March 21, 1609

Upon my return to the capital of New France (Quebec) in the spring of this year, I was struck with horrifying news. I was told that the winter had hit hard and was disastrous to Quebec. There was an original total of twenty-eight colonists settled in Quebec in the beginning of winter last year. Only a mere eight of the original twenty-eight colonists survived the brutal first winter in Quebec.
Disease was a huge complication during this time, many deaths coming as a result of scurvy or smallpox disease. In addition to the disease going around the city, the weather, I am told was unbearable cold and atrocious. A few deaths were a direct result of the nasty weather in Quebec during the winter of 1608.