s.aj %. W, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I '*IIIIIM IM illM 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 < 6" — ► V] .. y^ 7 Hiotographic Sdences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4303 rip '%'- CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibiiographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. n D D n D □ n Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagie Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurie et/ou pelliculAe Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes giographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmAes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires: L'Institut a microfilm^ le meiileur exemplaire qu'il lui a ^tS possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiqufo ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/oi Pages restauries et/ou pellicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxe( Pages ddcolories, tachet6es ou piqudes Pages detached/ Pages ddtach^es Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Qualit^ inigale de I'impression' Includes supplementary materii Comprend du materiel suppidmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponibie I I Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ r~^ Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I I Pages detached/ I I Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition available/ D Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurr' i per un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 film^es d nouveau de fagon A obtenir la meilleure image possible. J 10X This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de rMuction indiqu* ci-dessous. 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X yy 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X ils u lifier ne age The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Nova Scotia Public Archives The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol ^^> (meaning "CON- TINUED "). or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de: Nova Scotia Public Archives Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couveriiure en papier est imprimis sont filmds en commengant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commenpanf par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, plarches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des tau/X de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit t>n un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. ata slure. 3 \2X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 .5«i«>i.ii.»kVA«i.Wia,itii;'''gj,«a!aaiiif*.-^« t THE Canadian Monthly AND NATIONAL REVIEW. Vol. 5.] MAY, 1874. [No. 5. THE OLD FORTS OF ACADIA. BY J. G. BOURINOT. THE tourist will find many memorials of the days of the French regime throughout the Provinces which were once comprised within the ill-defined and exten- sive limits of Acadia, and are now known as Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. These memorials must be sought among a few com- munities speaking a language sadly degen- erated from the Norman and Breton French of their ancestors, in a few grass-covered mounds, or in the names of many of the bays, rivers, and headlands of the Acadian country. Port La Tour, on the western cuast of Nova Scotia, recalls the time when the high-spir- ited, courageous Frenchman, the rival of the treacherous D'Aulnay, was labouring to establish himself on the peninsula. The Gaspereau was the name given to a rapid stream, which winds its way through the very garden of Nova Scotia, by the ancestors of that hapless people whom a relentless des- tiny, and the mandate of an inexorable Goyemnient, snatched from their old homes in "the sweet Acadian land." The island of Cape Breton, which once bore the proud name of " He Royale," still wears the more homely and also more ancient name which was given to its most prominent Cape by some of those hardy Breton sailors who, from the very earliest times, ventured into the waters of the northern Continent. Louis- bourg still reminds us of the existence of a powerful fortified town, intended to overawe the EngHsh in America and guard the approaches to the LaurentianGulf and River. The Boularderie Island is a memento of a French Marquis, of whom we would never have heard were it not for the fact that his name still clings to this pretty gre^ island which he once claimed as his seigneurie. The Bras d'Or yet attests the propriety of its title of " the Golden Arm," as we pass through its lovely mlets and its expansive lakes, surrounded by wooded heights and smiling farms. The French had at best but a very pre- 37° TJIE CANADIAN MONTHLY. carious foothold in Acadia. At a few iso- lated ])oir.ts they raisen some rudely con- structed forts, around which, in the course of time, a number of settlers built huts and ( ultivatcd small farms. The rivalry between England and France commenced on the continent