their hiding-places. Opposite the convergence of the Oromocto River and the St. John is Maugerville (71 m.), significant as having been the scene of the parent settlement of the English in this province (1763). This part of the Valley has always been a hunting-ground for the Indians of the Malecite branch of the Abenaki or Etchemin family. Their Micmac cousins are also Abenakis, and both tribes are of basic Algonquin stock. The language of the Malecites resembles the Passamaquoddy rather than the Micmac tongue. Champlain who was the first to record their existence called them Les Etchemons, By 1679 they were almost exterminated through contests with the English. A few years later a French priest wrote that they were "brave as the Francs and Romans," severely chaste and honourable. He declared there was no blasphemous word in their language and that lying, thieving and vulgarity were almost unknown. Many of the Malecites, of whom there are about 700 in New Brunswick, have intermarried with the French of the upper St. John counties.
A few miles above Maugerville appear the embowered banks and hills of the capital of the province.
Fredericton is a base for hunters in the fall and winter, and for fishermen in the spring. At all times it is an agreeable place of residence. Tourists are most impressed by the park-like rows
