66 ‘The French in Prince Edward Island

But in 1730 the grant to Comte de Saint Pierre was revoked and Isle Saint Jean reunited to the Royal domain by decree of June 1.** This action of the King brought peace to the minds of the colonists and revived to some extent the interests of French- men as well as Acadians in the colony. In both 1730 and 1731 a ship of 100 tons came out direct from France, in 1730 from Granville and in 1731 from Bordeaux, to fish cod and to trade with the habitans. Both returned well loaded without touching at Ile Royale. In 1731, five Acadian families arrived and were settled, three at St. Peters and two at Savage Harbor.

So far the simple record of the island colony, the hopes, disappointments, and modest achievements have been set down year by year to illustrate the conditions under which both the colonists and their Commandant labored. It is well to pause for a mo- ment to picture the settlements as they appeared when the colony had been definitely reunited to the Royal domain as a dependency of Louisburg. It had been watched over by Louisburg since the desertion of Comte de Saint Pierre and as yet no change was contemplated in this respect. But in 1731 de Pen- sens had secured permission to return to France and while there he had an opportunity to present its claims at the seat of authority. To this end he had drawn up a description of Isle Saint Jean which is dated March 5, 1732, and may be taken as a reason-

12 B, Vol. 542, pp. 578-581.