132 OVER ON THE ISLAND

Around this healthy infant settlement strides a tire- less figure—the figure of de Roma. He is caustic, impatient and partial. He is resentful and, above all, meticulous. He counts the stumps removed from the ground, and the number of stakes in a fence, the amount of flour baked in the oven, the amount of water drawn from the pumps; and always he is in conflict with some one, cleric or layman. He is in deadly earnest about his project. Ultimately, he becomes the sole proprietor by buying up the shares of his partners.

He must have walked often around his little domain examining the fences, comparing the wheat and vegetables, looking over the houses. He would walk out on the pier, and look over the boats. Mentally he reviews his goal. The colony will have an extensive fishery, and the five company vessels will transport the fish to France and bring back other commodities. They will also establish a triangular trade route between Quebec, Three Rivers, and the West Indies. Until the colony becomes self-supporting he will bring food from Quebec and pay for it by carrying fish and planks to the West Indies. . . . So he muses, his mind far afield.

I wonder if he ever raised his eyes and really saw the place he had Chosen and fostered. I wonder if he enjoyed one of Prince Edward Island’s most beautiful views. Did he, as he wandered along that carefully built-up point, see the red shore line along the Mon- tague River and the varying shades of green in the forests above? Or was he interested only in the number of stakes in a fence, the number of stumps uprooted? I wonder what he would say if he knew that two hundred years later those two opposite