Under the French Regime 21

France began the construction of the fortress of Louisbourg in 1720 in order to protect the maritime approaches to her North Ameri- can colonies. The location of Louisbourg was important because of the ice-free harbour. It was thought that the fortress could easily drive away any naval attack. However, there was a lack of arable land at this site on [le Royale and it was fog-bound and wind-swept for most of the year — drawbacks for a developing colony.

The shortage of agricultural land constituted a serious problem because it did not help to attract Acadian farmers and it meant that the fortress town had to be provisioned. For generations, the Acadians had been farming the fertile lands along the Bay of Fundy. At this particular time, nothing could induce them to give up their family farms in order to live in isolation on rocky and impoverished land.

Faced with this situation, the authorities in Louisbourg advocated colonizing fle Saint Jean where the soil seemed very fertile, thus more likely to appeal to Acadians. Moreover, its waters were teeming with fish and its forests constituted an excellent source of lumber.

In 1719 the Comte de Saint Pierre, first Equerry to the Duchesse d’Orléans, received from Louis XV a land grant for fle Saint Jean, Miscou Island and the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence “to establish inhabitants and a sedentary cod fishery” (TR)°. The letters patent stipulated that in order to retain his concession, the conces- sionaire must settle one hundred colonists the first year and fifty the following years.

The establishment of a colony and a fishery required large invest- ments. Transport and fishing vessels had to be procured, the settlers’ passage paid for, administrators hired and living quarters built along with places for worship, etc. In order to raise the necessary capital, the Comte de Saint Pierre founded the Compagnie de l’Isle Saint Jean which enabled him to attract several wealthy speculators’. He then recruited about three hundred colonists and fishermen who were willing to try their luck in the New World. On April 15, 1720, the expedition left Rochefort in three ships under the command of Gotteville de Bellisle, an employee of Saint Pierre’s company. After a four-month-long cross- ing, the colonists landed at Port LaJoie on the 23rd of August, while the others, mainly fishermen, made their way to the north shore to Havre Saint Pierre (St. Peters) which was to become the main fishing centre and the most populated settlement in the colony. As early as the