ry.

The road to enter it is by the Grand River and lake Ontario by Niagara,
which should be easy in peaceful times in establishing families at
Niagara for the portage, and building boats on Lake Erie. I did not
find that a difficult thing, and I want to do it under M. the Marquis
of Denonville, who did not care, so soon as he perceived that his war
expedition had not succeeded.

I have given you in this memorandum the names of the natives known to
us and with whom our wood rovers (coureurs de bois) have traded; my
information comes from some of the most experienced.

The surplus of the memorandum will serve to inform you that prior to M.
de Tracy, de Courcelle and Talon's arrival, nothing was regulated but
by the governor's will, although there was a Board; as they were his
appointments and that by appearances, only his creatures got in, he was
the absolute master of it and which was the cause that the Colony and
the inhabitants suffered very much at the beginning.

M. de Tracy on his arrival by virtue of his commission dismissed the
Board and the Councillors, to appoint another one with members chosen
by himself and the Bishop, which existed until the 2nd and 3rd year of
M. de Frontenac's reign, who had them granted at Court, provisions by a
decree for the establishment of the Council.

It is only from that time that the King having given the country over
to the gentlemen of the Co'y of West Indies, the tax of one fourth and
the Tadoussac trade were looked upon as belonging to the Company, and
since to the King, because M. Talon, who crippled as much as he could,
this company dare not touch to these two items of the Domain, of which
the enjoyment remained to them until cessation of their lease.

So, it was in favor of this company that all the regulations were
granted in reference to the limits and working out of Tadoussac as well
as to prevent cheating on the beaver tax.

Tadoussac is leased to six gentlemen for the sum of ---- yearly; I took
shares for one fourth, as it was an occasion to dispose of some goods
and a profit to everyone of at most 20 ---- yearly.

About beavers there is no fraud to be feared, everybody preferring to
get letters of exchange to avoid the great difficulties on going out,
the entry and sale in France, and of large premiums for the risks; in a
word, no one defrauds nor thinks of it. The office is not large enough
to receive all the beaver.

The ships came in very late; I could