IN THE BEGINNING. . . In the year 1751, a French Officer by the name of Colonel Franquet was sent to inspect the French Colonies across the . On Isle St. Jean, Franquet travelled by barge up the , from Port La Joie en route to St. Peters . The flat-bottomed vessel had not proceeded very far before it was discovered that the strength of the current was setting a severe task for the six oarsmen. The barge was forced to accept the aid of a small schooner. Continuing in tow, Franquet diligently made notes of the changing scenes that presented themselves to the right and left. The unexplored forests dominated the landscape of the early August day. The wooded vistas were described as a "waving sea of vendure throwing itself from the distant uplands down to the river banks." Scattered along the bank were small openings with log houses of the settlers, rising among the stumps of the recently felled trees; and strong though patchy harvests waving over the yet unlevelled and unfenced fields. Viewing the south bank of the river, Franquet may have noted settlement on a tract of land now known as Bunbury . The Acadian pioneers Franquet described were among the area's first recorded settlers. Although this Island's Native inhabitants have lived off the land and traversed its waters for thousands of years, we cannot definitely place their settlement in Bunbury . Most certainly, however, they canoed the waters of the , and explored the adjacent woodland. Older residents of Bunbury recall several Indian families spending summers near the shore of the Hillsborough River , in the early part of this century. The earliest French settlement on the Island was made in 1720. At this time, there were settlements along the , though some miles east of Bunbury . In the years between 1720 and 1758, several Acadian families forged a life for themselves in Bunbury . There have been traces of these settlements seen on the Hamm