1692.] JOHN NELSON. 357 



to rebuild the ruined fort at Pemaquid. The king 

 gave the order, but neither men, money, nor mu- 

 nitions to execute it ; and Massachusetts bore all 

 the burden. Phips went to Pemaquid, laid out the 

 work, and left a hundred men to finish it. A 

 strong fort of stone was built, the abandoned can- 

 non of Casco mounted on its walls, and sixty men 

 placed in garrison. 



The keen military eye of Frontenac saw the 

 clanger involved in the re-establishment of Pema- 

 quid. Lying far in advance of the other English 

 stations, it barred the passage of war-parties along 

 the coast, and was a standing menace to the Abe- 

 nakis. It was resolved to capture it. Two ships 

 of war, lately arrived at Quebec, the " Poli " and the 

 " Envieux," were ordered to sail for Acadia with 

 above four hundred men, take on board two or 

 three hundred Indians at Pentegoet, reduce Pema- 

 quid, and attack Wells, Portsmouth, and the Isles 

 of Shoals; after which, they were to scour the 

 Acadian seas of " Bostonnais " fishermen. 



At this time, a gentleman of Boston, John Nel- 

 son, captured by Villebon the year before, was a 

 prisoner at Quebec. Nelson was nephew and heir 

 of Sir Thomas Temple, in whose right he claimed 

 the proprietorship of Acadia, under an old grant 

 of Oliver Cromwell. He was familiar both with 

 that country and with Canada, which he had vis- 

 ited several times before the war. As he was a 

 man of birth and breeding, and a declared enemy 

 of Phips, and as he had befriended French pris- 

 oners, and shown especial kindness to Meneval, the 



