46 TOURING QUEBEC AND THE MARITIMES

mission in the British army at fifteen, and when but twen- Vty-five, was elected a member of the British Parliament. In 1752 he was sent to Nova Scotia and later became Lieutenant-Governor of that province. Soldiers under his command began the British occupation of St. John in 1758. He was commandant of the British forces at Fort Beausé- jour, and second in command under General Wolfe at the siege of Quebec.

The early history of Moncton has much of interest. The site, about 35 miles up the Petitcodiac River, is an admirable one, and was first chosen by the Indians for one of their settlements. The name “Petitcodiac” is derived from a Micmac word meaning “the river bends round in a how.” The peculiarity of the river, which gives it its name, is the sharp bend in its course, about twenty miles from its mouth at Shepody Bay.

The first Europeans to dwell in this locality were the French. After the French period, the next settlers were a band of Germans, who came from Pennsylvania in 1763, after having lived there a number of years. They arrived in. a sloop and landed at the creek at the lower end of Moncton, called by the French, Tanacada, but since known as Hall’s Creek, in remembrance of Captain Hall, who commanded the vessel. These settlers obtained grants in the neighbourhood and across the river, and their descend- ants are now an important part of the population of this section of Westmorland, as well as of Albert County.

Until the Intercolonial Railway was completed, Monc- ton was a small, unimportant village, generally known as “The, Bend.” When it became the headquarters of the

railway system, it grew very fast, until today it is a busy and growing city, with a population of 21,000.