( m ) 



tolerable depth, into which a pretty large river difc 

 charges itfel.f, which takes its rife in the neighbour- 

 hood of New -York. The iflands, river, and whole 

 country bear the name of St. Francis. Each of the 

 iflands is above a quarter of a league long ; their 

 breadth is unequal \ moft of thofe of Richelieu are 

 fmaller. All were formerly full of deer, does, roe- 

 bucks, and elks game fwarmed in a furprifmg 

 manner, as it is Ml far from fcarce but the large 

 beads have difappeared. There are alfo caught 

 excellent fifti in the river St. Francis, and at its 

 mouth. In winter they make holes in the ice, 

 through which they let down nets five or fix fa- 

 thoms long, which are. never drawn up empty. 

 The fimes moft commonly taken here are bars, achi- 

 gans, and efpecially mafquinongez, a fort of pikes, 

 which have the head larger than ours, and the mouth 

 placed under a fort of crooked fnout, which gives 

 them a fingular figure. The lands of St. Francis, 

 to judge of them by the trees they produce, and 

 by the little which has yet been cultivated of them 

 are very good. The planters are, however, poor 

 enough, and feveral of them would be reduced to 

 a ft ate of indigence, did not the trade they carry on 

 with the Indians, their neighbours, help to fupport j 

 them. But may not this trade, like wife, be a means 

 of hindering them from growing rich, by render- 

 ing them lazy ? 



The Indians I am now fpeaking of, are, Abe- 

 naquies, amongft whom are fome Algonquins, So- 

 kokies, and Mahingans, better known by the name 

 of Wolfs. This nation was formerly fettled on 

 the banks of the river Mantat, in New- York, of 

 which country they feem to be natives. The Abe- 

 naquies came to St. Francis, from the fouthern 

 mores of New France, in the neighbourhood of 



New- 



