he had detached from stones on the shores of Lake Huron.
Engineers sent by the intendant reported favourably of
the coal-mines in Cape Breton; the specimens tested were
deemed to be of very good quality. In this connection
may be mentioned a mysterious allusion in Talon's
correspondence to the existence of coal where none is
now to be found. In 1667 he wrote to Colbert that a
coal-mine had been discovered at the foot of the Quebec
rock. 'This coal,' he said, 'is good enough for the forge.
If the test is satisfactory, I shall see that our vessels
take loads of it to serve as ballast. It would be a great
help in our naval construction; we could then do without
the English coal.' Next year the intendant wrote again:
'The coal-mine opened at Quebec, which originated in the
cellar of a lower-town resident and is continued through
the cape under the Chateau Saint-Louis, could not be
worked, I fear, without imperilling the stability of the
chateau. However, I shall try to follow another direction;
for, notwithstanding the excellent mine at Cape Breton,
it would be a capital thing for the ships landing at
Quebec to find coal here.' Is there actually a coal-mine
at Quebec hidden in the depth of the rock which bears
now on its summit Dufferin Terrace and the Chateau
Frontenac? We have before us Talon's official report. He
asserts positively that coal was found there--coal which
was tested, which burned well in the forge. What has
become of the mine, and where is that coal? Nobody at
the present day has ever heard of a coal-mine at Quebec,
and the story seems incredible. But Talon's letter is
explicit. No satisfactory explanation has yet been