The masts are 
     
     very knotty. 
     
    
   
   
    
     They are 
     
     of red pine. 
     
    
   
   
    
     1728: 14 November 1 
     
    
   
   
    
     l have the honour of sending your Excellency the attached invoice for the wood 
     
     loaded onto the Dromadaire, with the statement of the prices for only the wood 
     
     embarked on the vessel, which amounts to only 6664 livres {1 sou .7} { .7 } for which 
     
     sum the clerk of the treasury has drawn letters of exchange on the fund which will 
     
     be set up next year in accordance with Monseigneur's order. As the ship was not 
     
     {able?} to take a greater amount, 2/3 of this supply and more, which was ready to 
     
     be loaded has remained here at a great loss {to?} the contractor who has had all 
     
     {brought?} from lle Saint~Jean to Louisbourg, except for 56 masts or {small masts} 
     
     which were left there. However, should the King’s Ship have been {able} to load 
     
     everything, I would have {had} all the planks put in, the {small masts?} and the single 
     
     and double spars, {which} are certainly excellent, but {|?} would not have sent all the 
     
     m{asts} for fear of reproach because {l?} find them very knotty. How{ever}, five of 
     
     them have been given to Cap{tains} Arismendy of Bayonne, Cailloux {of} St Malo, 
     
     LeRondeau of La Roche{lle} and Auveray of Le Havre, who {appearing?} to have used 
     
     them, although rejected m{asts}, have found them very {good}. They have told me 
     
     that knots do not penetrate or weaken in the least red pine masts, of which they form 
     
     an integral part. Monseigneur will have the kindness to make inquiries of these 
     
     captains who depart in a rough season which puts these masts to the test. If they 
     
     are found satisfactory I have not forewarned them — thus Monseigneur will get the 
     
     truth from them as a matter of course. I leave the charpentier [carpenter/shipwright] 
     
     of Monsieur de Conteneuil2 to choose to do what he wishes on this point. One can 
     
     also say that even though there might be flaws in this wood, their low price and the 
     
     usefulness that His Majesty can get from them in the ports ought to be taken into 
     
     consideration. 
     
    
   
   
    
     [PAC, AC, CHB, Vol. 10, fols. 102-103] 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     1. The contents enclosed by curved brackets, i.e. { }, in the 14 August 1726, 11 
     
     December 1727, and 14 November 1728 letters were not visible in the PAC 
     
     microfilm copy as they had been obscured by the binding at the time of microfilming. 
     
     In the first two of these letters the contents of the brackets have been taken from 
     
     the typescript copy of Margry (1876-77): Part 1, pp. 97—98, 116. In the 14 
     
    
   
   
    
     November 1728 letter they are my own guesses. 
     
    
   
   
    
     2. Monsieur de Conteneuil was the captain of the Dromadaire. 
     
    
   
   
    
     3. 1 brasse = 5 French feet or 1.62 metres. 
     
    
   
   
    
     60