e limitations on the seigneur's authority he had the
undoubted right of control over fishing in rivers and lakes until the
adjacent lands were conceded to occupiers. It was important, therefore,
not to grant lands which carried with them the best fishing and Nairne's
ardent friend Gilchrist kept exhorting him from Scotland on this point.
"There is no place ... I would so willingly and happily pass life in,"
he wrote, in 1775, "as in your Neighbourhood and often have I been
seized with the memory of your easy and uncontrolled way of rising,
lying, dancing, drinking, &c., at your habitation.... One hope ... I
wish to be well founded and that is that your Stewart, Factor or
Attorney, has not conceded any lands with the River in front from the
Rapides du Vieux Moulin. If otherwise, you have lost more than the
profits [which] all above Brassar's will yield in our lifetime. The
fishing in that part of the River is alone worth crossing the Atlantic."

Over trade Nairne and Fraser tried to exercise some real control. Their
grants gave them no right to trade with the Indians and in reality no
authority over trade. But they were guardians of the law and took steps
to check traders from violating it. One Brassard, who lived up the
Murray River, seems to have been a frequent offender. It was easy to
debauch the Indians with drink and then to get their furs for very
little and the seigneurs needed always to be alert. In 1778 we find
Malcolm Fraser making with one Hugh Blackburn a bargain which outlines
what the seigneurs tried to do in regard to trade. Blackburn binds
himself in the sum of L200 to obey certain restrictions: he will not
attempt to debauch the Indians belonging to the King's Posts; in no
circumstances will he sell them liquor; nor will he sell liquor on
credit to anyone. He will obey the lawful orders of Nairne and Fraser
relative to the carrying on of his trade; he will pay his debts, and
will make others pay what they owe him, refusing them credit if accounts
are not paid within six months. In consideration of these pledges by
Blackburn Fraser guarantees his credit with the Quebec merchants. The
difficulty in regard to trade with the Indians settled itself by the
tragic remedy of their gradual extinction. In 1800 Nairne says that the
Micmacs, once a great nuisance, are now rarely seen.

Nairne was a good farmer and his letters contain many references to
farming operations. At Murray Bay, he says, plowing goes on for