APPENDIX D

Account of a Journey in Winter on the Ice from Chédaique (Shediac) to Quebec

Communication by sea being ordinarily totally inter- rupted at the end of October, or at latest by the middle of November, the Governors of Canada and Ile Royale used to send couriers once during the winter (generally at the end of March) to inform each other of such mat- ters of interest as had taken place in their territories after the close of navigation. These couriers generally made the round trip, and were three in number, tried men, familiar with)the route,—the sort to withstand fatigue. pe

In 1756 the problem arose of conveying certain royal despatches from Ile Royale to Quebec. In this emer- gency they cast their eyes upon one Gauthier, a native of Isle Saint Jean, who happened to be in Louisburg. The proposal that he should undertake the journey was not displeasing to him, although he knew neither the paths nor the roads on the route. He accepted the com- mission in the hope of engaging, at home, an Acadian to accompany him by canoe from Isle Saint Jean to Shediac, where he would procure some Indians to act as guides and pilots for the journey. His plans material- ized and he arrived at Shediac, a settlement of French and Indians, under command of M. de Boishebert, Lieu- tenant of troops from Canada, who was stationed at the Pécoudiac (Petitcodiac) River.

Shediac is situated on a river which runs from the eastern shores of the continent into the Gulf of St. Law- rence opposite the western coast of Isle Saint Jean, The