last death
carried him off.

Great as was my grief at the time, I could never have imagined or
foreseen all that I lost in losing him. When I succeeded to his
engagements and his responsibilities, I ventured to hope that I should
succeed to the same advantages. I had the honour to write on the
subject to the Marquis de la Jonquiere [then governor], informing him
that I had recovered from an indisposition from which I had been
suffering, and which might {101} serve as a pretext to some one seeking
to supplant me. His reply was that he had chosen Monsieur de
Saint-Pierre to go to the Western Sea.

I started at once for Quebec from Montreal, where I then was; I
represented the situation in which I was left by my father; I declared
that there was more than one post in the direction of the Western Sea
and that I and my brothers would be delighted to be under the orders of
Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, and that we could content ourselves, if
necessary, with a single post, and that the most distant one; I stated
that we even asked no more than leave to go on in advance [of the new
leader], so that while we were pushing the work of exploration, we
might be able to help ourselves by disposing of my father's latest
purchases and of what remained to us in the posts. We should in this
have the consolation of making our utmost efforts to meet the wishes of
the court.

The Marquis de la Jonquiere, though he felt the force of my
representations, and, as it seemed to me, was touched by them, told me
at last that Monsieur de Saint-Pierre did not wish for either me or my
brothers. I asked what would become of the debts we {102} had
incurred. Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, however, had spoken, and I could
not obtain anything. I returned to Montreal with this not too
consoling information. There I offered for sale a small piece of
property, all that I had inherited from my father. The proceeds of
this sale served to satisfy my most urgent creditors.

Meanwhile the season was advancing. There was now the question of my
going as usual to the rendezvous arranged with my hired men, so as to
save their lives [by bringing provisions], and to secure the stores
which, without this precaution, would probably be pillaged and
abandoned. In spite of Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, I obtained permission
to make this trip, and I was subject to conditions and restrictions
such as might be imposed on the commonest voyageur. Nevertheless,
scarcely had