88 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
graphy is not perfect, but rather phonetic. However, the matter 
of correct spelling was not a mark of illiteracy in those days either 
in English or French, and especially among nautical persons. Hence 
we find the well known formula Cy Git appearing as Cy Gis. Then 
we have the Basque name for John, in the fourth form, Jouannes. 
This is also a quite correct form. Next comes the family name 
Suigarai-Chipi, a thoroughly Basque name. The termination Chipi, 
pronounced Xipi or tchipi (it is not possible to express the exact 
sound in English letters) is a diminutive, meaning small or little. 
The inscription then tells us that this man was also called Croisic 
(Dit Croisic). This form of family nomenclature is quite common 
among French speaking people. The name Le Croisic is that of a 
small seacoast town in the Loire Inférieure, Brittany, near St. Nazaire, 
at the mouth of the River Loire In these days there was much com- 
munication between the Basques and the Bretons. They were the 
pioneers of French colonization. Hence, we may suppose that the 
family of Suigarai settled in Le Croisic from which he took his second 
name, or what is more probable the name Croisic was a Basque family 
name which they gave to this village on settling there. M. Elizée 
Reclus, in his Géographie Universelle (Div. III., p. 230), speaking of 
Le Croisic and Batz, a neighbouring village, says: — “ Out of a popu- 
lation of 2,750 persons nearly one-half belong to eight families. 
Under these circumstances, family names and surnames do not suffice 
and nearly every individual is known by some soubriquet.” This 
accounts for the second name (Dit Croisic) and is of considerable 
historical and ethnological interest. It is therefore painful to find 
that the Newfoundland “ Guide Book,” missing altogether the anti- 
quarian interest of this subject, treats it in the following trivial man- 
ner:— “The next oldest stone is that of a Captain of a French 
King’s frigate, who rejoiced in the Breton name of Johannes de 
Sulgaraichipi (sic). He was good enough, however, to shorten it into 
Croisic for everyday use!” 
We next read that this Suigarai was “Capitaine de Fregate” 
du Roy. Capitaine de Fregate is a regular official grade in the French 
Navy, just as Capitaine de Pavillon, Flagship Captain or Commodore; 
Capitaine de Vaisseau—post Captain, or duly gazetted Captain. 
The Capitaine de Fregate, was a minor degree, nearly equivalent to 
our English grade of Commander. “The King” of course, in this 
case, was Louis XIV., whose long reign of seventy-two years (1643 
te 1715) extended over the reigns of nine English rulers, including 
the Commonwealth. 
Turning to the second inscription, which I consider to be a 
continuation of the previous one, and to have been originally on the 
