recognized early, and by 1728, St. Pierre was one of the two locations (the other being Cascumpeque ) chosen on the Island to expand the existing fishing operations. (24) In 1732, a French merchant, Jean Pierre de Roma , took charge of developing a settlement at Trois Riveries ( Brudenell , Montague, and Cardigan River ). While establishing this area, de Roma also constructed a fishing base at St. Pierre. In that same year, Governor de Penses stated in his report, that in addition to being the most populated area on the Island, St. Pierre was also the centre of the fishery. In this report he describes St. Pierre is detail and the early problems the fisherman faced: Most of the inhabitants were deep-sea fisherman or masters of shallops of whom there were twenty-five. Only eight habitants were engaged in clearing land suitable for wheat. Although the fishing was good and much less costly than at Re Royal, the fisherman had all they could do to make ends meet for lack of equipment. In spite of the fact that a ship had come from France each of the last two years the fisherman had been under obligation to merchants in Louisbourg and compelled to buy their provisions there at an increased cost of 50 per cent. This made it difficult for them to pay their debts and at the same time to provide for their families during the winter. (25) Perhaps it was these difficulties that made relations tense in St. Pierre. De Penses documented that he or one of his officers often had to intercede to settle differences amongst the settlers in the area, made up primarily of fishermen. By 1734, the number of families had increased from eighteen to thirty-three. The census of 1734 also indicates that there were three ploughmen, a blacksmith, and one hundred and sixty- three seasonal fishermen in addition to the surgeon and carpenter mentioned in the 1728 census. (26) In the second census taken in 1735, St. Pierre with a population of two hundred and ninety-four continued to exceed Port La Joye, where one hundred and fourteen people were living. (27) In 1739, a fire, in many cases referred to as "spectacular," destroyed much of the settlement in St. Pierre. Much of the forest was destroyed with the fire stretching from as far as East Point to the Hillsborough River and . It is recorded that all the fishing vessels in St. Pierre and surrounding areas burned, and a total of eleven lives were lost. (28) It appears that the St. Pierre area quickly recovered from this devastation for, in that same year, Duchambon, who had been appointed ' Lieutenant de Roi ' in 1737, stated that St. Pierre was the preferred location for capital over Port La Joye. In 1740, Bigot, a visiting French Official from Louisbourg, reinforced Duchambon's proposal by stating St.