28 THEISLAND ACADIANS

With the conquest of Louisbourg, fle Saint Jean also fell into the hands of the English since it depended on the fortress for protection. According to the terms of an agreement signed in Louisbourg, in exchange for the liberation of six hostages, the British authorities promised not to disturb the inhabitants of fle Saint Jean and gave them one year to leave the Island"*.

After the Island was conquered, the Acadian colonists began to fear the looming spectre of expulsion. According to rumours, the English were preparing to deport the Acadians. The plan, in fact, was not carried out partly because they lacked the material facilities and partly because they did not regard these colonists as a real threat’’.

A military expedition was being prepared in New France with the aim of reconquering Acadia, ile Royale and fle Saint Jean. De Ramezay left Quebec in 1746 at the head of an expeditionary corps of seven hundred men. A detachment of these soldiers, led by Montesson and accompanied by Micmac, attacked an English ship in the Northeast River. The English suffered a few casualties and several soldiers were taken prisoner’’.

De Ramezay’s expedition, like Duvivier’s, was a failure. Neither was successful in winning over the Acadians to the Royal army. The few Acadians who did join the ranks of the Canadian corps declared later that they had been forced to do so.

Despite these setbacks, Louisbourg and the settlements depen- dent upon her were returned to France by the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle in 1748. In this document, England agreed to give back these Atlantic colonies to France in exchange for the Indian state of Madras. Thus, three years after the fall of Louisbourg, and as a result of dealings over another colony on the opposite side of the world, fle Royale and fle Saint Jean became French colonies once again.

THE ADMINISTRATION AND PROTECTION OF THE COLONY

As we have already seen, Port LaJoie was chosen as the adminis- trative centre of fle Saint Jean at the time of Gotteville de Bellisle’s settlement in 1720. From then until the British conquest in 1745 fle Saint Jean was under the administrative jurisdiction of the government