Note 12 — PETER KALM’s TRAVELS.

The soil about fort St. Frederic is said to be very fertile, on both sides of the river; and before the last war a great many French families, especially old soldiers, have settled there; but the king obliged them to go into Canada, or to settle close to the fort, and to ly in it at night. A great number of them returned at this time, and it was thought that about forty or fifty families would go to settle here this autumn. Within one or two musket-shots to the east of the fort, is a wind-mill, built of stone with very thick walls, and most of the flour which is wanted to supply the fort is ground here. This wind-mill is so contrived, as to serve the purpose of a redoubt, and at the top of it are five or six small pieces of cannon. During the last war, there was a number of soldiers quartered in this mill, because they could from thence look a great way up the river, and observe whether the English boats approached; which could not be done from the fort itself, and which was a matter of great consequence, as the English might (if this guard had not been placed here) have gone in their little boats close under the western shore of the river, and then the hills would have prevented their being seen from the fort. Therefore the fort ought to have been built on the spot where the mill stands, and all those who come to see it, are immediately struck with the absurdity of its situation. If it had been erected in the place of the mill, it would have commanded the river, and prevented the approach of the enemy; and a small ditch cut through the loose limestone, from the river (which comes out of the lake St. Sacrement) to lake Champlain, would have surrounded the fort with flowing water, because it would have been situated on the extremity of the neck of land. In that case the fort would always have been sufficiently supplied with fresh water, and at a distance from the high rocks, which surround it in its present situation. We prepared to-day to leave this place, having waited during some days for the arrival of the yacht, which plies constantly all summer between the forts St. John12 and St. Frederic: during our stay here, we had received many favours. The governor of the fort, Mr. Lusignan, a man of learning and of great politeness, heaped obligations upon us, and treated us with as much civility as if we had been his relations. I had the honor of eating at his table during my stay here, and my servant was allowed to eat with his. We had our rooms, &c. to ourselves, and at our departure the governor supplied us with ample provisions for our journey to fort St. John. In short, he did us more favours than we could have expected from our own countrymen, and the officers were likewise particularly obliging to us.