SUMMARY 
     
    
   
   
    
     The core of this report (the ’source-book’) consists of verbatim extracts — in their original French 
     
     and in English translation — from sixty-nine historical documents from the French period in the 
     
     history of Prince Edward Island (1534—1758), all of which contain material of direct relevance to the 
     
     forests of the island. The extracts have been selected for inclusion on the basis that they contain 
     
     any of the following: (1) descriptions of any aspect of the natural forest; (2) descriptions of the 
     
     processes leading to its destruction (e.g. references to forest clearing, timber harvesting, and forest 
     
     fires); (3) any mention of attitudes or opinions of the French concerning various aspects of the 
     
     forest, such as the benefits it bestowed, the disadvantages of its presence, and the need for its 
     
     conservation. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Since it is only as a result of the analysis of the information contained in these early records that we 
     
     will be able to attain a better understanding of the nature of the original forest, as well as of the 
     
     factors leading to its destruction, a number of different analyses of the material are also included: 
     
    
   
   
    
     In the main introduction to the extracts all of the documents have been analysed from three 
     
     points of view: (1) what they can tell us about the nature and state of the original forest, 
     
     including the forest as a natural habitat; (2) the changes to this forest that occurred as a 
     
     result of exploitation and utilisation during the French period; and (3) the attitudes of the 
     
     French to various aspects of the forest. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In Appendix 1 all references in the documents to specific tree species have been assembled 
     
     and analysed with the aim of determining the relative contribution of each species to the 
     
     overall forest composition, as well as the importance and utilisation of each of the tree 
     
     species by the French. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Similarly, in Appendix 2 all references to terrestrial mammals and birds (most of which 
     
     would have been forest dwellers) have been analysed to determine the species that were 
     
     present in the first decades of European settlement and their ecological significance. 
     
    
   
   
    
     An official attempt by the French department of the Marine in the late 17205 to obtain pine 
     
     masts from the island for French naval vessels — about which so many documents survive 
     
     that we are able to construct a continuous narrative about it — is described in Appendix 3, 
     
     including a consideration of the factors that caused the Marine to make the attempt and the 
     
     reasons that led to its failure. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Finally, in Appendix 4 an analysis is presented of a proposal by an official in the department 
     
     of the Marine in Paris to initiate the annual export of the timber resources of the island to 
     
     France. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The above analyses provide important insights into the state and composition of the forest at the 
     
     time of the first European settlement, as well as the impact of Europeans on the forest during the 
     
     first half of the eighteenth century.