Legacy of the

MachaultA Collection of 18th-century Artifacts

Catherine Sullivan

Studies in ArchaeologyArchitecture and History

National Historic Parks and Sites BranchParks CanadaEnvironment Canada

©Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1986.

Available in Canada through authorized book­store agents and other bookstores, or by mailfrom the Canadian Government PublishingCentre, Supply and Services Canada, Hull,Quebec, Canada KIA OS9.

La traduction francaise s'intitule L'heritage duMachault: une collection d'artefacts du XVIIIesiecle (no de catalogue R61-2/9-31F). En vente auCanada par l'entrernise de nos agents librairesagrees et autres librairies, ou par la poste auCentre d'edition du gouvernement du Canada,Approvisionnements et Service Canada, Hull,Quebec, Canada KIA OS9.

Price Canada: $9.50Price other Countries: $1l.40Price subject to change without notice.

Catalogue No.: R61-2/9-31EISBN: 0-660-12067-4ISSN: 0821-1027

Published under the authorityof the Minister of the Environment,Ottawa, 1986.

Editing: Jean Brathwaite.Design: James Miller and Werner Wicke.

The opinions expressed in this report are thoseof the author and not necessarily those of En­vironment Canada.

Cover photo by Rock Chan; frontispiece photosby David L. Arnold, © National GeographicSociety.

Contents

5 Preface7 Introduction9 The Ship

13 Working the Ship27 Commerce and Trade~33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Weaponry45 Tools and Equipment55 Food and Drink75 Clothing85 Miscellany95 Colour Illustrations

105 Bibliography

Le port de Bordeaux. (Cour­telY of Stephen R. Daois.)

4

Research on the Machault's artifactswas undertaken by a number of ParksCanada's material culture specialistsover many years, and was one of ourearliest experiences of relating domes­tic and military objects to a marine site.Historic documentation about the shiphad not prepared anyone for the quan­tities of virtually identical goods thatwere to appear in the excavation. Whichobjects, we asked ourselves, had Francesupplied to save the colony; what hadthe soldiers, sailors, naval and militaryofficers carried aboard for their per­sonal comfort during the crossing;would some of the obviously domesticartifacts have been considered ship's ac­cessories; what portion of the men'spossessions would have been standardissue; how did quantities of British­made merchandise get loaded onto thisFrench ship in Bordeaux when Franceand England were actively at war withone another?

Furthermore, the Machault was byno means an undisturbed deposit.Rather than lying in successive occupa­tion layers as it usually does on landsites, later material dropped into thesea over the wreck was subject to thesame forces, and assumed the same dis­tribution pattern, as the 18th-centurymaterial. This intermixing of 18th-cen­tury and later material initiated somedebate about introduction dates of spe­cific advances in manufacturing tech­nology and about the origins of someartifacts.

This book presents a portion of theMachault artifacts, selected because theywere very typical or very unusual. 1

Preface

could not have written it but for infor­mation generously supplied by my col­leagues. Charles Bradley, DouglasBryce, Stephen Davis, Gerard Gusset,Virginia Myles, Ron Whate, EileenWoodhead, and Waiter Zacharchukcontributed research material sum­marized here, and much encourage­ment in preparing it.

The photographic work that en­hances the manuscript was done byRock Chan except only pp. 14,28, and47 (far right), by George Vandervlugt.Drawings of objects, sometimes basedon little more than small pieces ofunique items, were created by DorothyKappler Larsen (pp. 15, 34, 35, 73, 88),Susan Laurie-Bourque (pp. 25,28, 36,59,64,82), Carol Piper (pp. 14, 18,41),Ron Whate (p. 72), and Derek Ford(p. 19).

Cleaning deposits of various typesfrom delicate surfaces, recovering tinyartifacts from large amorphous con­cretions, advising on handling and dis­playing the objects, and preserving andstabilizing the ship's massive hull com­ponents all required a great deal ofimagination, persistence, and straighthard work by Parks Canada's Conserva­tion Division in Ottawa. Many deserveacknowledgements for their efforts,but those of Lorne Murdock, ThomasDaley, Robert Marion, and VictoriaJenssen are particularly noteworthy.

Waiter Zacharchuk directed ar­chaeology on the Machault. The projectas a whole owes much to him, and I amgrateful for his assistance with thismanuscript.

5

6

o() WU Miles, ,

By the autumn of 1759, while theSeven Years' War raged on in Europe,France's future in Canada was injeopardy. Believing that the British,who had taken Quebec in September,could be driven out of the city and outof the colony, the governor of NewFrance sent his king urgent requests formen, munitions, and provisions to rallythe citizens and retake the capital. InApril 1760 a small fleet left Bordeauxfor Canada. In the Gulf of St. Lawrencethe French learned that a British f1eethad preceded them up the St. Lawrenceand secured the city. Because theyneeded to put ashore to bake bread andtake on fresh water and meat, theFrench harboured in Chaleur Bay, nearthe mission at Restigouche. They sentmessengers overland to report to thegovernor in Montreal.

