Abundant 
     
     masting to be 
     
    
   
   
    
     found — more 
     
     than 300 cut. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In ferior spruce 
     
     masts cut in 
     
     the past. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Pine masts. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Their quality 
     
     depends on 
     
     their location. 
     
    
   
   
    
     A contract 
     
     for masts of 
     
     various sizes. 
     
    
   
   
    
     perfectly good and particularly on the north coast, and as regards the timber, I am 
     
     quite sure that there will be found abundant quantities of fine and good masting 
     
     material. I have seen more than three hundred of them which were cut by the 
     
     gentlemen of the Company and which I think at present is out of commission. 
     
    
   
   
    
     [PAC, AC, C“B, Vol. 8, fols. 37v-38] 
     
    
   
   
    
     1726: 20 November 
     
    
   
   
    
     [Monsieur de Pensens] has said to me that after his long service he finds himself 
     
     exiled in a corner of the woods with an ensign and twenty-five men without temporal 
     
     or spiritual help which is not suited to either his health or his age. 
     
    
   
   
    
     [PAC, AC, CHB, Vol. 8, fol. 58] 
     
    
   
   
    
     1726: 28 November: Letter ‘| . [signed jointly by Saint-Ovide and Mézy, the commissaire] 
     
    
   
   
    
     . we have attentively read the memo that Monseigneur has kindly sent us on the 
     
     subject of the masting and wood that can be obtained from lle Saint-Jean, and of the 
     
     report which has been made concerning some small masts [matereaux] that had been 
     
     sent from the said island to La Rochelle. We have the honour of explaining to 
     
     Monseigneur that it is not surprising that those small masts [matereaux] were found 
     
     to be of bad quality: they were only wood of old spruce, cut from scrap material, 
     
     which for a long time had been exposed to damage from the open air; this must not 
     
     influence opinion concerning the other masts of pine which are abundant on lle St- 
     
     Jean, and whose soil, a rich red sand, should produce fine and good masting. We are 
     
     convinced that those found at the water’s edge are more spongy and less 
     
     impregnated with the gum that gives good quality to these masts; but those that will 
     
     be taken a little farther from the banks of rivers will be of much better quality. All the 
     
     Acadian charpentiers [carpenters/Shipwrights] who have made use of them tell us of 
     
     their marvels. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Monsieur de |'Etenduere has come too late to put into action what Monseigneur has 
     
     had the honour to tell us on the subject and so I can now only report what the 
     
     Acadian charpentiers [carpenters/Shipwrights] have said about it. Monsieur de Mezy 
     
     has spoken to several of them, the one who has made him the best proposition is a 
     
     charpentier [carpenter/shipwright] named LeComte who undertakes to supply him 
     
     with two hundred masts or small masts [matereaux] from 8 to 18 inches in diameter, 
     
     that is small masts from 8 to 10 inches in diameter, at 10 livres each; from 1 1, 12, 
     
     13, & 14 inches, at 50 livres each; from 16, 17, 18 & above, at 100 livres each; the 
     
     diameter to be taken 10 feet from the large end on the living wood, and of a 
     
     proportional length, that is three times in feet the diameter in inches, of good resinous 
     
     quality, without knots, and straight. Half of this supply is to be made up of masts of 
     
    
   
   
    
     12 inches or less, and half greater, up to 18 & 20 inches and could come to about 
     
     7000 livres. 
     
    
   
   
    
     His Majesty does not run a great risk, and in the end Monseigneur will be sure of the 
     
     quality according to the new inspection that he will be able to prescribe on their 
     
     arrival and he will be precisely informed of their cost. This is the best that could be 
     
     done to speed up the carrying out of this business which appears, Monseigneur, to 
     
     be to your liking. ln complying with his orders we will not use the masts cut down 
     
     previously, most of which are worm-eaten and anyway belong to the Company of the 
     
     said lle St.-Jean. 
     
    
   
   
    
     [PAC, AC, C11 B, Vol. 8, fols. 10v -13] 
     
    
   
   
    
     49