There they deposited the exhumed Acadian relics; and, if they haven’t been taken away, they’re lying there still.
XXII.
The Boys in the Museum.—The Doctor’s Lecture.—The Acadians.—Louisbourg.—A Journey to the Wharf.—The Antelope.—Captain Pratt.
THE presence of Dr. Porter in the Museum repressed to some extent the merriment of the boys, and the newly-arrived articles were deposited in a conspicuous place, where they could not fail to attract attention. The Museum had grown up slowly under the joint care of the doctor and Mr. Simmons, the former of whom devoted himself to the archæological, and the latter to the mineralogical department. With each of these gentlemen it was a hobby. The delight of the doctor at these exhumed French relics has already been described; and, at the present time, their formal assignment to their proper location here served to stimulate his enthusiasm, and started him off upon a favorite theme of his—the exiled Acadians. About these he had much to say. He showed all the relics which he had slowly accumulated here; he told many stories of discoveries of his own; and finally, going to a small chest, he drew forth some papers.
“I promised to show you some of these,” said he, “when we were over on the North Mountain. Everything in the banishment of the Acadians was hard and harsh, and cannot be thought of now without indignation. Not the least repulsive thing about this business is the way in which they were sent off. Many people suppose that they were sent away in the large ships of the British fleet. That was not the case. They were packed in a number of small vessels hired at Boston; most of them were schooners. The whole thing was taken under contract by a Boston firm—Messrs. Ap-thorp & Hancock. All their bills which they sent in to the Nova Scotia government are now in the archives, and I have copies of them. See; here is one for a specimen.”
And he showed the following, which the boys passed from hand to hand:—