as soon as the British Colonies had made some progress, and prevented the French ever establishing' flourishing settle- ments all over Acadia. At no time was the French Government particularly enamoured of a country which seemed to promi.se but a scanty harvest of profit to its proprietors ; tor the history of Acadia shows that the Kings of France and their Ministers left its destinies for years in the hands of mere adventurers and traders. In the course of time they began to have some coucepiiun of the import.mce of Acadia as a base of opera- tions against the aggressive New Englanders, and were forced at last, in self-defence, to build Louisbourg on the eastern coast of lie Royale. But then it was too late to retrieve the ground they had lost by their indifference during the early history of the country. Had the statesmen of France been gifted with practical foresight, they would have seen the possession of Acadia was an absolute necessity to a power which hoped to retain its dominion by the St. Lawrence and the great Lakes. L Port Royal. The history of the first fort raised by the French in Acadia illustrates the difficulties which the pioneers of France on this conti- nent had to contend against from the very outset of their perilous experiment of colo- nization When the adventurers came to Acadia with De Monts — the feudal lord of half a coiituient by virtue of Henry's royal charter — there was not a single Euro- pean settlement from the frozen Pole to the ancient Spanish town of St. Augustine, among the swamps of Florida. When the rock-girt islet of the St. Croix was found altogether unsuitable for their first settlement, the French with one accord sought the lovely basin, surrou ded with well-wooded hills and a fertile country abounding with game, which is now known as the basin of the Annapolis, one of the inlets of the Bay of Fundy, so noted for its "tides" and " bores." Two hundred and seventy years ago, the first timbers of the fort were raised on the banks of the E(|uille, now the Annapolis River, by the command of Baron de Poutrincourt, who was the first seigneur of that domain. The French were enchanted with the scenery and their new settlement. " It was unto us a thing marvellou.s," says the first historian of America, " to see the fair distance and the largeness of it, and the mountains and hills that environed it, and I wondered how so fair a place did remain desert, being all filled with woods. * * * At the very begin- ning we were desirous to see the country up the river, where we found meadows almost continually above twelve leagues of ground, among which brooks do run without number, coming from the hills and mountains adjoin- ing. The woods are very thick on the shores of the water." A chequered history was that of Port Royal from the d: of its foundation. Men who have borne a prominent part in the colonization of this continent were among the first inhabitants. Champlain, the founder of Quebec ; De Poutrincourt, the chivalrous, zealous chief of Acadian colonization ; L Escarbot, the genial, chatty historian, are among the men who throw a bright halo around the history of the first fort. L'Es- carbot has left us a pleasing description of the trials and successes of the pioneers, in which we see illustrated all the versatility and vivacity of the French character. When we read his account of the doings of the colonists, we must regret that there ha J not always been a L' Escarbot in aftertimes to describe the varied incidents of the career of the fort, until iht fleur-de-lis was lowered for ever on its bastions. Let us briefly THE OLD FORTS OF ACADIA. 371 describe three scenes which show the varied features of Acadian hfe more than two hundred and fifty years ago. Let us go back, in Imagination, to a winter day in the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury. Tlie hills and valleys of the surround- ing country are covered with snow, but the pines and spruce are green as ever. The water is frozen around the shore, but the tides still rush in and out of the spacious basin, and keep it comparatively free from the icy bonds which fetter the rivers and lakes of the interior. On an elevated point of land, near the head of the basin and by the side of a river, we see a small pile of wooden buildings, from whose chimneys rise light columns of smoke in the pure atmosphere, to speak of bounteous cheer and grateful warmth, but a very unpreten- tious pile of buildings to hold the fortunes of ambitious France on a wilderness conti- nent I A quadrangle of rudely constructed buildings surrounds a courtyard, and com- piises the stores, magazines and dwellings of the French. The defences are palisades, on which several cannon are mounted. Stumps ])eep up amidst the pure snow, and a log hut here and there tells us of some habi- tant more adventurous than the others. AI)ove one of the loftiest roofs floats the banner of France. When we think that these rude works are