture were doubtless experiments, while at the same time they were useful in supplementing the stores needed for the colony's consumption. Champlain's personal presence was not required at Quebec during the winter, as no active enterprise could be carried forward in that inclement season, and he decided, therefore, to return to France. The little colony now consisted of sixteen men, which he placed in charge, during his absence, of Sieur Du Parc. He accordingly left Tadoussac on the 13th of August, and arrived at Honfleur in France on the 27th of September, 1610.