130 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. chap. xxix. 



Straits of Belle Isle were made the subject of an article in 

 a contemplated treaty with the Emperor Louis Napoleon, 

 which created much excitement in British North America, 

 from Newfoundland to Lake Ontario. 



The ruins of Brest must not be confounded with those 

 of the old Esquimaux fort some distance farther up the 

 straits, and which are found on Esquimaux Island, in St. 

 Paul's Bay. These ruins, consisting of walls composed of 

 stone and turf, remain almost entire to this day ; * and on 

 the same island are large numbers of human bones, the 

 relics of a great battle between the Montagnais and French 

 on one side and the Esquimaux on the other, which were 

 found about 1840. 



The o-rant of the Seig;neurie of Ming^an, extendino- from 

 Cape Cormorant to Kegashka, to the Sieur Francois Bissot 

 in 1661, has been already referred to. The group of 

 Mingan Islands were conceded in 1677 to Messrs. Lalande 

 and JoUiet, for the purposes of fishing and peltry. Some 

 time after the conquest, the St. John's Eiver was designed 

 to be the eastern limit of Canada ; but by an Act passed 

 in the reign of George lY., the boundary was transferred 

 to Blanc Sablon. 



As we sailed before a gentle breeze through the clustered 

 Mingan Islands in 1861, it suddenly occurred to me that 

 exactly 200 years ago, namely, in 1661, Francois Bissot 

 had been invested with the rights of Seigneur of IMingan. 

 For 200 years these rights have endured ; but the owners 

 are now dispersed far and Avide in both continents. Sailing 

 amidst these remote islands, looking so fair and beautiful 



* Robertson of Span* Point. 