almost alone in the American wilderness, we can have some conception of the ambition and courage of the French pioneers. If we enter the spacious dining-hall, which is situated in one of the principal buildings of the quadrangle, we find a pleasant and novel scene. A huge fire of maple logs blazes on the large, hospitable hearth, and as the bell gives the summoriS for the noon-day dinner, we see a procession of some fifteen or six- teen gentlemen march gaily into the hall, and lay a goodly array of platters on the table. At the head is probably Champlain, the steward of the day, according to the rules of " Z ' Ordre de Bon Temps" with his staff of office in his hand, and the collar of his office around his neck. Each guest bears a dish, perhaps venison, or fish or fowl, which has been provided by the caterer for the day. The faithful Acadian Sachems, old Mcinberton, and other chiefs and braves, sit scpiatted before the fire, and nod approv- ingly as they see this performance repeated day after day. A bounteous feast is enjoyed, and many witty jokes, songs and stories go around the board, for the company numbers men of courtly nurture, heroic daring and scholarly culture, who know well how to console themselves during their banishment to this Acadian wilderness. The next scene is one often witnessed in the early times of French colonization. Wherever the French adventurer found him- self, he never failed to show his Christian zeal. One of the first acts of Baron de Pou- trincourt, after he had established himself at Port Royal, was to have old Memberton and the other Indians admitted within the pale of the Roman Catholic Church. On a fine June day the converts, to the number of twenty-one, assemble on the shore in front of Port Royal, and then follow the religious ceremonies under the directions of Priest La Fleche. The " gentlemen adventurers," the soldiers, the habitaiis, appear in all their finery. The rites are performed with all the pomp of that Church which, above all others, understands so well how to appeal to the senses of the masses. A Te Deum is sung, and the cannon send forth a volley in honor of the first baptism of the savages of Acadia. The Indians receive the names of the first nobility in France, and are rewarded by pre- sents from the zealous Frenchmen, who were mightily pleased with their religious triumph. Similar scenes were often enacted in later times, at Hochelaga, on the Ottawa, by the western lakes and rivers, and on the border of the Gulf of Mexico. The next episode is one of gloom and misfortune. On a bright summer's day, in 16 1 3, a ship sailed up the basin, to the 37* THE CANADIAN MONTHLY. astonishment of tlie habitans who were busy in the fields. Was it the long expected ship from France ? Had their friends beyond the seas at last recollected the struggling colony, and sent soldiers and supplies to its assistance ? No ! The Red Cross of England floated from the masthead of the stranger. The farmers fled to the forest, to warn the Commandant and his sol- diers, who were absent on some expedition ; and the fort became an easy prey to Captain Samuel Argall, a rough sea-captain, autho- rized to destroy the French settlement by Sir Thomas Dale, the Governor of Virginia, then rising into importance as the first Eng- lish plantation on this continent. When Argall destroyed Port Royal, both France and England were fairly entering upon the contest for supremacy in the New World. Port Royal again rose from its ashes, but its history thenceforth affords few episodes of interest except sieges ; for a L'Escarbot never again lived within its wails, to enliven its inmates and hand down to future times the story of its adventurous career. The fleur-de-lis or the Red Cross floated from the fort, according as the French or the English were the victors in the long struggle that ensued for the possession of Acadia. In 1710 the English colonies, which had suffered much from the depreda- tions of the French, sent an expedition against Port Royal, under the command of Francis Nicholson, who had been Governor of several of the Provinces. The French Governor, M. Subercase, endeavoured to defend the fort, but his garrison was in a very pitiable condition, and unable to with- stand the attacks of the besiegers for any length of time ; consequently he capitu- lated towards the latter part of October. The fort had been considerably strengthened, and was on a much larger scale than the one erected by De Poutrincourt, but, neverthe- less, Port Royal was only an insignificant port compared with Quebec or Louisbourg. Considerable settlements, v'mi , luc past century, had grown up in the vicinity of the fort, and throughout the rich country watered by the streams that flow into the Bay of Fundy. The details of the surrender prove the neglect with which the French Govern- ment treated Port Royal in common with all other posts in America. Not only was the fort in a dilapidated state, but the