MILITARY AND CIVIL. . II

It therefore apparently seemed to Mr. Pope that the said land described as laying south—west, was the little Island of which we are writing, and that Cartier effected a landing at Kildare River, where he remained until the 2nd July, when he then crossed over to the opposite shore. Endorsing the above view, Cartier seems the first European explorer on whom we can set any just conception as having visited the Island. Cabot for instance, on passing through the Strait of Belle Isle—had he done so—would scan the northern shore of the Gulf to the Mouth of St. Lawrence River in search of a passage through to India; but in the name of all that is reasonable what induce- ment could he have had in visiting this little Isle, situated so far distant from the true line of his search? None whatever, and, as a recent writer observed, “ If Cabot actually landed on the Island, the English government of the day failed to lay claims to it.” True, for a period of two and a half centuries, or until the first conquest of Louisburg, was there any atten- tion paid to the state of the little Isle in question.

Inthe year 1663, Captain Doublet, a French naval officer, obtaineda grant of the Island for the purpose of establishing fisheries around its coast, holding possession until 1700; during which period the fishermen repaired thither in the spring to follow their primitive calling, and when fall returned the Island was left to its originals inhabitants,——the Indians.

Here it may be observed, the exploration of America estab- lished the fact that it was everywhere inhabited; even islands round its coast had their quota: and when the Isle of St. Jean first became subject to the destiny of the banner of France, its dense forest abounded with various species of the feathered Creation, wild quadruped animals, and a tribe of aborigines wholly uncivilized. Dressed in skins of bears and foxes, these People lived in tents made of poles, covered with bark of trees. Their complexion was of a dusky copper color, piercing dark EYES, black hair flowing over their shoulders, or in a single tuft 0n the crown of their heads. In statute they were of medium height, well shaped, swift of foot and active. They were fierce, sly and cunning ; bloodthirsty and brutal when their vengeance was provoked, or malice excited; yet, when friendship was bestowed in sincerity they were constant and true.

They had boats called canoes, which were beautifully made, being sheathed with sheets of bark stretched over a frame of