Burnt woods.

Governors and St. Peters Islands.

Three Rivers.

The trees of the island.

Effects of fire.

Forest birds and mammals.

The field mice and the beech woods.

road between the widow Gentil and Havre Saint-Pierre. At the end of this marsh, the road enters the woods up to the spot called the Queue-des-Etangs [the tail of the pond] where another little stream forms a similar marsh [p. 118]

1 1 [August] — Note: All the woods between the source of the Rivie‘re du Nord-Est and Havre Saint-Pierre are burned; the inhabitants suffer already from the inconvenience of having to go a long distance in search of it. [p. 120]

Le 17 [August] — Left Port La-Joie perfect calm to the i/es au Gouverneur [Governors Island] and de Saint-Pierre [St. Peters ls/and], put in to visit them; they are

completely covered with fir woods, . [p.124] 23 [August] — the lands on the two sides [i.e. of two of the rivers at Trois Rivie‘res] are wooded, there is no cleared land except the site of the establishment destroyed in 1745 [p.130]

As a rule this island was covered with woods of every species such as pine, yellow birch, beech, maple, hemlock and oak, the last is the least common here. But today, excluding the cleared land, there are other areas of a large size that fire has laid bare and that one can put under cultivation at little expense and without much work.

This island is the passage—way for all sorts of birds . There are lots of blackbirds [i.e. robins] in spring; partridges [i.e. ruffed grouse] and turtle-doves [i.e. passenger pigeons] in summer; and in winter ortolans [? snow buntings] in quantity. As for big and small game, there are only bears and hares. Foxes, martens, mink and lynx [cerviers] are the only animals that are made into fur-pelts; they are more common in some years than in others. The black fox, among others, is less rare here than on the mainland. [p. 131]

The other [plague] was caused by field mice in 1750. It was not widespread, but they caused great damage. They came from the beech woods . The country belief is that it occurs whenever the beech mast is more abundant in one year than another. As a result they believe that the problem will lessen as the country becomes deforested and cleared. [p. 132]

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