In the meantime, the French un­loaded supplies to feed and clothe theirMicmac allies and refugee Acadians atRestigouche, established shore bat­teries for defence, and were joined byothers loyal to the French king. Theywere finally found in late June by apowerful British squadron, and the bat­tle that followed was inevitably a Britishvictory.

Parks Canada excavated the Ma­chault, flagship of the little French fleet,two centuries after it sank. The amountof material recovered was enormous;the types of material recovered were not

Introduction

expected. We had expected to findremnants of the supplies destined forthe colony, and little else. However, re­searchers studying the artifacts believethat the French had cleared from theMachault most of the food, munitions,tools, and other supplies that Francehad sent for the Canadian cause, mostof the personal belongings of the sail­ors, soldiers and officers, and most ofthe items related to everyday living. Ma­terial left behind included the Ma­chaults weaponry, things that had beenlost, broken or discarded, spare partsand tools, mess supplies for those whostayed on board up to the ship's lastmoments, and - in completely unex­pected quantities - cargo that theFrench could not have used in the landcamp or that was privately owned. Thegreatest portion of this cargo was pri­vate venture merchandise, mainly ta­blewares, much of which appears tohave been hastily assembled in Bor­deaux and stowed in the lowest part ofthe Machault's hold.

On the pages that follow, the ar­tifacts from the Machault reveal aspectsof 18th-century maritime travel, de­fence at sea, and a variety of dailyhuman activities. Some are specificallymaritime related. Others echo objectsfound on land sites from the Frenchperiod in Canada and in 18th-centuryFrench still-life paintings. Still othersare not often recovered from land sites

7

although we know that they were com­monly used at the time. They show thatlSth-century Canadians who could af­ford to pay were supplied with con­sumer goods from every part of theglobe. They also confirm the greed ofsome government employees in Can­ada during the final years of the Frenchregime. These men used public funds

Introduction

to amass private fortunes. The cargo ofconsumer goods was transported at theking's expense to a colony battered byyears of war.

Yet because of the disaster that be­fell the Machault, we can now present arich and diverse collection of materialgoods from one of France's last ship­ments to its North American colony.

8

The Ship

Afrigate fume to, drifting slightlyin the wind. (Daniel Lescallier,Traite pratique du greementdes vaisseaux et autres bati­ments de rn e r. ... [Paris:Clousier, 1791J, PI. 34.)

9

The Ship

A 26-gun, three-masted frigatefrom the 18th century. (DanielLescallier, Traite pratique dugreement des vaisseaux et au­tres bat irn en rs de mer ....[Paris: Clousier; 1791 j, Pl. 18.)

10

The frigate Machault was launchedin Bayonne in 1758 as a privateer, andlater refitted as a convoy vessel. Noplans of the ship survive, and only por­tions of the ship remain. There is somecontroversy about the Machault's size,said to have been between 500 and 550tons, and about the number of guns itcarried. However, the Machault wouldhave resembled the vessel illustratedhere. Reconstruction of the Machault'smidsection suggests that the ship wasabout 34 metres long at the keel and 39

The Shipto 41 metres long on the main deck, 11metres wide inside the hull, and 5.5metres high from the bilges to the deck.Below the main deck appears to havebeen a lower deck located aft and prob­ably a rope deck located forward. TheMachault's ribs, floor timbers, and innerand outer planking were made of redoak. Outer planking from the maindeck to below the water line averagednine centimetres thick to reinforce thehull and protect it from enemy can­nonballs.

II

12

Working the Ship

Pas-Caert van Terra Nova....Amsterdam, [1670-1705]. (Pub­lic Archives Canada, NationalMap Collection, NMC 24907.)

13

Standing rigging - stays andshrouds - hold masts upright on sail­ing vessels. Stays are large-gauge ropesrunning forward of each mast. Theshrouds, networks of ropes that securethe masts from the sides, are arrangedin vertical sections. Upper shrouds areconnected by deadeyes and lanyards to

Standing Rigging

futtock plates that attach one set ofshrouds to a lower set through woodenplatforms on the masts. The lowest setsof shrouds are linked by deadeyes andlanyards to massive chains anchored inthe vessel's hull. Taking up the lanyardsbetween pairs of deadeyes tigh tens theshrouds.

Iron futtock plate attachedto a three-hole deadeye

14

A three-hole elm deadeye and ironchain sections anchor;d a shroudto the hull. This one measures 21metres long.

