Saint-Pierre and Miquelon

Five weeks into the crossing, we finally saw Île-Saint-Pierre, with Miquelon off in the distance. I immediately sent a telegram to a publisher in Montreal to whom I had been introduced, asking if he could get me a temporary visa. Glad to be on solid ground once more, I walked around the island, drawing as much as possible. The many-coloured wooden houses, built low to the ground and huddled together against the wind and cold, were completely different from those in Brittany. On July 13, the Foudroyant, having unloaded its cargo of sea salt and wine, headed west once more towards North Sydney on Cape Breton Island. The captain was relieved to find he still had a full crew, because we had left Saint-Pierre on the eve of the Bastille Day parties on July 14! With its holds now empty, the Foudroyant listed even more. It had taken some cannon fire from the US Coast Guard when it was running liquor during the Prohibition era. Someone had stopped up the holes with great gobs of cement. That was why it was listing!