156 The French in Prince Edward Island

in granting to settlers permission to cut the grass, never failed to be accused of partiality. Hence, angry altercations and feuds disturbed the peace of the com- munity. ‘To put an end to these unseemly quarrels, Franquet suggested that the grass should be cut by common labour, and the hay distributed among the workers in proportion to the number of cattle possessed by each.

For the defence of the settlement Franquet designed a piquet fort of four bastions, and recommended it to be built on the crown of the same eminence on which the church stood. By placing it on the shore, it might, he argued, better defend the entrance to the harbour, but an enemy making a descent might effect a landing at some distant point of the coast, occupy the eminence and thence completely command the fortress. On the other hand the guns of the fort from the crest of the eminence, would protect a wide range of country, and yield shelter to the inhabitants and their property. Even in the event of an enemy effecting a landing the fort would be a rallying point, from which the defenders could be driven only by cannon, and after all the for- malities of a regular siege.

All now being finished there was nothing to detain Franquet longer at St. Peters, he therefore set out at once on his return journey. Plodding among sandy dunes and over rugged ground, wading through swollen rivers, and miry creeks, when he arrived at the dwelling of the widow on the North East River, the road appeared to him a great deal worse than when he travelled it only a few days previous. Personal experience of the griev- ances that afflict a people is sometimes a strong incen- tive to officials to devise a remedy. Franquet, during the