Standing Rigging

15

A running block has one or moremoveable sheaves (grooved wheels) ro­tating on axle pins inside a shell madeof a single piece of wood. Used much asblock and tackle is today - to moveheavy objects and work sails and rigging- and to manoeuvre cannon, hun­dreds of running blocks, set up inpulley systems, were needed to operatethe Machault. Most shells have deeply

Two views ofa single-sheave run­ning block in the shape mostcommonly found on theMachault

Running Blocksscored troughs at their bases and uptheir sides to accommodate the roperings that held the blocks in position.

Running blocks used in the toptackle were tightly bound with ironstrapping; a hook on the strap an­chored the block to a mast cap. Toptackle blocks raised and lowered the up­per sections of masts.

16

Running Blocks

Double block Single-sheave top tackle blockand its iron binding strap withhook

17

Each of these running blocks wasdesigned for a special purpose. Thecheek block would have been lashed topand bottom to an upper mast and usedto work one of the auxiliary stay sails.The mast truck, originally with twosheaves, encircled an upper mast; itssheaves were threaded with signalhalyards to raise and lower signallingpennants for ship-to-ship or ship-to-

Running Blocksshore communication. The single­shelled long tackle block with two dif­feren t-sized sheaves lies flatter thanconventional double blocks, and mini­mizes the risk of ropes tangling. Work­ing sails and moving cargo were typicaluses for long tackle blocks. Kevels arelarge stationary cleats located along aship's rails or around the mainmast tosecure or tie off large-gauge ropes.

18

Two-sheaved mast truck

Part ora mast truck, badly burned Cheek block

Running Blocks

Keoel block, 59.9 cm long

Long tackle block, sometimescalled a fiddle block, set up as apulley

19

On ships, cleats are used mainly asbelaying points to tie off ropes, or asfairleads to keep ropes from tanglingand on their proper courses. However,the triangular stop cleat was probablyone of several nailed around a mast orbowsprit to hold wrapped rope in place.The four deck cleats were probablybolted to the deck as fairleads, although

Cleats

the metal deck cleat could have beenused instead for tying off ropes. Thehollow base of the one-piece shroudcleat fitted over a shroud and waslashed to it, providing a belaying pointfor the lines working the sails. Therange cleat could be fixed horizontallyor vertically to a mast, deck, or yard as abelaying point.

1\1etal deck cleat

Three wooden deck cleats

20

Wooden stop cleat

Wooden range cleat

Cleats

Wooden shroud cleat

21

An 18th-century navigator plottinga course across open seas without land­marks for reference points relied on avariety of instruments and charts. How­ever, navigation was not a precise sci­ence in 1760. The navigator deter­mined latitude by measuring the anglebetween the horizon and a particularpoint in the heavens and then convert­ing that reading into degrees of lati­tude. From such bearings and careful

Navigating

records of direction and speed he calcu­lated - as accurately as his equipmentand clear skies permitted - the ship'sposition and the distance it had trav­elled. Navigational instruments re­covered from the Machault were part ofa back staff (for taking an indirect read­ing of the angle between the horizonand the sun), a pair of draughting di­viders, what may be a compass box, aslate pencil, and a slate tablet fragment.

A turned wooden circular box,possibly a compass box, missing itsscrew-on lid

A pair of cast-brass divider arms;their steel pointers have rustedaway

22

Sailmakers' Tools. Pumps

A wooden ship under sail neededconstant repair and maintenance tokeep it seaworthy. Sailmakers, caulkers,and carpenters were responsible for in­specting and restoring the sails and rig­ging, and the ship's hull and otherwooden components, including itswooden provision casks. A sailmakermight have used these awl-like tools,now missing their points, to pierceholes around a sail so he could stitch areinforcing cord to the sail's edges. Hewore the flat brass disc, attached by itsthree ears to a strip of leather aroundhis hand, as a thimble for pushing largeneedles through heavy fabric.

The main pumps on a woodenfrigate were stationary features locatedbeside the mainmast, extending the full

height of the hull, and giving onto adeck where the water could escape intothe sea. Wooden ships could not stayafloat without being pumped out sev­eral times a day. Water constantlyleaked in through the hull even in fairweather, and in heavy seas, waves break­ing over the decks would keep the holdawash.

The Machault originally had fourpumps around its mainmast, but onlythree complete main pumps werefound, as well as numerous extra footvalves and plungers to replace worn­out parts. The pumps operated on asuction system, raising water out of thehold in two stages; such pumps were invery common use at that period in shipsand water wells.

