292 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



lishment of tlie King ; tliere i.s there a guard magazine and storehouse." 

 BelHn speaks of tlie " petit fort" here in 1755. It is marked on D'Anville's 

 map of 1755, (îreen-Jefferys of the same year and Montresor of 1768, in all 

 Ciiaes on the north side of the Shediac river a Httle above its mouth. In 1S07 

 I visited Shediac and made an effort to locate the fort. I found that local 

 tradition pointed to Indian Island, (an island in the harbour so small that it 



is not sliown on nïost maps, ) and that no site 

 on the mainland seemed to be known to the re- 

 sidents [map Xo. 31]. I visited Indian Island 

 and found the distinct remains of an earth- 

 work some three feet high with a shallow ditch 

 outside. As much of this as can be seen, is 

 shown on the accompanying map No. 32. 

 The island, a flat gravel terrace, 10 to 15 feet 

 above high tide and densely wooded, is rapidly 

 washing away, but it is easy to trace the for- 

 mer extent of the fort from the ruins that 

 remain. It is said ])y residents of the har- 

 bour that this is known as the Indian fort, 

 and that it was called Fort Smivagc by the 

 French, and I have been told by an Indian 

 chief that it was built bj- the Indians for pro- 

 tection against the Mohawks. It is difficult to 

 believe that this very small fort on a tiny 

 island surrounded by salt water was the 

 French fort referred to in the documents of 

 the time, and it may be really a fort built by 

 the Indians themselves, as were Nerepis, 'Sla- 

 ductic, liichibucto and other Indian forts, 

 while the French fort was perhaps on the 

 mainland. But it is difficult to explain on 

 the latter supposition how all knowledge of it 

 has utterly disappeared.' 



Map No. 31. Shediac Harbour. 

 From a cliart. 



5. The Miramirhi District. 



A.— Settlement of Richard Denys de Fronsac. This was the earliest French 

 settlement on tlie Minimichi of which we have any authentic record, but its 

 site is uncertain. Kicliard Denys was st)n of Nicolas Denys, who had settle- 

 ments at Miscf)U and Nepisiguit. LeC'lereq speaks of having visited it before 

 1()!»1, and St. Valier in KiSS speaks of it as "a little fort of four l)astions 

 formed of stakes, and in this fort a house where M. de Fronsac makes his 

 residence " [p. 32]. As to its site, LeClercq gives us no hel]) ; ])ut St. Valier 

 says of it tliat it was on the Kiver of Manne, at a league from that of St. Croix, 

 and that near it ["pre» de lA "] is a place called, in the language of the 

 Indians, Skhiovhoiidiche, where were the three leagues of land given to the 

 RecoUets for a mission by M. Denys. There is no doubt as to the location 



1 During my viait to Shrdiac I was nndpr tlic impresBicii tliat the maps marked the fort on the 

 south side of the entrance to the Slicdiau, and hence made my inquirioB tlierc, and examined the point 

 with great care. I did not look on the nortli side, but tliu residents, who took muc)i interest in the 

 inquiries, would hardly have failed to know of it were there any tradition of its existence. 