gar- rison, some 250 men, were delabres, all in rags and tatters, and emaciated from hunger. From that day Port Royal remained in the possession of the English, and Acadia may be said to have passed away forever from the French, who had so long gallantly struggled to retain it. The name of Port Royal was changed to that of Annapolis, in honour of the Queen of England. For many years it was the Seat of the Govern- ment of Nova Scotia, until Halifax was founded towards the middle of the eighteenth century. Then the oldest town in Ame- rica — excepting of course St. Augustine — was consigned to obscurity, and was only remembered by the historical antiquary. It is needless to say the people of Annapolis are proud of two facts — that they have an historical past, and that General Williams, of Kars, was born within their quiet pre- cincts. Railways now run into the town, but still the verdure of antiquity clings to the place, and the old folks will rather take you to some relic of the past than talk of the locomotive which snorts and puffs as if in derision of old times. Relics of the French occupation have more than once been dug up by the plough during the past quarter ot a century in the vicinity of the town. The " Old Mortality" of the settlement will tell you of a largv. stone, marked in deep rude Arabic figures, 1604, and also showinj.; masonic emblems roughly chiselled. Like- other interesting memorials picked up in Nova Scotia, this stone disappeared, and its whereabouts is not now known. None or the old French buildings remain standing in Annapolis, but we can still see the evidences of French occupation in the remains of the n THE OLD FORTS OF ACADIA. 373 l< i \\ fort, which was long occupied as a barrack for the British troops. The tourist who has antiquarian tastes and is a true lover of nature, will find himself well rewarded by a trip from Windsor through the fertile valleys of Kings and Annapolis. Here he will see gardens, and meadows, and orchards not surpassed by the Niagara district or the most fertile portion of Ontario. Here is the country first reclaimed from the sea by the old Acadian farmers, and yielding a most pro- ductive crop from year to year. In the Town- ship of Clare, and other parts of the western counties, we meet with the descendants of the Acadians, a sleepy, thrifty, and religious people, clinging obstinately to old customs, but nevertheless rapidly merging with the more energetic Saxon element, which presses upon them from all directions, and forces them out of their isolation. II. Fort La Tour. None of the French forts of Acadia has a more interesting history than that erected on the banks of the St. John River, by one of the most courageous "gentlemen-adven- turers " who ever sought to establish homes for themselves and family on this continent. As we review the incidents of the eventful career of Charles de St, Etienne, Seigneur de la Tour, we see him often a wanderer with the savages in the depths of the forest — anon determinately defending the French posts on the Atlantic coast and on the River St. John — anon arraying his retainers and battling for his rights like some bold chief of feudal times. When Biencourt, Baron de Poutrincourt's son, died in 1623, he be- queathed to La Tour his rights in Port Royal, and nominated him as his successor. La Tour, however, for some reason or other, removed to Cape Sable, where he built a fort which he ii ned St. Louis. Subse- quently he deserted the fort at that point, and moved to the entrance of the River St. John. The new fort was built under his directions during the year 1627, on the ex- treme end of a long point of land on the western side of the harbour. It was an earthwork of some eighty paces in diameter, with four bastions, on each of which six large cannon were mounted. By this time the colonies of Virginia, New York and New England were making rapid headway compared with the French settlements in Acadia. The indomitable commercial en- terprise of the early British colonists was already bearing rich fruits throughout New England particularly. The total popu- lation of Quebec did not exceed 500 souls, and it was still a very insignificant place. The towns, or villages rather, next in impor- tance, were Three Rivers and Tadousac, both of them extensive trading-posts. In Nova Scotia, Port Royal and the St. John fort were the only posts occupied oy the French, while Cape Breton was inhabited by a few fishermen. The history of this fort, for many years, was the history of the feud between Charles de la Tour and Chevalier D'Aulnay Charnisay, both of whom claimed the same rights in Acadia, and fought out the dispute to the bitter end. Then La Tour's wife appeared on the scene, and proved herself, all through that critical period in the history of the country, a fit helpmate for her husband, for she displayed an amount of courage and resolution of character of which we have few instances on record. She undertook