Sailmakers palm

Wooden awl handles: one octago­nal-sided, the other "E nglish­style"

Wooden piston with its leathergasket

23

Large gaps left between a woodenship's planking allowed for swelling asthe wood slowly soaked up sea water.These spaces were filled with a soft,sticky caulking material (animal hair orvegetable fibres mixed with pitch),

Wooden caulking mallet

Caulking

driven deeply into the seam by a sharpcaulking iron hit with a mallet; a single­or multiple-crease caulking iron com­pacted the material and gave a finishededge to the outer face of the seam.

Caulking irons

These hardwood caulking-malletheads were reinforced by metalbands at their ends and by metalbolts on both sides of each handle

24

Keeping the ship clean and readyfor action required frequent sweeping,washing, and scrubbing. Paintingwood, metal, and leather with a pre-

Cleaningserving fluid, such as blacking, helpedto keep materials exposed to the ele­ments from deteriorating.

Staved wooden bucket. (After.Jean Boudriot, Le vaisseau de74 canons [Grenoble: Editionsdes Quatre Seigneurs, 1974-77],Vol. 2, n. 33.)

The head of a hair-bristle black­ing brush with a woven cord tie

Myrtle broom bound with splitwillow

25

26

Commerce and Trade

Le port de Bordeaux. (Cour­tesy of Stephen R. Davis.)

27

Food, ammunition, pitch and nailswere found on the Machault in oak bar­rels of different sizes. A cask that onceheld musket shot has been drawn toshow its staved construction, with twosets of seven willow-bound woodenhoops fixed to the barrel with iron nails.When the tiny keg shown in pieces herewas full of small lead shot, one manwould not have been able to carry it.

Another container type, a rec­tangular crate, was massive, judging bythe size of the remaining piece, eitherits top or its bottom. The crate had beennailed shut and further secured withtwo iron straps.

Shipping Containers

Some types of merchandise werenot shipped in wooden containers, butwere wrapped as bales, soft packagesbound with cord or metal hoops. Thelead baling seal was folded over a bind­ing, and its edges then crimped to­gether. Its presence on a bale guaran­teed that the package had not beentampered with. This seal has been im­pressed with the name of the companyJoseph Rouffio Freres. The Huguenotmerchant family who guaranteed thepackage was based in Montauban, insouthwestern France, and had a work­ing branch of their family in Canadaduring the French regime.

f'tl"ll"11I1.,,'111))

Reconstructed musket­shot cask

Keg that once contained smallshot, about 29 cm high

28

Shipping Containers

Detail from Le port de Bor­deaux. (Courtesy of Stephen R.Davis.)

One-piece oak crate lid, 130.6 cmby 53.5 cm by 2.2 cm

Lead baling seal consisting oftwodiscs [oined by a narrow leadstrip, disc diameters 2.5 cm

29

Not reliable for the exacting mea­surements required for coins or rawdrugs, these weights were most likelyused to determine bulk measurementsof provisions or trade goods. Size mark-

Commerce and Trade

ings are impressed on their tops, andimpressed on their bases are what maybe trade control marks for the harboursin which these weights were consideredlegal.

Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches.... Sect. 2, Pt. 1, "Bal­ancier," PI. 1.

.-.- A selection ofsolid cast-lead mer­chant or common weights measur­ing between two onces and tenlivres

30

Made of very thin, sheet-copper al­loy, this jetton was one of a set of coun­ters that would have been used on acounting board for doing simple talliesor such complex calculations as con-

Jetton, circa 2 cm in diameter;stamped on one side with the ma­ture bust of Louis xv oj Franceand N aoarre. The other side bearsa heraldic lion, the makers ini­tials, .lJD, and the words RE­CHE PFENNIG, signifying thatthe piece is not a coin.

Commerce and Trade

verting foreign currency. It was madefor the French market probably byJohann Jacob Dietzel, a prominentNuremburg medallist.

31

32

Weaponry

Private in the French marines,1755. Ueau B oudriot collection.)

33

Ships crossing the Atlantic carriedlarge mounted guns for protectingtheir cargos and for signalling whenvisibility was poor. When the Machaultwas built it was pierced for 26 guns, butmay have been carrying as many as 32guns when it set sail for Canada in 1760.Three 12-livre cast-iron cannons exca­vated from the ship measure approx­imately three metres in length andweigh about 1364 kilograms each. In abattle at sea, cannons were used forbombarding enemy ships' hulls withsolid iron cannonballs, or for firinganti-personnel projectiles or those de-

Ordnance

s~gn~d to destroy enemy ships' sails andnggmg.

All of the Machault's cannons wouldhave been mounted at gun positions onwooden carriages of the type shownhere. Iron rings and hooks, runningblocks, and rope cables were necessaryto minimize the recoil caused by firingthe guns. Two cannon carriage partswere recovered from the Machault: oneof the iron capsquares that fit over acannon's trunnions to secure it to itscarriage, and an iron reinforcing bandfor a carriage truck, or wheel.

