Читать книгу A Canadian History for Boys and Girls - Emily Poynton Weaver - Страница 16
ОглавлениеSir Thomas Temple.
Though Acadia had been given up to France by the treaty of Breda, in 1667, Sir Thomas Temple tried hard to keep the grant on which he had spent so much money. He was forced to loose his hold, however, and in 1670 he left Acadia a ruined man.
St. Castin.
At this time there were only 450 white people in Acadia, and Penobscot was the only fortified place. Once it was taken by the Dutch, but it was afterwards held for many years by a Frenchman of good family, the Baron de St. Castin. He married an Indian princess, and became rich in the fur trade. He was chief of a band of coureurs de bois, who made his house their head-quarters. He kept a priest or two to teach the Indians, over whom he had great influence, but he himself led a wild, savage life.
The Governors of Acadia.
At this time the governors of Acadia were so anxious to make money that they took no notice of the laws. Perrot, formerly governor of Montreal, was one of them. They unlawfully sold brandy to the Indians, and fishing licenses to the English. As a rule the French government left them to do as they liked, only now and then troubling them by a sudden and inconvenient interest in their doings.
Attacks on Penobscot.
In 1688 Penobscot was taken by the governor of New York, who held that it was within the English boundary line. St. Castin fled to the woods, and appealed for help to his Indian friends. Some years earlier a terrible war had raged between them and the people of New England. It had left behind a feeling of bitter hatred, so the Indians were ready enough to fight. They retook Penobscot, killing a number of persons who gave themselves up on promise of mercy, and for many months they made frequent raids on the English borders.
Fort Nelson.
The English at Hudson Bay.
During these years the traders near Hudson Bay had led an exciting life. Though the country had been given to France by the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, Charles II, king of England, granted it in 1670 to some of his subjects, who formed the famous Hudson’s Bay Company, which is still in existence. Prince Rupert, the king’s cousin, was its first head, and in his honour the country was called Rupert’s Land. The company built several little forts on the shores of the great bay, and the Indians began to carry their furs to them instead of to the French trading-post at Tadoussac.
Radisson and des Groselliers.
Upon this the French remembered their long-neglected claim to the Hudson Bay country, and formed what was called the Company of the North. In 1682 this company sent two vessels to the Bay, commanded by Radisson and des Groselliers, two Frenchmen who had been in the service of the English traders. They built a fort, which they called Bourbon, robbed and burned one of the English trading-posts, and returned to Canada with a great quantity of furs. Not being pleased with the treatment they received, however, they again deserted to the English, putting Fort Bourbon into the hands of the latter as a peace-offering.
The English Driven from the Bay.
A little later two Frenchmen found their way by streams and lakes from Hudson Bay to the Ottawa, and thence to the St. Lawrence. The French and English were supposed to be at peace, but a force was promptly sent by this new route to attack the English posts on the Bay. Taken by surprise, their garrisons were easily overpowered, and were packed off to England in a small vessel. They were very angry, but James II, then king of England, was so taken up by a struggle with his own subjects that he had no wish to quarrel with the French. Thus for several years they were left in undisturbed possession of the forts.
The Revolution in England, 1688.
Soon, however, James II was driven from the throne of England, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, William of Orange, the untiring foe of the French king. Louis stirred up a rebellion in Ireland, and made plans for wresting New York from the English; but they were no longer hampered by the indifference of their king, and the strife was fierce and long.
