With This In View I Parted With The Governor, Captain Gazer, & Our People
To Go By Land As Far As The Place Where We Had Left One Of Our Canoes Upon
The River Hayes, Whilst The Other Party Went By Sea With The Shallop, "The
Adventure," To Round The Point.
We had the pleasure of contemplating at our
ease the beauty of the country & of its shores, with which the Governor was
charmed by the difference that there was in the places that he had seen
upon Nelson's river.
We embarked ourselves then in the canoe just at the place where the French
had built their new house, where we found those who were left much advanced
in the work that I had ordered them to do, but, however, very inquiet on
account of having no news from my nephew, their commandant, nor of me. They
had carried all the beaver skins from the wood into the house & punctually
executed all my other orders.
Having then seen myself master of all things without having been obliged to
come to any extremity for it, the French being in the disposition of
continueing their allegiance to me, I made them take an Inventory of all
that was in the house, where I found 239 packages of beaver skins, to the
number of 12,000 skins, and some merchandise for trading yet for 7 or 8,000
more, which gave me much satisfaction. Then I told my nephew to give a
command in my name to these same Frenchmen to bring down the beaver skins
as far as the place where they should be embarked to transport them to the
ships, which was executed with so much diligence that in 6 days eight or
ten men did (in spite of difficulties which hindered them that we could go
in that place but by canoes because of the rapidity & want of water that
they had in the river) what others would have had trouble in doing in 6
months, without any exaggeration.
My nephew had in my absence chosen this place where he built the new house
that was, so to speak, inaccessible, to the end of guaranteeing himself
from the attacks that they would be able to make against him; & it was that
same thing which restrained the liberty of going & coming there freely &
easily. The savages with whom we had made the trading, not having made so
much diligence on their route as we, for returning themselves into their
country, having found out that I was in our house, came to me there to
demand some tobacco, because that I had not given them any of that which
was in the ships, because that it was not good, making as an excuse that it
was at the bottom of the cellar. I made them a present of some that my
nephew had to spare, of which they were satisfied; but I was surprised on
seeing upon the sands, in my walk around the house with the governor,
rejected quantities of an other tobacco, which had been, according to
appearances, thus thrown away through indignation.
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