Ship'S cannon and carriage.(After Jean B oudriot, Levaisseau de 74 canons [Greno­hie: Editions des Quatre Sei­gneurs, 1974-77), Vol. 2, PI.39.)

34

Ship's ordnance on the Machault in­cluded swivel guns set in the forecastlerailings on yoke-like swivels. Swivelguns look like miniature cannons. Theycould be swung about to fire small ironor lead balls on enemies attempting toboard the ship or even on those whohad gained the decks. Both of the iden­tical cast-iron swivel guns recoveredfrom the ship are 92 centimetres long.

Swivel f:.,run and portable stand.(After Jean Boudriot, Levaisseau de 74 canons [Greno­ble: Editions des Quatre Sei­gneurs, 1974-77}, Vol. 2, Fig.203.)

Swivel gun from the Machault

Ordnance

A swivel gun could be mounted ona stand so that gun and stand were port­able and could be installed at differentlocations around a ship, includingfighting platforms partway up themasts. The drawing shows a swivel gunmounted on a portable stand.

\~

35

Each of Machault's cannons wasmaintained, loaded, and fired by itsown crew of men. Cannons, like mus­kets and other smooth-bore guns of theday, were loaded from the muzzle. Ameasured amount of black powder wasfed into the cannon barrel either with ascoop or in a canvas bag and rammedinto place in the breech. Wadding wasrammed on top of the powder, followedby the projectile. If a cannonball wasused, more wadding kept it from roll­ing out of the barrel. Priming powder

Loading the Cannonspoured into the cannon's touchholeand into an open channel on the back ofthe cannon guided the flame into thetouchhole to set off the main powdercharge in the breech.

Extremely unreliable, blackpowder had to be stored and handledwith materials that would not easilyspark. Powder magazines were usuallyreinforced, and scoops, ramrods, andpowder barrels were made of wood andcopper because iron was liable to sparkand set the powder off accidently.

Canvas bag

36

Wood and copper powder ladle

Pouched powder bucket, leatherand wood with copper nails.(After Jean B oudriot, Levaisseau de 74 canons [Greno­ble: Editions des Quatre Sei­gneurs, 1974-77J, Vol. 2, Fig.203.)

At sea, solid cast-iron cannonballswere used chiefly to blast holes in thehulls of enemy ships. Sometimes theywere heated red-hot in the hope thatthey would set fire to wooden decks orblow up powder magazines. More than500 cannonballs were recovered fromthe Machault. Most are French, and sev­eral are marked with fleur-de-lys; twocannonballs bear broad arrows, indicat­ing British government ownership, andmay have struck the M achault before it

Ammunitionsank. Another type of round-shot am­munition from the Machault is small,solid iron or lead balls. When groups ofthese balls were packed together in can­vas bags or tin cannisters and firedfrom a cannon, they fell on the enemyin a deadly shower.

The hand grenade is a hollow ironball filled with gunpowder, and ignitedby a wooden fuse. Grenades could betossed from the decks, rigging, or plat­forms partway up the masts.

Iron hand grenade with a woodenfuse

French 12-1ivre cannonball English 12 -pound cannonball

37

These strangely shaped iron pro­jectiles were designed to be fired fromcannons and bring down the riggingand sails of enemy ships. Bar shot is asolid iron bar with solid cylindricalends, loaded and fired as cannonballswere. Star and link shot were bound

Ammunition

with twine and packed in canvas bagsthat burned away when the cannon wasfired, freeing the heavy pieces to openand rotate in flight. Spinning metalslashed through a ship's rigging, break­ing spars, ripping sails, and tearingropes from their fastenings.

Bar shot

Link shot Star shot

38

Hollow cast-iron mortar bombswere filled with gunpowder that ex­ploded when ignited by a wooden fuse.The bombs were fired on high trajecto­ries from short, large-bore weaponsknown as mortars. A three-masted ves-

Mortar bomb

Ammunition

sellike the Machault could not fire mor­tars, and thus the 58 bombs recoveredfrom the ship had to be part of themunitions shipment bound forCanada.

Elevation of a Light 6 pr. [andMortar] .... , c.w. Rudverd.(Courtesy of the Army Museum,lIalifax Citadel.)

39

In addition to large mounted guns,ships carried arsenals of hand-held orportable weapons for sailors to usewhen capturing another vessel or whentheir own vessel was attacked. Firearmsin the Machaults arsenal include two va­rieties of muskets, a blunderbuss (notshown), and the first standard pistolsused by the French cavalry and ob­viously used on French ships as well:two examples have LE MACHAULTengraved in their stocks.

