you have already applied, is the only one which can furnish you with information on this subject, Canada having always been under its supervision, and never having had any relations with my department." " Researches were also made ' in the collections in the Royal library at Paris; a most full and unqualified permission for which purpose was granted by Mr Villemain, the Minister of Public Instruction, and every facility afforded by the gentleman in charge of this magnificent institution. '"My investigations in the several repositories at Paris, just alluded to, occupied me several months, and resulted in the procurement of seventeen volumes of transcripts, containing upwards of six thousand pages. A full and accurate catalogue of the "Paris Documents," in which every paper, its date, and a reference to its page, is indicated, being also appended to this report, renders any particular reference to their contents unnecessary in this place. They commence with 1631, and extend to 1763; including selections of the correspondence

xxxiv GENERAL INTRODUCTION. of the Governors of Canada with the authorities in France respecting Indian affairs, tlie

relations with this Province, &c., as well as the dispatches of the Military Commanders during the romantic and exciting period in our history of the " French War." " As at the Hague and in London, the reguh tions of the offices at Paris did not allow ' me to execute that part of the law, establishing the Agency, requiring the procurement, if possible, of original documents. Transcripts were made, therefore, of the papers selected, and the orthography of the originals was followed as accurately as possible. In closing this reference to my researches at Paris, I cannot forbear the remark, that the proverbial reputation of the French government, in regard to all matters connected with scientific and literary investigation, was amply sustained in the courtesies that were extended to the Agent of this State and that ;