The French were becoming
more of a menace, having strengthened their works at
'Baye Verte and Beausejour, between which places they
lately have made a very fine road and continue to seduce
our French inhabitants to go over to them.' The message,
however, which Lawrence sent to the Indians was hardly
calculated to produce the desired results. 'In short if
the Indians,' the message ran, 'or he [Le Loutre] on their
behalf, have anything to propose of this kind about which
they are really in earnest, they very well know where
and how to apply.'
[Footnote: Nova Scotia Documents, p. 210.]
The answer of the Indians was communicated by Le Loutre.
They agreed to offer no insult to the English who kept
to the highway, but they promised to treat as enemies
all those who departed from it. If a durable peace was
to be made, they demanded the cession to them of an
exclusive territory suitable for hunting and fishing and
for a mission. This territory was to extend from Baie
Verte through Cobequid (Truro) to the Shubenacadie, along
the south coast to the peninsula of Canso, and back to
Baie Verte--an area comprising half the province of Nova
Scotia.
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