important missions to England and Massachusetts, and did her husband good service; but she will always be best remem.bered for her heroic defence of the fort on two occasions against D'Aulnay, who attacked it during his rival's absence. On the first occasion, Madame La Tour rallied the defenders and succeeded in beat- ing off the assailants. At a later time, how- ever, D'Aulnay was successful, and Madame La Tour was forced to agree to terms of capitulation. D'Aulnay then sullied his re putation by breaking his pledge in a most 374 THE CANADIAN MONTHLY. disgraceful manner, for he ordered all the garrison to be hanged— with the exception of one man, who acted as executioner — in the presence of the unfortunate lady, who was forced to stand by with a halter around her neck. These occurrences naturally broke the poor lady's heart, for she died a few months latci. La Tour subsecjuently received a new commission from the King as Governor of Acadia, and — alas for human constancy — married the widow of his old rival, who was drowned in the Bay of Fundy soniet.me during 1650. Then, Acadia having fallen into the possession of the English, in 1654, La Tour succeeded in obtaining from Crom- well a grant of considerable land, and retired from the fort. The history of Fort La Tour, under its English masters, affords us no such inter- esting episodes as characterised its career during its occupation by its founder and his heroic wife. When, in 1670, the posts in Acadia were restored to the French, Fort La Tour appears to have been in a ruinous state, and was deserted for some time. P'or many years, till the close of the 17th cen- tury, it was occupied by a small garrison, but in the summer of 1701 one of the French Governors ordered it to be razed to the ground. Henceforth its history as Fort La Tour may be said to end. In 1758 Col. Moncton was sent by the British Governor at Port Royal to take formal possession of the River St. John. The work was very soon accomplished, and the English flag now waved triumphantly over the whole river territory from the Canadian boundary to the sea. Then the old fort began to wear a new aspect, for the ruined ramparts were renewed, and cannon again mounted on its walls ; but, while it obtained another lease of existence, it became, not Fort La Tour as of old, but Fort Frederick, in honour of a prince of the nation to whom it now be- longed. Thenceforth its history is monoton- ous, and we need not trace its career up to the time when it fell to pieces, or was swal- lowed up by the encroaching tides of the Bay of Fundy. It is still j)ossible, however, to distinguish some of the old embankments of the fort, notwithstanding the fact that it is now to some extent covered by houses and gardens. One of the most enterprising cities of the Dominion has sprung up around it, according as it has decayed and disap- peared. Great ships, freighted with the merchandise 0. every land, come to anchor within a few yards of the spot where the Jfeur-ih--/is once floated in the breeze, and the wealth of a fine province comes down the River St. John and passes the graves of the old pioneers who once saw in Fort La Tour the germ of an empire under the rule of France. The older and more pre- tentious settlement of Port Royal is only a small town; Louisbourg is a .nere sheep pasture ; but around Fort La Tour has sprung up a wealthy city, to illustrate the wisdom of the old adventurers who chose it as the site of a settlement which was, under lavourable auspices, to grow in the course of time into a large and flourishing community. A city has indeed grown up, but its people are not the descendants of the race who first noted the natural advantages of the harbour of St. J .1, and hoped to see it eventually the rival of Quebec. III. Forts Lawrence and Cumberland. Now let my readers accompany me to that narrow neck of land which connects New Brunswick with Nova Scotia, and is known as the Isthmus of Chignecto. When Port Royal and La Tour were first erected, the settlements of PVance and England were very insignificant, but now we come to a time when Quebec and Montreal were towns of considerable importance, and the English colonies were rapidly increasing in popula- tion and wealth. I n the middle of the last century the French had a fort at the mouth of the Missiquash, one of the streams which — f ' • -~ ^ TflE OLD FORTS OF ACADIA. 