CHAP. XXII. THE KING S POSTS. 37 



the King's Posts Company, and was afterwards leased to 

 the Hudson's Bay Company, who have lately abandoned 

 it, as well as several others, in the same territory, whieh 

 formerly held a high reputation. The fur-bearing 

 animals are so diminished in number throuo;hout the 

 region which these posts were designed to serve, that 

 many of them have now fallen into the hands of private 

 persons, whose tenure is far from being advantageous 

 to the Indians who frequent them. 



Soon after the formation of the French settlements in 

 various parts of Canada, the Government of France 

 turned tlie wilderness of the country to account by 

 farming or leasing extensive waste ' domains,' receiving 

 an annual consideration for the monopoly of the fur 

 trade and fisheries within the boundaries of particular 

 districts.* The tract termed the Bang's Domain (Domaine 

 du Ptoi), which formed part of the ' United Farms of 

 France,' was partially surveyed between the years 1731 

 and 1733, and its boundaries are described in a document 

 issued by the Intendant Hocquart, bearing date May 23, 

 1733. 



The territory of the King's Posts extended from Point 

 Neuf to Cape Cormorant,- a distance of 270 miles, and 

 back to the dividino; ridge between the St. Lawrence and 

 Hudson's Bay.f 



In 1832 the King's Posts were under lease to a private 



' Boucliette. 



t For the precise boundaries of the Domaine du Roi, see Bouchette's 

 British Dominions in North Amei-ica, p. 29G, or his TojmgrajMcal Dictionary 

 of Lower Canada. A map of the Domaine was constructed by the mis- 

 sionary Pere Laure, in 1731, a copy of which is to be found in tlic Library 

 of Parliament, Quebec. 



