den boxes" the
commandant called them,--with the inevitable porch shaded by the fruit
trees now grown into splendid orchards. By diking out the sea the
peasants farmed the marsh lands and saved themselves the trouble of
clearing the forests. Trade was carried on with Boston and the West
Indies. No card money here! The farmers of Acadia demanded coin in
gold from the privateers who called for cargo, and it is said that in
time of such raids as Colonel Church's, great quantities of this gold
were carried out by night and buried in huge pots,--as much as 5000
louis d'ors (pounds) in one pot,--to be dug up after the raiders had
departed. Naturally, as raids grew frequent, men sometimes made the
mistake of digging up other men's pots, and one officer lost his
reputation over it. All his knowledge of the outside world, of
politics, of religion, the Acadian farmer obtained from his parish
priest; and the word of the cure was law.

Encouraged by Church's success and stung by the raids of French
corsairs from Port Royal, New England set herself seriously to the task
of conquering Acadia. Colonel March sailed {197} from Boston with one
thousand men and twenty-three transports, and on June 6, 1707, came
into Port Royal. Misfortunes began from the first. March's men were
the rawest of recruits,--fishermen, farmers, carpenters, turned into
soldiers. Unused to military discipline, they resisted command. A
French guardhouse stood at the entrance to Port Royal Basin, and
fifteen men at once fled to the fort with warning of the English
invasion. Consequently, when Colonel March and Colonel Appleton
attempted to land their men, they were serenaded by the shots of an
ambushed foe. Also French soldiers deserted to the English camp with
fabulous stories about the strength of the French under Subercase.
These yarns ought to have discredited themselves, but they struck
terror to the hearts of March's green fighters. Then came St. Castin
from St. John River with bushrovers to help Subercase. To the
amazement of the French the English hoisted sail and returned, on June
16, without having fired more than a round of shot. The truth is,
March's carpenters and fishermen refused to fight, though
reenforcements joined them halfway home and they made a second attempt
on Port Royal in August. March returned to Boston heartbroken, for his
name had become a byword to the mob, and he was greeted in the streets
with shouts of "Old Wooden