Under the French Regime 33

out the expulsion of the Acadians of Nova Scotia who still refused to take the unconditional oath of allegiance to the British sovereign. This decision followed the capture of Fort Beauséjour which had been built by the French on the Isthmus of Chignecto, north of the Mis- saguash River, in territory claimed by France. When Charles Lawrence captured the fort, with the help of troops from Massachusetts, he encountered two hundred Acadians. They swore they had been forced, under pain of death, to take up arms on the side of the French, thus violating their neutrality. Highly suspicious, Lawrence decided to ob- tain total allegiance from the Acadians or deport them. In his view, the Acadians constituted a real threat.

In 1755 there were about ten thousand Acadians in Nova Scotia of whom approximately six thousand were deported to the colonies in New England. Lawrence’s troops burned the villages, destroyed the crops and loaded the inhabitants on board ships under very unpleasant conditions. About half of the four thousand Acadians who managed to escape took refuge on fle Saint Jean. By 1756, there were over 4,400 inhabitants on the Island*°. Lieutenant-Governor Vaudreuil of Quebec came to the rescue of these refugees. But in writing to the Minister of the Navy on August 7, 1756, he stated that the situation on fle Saint Jean was deplorable.

There is great misery on fle Saint Jean, most of the inhabitants are without bread. Mr. de Villejoin has been feeding 1,257 refugees since the autumn. He received 230 people from Cocagne this spring, but was obliged to send several families on to Quebec on the orders of Mr. de Drucourt and, following my instructions, he got rid of the less industrious ones. (TR)*'

And so ends, on a tragic note, the great wave of immigration to fle Saint Jean. Within eight years the population increased from 735 to 4,400 inhabitants. Now begins the painful depopulation of the Island.

THE DEPORTATION OF 1758

The Acadian refugees’ stay on Ile Saint Jean was short-lived. In 1758, the fortress of Louisbourg was once again attacked by British troops. The French capitulated on July 26, thereby forfeiting fle Saint Jean as well. General Amherst sent Lord Rollo and a contingent of