375 empty into Cumberland Basin. These were times when there were many apprehensions entertained by the British authorities in Port Royal and Halifax as to the good faith of the large settlements of Acadian French which had in the course of a hundred and fifty years established themselves in the most fertile section of the Province. Under these circumstances the erection of Fort Beau S6jour, in the vicinity of Beaubassin, one of the most important French Acadian settlements, near the site of Amherst, in- duced Major Lawrence to send a British force to the Isthmus of Chignecto and build another fort on the opposite side of the river, and which was named after the Governor himself. Then, in the course of a few months, ensued a series of hostilities be- tween the French and English, but the final result was the destruction of the Village of Beaubassin and the capture of Beau S^jour, which was then named Fort Cumberland — a name which has since been given to a large and prosperous country. With the history of every French fort in Acadia the name of some famous Frenchman is intimately asso- ciated. The heroism and perseverance of De Poutrincouri and La Tour threw a halo of romance around the earlyannals of Acadia. The name of Le Lontre, for some years one of the French missionaries, can never be for gotten in any sketch of the history of Beau- bassin and Beau S6jour. His enemies describe him— and no man in Acadia had more enemies among the British— as a com- pound of craft and cruelty, and it is quite certain that he hated the English and resorted to every means, whether fair or foul, to pre- vent their successful settlement of Acadia. That beneath his black robe beat the cou- rageous heart of a soldier, the following incident of the siege of Beau S6jour shows full well : — When the commandant, Vergor, was almost driven to despair by the perils which threatened him, Le Lontre alone appears to have preserved that composure which, to do him justice, never deserted him in the hour of danger ; and day after day he walked on the ramparts, smoking his pipe, and urging the men to renewed exertions, though the bullets whistled all around him. It is truly said, had the si)irit of the habitam been always eciual to that of their priest, Beau S^'jour would not have fallen as soon as it did The country around the old forts presents a charming combination of pastoral and water scenery. Here, too, is a large expanse of marsh land, where some of the fattest cattle of America find a bounteous pasture, and the farmers grow rich in the course of a few years. The landscape presents a vast sea of verdure, relieved by the Cobequid mountains in the distance, by glimpses of the sea, by clusters of white houses, and by placid rivers which wind through a country where nature has been most lavish of its gifts. No traces now remain of Fort Law- rence ; a little cottage is said to stand on its exact site ; but we can still see ruins of Fort Cumberland a short distance off, across the stream. It is in the shape of a pentagon, or fort of five bastions, which once mounted thirty or forty guns of large calibre. We can see the remains of the old barracks, and the cannon which did service for both the French and English in old times. The casemates are still in a good state of preser- vation, for they were made of solid brick- work. The magazine is outside of the walls, on the seaward side, and is a substan- tial building. Every spot of ground has its historic associations. As we passed, a sum- mer ago, into one of the casemates, we recollected the story of the havoc made by a British shell which came directly through the opening and killed several French offi- cers, as well as an Englishman, whilst they were seated at breakfast. Treachery, according to tradition, was at the bottom of this tragedy. The tradition is that a French- man, having some design of vengeance to carry out against his officers, had directed the British in the fort opposite how to aim 376 THE CANADIAN MONTHLY. directly into the casemate, and gave the pre- concerted signal with a handkerchief when all the officers were at breakfast. The shell was aimed, as 1 have shown, with unerring precision. On a free-stone slab near the site of Fort Moncton — -the name afterwards given to Fort Gaspereau, which had been erected by the French at Bay Verte so as to command the whole isthmus — can still be seen a rudely chiselled and not very grammatical in.scrip- tion, which recalls the perilous times of Acadia. " Here lies the body of Sergeant Mackay, and eight men, Killed .ind scalped hy the Indians, in bringing tire- wood, ?\'by. 2Cth, 1755." This fortification contained an acre of ground and was well built. The ancient turnpike and causeway, across a tract of marsh, as well as the contour of the walls, can be ascertained without difficulty by the curious tourist. The flourishing town of Moncton. an important station of the Intercolonial Railway, is named after the captor of the Gaspereau fort. IV. LouisnouRG. Now we must leave the peninsula of Aca- dia and turn our attention for a few moments to lie Royale, or Cape Breton. The cape, from which the Island takes its name, is a low point of land jutting out into the Atlan- tic ; and I have heard it said that, so firm are the materials of which it is composed, it seems scarcely worn by the waves of the ever restless Atlantic. Cape Breton, whilst held by France, was highly valued as an entrepot for the shipping engaged in the French, Canadian and West India trade, as well as for the large