Croix Island.
Winter came early and it proved to be severe. The desperate colonists quickly consumed most of the wood on the island, and cakes of ice churning in the tides kept them from crossing for more on the mainland. The men were reduced to eating frozen, uncooked food and shivering in their drafty dwellings. Frigid winds, unimpeded by the few remaining trees, stabbed across the island, intensifying the settler's misery. If this was not enough, the colonists found no natural source of water on the island and faced a constant shortage of drinking water. As the winter deepened, the harsh conditions took a fierce toll in scurvy. Over a third of the settlers died from the dreaded disease, and nearly as many suffered various degrees of permanent disability. The error of settling on an island was all too evident, and by spring De Monts set out to find a new location. He and Champlain spent the summer coasting southward, carefully surveying and recording what they saw. They ascended the Kennebec, perhaps as far as Augusta, but found the land along the shores of the river "very poor." They continued southward, observing the local Indians, their weapons, and their agricultural activities, eventually arriving in Massachusetts Bay after five weeks. With provisions low, they returned to St. Croix, not having encountered a place to the south that seemed promising for a new beginning. Thereupon they packed up their house frames and provisions and sailed for Port Royal (the present Annapolis Royal), Nova Scotia, where they reestablished their settlement.
Only a few years later the French again attempted a settlement in Maine, this time largely under the auspices of Jesuit priests. In the summer of 1610, Jean de Biencourt Poutrincourt et de Saint-Just sailed to Port Royal with a contingent of settlers and instructions to revitalize the habitation. Poutrincourt consciously avoided taking any Jesuits with him, concerned about the problems the zealous churchmen might cause. However, two members of the order, Fathers Pierre Biard and Enemond Massé, were not to be put off, and in early 1611 they arranged passage to the New World in a small vessel.
Relations between the Jesuits and the other settlers at Port Royal deteriorated through the winter, and shortly after, the Jesuits appealed to Antoinette de Pons, Marquise de Guercheville and lady of honor to the Queen of France, asking to be posted elsewhere. Concerned for the success of their mission among the natives, Madame de Guercheville fitted out a vessel and sent it to the colony in mid-summer 1613. After a few days, Biard, Massé, and the new arrivals sailed off, to the undoubted joy of all.
Although headed for the Kennebec, the Jesuits were enveloped in a fog and groped their way to Mount Desert Island, where they landed at the site of present-day Bar Harbor to rest and thank God for preserving them from the perils at sea. Shortly after landing, they were approached by a number of Indians, who pleaded that they remain in the area. Biard declined, being firmly resolved to settleon the Kennebec, but he agreed to visit their chief, Asticou, who, they informed him, was seriously ill and wished to be baptized before dying. This reference to baptism probably reflects efforts of earlier Jesuits in the region, most likely emanating from Port Royal. Whatever the case, the chief had nothing more serious than a cold, but the Jesuits found themselves at an ideal location for settling: the western shore of Somes Sound offered a protected harbor, cleared land, two springs, and excellent soil.
The colonizers elected to stay at Mount Desert but almost immediately became divided over plans for settlement: the Jesuits insisted on building fortifications, houses, and the like; the French commander, René Le Coq de La Saussaye, preferred to begin cultivating the rich soil. Whether or not La Saussaye's agricultural project seriously hampered the fortification of the small plantation is not entirely clear, but when the English captain Samuel Argall arrived at the mouth of the harbor shortly after, the Fren