Edged weapons were also an im­portant part of the arsenal - swordsfor hand-to-hand combat and axes for

Ship's Arsenal

tearing down rigging and smashingholes in planking when sailors stormedanother ship. The arsenal sword here,one of several similar weapons foundon the ship, has an octagonal bone gripand a cast-brass knuckle guard withwreathed-head decoration, and oncehad a sabre blade. Except for the ironblade, the sturdy sword was made innon-corrosive materials well-suited formarine use. It was probably carriedthrust through a sailor's sash or beltsince its scabbard has no fittings to at­tach it to his belt. The boarding axe ismade of wrought iron.

French small arms from the Ma­chaults arsenal (top to bottom):musket, model 1733-34 cavalrypistol, boarding axe, and board­ing sabre

40

Several exam ples of this type ofsmooth-bore musket found on the Ma­chault belonged to the arsenal: the onlysurviving butt stock is incised with theship's name. It was originally about 149centimetres long and of the same 69calibre as French military muskets ofthe day although it was not a militarymodel. A leather strap on the gun per-

Inset area/or the lock

Brass side plate

• I Dr7]1

Brass trigger guard

Brass ramrod tailpipe

Ship's Arsenal

mitted a sailor to sling it over his shoul­der and use both hands when climbinginto firing position on a mast. Thisgun's furniture - its brass fittings ­have survived underwater rather well,but the iron gun barrel, which wouldhave sat in a channel on the top of thewalnut stock, and the iron flintlockmechanism have rusted away.

Arsenal musket

41

The Long Land Pattern musket,known familiarly as the "Brown Bess,"was the standard British infantry fire­arm of the 18th century. This viewshows the wooden butt stock fitted withits cast-brass butt plate, wrist es­cutcheon, and trigger guard. Markingson the wrist escutcheon tell us that this

Wrist escutcheon

British Long Land Patternmusket

Ship's Arsenal

particular weapon originally belongedto Colonel William Shirleys 50th Regi­ment of Foot. The musket may havebeen taken when the American colonialregiment was defeated at Fort Oswegoon the south shore of Lake Ontario in1756, and then re-issued by the Frenchfor use on board the Machault.

42

The a la mousquetaire sword wasstandard issue for various branches ofthe French military from the late 17ththrough the mid-18th century, al­though by that time the sword was notthe soldier's primary fighting weapon.Both the knuckle guard and pommelare made of cast brass, and the grip is a

Soldier's Sword

wooden core wrapped with twistedbrass wire. The missing blade wouldhave been made of steel. Not as durableas the arsenal sabre, the few a la mous­quetaire swords found on the ship hadprobably been discarded by the troopsbeing transported to Canada.

\ \

H ill of a French militmy sword,the a la mousquetaire type

43

44

Tools and Equipment

Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches.... , Sect. 2, Pt. 1,"Charpenterie, " n. 1.

45

Woodworking tools recoveredfrom the Machault ranged from split­ting wedges, axes, and saws for roughwoodworking through shaping toolssuch as carpenter's drawknives, turningchisels, drills, and hammers to planesfor finishing work and a ruler/bevel formeasunng.

Woodworking

Top ofa forged-iron cooper'sadzewith a secondary working face

Forged iron or steel saw set, with­out its handle, usedfor setting theangles of saw blade teeth

Forged strap-iron single-bittedaxe head with a broken woodenhandle

Carved one-piece wooden mallet

46

Two centuries in the Restigoucheestuary have decomposed most of theiron parts of woodworking tools, but avariety of wooden handles has survivedin good condition. A good range ofwood-shaping tools is represented:drawknives, turning chisels, augers,and gimlets, and a selection of unidenti-

Woodworkingfied pushing or pulling tools. Addi­tionally, wooden handles from ham­mers, an iron auger bit, an iron gougeblade, some fragmentary iron mawlswith wooden handles, and some un­identified tool blades were recoveredfrom the Machault.

Wooden handle grip and handleplate from single-handed saws

Wood and copper-alloy carpen­ter's ruler/bevel marked in 1/4pouce, 1/2 pouce, pouce, andpied

Wooden handles from shapingtools

Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches .... , Sect. 3, "Ebe­nisterie .... ," PI. 1.

47

In smoothing a rough board, a car­penter might start with ajack plane. Heused compass planes for smoothingconcave surfaces; this one may havebeen used for both general carpentryand for coopering. With the mouldingplane he could make quarter-round or

Woodworkingquarter-oval grooves. With the tongueplane and a matching groove plane hecould make joints that held one boardflush with another. Unnailed, ungluedtongue-and-groove joints allow wood toexpand and contract without splitting.

Clockioisejrom upper lelt: ajackplane, a tongue plane, a mould­ing plane, a compass plane, anda lunidledjack plane

Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches ...., Sect. 6, "Menuisieren Batimens," PI. 2.