fleets which have been fishing in North American waters ever since the Basque and Breton sailors discovered the value of the fisheries. So important did the French consider the position of the island — a sentinel, as it were, at the ap- proaches of the River St. Lawrence — that they erected a formidable fortress on one of the noblest harbours of its Atlantic coast, to which they gave the name of Louisbourg, in honour of Louis Quinze. The harbour of Louisbourg, which is two miles in length and h .. a mile in breadth, with a depth of three to six fathoms, com- municates with the open ocean by a chan- nel, only half a mile in length and one-third of a mile in width, the average depth of water being seven fathoms. The great facility of access from the ocean was proba- bly one of the principal reasons why the harbour was chosen in preference to others which are larger and otherwise preferable. Approaching the harbour from the eastward, more than a hundred years ago, the stranger would see the city surrounded by ma^aive walls bristling with cannon. Standing out like sentries in advance of the fortress are three small rocky islands protecting the har- bour from the swell of the Atlantic. Upon one of these, called Goat Island, there was a battery mounting thirty 28-pounder guns. On the north-west shore, directly facing the entrance of the harbour, stood the Grand or Royal Battery, armed with twenty-eight 42- pounders and two i8-pounder guns. This battery completely covered the entrance of the harbour, as its guns could rake the decks of any ship attempting to force the passage. The town itself was situated upon the tongue or promontory lying between the south shore of the harbour and the sea, and occu- pied, including the walls, an irregular quad- rilateral area of 100 acres. The walls or defences were constructed according to the " first system " of the celebrated French engineer, Vauban. All the authorities agree that in the circuit of the walls there were embrasures for 148 guns, though they differ widely respecting the number of guns actu- ally mounted. The most prominent build- ing within the walls was a stone structure called the citadel, standing in the gorge of THE OLD FORTS OF ACADIA. 377 the King's bastion, with a moat next the town. The entrance to the citadel was over a drawbridge, with a guard-house on one side and advanced sentinels on the other. Within the citadel were apartments for the Ciovernor, barracks for the garrison, an arsenal, and a chapel which served as the parish church. There was also under the platform, or terre pUine^ a magazine well furnished at all times with military stores. The other public I i'''^ings within the walls were a general storehoubt, an ordnance store- house, an arsenal and powder magazine. The nunnery and hospital of St. Jean de Dieu were situated in the centre of the city — the latter was connected with a church and was an elegant stone structure. The town was well laid out in wide regular streets crossing each other at right angles, six run- ning east and west, and seven north and south. Some of the houses were wholly of brick or stone, but generally they were of wood upon stone foundations — the materials in many cases having been purchased from New Englanders, then, as now, always ready to trade with anybody who could pay well. Between the years 1720 and 1745, Louis- bourg cost the French nation the enormous sum of nearly $6,000,000, and still, as a French historian informs us, the fortifica- tions were unfinished and likely to remain so, because the cost had far exceeded the estimates, and it was found thii such ^ large garrison would be required for their defence that the Government had abandoned the idea of completing them according to the original design. This formidable fortress, the American Dunkirk, sustained two sieges, both of which have been fully described in the histories of this continent. It was first taken by the New England colonists, led by Pepperrell, who received a baronetcy for his eminent services, and was otherwise distinguished by the British Government. Cape Breton, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, again became a French possession ; but only thirteen years after its capture by the colonists it fell once more into the hands of the large iiaval and land forces under Boscawen and Wolfe; subsequently the English Government, fear- ful that Louisbourg might again be seized by France, ordered that the fortifications should be razed to the earth, and all the cannon and valuable building material dis- tributed in Halifax or elsewhere. Old houses can still be seen in Nova Scotia whose foun- dations are made of stone brought from the French fortress a century ago. Some huts now stand on the site of the old city, whilst a few trading schooners or fishing boats are the only tenants of the harbour where the Canadian and West Indian fleets anchored in old times. It is very easy now-a-days, with the assis- tance of