331 



in some degree made up for its natural defi- 

 ciencies, as there are 250 concessions in a very 

 fair state of cultivation, producing good crops 

 of grain of most kinds. Towards the St. Law- 

 rence the land is poor, of a light sandy nature, 

 but more in th^ interior it grows stronger and 

 obtains a better heart: it lies rather low, and 

 is generally level, timbered with the ordinary 

 sorts of wood, and but little of a superior qua- 

 lity or growth. The River Nicolet waters it ad- 

 vantageously. A village containing 50 houses, 

 with the church in the midst of them, is notice- 

 able for its beautiful situation on the side of a 

 gentle acclivity, covered with some majestic 

 oaks (the best timber of the seigniory), and 

 crested with a tuft of lofty pines: below the 

 village, and on the opposite side of the river, 

 are the remains of the old church and par- 

 sonage of Nicolet. Both sides of the river, for 

 about three leagues upwards, are embellished 

 by settlements, and the appearance greatly en- 

 livened by a number of neat houses, which in 

 various parts of the seigniory, including the 

 village, exceed 300; many of them well built 

 of stone. At the entrance of the river is Isle 

 Moran, the property of Mons. Paul Beaubien, 

 of which a grant was made October 29th, 

 1672, to Sieur de Moran. The main road to 

 William Henry passes through the village, and 



