throats at full liberty, contributed their noisy share.
As dusk drew near there was a general handshaking, and
the carrioles scurried off along the highway. Every one
called his neighbour a friend, and the people of each
seigneury were as one great family.

The cens et rentes made up the only payment which the
seigneur received each year, but there was another which
became due at intervals. This was the payment known as
the lods et ventes, a mutation fine which the seigneur
had the right to demand whenever a farm changed hands by
sale or by descent, except to direct heirs. One-twelfth
of the value was the seigneur's share, but it was his
custom to rebate one-third of this amount. Lands changed
hands rather infrequently, and in any case the seigneur's
fine was very small. From this source he received but
little revenue and it came irregularly. Only in the days
after the conquest, when land rose in value and transfers
became more frequent, could the lods et ventes be counted
among real sources of seigneurial income.

Then there were the so-termed banalites. In France their
name was legion; no one but a seigneur could own a
grist-mill, wine-press, slaughter-house, or even a dovecot.
The peasant, when he wanted his grain made into flour or
his grapes made into wine, was required to use his
seigneur's mill, or press, and to pay the toll demanded.
This toll was often exorbitant and the service poor. In
Canada, however, there was only one droit de banalite--the
grist-mill right. The Canadian seigneur had the exclusive