48

Strap iron and bars of wroughtiron found in quantity on the Machaultmay have been part of the ship's stores,but were more likely intended for thecolony. A blacksmith cannot operatewithout a good stock of refined iron,and the St Maurice foundry near Trois­Rivieres produced less iron than thecolony needed. Refining of all types ofbase metals - copper and its alloys, all

Metalworkingthe grey metals, and iron - was prac­tically non-existent in North Americaduring the 18th century, the coloniesrelying on imported European metals.Plates, cooking pots, utensils, can­dleholders, strapping, tools, and othermetal objects, even toys, were recycledwhen they broke or wore out. As a re­sult, such objects are not often re­covered in land excavations.

The kniFe grinder, Les Cris deParis. (Fortress of LouisbourgNational Historic Park, ParksCanada.)

This sandstone disc, with aslightly convex grinding surface,is a sharpening stone pre-form. Itwould have been finished by itsoumer to fit the type of trough. inwhich he wanted to mount it.

49

Wrought-iron or steel leg vice; itsbench bridles, spring, and.ioo: aremissing

All these metalworking tools wereused to hold and manipulate hot metal,and except for the vice that wasmounted against a bench, all were heldin the hand. On board the Machault asailor with some blacksmithing skillswould have been responsible for emer­gency repairs to the ship's metal fittings,firearms and heavy ordnance. He couldalso have repaired objects like the brasscandleholder found on the ship.

Chisel made of iron

Metalworking

50

Iron tongs, badly corroded

SelFhandled punch for makingsquare holes

Metalworking

Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches .... , Sect. 8, "Ser­rurier;" rt. 1.

51

FishingThis is the most complete of four

spearheads recovered from the Mu­chault. It once had a long handle andwas used like a harpoon to take smallwhales, dolphins, eels, and large fish. Along coil of rope attached to its handlecould be played out or pulled in to re­trieve both harpoon and catch.

Fishing with nets required leadweights to sink the net, and floats, possi­bly cork, small watertight casks, or ani­mal bladders, to hold up its edges. Awoven rope bag filled with corks wasfound on the ship and may have beenused as a float.

Lead net weight, 12.3 cm long

Seven-pronged iron spearhead

52

Fishing

Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches.... , Sect. 7, "Peches... ,"Pl.4.

53

54

Food and Drink

Family at dinner: In [ohann B.Basedow, Elementarwerk(Leipzig: Vogel, 1774).

55

Bricks recovered from the Mu­chault, several still mortared together,were likely from a box-like galley struc­ture located in the bow just aft of theforemast. In most galleys of the period,a large cauldron set over a firebox wasan integral part of the ship's structure.Some billets of wood found on the shipmay have been fuel for the galley.

Cooking pots made of coarseearthenware were common place in the18th century. There were several dozenin the Machaults cargo. Coarse earthen­ware pots did not leak, conducted heatwell, and were cheap. However, the potsbecame brittle with use and easily bro­ken, and fragments are often found onFrench colonial sites dating from the

Cookingfirst half of the 17th century throughthe 18th century.

Round-bottomed cooking pots canbe set on iron tripods in the coals offireplaces or placed directly intostovetop openings to stew or fricasseesalted meats - beef or pork, usually ­with vegetables. They were designed tobe covered, but we did not find anycorresponding lids. This style is onlyone of several shapes of earthenwarecooking pots that French colonial con­sumers could buy in the 18th century.At least two other types were recoveredfrom the Mtichault: a green-glazedcooking pot with three legs, and a sin­gle-handled round-bottomed undecor­ated pot.

Large and small two-handledcooking pots in undecorated,partly glazed coarse earthenware,made in France

56

Sheet-metal cooking pots werelightweight, durable, and efficient,which made them highly desirable eventhough they were considerably moreexpensive than ceramic cooking vessels.They were very popular trade itemswith the North American Indians andhave been found on Indian burial sites.The pots from the Machault are of twotypes: large and small brass pots in sizesthat stack into each other, and largecopper pots with heavy covers tinnedon the inside. On both types bail han­dles permitted them to be suspendedover a fire.

One ofthe large brass nestingpots

CookingCooking utensils such as these

were typical of the equipment in 18th­century galleys. A cook would strainfoods with the colander, use the skewerto hold meat together while it cooked,and remove fats congealing on soupsand stews with the skimmer. Theseutensils have not changed much even tothe present day although modern onesare more likely to be aluminum or stain­less steel, metals unknown in the 18thcentury.

