* * * * *

From the river St. John we went to four islands, on one of which we landed,
and found great numbers of birds called magpies,[82] of which we captured
many small ones, which are as good as pigeons. Sieur de Poutrincourt came
near getting lost here, but he came back to our barque at last, when we had
already gone to search for him about the island, which is three leagues
distant from the main land. Farther west are other islands; among them one
six leagues in length, called by the savages Manthane,[83] south of which
there are among the islands several good harbors for vessels. From the
Magpie Islands we proceeded to a river on the main land called the river of
the Etechemins,[84] a tribe of savages so called in their country. We
passed by so many islands that we could not ascertain their number, which
were very fine. Some were two leagues in extent, others three, others more
or less. All of these islands are in a bay,[85] having, in my estimation, a
circuit of more than fifteen leagues. There are many good places capable of
containing any number of vessels, and abounding in fish in the season, such
as codfish, salmon, bass, herring, halibut, and other kinds in great
numbers. Sailing west-north-west three leagues through the islands, we
entered a river almost half a league in breadth at its mouth, sailing up
which a league or two we found two islands: one very small near the western
bank; and the other in the middle, having a circumference of perhaps eight
or nine hundred paces, with rocky sides three or four fathoms high all
around, except in one small place, where there is a sandy point and clayey
earth adapted for making brick and other useful articles. There is another
place affording a shelter for vessels from eighty to a hundred tons, but it
is dry at low tide. The island is covered with firs, birches, maples, and
oaks. It is by nature very well situated, except in one place, where for
about forty paces it is lower than elsewhere: this, however, is easily