Canada (1535-Present Day). Группа авторов

to encamp in the open prairie, from which the clumps of wood may be at a great distance. On the morning of the 28th, we arrived at the place selected for the meeting with the Mandans, who arrived towards evening—a chief with thirty men and the four Assiniboines. The chief having from the top of a height considered the extent of our village, which appeared of a good size, I had him brought to the hut where I was, where a place had been prepared to receive him on one side of it. He came and placed himself near me; one of his people then, on his part, presented me with a gift of Indian corn in the ear, and of their tobacco in rolls, which is not good, as they do not know how to cure it like us. It is very like ours, with this difference, that it is not cultivated and is cut green, everything being turned to account, the stalks and the leaves together. I gave him some of mine, which he thought very good. I acknowledged that I was surprised, expecting to see different people from the other Indians, especially after the account given me. There is no difference from the Assiniboines....

      I marched in good order to the fort, into which I entered on the 3rd of December at four in the afternoon, escorted by all the French and Assiniboines. We were led into the hut of the head chief. It was certainly large, but not enough to hold all who wished to enter. The crowd was so great that they crushed one another, Assiniboines and Mandans. There was only the place where we were, Mr. de la Marque, his brother and my children, free of them. I asked that the crowd should retire, to leave our Frenchmen clear, and to put their baggage in a place of safety, telling them they had all time to see us. Everyone was put out, but I had been too late. The bag of goods had been stolen, in which were all my presents, through the fault of one of the hired men, in whose care I had placed it before reaching the fort. He had unloaded on entering the hut without looking out for the bag, which he had put beside him in the great crowd. I felt rather confounded, my box lost, my bag of presents, which was very necessary for the place, and there were upwards of 300 livres inside. The Assiniboines seemed greatly annoyed and at once made a strict but useless search. Their fort is full of caves, well suited for concealment. The chief of the Mandans appeared to be greatly moved at my loss, and said for my consolation that there were many rascals among them. He would do his utmost to discover something about it. Had I accepted the offer of the Assiniboines I might have had it found in a little time by force, but I preferred to lose it and to make peace about everything, as I wanted to spend a part of the winter with them to get a knowledge of the more distant country....

      ... The Assiniboines did not yet speak of leaving, although they had purchased all they were able to do, such as painted ox-robes, deerskin, dressed buck skin, and ornamented furs and feathers, painted feathers, and peltry, wrought garters, circlets for the head, girdles. These people dress leather better than any of the other nations, and work in furs and feathers very tastefully, which the Assiniboines are not capable of doing. They are cunning traders, cheating the Assiniboines of all they may possess, such as muskets, powder, balls, kettles, axes, knives or awls. Seeing the great consumption of food daily by the Assiniboines, and afraid that it would not last long, they set afloat a rumour that the Sioux were near and that several of their hunters had noticed them. The Assiniboines fell into the trap and made up their minds quickly to decamp, not wishing to be obliged to fight.

11. THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS (1755).

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      Source.—A letter sent by Charles Lawrence, Lieut.-Governor of Nova Scotia, to the Governors of the Colonies to which the Acadians were removed: printed in Thomas C. Haliburton's Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia. Halifax, 1829.

      Halifax, Nova Scotia, 11th Aug., 1755.

      Sir,

      The success that has attended his Majesty's arms in driving the French out from the encroachments they had made in the Province, furnished me with a favourable opportunity of reducing the French inhabitants of this colony to a proper obedience to his Majesty's Government, or of forcing them to quit the country. These inhabitants were permitted in quiet possession of their lands, upon condition they should take the oath of allegiance to the King within one year after the treaty of Utrecht, by which this Province was ceded to Great Britain; with this condition they have ever refused to comply without having from the Governor an assurance in writing that they should not be called upon to bear arms in the defence of the Province; and with this General Philips did comply, of which steps his Majesty has disapproved, and the inhabitants therefrom pretending to be in a state of neutrality between his Majesty and his enemies, have continually furnished the French and Indians with intelligence, quarters, provisions and assistance in annoying the Government; and while one part have abetted the French encroachments by their treachery, the other have countenanced them by open rebellion; and three hundred of them were actually found in arms in the French fort at Beauséjour when it surrendered.

      Notwithstanding all their former bad behaviour, as his Majesty was pleased to allow me to extend still further his royal grace to such as would return to their duty, I offered such of them as had not been openly in arms against us a continuance of the possession of their lands, if they would take the oath of allegiance unqualified with any reservation whatever. But this they have audaciously as well as unanimously refused; and if they would presume to do this when there was a large fleet of ships of war in the harbour and considerable land forces in the Province, what might not we expect from them when the approaching winter deprives us of the former, and when the troops, which are only hired from New England occasionally and for a short time, have returned home?

      As by this behaviour the inhabitants have forfeited all title to their lands and any further favour from the Government, I called together his Majesty's Council, at which the Hon. Vice-Admiral Boscawen and Rear-Admiral Mostyn assisted, to consider by what means we could with the greatest security and effect rid ourselves of a set of people who would for ever have been an obstruction to the intention of settling this colony, and that it was now from their refusal of the oath absolutely incumbent to remove.

      As their numbers amount to near seven thousand persons, the driving them off, with leave to go whithersoever they pleased, would have doubtless strengthened Canada with so considerable a number of French inhabitants; and, as they have no cleared lands to give them at present, such as are able to bear arms must have been immediately employed in annoying this and the neighbouring Colonies. To prevent such an inconveniency, it was judged a necessary and the only practicable measure, to divide them among the Colonies, where they may be of some use, as most of them are healthy strong people, and as they cannot easily collect themselves together again, it will be out of their power to do any mischief, and they may become profitable, and it is possible in time faithful subjects.

      As this step was indispensably necessary to the security of the colony, upon whose preservation from French encroachments the prosperity of North America is esteemed in a great measure dependent, I have not the least reason to doubt of your Excellency's concurrence, and that you will receive the inhabitants I now send, and dispose of them in such a manner as may best answer in preventing their re-union....