d.
Meanwhile the fur traders established a post on the River St. John as
a convenient centre for trade with the Indians.

The French, with young Biencourt at their head, still kept a feeble
hold on Acadia. Biencourt had as his lieutenant, Charles de la Tour,
who had come to the country many years before when a mere boy of 14
years of age. Biencourt and la Tour--such was their poverty--were
compelled to live after the Indian fashion, roaming through the woods
from place to place. In this rude life la Tour acquired an extensive
knowledge of the country and its resources, and in all probability
became familiar with the St. John river region. Biencourt at his death
left him all his property in Acadia.

The destruction of Port Royal by Argal was the first incident in the
struggle between England and France for sovereignty in Acadia, a
struggle that for a century and a half was to remain undecided.

The next attempt at colonization was made on the part of the British,
but it proved as futile as that of de Monts. James I. of England, in
the year 1621, gave to Sir William Alexander, under the name of Nova
Scotia, the peninsula which is now so called, together with a vast
adjacent wilderness as a fief of the Scottish crown. For several years
this favored nobleman seems to have contented himself with sending
annually a ship to explore the shores of his domain and to trade with
the Indians. Later he devised a scheme to facilitate the settlement of
a colony by the creation of an order of baronets of Nova Scotia, each
of whom was to receive an estate six miles in length and three in
breadth in consideration of his assistance in the colonization of the
country. In the course of 10 years more than 100 baronets were
created, of whom 34 had estates within the limits of our own province.
To that part of Nova Scotia north of the Bay of Fundy, now called New
Brunswick, Sir William gave the name of the Province of Alexandria.
The St. John river he called the Clyde and the St. Croix, which
divided New England and New Scotland, he not inaptly called the
Tweed.

When war broke out between England and France in 1627, young Charles
la Tour found his position in Acadia very insecure. However, he was
naturally resourceful and by his diplomacy and courage continued for
many years to play a prominent part in the history of affairs. He
sought and obtained from Louis XIII. of France a commission as the
King's lieutenant-general and at the same ti