He found the savages numerous, unfriendly, and thievish.

Having injured the rudder of his vessel, he entered a harbour near the Cape, and remained there fifteen days, where he erected a forge to repair the iron bolts, and built a temporary oven for baking; when the bark was ready to sail, Pontrincourt took a walk into the country to examine its natural productions. In his absence some of the natives visited his crew and stole a hatchet. Two guns were fired at them and they fled.

In returning, he saw several parties of the savages carrying away their children and their corn, and hiding themselves, while he and his companions passed.

The next morning a shower of arrows were discharged among his people, two of whom were killed and several others wounded. The savages having taken their revenge they fled, and it was in vain to pursue them. The dead were buried at the foot of a cross, which he had erected on his landing, and while the funeral service was performing, the savages were dancing and yelling in mock concert, within hearing, but at a convenient distance. When the French embarked, the savages took down the cross, dug up the bodies, and stripped them of their grave clothes, which they carried offin triumph. Pontrincourt, in attempting to pass round the Cape, was driven by contrary winds into thesame harbour, where the savages offering to trade, six or seven of them were seized and put to death for their perfidious conduct. Having two wounded men on board whose lives were considered in great danger, and the season

being advanced, he determined to return to Port Royal, where he arrived on the 14th of November.

His return was celebrated with general festivity. He was received with great formality by his friends, who united in a procession and escorted him to the fort, reciting verses, composed by Lescarbot for the occasion. Over the gate of the fort were placed the arms of France, surmounted with a crown of wild laurels, with the inscription

Duo proteget unus.

Above the door of the house of Pontrincourt, were suspended wreaths of laurel, and in large letters was written: Invia virtuti nulla est via.

The apartments of De Monts were graced in the same manner, with the motto:

Dabit deus his quoque finem.

The manner in which they spent the winter was social and pleasant. At the principal table, to which fifteen persons belonged, an order was established at the suggestion of Champlain, by the name of Le Bon temps. Every one took his turn to be caterer and steward, for one day, during which he wore the collar of the order, and a napkin, and carried a staff. Thus accoutred, when dinner was announced, the President advanced to the head of the table, and was followed by the other members of the club in succession. After supper he resigned his insignia of office, with the ceremony of drinking a cup of wine, to the next in rotation. The advantage of this institution was, that each one was emulous to be prepared for his day, by previously hunting, or fishing, or purchasing game and provisions of the natives, who constantly resided among them, and were ex4

VOL. I.

tremely pleased with their visitors. The weather during the early part of the winter was unusually mild; on a Sunday in the early part of January, they went in an open boat two leagues, to visit their corn field, recreated themselves with music, and dined cheerfully in the sun-shine; early in the spring they prepared their gardens, the produce of which was exceedingly grateful, as were also the numerous fish which came into the river. They also erected a water-mill, which not only saved them much labour in grinding their corn, but gave them more time for fishing.

The fish which they caught were herrings and alewives, several hogsheads of which were pickled and sent to France. In April they began to build two vessels for the purpose of visiting the ports frequented by their countrymen, to learn some news from the Mother Country, as well as to get supplies for their subsistence. Having no pitch, to pay the seams, they were obliged to cut pine trees, and burn them in kilns, by which means they obtained a sufficiency. At this period there was a war between the Indians of Acadia, and the Armouchequois, or natives of the country near Cape Cod; the warriors of the peninsula were assembled at Port Royal and encamped in the neighbourhood of the fort, to the number of four hundred fighting men, under Mambertou, a celebrated Sachem. Though smaller in stature than the natives of Canada, they were active well made men, and had not long since returned from an incursion into the country of the Esqui

*This was built on the river Lequille, now called Allan's River; the site is now occupied by a Mill.

maux. Their camp was laid out with as much regularity as a town, and enclosed with a high wicker fence, composed of tall slender trees,sharpened at the point and forced into the ground, and then interwoven with others of the same kind, until the whole was united into a strong and impervious wall; in the centre was a large tent, where the chiefs assembled, and where the banquet was held, and at certain distances were the cabins of each separate district.

The French were gratified with the sight of their embarkation, each portion of the tribe under its own leader, but the whole combined under one command, and conducted with the greatest regularity and order.

The river was covered with their canoes, in which they passed the bay of Fundy, and joined another force collected on the river St. John, for the same expedition. It was the greatest Indian army they had ever witnessed, and they were not a little concerned at their assembling and fortifying themselves in their vicinity.

It was therefore with mingled emotions of pleasure and wonder that they stood on the ramparts, and saw this numerous flotilla pass in rapid and noiseless succession over the broad expanse of water which lay between them and the mouth of the harbour.

Great uneasiness was now manifested among the French, for the arrival of De Monts. Their anxious eyes were constantly turned towards the entrance of the basin, and, as they fondly clung to the hope that every day would bring them joyful intelligence, they were continually creating expectations which ended in disappointment; every canoe which appeared on the bosom of the harbour, was magnified

into the barge of a vessel, and every unusual sound was pronounced to be the report of the signal gun, fired by the watch stationed at the Narrows. At last, on the morning of Ascension-day, a sail was discovered, which proved to be a pinnace from Canseau with the supplies sent from France, a large portion of which had been ungenerously consumed on the voyage by the crew. The letters brought by this vessel informed them that the Dutch had insinuated themselves into the Fur trade on the Eastern shore, having been conducted by a treacherous Frenchman. The avarice of these people was so great that they had opened the graves of the dead, and taken the beaver skins in which they had been buried. This conduct was so highly resented by the savages at Canseau, that they killed the person who had shown the places where the dead were laid. De Monts also informed them that, on his return, he found public opinion had undergone a change, extremely unfavourable to his interest. The French Court began to think they had adopted a very erroneous and ruinous policy in granting such exclusive privileges.

The masters of all the fishing vessels from the several ports in France, complained to the ministry that De Monts, on pretence of preventing their trade with the Indians, restricted them from obtaining the necessary supplies for the fishery, and expressed their fears that they must necessarily abandon the trade, unless these evils were redressed. The Council were fully sensible of the injurious tendency which a failure of the fishery was likely to have on the commerce and navigation of the country, and