a map and a guide, always to be found on the spot, to trace the line of the old fortifications and the site of the principal buildings. The most prominent objects among the ruins are some bombproof case- mates, which serve as a shelter for cattle in stormy weather. The roofs are covered with stalactites of the colour of oyster shells — at least that was the rase when the writer last visited the place. The guide is sure to offer you a drink out of the well said to have belonged to the Governor's mansion. The battery on the islet at the entrance of the harbour has long since yielded to the encroachments of the waves, and no signs now remain of the hulls of the French frigates that were sunk during the second siege, and the ribs of which were plainly visible on a calm day not very many years since. The visitor can always purchase relics of the days of the French regime — old locks, keys, gun-barrels, shells, for instance — as they are being constantly dug up from the cellars or Wshed ashore by the waves. In the course of the past summer a Boston tourist discovered an interesting memorial, which is now in an American museum, like most of the relics which have been found in Acadia. :i 378 THB: CANADIAN MONTH L Y. This relic consists of " a wrought-iron bar, an inch and a half in diameter, nearly four feet long, attached at one end to an iron joint, with strong attachments to fit solid stone masonry. Near the hook end of the bar is fastened a chain consisting of several strong links, which led to a lock which had also been attached to the masonry." The chain was still *"ist in the lock when it was discovered. 1 ry part of the structure was made in the strongest manner, capable of great resistance, and weighed some hundred pounds. Although somewhat wasted with rust, its shape was as perfect as it was the day it was made. This lock evidently belonged to the Queen's Gate, near the eastern or sea-end of the walls of the forti- fication. As the tourist stands upon the brow of the ruined ramparts and surveys the present aspect of Louisbourg, he cannot fail to be deeply impressed by the intense loneliness and desolation of the scene. The contour of the grass-covered walls is boldly outlined, and the huge casemates look like so many black ovens rising out of the green fields. To the south-west stretches the ocean ; to the north rise the cliffs amid which the light- house flashes forth its beacon of warning from eve to day-break. The land towards the interior is l-^w and covered with a small growth of firs, while the houses are small and scattered. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon the harbour presents an animated spectacle, as the fishing-boats, of which there is a large number, dart merrily through the water ; but at noon of a sum- mer's day, unless there are vessels in port, the scene is inexpressibly lonely. The tinkle of a cow-bell, or the cry of the circling gull, alone startles ihe lorieliness of the ruined fortress. Our thoughts naturally fly back to a century ago, when a stately pile of fortifications and buildings stood on that low, green point now only covered by a few grass-covered mounds to tell the story of the past. Port Royal, La Tour and Beau S«?jour, were but comparatively insignificant forts while Louisbourg for years was one of the strongest fortified towns in America ; but all are now alike in their desolation and ruin. Nothing but historic tradition remains of the old buildings in which the Frenchman of the last century talked with his comrade — "Ofs.iIlie.s and retiring, of trenches, tents. Of palisades, frontiers, parapets ; Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin, Of prisoners, ransoms, of soldiers slain, And all the currents of heady fight." Yet the time may not be fdr distant when we shall see another city rise above the ruins of Louisbourg. The haibour is one of the most accessible on the Atlantic coast of the Dominion, for a vessel can reach its shelter in a very few moments, while it is always remarkably clear of ice during the winter. It has been already urged in Parliament and in the press that it should be made the AUantic terminus of the Canadian system of railways ; and the writer has no hesitation in placing himself among those who believe that, in the course of a very few years, Louis- bourg will have entered on a new era of commercial progress, and will more than realize, under British-Canadian auspices, the idea of those who founded the old town more than a century ago. of the circling liness of the > naturally fly a stately pile stood on that »red by a few e story of the Beau Sejour, lificant forts s one of the !rica ; but all on and ruin, imains of the chman of the nrade — hes, tents, ts; in, iers slain, fight." distant when ove the ruins is one of the coast of the ch its shelter it is always [ the winter, rliament and e made the an system of lo hesitation who believe years, Louis- new era of more than luspices, the le old town