"G. STUDHOLME."

Among the important services which Major Studholme was able to
accomplish while at Fort Howe should be mentioned the establishment of
excellent communication between Halifax and Quebec by way of the St.
John river. This had been the customary route of travel between Acadia
and Canada during the final conflict between England and France for
supremacy in North America (A. D. 1744-1759) and was well known to the
French and their Indian allies; it now proved of equal service to the
English.

In order to facilitate communication with Quebec, and at the same time
to afford protection to the settlements on the St. John, a block house
was built at the mouth of the Oromocto river and a few soldiers
stationed there under command of Lieut. Constant Connor. The post was
named Fort Hughes in honor of Sir Richard Hughes, the lieutenant
governor of Nova Scotia. A number of log huts, or post-houses were
built, at intervals of about a day's journey, from the block house at
Oromocto to the St. Lawrence. Over this route important messages were
carried between the civil and military authorities of Halifax and
Quebec, and sometimes dispatches were sent from the Commander-in-chief
of the forces at New York to Sir Guy Carleton and Sir Frederick
Haldimand at Quebec. Indians were occasionally employed to carry the
messages, but greater confidence was placed in the Acadians. The most
famous couriers probably were Louis Mitchel and the brothers Louis and
Michel Mercure. The couriers were aware of the value of their
services, and they demanded, and generally received, one hundred
dollars for each trip from Fort Howe to Quebec. This was regarded as
extravagant by Major Studholme and General Haldimand, but they could
do no better. They dared not trust the Indians with important
dispatches, and when the Acadian couriers were not available messages
were usually carried by officers accompanied by Indians as guides.

The route via the River St. John was used both in summer and winter.
It is said that when the water was high the Indians were able to
deliver letters from Quebec to the French commander at the mouth of
the St. John in four or five days, a distance of 430 miles. This
statement is made by John Allan and there is nothing impossible about
it. The Messrs. Straton of Fredericton, some years since, paddled in a
bark canoe from the Grand Falls to Fredericton, 133 miles, in 14 hours
46 minutes, making a short stop at Woo