ode of debauchery and gambling; and the mad
revellers, whom a cynical fate had placed at the head of affairs,
allowed the ship of state to drift upon the rocks. Even the fine
palace within the city gave too little scope for the diversion of the
Intendant and his confederates, and, accordingly, a rustic chateau was
built near the high hill of Charlesbourg. Here they paused when tired
of the chase, and the revels of the mysterious _Maison de la Montagne_
added sad but vivid colouring to the closing decade of French rule.
To-day there is an air of pathetic interest about the picturesque ruin
of Chateau Bigot. The high walls are covered with ivy, and its graded
walks and beds of flowers have disappeared long since. The immense
thickness of the walls has enabled "Beaumanoir" to elude destroying
Time, but only enough now remains to suggest the hapless revels of a
bygone day.

These things, however, are of the private sins of Bigot and his
_entourage_. Their public malefactions were more flagrant. The
Intendant's salary could by no means meet his appalling extravagances,
and he therefore robbed the country and the King by falsifying
official accounts as they passed through his hands. As Intendant it
was his duty to supply the needs of those chains of forts by which
France held her vast dominion; but while he shamelessly neglected
these outposts, he did not fail to debit the royal treasury for
supplies which were never forwarded. In this way he and his intriguing
friends enriched themselves. They presently adopted another and more
contemptible device. Constant hostility towards the British had
deprived the farms of their cultivators, and the supply of wheat was
greatly reduced throughout the colony. Every day the land grew more
distressed, and it was not difficult to foresee a time of famine. Not
far from _Le Palais_ stood a huge building which went by the name of
the King's Storehouse, and the Intendant resolved to fill this with
wheat. He had an ancient precedent in Egyptian history, but his motive
was not that of provident Joseph. Fixing the price of grain by an
edict, and imposing penalties on those who refused to sell, his agents
went through the country gathering up maize and wheat; and when
famine came at length, the starving people flocked to the warehouse in
Lower Town, and were compelled to buy back their grain at exorbitant
prices. They called this warehouse _La Friponne_--the Cheat--and they
cursed the name of Bigo