278 



J. G. BOURINOT 



play of empty bravado he sailed away without even striking a blow at the relatively 

 insignificant French port of Plaisance on the dreary shores of Newfoundland. 



IN NOMINE 



PATRIS FILIl ET SPIRITUS SANCTI 



AMEN 



OMNIBUS IN CHRISTO FIDELIBUS SALUTEM. 



ANNA DEI GRATIA 



MAG. BRITANNI;€ 



FRANCIS ET HIBERNI/E REGINA 



TOTIUSQUE AMERICjî SCPTENTRIONALIS 



DOMINA, FIDEI DEFENSOR, &c. 



IN 



CUJUS HARUM (NSULARUM VULGO 



CAPE BRETON 



PROPRIETATIS 



ET DOMINII 



TESTIMONIUM 



HOC 



EREXIT MONUMENTUM 



SUiï MAJESTATIS SERVUS 



£T SUBDITUS FIDELISSIMUS 



D HOVENDEN WALKER EQUES AURATUS 



OMNIUM IN AMERICA NAVIUM REGALIUM 



PR?EFECTUS BT THALASSIARCHA 



MENSE SEPTEMBRIS 



ANNO SALUTIS 



MDCCXl. 1 



From time to time French corsairs found shelter in the sheltered nooks and creeks of 

 this noble port, but we have no record of any event of moment that signalized its history 

 after the departure of the greatest fleet that ever anchored in its waters. In 1781, before 

 Sydney town was founded by DesBarres, a famous sailor, La Pérouse, who, like Cook, 

 was to meet his death in later years, while on a voyage of discovery in the Pacific ocean, 

 commanded one of two large French frigates that fought an engagement off the harbour 

 with four English ships of inferior strength, which were convoying some transports to 

 obtain a supply of coal for the use of the troops at Halifax. This affair was hotly contested 

 for some hours, but it does not appear to have resulted in any decided advantage to either 

 side.^ La Pérouse is but one of the many great sailors like Dundonald, La Roncière le 



' In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen. Greeting: to all Christ's faithful subjects, Anna by 

 the Grace of God, Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, of these islands commonly 

 called Cape Breton, Proprietor and Sovereign. In testimony of which this monnaient has been erected by Her 

 Majesty's most faithful Servant, D. Hovenden Walker, Knight, Commander in Chief and Admiral of all her Royal 

 Navies in America. This month of September in the year of our Lord MDCCXl. 



' See Brown, " History of Cape Breton " (382-3S4), who cites the French and English accounts of the fight. 



