SAILING CRAFT 59 



the French in Canada petitioned the king for 

 a subsidy with which to hire the Basques to 

 do the whaling for them. Of course the 

 difference between the two forms of govern- 

 ment counts for a good deal — and it is not at 

 all likely that any paternal French ruler, on 

 either side of the Atlantic, ever wished to en- 

 courage a sea-roving spirit in Canada. But 

 the difference in natural and acquired aptitude 

 counts for more. 



The first Canadian shipbuilding was the result 

 of dire necessity. Pont- Grave put together 

 a couple of very small vessels in 1606 at Port 

 Royal so that he might cruise about till he met 

 some French craft homeward bound. Ship- 

 building as an industry arose long after this. 

 The Galiote, a brigantine of sorts, was built 

 by the Sovereign Council and launched at 

 Quebec in 1663. But it was the intendant 

 Talon who began the work in proper fashion. 

 In 1665, immediately after his arrival, he sent 

 men ' timber-cruising ' in every likely direc- 

 tion. Their reports were most encouraging. 

 Suitable timber was plentiful along the water- 

 ways, and the cost was no more than that 

 of cutting and rafting it down to the dock- 

 yards. Talon reported home to Colbert. But 

 official correspondence was too slow. At his 



