"A third kind of trade was followed by these traders, or coureurs de bois, who, having laden some canoes with merchandise and halving the licenses, went to the homes of the natives outside the gates of our posts, where they awaited the Indians in their villages, to which they followed them, till their return from the chase, and came back after trading with their canoes laden, at considerable profit. Those especially who were in condition to purchase goods at first hand made a fortune very quickly; but to do this it was necessary to determine to lead a most miserable and painful life. These different traders, upon their return to France, might show an amount of 2,500,000 livres."
HOUSES OF THE LATTER PART OF THE FRENCH REGIME, ON ST. GABRIEL, ST. THERESE AND ST. VINCENT STREETS, STILL STANDING AFTER A PROCESS OF GRADUAL MODERNIZATION
NOTE
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARISH CHURCH
The parish church, being the center of many of the activities of the small community, deserves special mention, as its history affords students of manners and customs interesting glimpses of the period.
The new parish church was not finished till 1678. Examination of the records of the church will supplement the previous chapters of "sidelights" of the spirit and practices of the time.
1675, April 15th, there is a donation to the church of a miraculous statue of the Blessed Virgin by M. de Fancamp, with a certificate of a miracle operated in his presence by the said image.
1678, MM. Charles Lemoyne, of Longueuil, and Jacques LeBer, merchants, give a lamp of silver of the weight of ten marks, or about the value of 492 livres of French money.