<P> In 1562, Charles IX, under the leadership of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny sent Jean Ribault and a group of Huguenot settlers in an attempt to colonize the Atlantic coast and found a colony on a territory which will take the name of the French Florida . They discovered the probe and Port Royal Island, which will be called by Parris Island in South Carolina, on which he built a fort named Charlesfort . The group, led by René Goulaine de Laudonnière, moved to the south where they founded the Fort Caroline on the Saint John's river in Florida on June 22, 1564 . </P> <P> This irritated the Spanish who claimed Florida and opposed the Protestant settlers for religious reasons . In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés led a group of Spaniards and founded Saint Augustine, 60 kilometers south of Fort Caroline . Fearing a Spanish attack, Ribault planned to move the colony but a storm suddenly destroyed his fleet . On 20 September 1565 the Spaniards, commanded by Menéndez de Avilés, attacked and massacred all the Fort Caroline occupants including Jean Ribault . </P> <P> The French interest in Canada focused first on fishing off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland . However, at the beginning of the 17th century, France was more interested in fur from North America . The fur trading post of Tadoussac was founded in 1600 . Four years later, Champlain made his first trip to Canada in a trade mission for fur . Although he had no formal mandate on this trip, he sketched a map of the St. Lawrence River and in writing, on his return to France, a report entitled Savages (relation of his stay in a tribe of Montagnais near Tadoussac). </P> <P> Champlain needed to report his findings to Henry IV . He participated in another expedition to New France in the spring of 1604, conducted by Pierre Du Gua de Monts . It helped the foundation of a settlement on Saint Croix Island, the first French settlement in the New World, which would be given up the following winter . The expedition then founded the colony of Port - Royal . </P>

What waterway was vitally important to the french colonies in north america