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The Western Sea (Part II), 1752-1753 177 For thus etc. For the Execution of the presents the said debtor established as his irrevocable residence in this town The house of Lyonnais, the Tavern keeper, on St. fran~ois street at which location etc. notwithstanding etc. promising etc., obligating etc. Renouncing etc., done and executed at the said montreal in the Office of danri~ One of the notaries on the eleventh of February in the forenoon one thousand seven Hundred Fifty three And the said Sieur LEchelle Signed. The said debtor St. pierre declaring that he does not know how to Write or Sign upon being questioned, the reading was done in accordance with the ordinance. [signatures] ADhemar Lechelle Danre DeBlanzy SAINT-PIERRE'S JOURNAL, 1750-1753 To round out the picture of Saint-Pierre at the Western Sea posts, we turn to his official report of 7 October 1753, a copy of which is housed in the Haldimand Collection in the British Library in London. In 1886 this version of the document was purportedly transcribed and published in Paris by French archivist Pierre Margry. Also in 1886, Canadian archivist Douglas Brymner published in Ottawa a transcript and English translation of the Haldimand Collection's copy of Saint-Pierre's journal. The two transcripts differ significantly, however, which raises two questions: did the two archivists work from the same manuscript? Did one of them alter the content of the document in his transcript? In order to resolve this problem, I compared a photocopy of the original manuscript (in Saint-Pierre's handwriting) in the British Library with both Margry's and Brymner's transcripts. Brymner's transcript is obviously taken from the original in the Haldimand Collection whereas Margry's version, which he also identified as a Haldimand Collection manuscript, differs markedly from the catalogued original. Margry's transcript differs from the original in the following ways: his version (1) provides all the missing dates which in the original are merely blank spaces left by Saint-Pierre; (2) adds words, phrases, and sentences which are not in the original; (3) omits a number of words, phrases, and sentences contained in the original; (4) changes some words, including place 178 Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre 11 ~7' ~'~k·..J~~AI " ~~ ?~ ~~A; Saint-Pierre's own parenthetical comments are in parentheses ( ); my comments or explanations are in double parentheses (( )). doc. 63 180 Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre Brief Report or Journal of the expedition ofJacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, Knight of The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis, Captain of a Company of the detached Troupes de la Marine in Canada, assigned to search for the Western Sea In accordance with the orders of the Marquis de La Jonquiere, Governor and Lieutenant general for the King in New France, I left Montreal 1750, in order to go to my destination. My travel was quite enjoyable from my departure from Montreal as far as Missilimakinac, where I arrived on I [638] would not know of any observations to make about that route, since it is generally known. I stayed at Missilimakinac only to give my engages the time to freshen up, or, more accurately, to gather their strength. I left there on and proceeded, without any unfortunate occurrence, to Rainy Lake The first settlement of the Western posts is there. I must note that this route is most difficult and that considerable experience is necessary to know its paths; however bad I might have had reason to imagine them, I could only be amazed by them. There are thirty-eight portages: the first is four leagues «9.7 miles», and the least of all the others is a quarter-league «.6 mile». The route that remained for me was not in the slightest more pleasant. I was assured that it was infinitely worse and moreover very hazardous. Indeed, I had the opportunity to learn from personal experience that every moment one is in danger of losing not only one's provisions and belongings, but even one's very life. Upon my arrival in this first post, I assembled all the Indians and highly extolled the kindness of the King, my master, in having them visited and in providing for all of their needs. I confined myself, in that regard, to what is set forth in my orders. I was very well received, and, judging by the look of these Indians, they were most favorably disposed toward the French. I did not take...

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