aliseets on the River St. John was not without
its advantages, and they probably obtained as good a living as any
tribe of savages in Canada. Remote from the war paths of the fiercer
tribes they hunted in safety. Their forests were filled with game, the
rivers teemed with fish and the lakes with water fowl; the sea shore
was easy of access, the intervals and islands were naturally adapted
to the cultivation of Indian corn, wild grapes grew luxuriantly along
the river banks, there were berries in the woods and the sagaabum (or
Indian potato) was abundant. Communication with all arts of the
surrounding country was easily had by means of the short portages that
separated the sources of interlacing rivers and with his light bark
canoe the Indian could travel in any direction his necessity or his
caprice might dictate.

The characteristics of the Indians of Acadia, whether Micmacs or
Maliseets, were in the main identical; usually they were closely
allied and not infrequently intermarried Their manners and habits have
been described with much fidelity by Champlain, Lescarbot, Denys and
other early explorers. Equally accurate and interesting is the graphic
description of the savages contained in the narrative of the Jesuit
missionary Pierre Biard, who came to America in 1611 and during his
sojourn visited the St. John River and places adjacent making Port
Royal his headquarters. His narrative, "A Relation of New France, of
its Lands, Nature of the Country and of its Inhabitants," was printed
at Lyons in 1616. A few extracts, taken from the splendid edition of
the Jesuit Relations recently published at Cleveland, will suffice to
show that Pierre Biard was not only an intelligent observer but that
he handled the pen of a ready writer. "I have said before," he
observes, "that the whole country is simply an interminable forest;
for there are no open spaces except upon the margins of the sea, lakes
and rivers. In several places we found the grapes and wild vines which
ripened in their season. It was not always the best ground where found
them, being full of sand and gravel like that of Bourdeaux. There are
a great many of these grapes at St. John River in 46 degrees of
latitude, where also are to be seen many walnut (or butternut), and
hazel trees."

This quotation will show how exact and conscientious the old French
missionary was in his narration. Beamish Murdoch in Ibis History of
Nova Scotia (Vol. 1, p. 21) ventures the obser