It wasn't until peace was threatened, when two Frenchmen were murdered by the local people, that the Montagnais chief finally gave in, and on February 2, 1628; Samel De Champlain officially adopted three young girls, aged 11, 12 and 15; whom he named Faith, Hope and Charity.
Of course, the young Montagnais Girls probably taught the Kebec women a few things as well, that would benefit them greatly as they became accustomed to life in Canada.
In June of 1628; six English ships were spotted in the harbour, and news got back to Quebec that an expedition under Thomas, Louis and David Kirke, had been capturing French strongholds in Acadia and all along the St. Lawrence. At Cape Tourement, they had pillaged and plundered, setting fire to the barns and burning the animals alive.
Though the Kirke brothers had been born in Dieppe, they were hugenots, who had been forced to flee their homeland because of religious persecution, finding haven with the British; so had little love for French Catholics. They would leave the Quebec settlement alone for the time being, mistakenly believing that it would be heavily fortified, but the following year returned to claim their ultimate victory.
Landing at Tadoussac, a ship was dispatched to Kebec, under the command of Captian Jacques Michel, an exiled hugenot from La Rochelle; with a letter to Champlain demanding his surrender. But hoping for reinforcements from France, since they were well aware of last year's losses, he refused; stating that he was well provisioned and that a large French fleet was on it's way.
Help finally arrived, under Sieur De Roquemont, who went first to Tadoussac, but after realizing that they were badly outnumbered, most of his men fled into the woods. Only 11 of them would make it to Quebec, which just meant more mouths to feed, and Champlain's men were forced to roam the forests in search of food. Father Brebeuf brought meal back from Huronia and was able to get some of the settlers safely back to France.
Finally, on July 19, 1629; Champlain surrendered and the Kirke brothers gave the settlement provisions in exchange for furs. When the landing party arrived with the 'Mannah from Heaven', he was surprised to find Etienne Brule and Nicolas Marsolet amoung them. Apparently the men had sold them out and had now thrown in their lot with the enemy. On July 22, the fleur-de-lys came down at Kebec, and was replaced by the Royal Ensign of Great Britain. French renegades looted but they “had every kind of courtesy from the English” claimed Champlain.
They agreed, and Faith, Hope and Charity were taken as prisoners, thrown into the hold and the trap door nailed shut. I don't beleive this was what he had in mind, but it would appear that he had sealed the fate of the poor young girls.
To make matters worse, Marsolet had taken a fancy to young Hope, but when she spurned his advances, he turned his attention to her sister Charity; who threatened to tear his heart out and eat it.
Out of revenge, he told Kirke that the Montagnais wanted them back or they would wage war on the British, hoping that Kirke would then release the girls into his custody, with a promise to take them home. Instead, they were invited to dine with the captain, and after getting assurances that they would not incite war, he allowed them to remain with Guillaume Couillard, who would be staying on under British rule.
What happened to the 'Champlain daughters' is uncertain, but I would imagine they picked up where they left off, glad to be reunited with their own people.
