Franquet Makes Plans 161

of a settlement, and the possibility of the Crown estab- lishing defences to protect the settlers from marauders in war times, Franquet drew out the plan of a redoubt to be built of stone and brick on Brudenell Point.

Such is the account which Franquet has left of his journey through the Island of St. John. The picture he draws of the condition of the Island at the time of his visit is truthful; his suggestions for improving that condition are conceived in a vein of administrative wis- dom which does him credit, his eulogies on the fertility of the soil, the richness of its pastures, the value of its natural harbours, and the navigable character of the great estuaries that allured the waters of the ocean far up into the heart of the country, were all true, but they shared the fate of Cassandra’s prophesies—they were either not believed or deemed unworthy of being quick- ened by action. Franquet also, as we have seen, drew up for the defence of the Island four permanent places of strength. These never rose in solid masonry and earth- work on the sites they were designed to occupy, but lay rolled up in the quiet recesses of Government archives, useful only to the moralist to illustrate afresh the fu- tility of good intentions, even when carried to the verge of action, but left there.

Communication between the different settlements was effected in those days chiefly in canoes, hugging the shores along the bays and estuaries. Travelling in this way was always laborious and at certain seasons dan- gerous. But it was the only method, for the Island was roadless. The nearest approach to a highway was that lying between the Grande Source and St. Peter’s Har- bour, along which Franquet made his journey with much toil and discomfort. The Count De Raymond,