Sheet-brass colander

~--_.--Forged copper skimmer andforged iron skewer

57

Storing and Serving LiquidsFrench-made green-glazed coarse

earthenware jugs were probably amongthe cheapest ceramic storage and serv­ing vessels available to 18th-centuryFrench colonials. The group of fiveshows the form's typical mid-centuryprofile and a selection of the sizes inwhich they were made. While theyprobably had many uses, the largestmight have served as pails to carry liq­uids to and from laundries, dairies,bedrooms, or elsewhere in homes. Thesmallest are about the size of small

mugs, and the middle sizes are veryclose to the standard beer and winemeasures used in taverns in NewFrance for serving the popular alco­holic beverages of the time: wine, beer,and rum.

More elegant than the coarseearthenware jugs is a tin-glazed earth­enware pitcher, possibly used aboardthe Machault. Its monochrome yellow­orange decoration is quite exceptionalon tin-glazed earthenwares from NorthAmerican sites.

Green-glazed coarse earthenwarepitchers made in Saintonge

58

Storing and Serving LiquidsThe two English bottles may have

been part of the officers' mess suppliesor of a venture cargo. Dark green glass"wine" bottles were commonly used inEurope and North America by wine,spirits, and mineral-water merchants ascommercial containers, and by privateindividuals as containers for decanting,storing, and serving beverages boughtin barrels or made at home. The darkgreen colour was popularly thought to

protect the contents from harmfuleffects of light. A few examples of theFrench version of the dark green glass"wine" bottle were also found.

Two bidons from the Machault wereserving vessels for the sailors. Bidonshave capacities of about five litres eachand were used to deliver daily wine ra­tions to mess crews of between four andseven men.

Staved wooden biclon with ropehandles. (After)ean B oudriot,Le vaisseau de 74 canons [Gre­noble: Editions des Quatre Sei­gneurs, 1974-77], Vol. 2, Fig.154.)

English dark green glass "wine"bottles

French-made tin-glazed earthen­ware pitcher, 23 cm tall, possiblymade in M ontauban

59

Storing Foods and BeveragesUnglazed coarse earthenware stor­

age jars in many sizes have been widelymanufactured for centuries in Mediter­ranean countries. This one could havebeen used as an alternative to a woodenkeg of comparable size for storing andtransporting all sorts of foods and liq­uids. Its opening is large enough for aperson to scoop out its contents by handor with a cup, but at only 49 centimetrestall, it is probably smaller than jars usedon 18th-century ships to hold suppliesof drinking water.

The corked bottle neck is from oneof almost 200 English "wine" bottles

that appear to have been filled andsealed in England. The cork stopperswells slightly over the bottle lip and hasbeen secured with a strand of copper­alloy wire.

Several French-made glass bottlesand jars suitable for foods, beverages,and a variety of other products werealso found on the Machault. An oak bar­rel recovered intact still contained saltpork; traces of a knife in the pork sug­gest that the barrel had been opened.Barrels that contained liquids were tap­ped or drained with spigots.

Neck of a dark greenglass "wine"bottle

Cast copper alloy spigotCoarse earthenware jar

60

Cups and Drinking GlassesOnly the stemmed glasses and the

pewter beaker are drinking vessels; lov­ing cups were used mainly as orna­ments, sometimes inscribed to com­memorate happy events. Although theNottingham stoneware it is made of isappropriate for the period of the Ma­chault, loving cups are not commonlyfound on 18th-century North Amer­ican sites.

Eighteenth-century pewterbeakers ar~ also rare today. althoughsome su rvive as com mu n ron cups.Metal beakers, cups without handles,are a very ancient form of drinking ves­sel. This example's plain, simple linesare pleasing, and when the cup was new,

Footedbeaker madeofcast pewter

English brown salt-glazed stone­ware loving cup with inciseddecoration

its surface would have had a polished,silvery sheen.

The hollow-stemmed Continentalbouton carre wineglass on the left is oneof several hundred from the Machault,obviously cargo items. The other wine­glass, an English lead-glass piece with along stem and graceful, flaring bowl,was a British style in great demand onboth sides of the Atlantic during theSeven Years' War.

Not illustrated are an English­made opaque-twist stemware glass anda Continental crizzled-glass tumbler ofa type very commonly found on Cana­dian sites from the French period.

Two stemware drinking glasses

61

Decorated Coarse Earthenware

Utilitarian coarse earthenware ves­sels are often plain, but the Machaultcargo also contained a variety of deco­rated pieces that were probably inten­ded for serving food as well as forpreparing it. These examples havezigzags, circles, dots, and stylized ani­mals and plants - all popular elements- painted on white slip backgrounds.

Similar embellishments appear oncoarse earthenware bowls and platesalike in the Machault collection. Othercoarse earthenware vessels also featureincised decoration. Almost 500 deco­rated French coarse earthenware bowlsand plates were found on the Machault,many still stacked in piles in the hold.

62

Decorated Coarse Earthenware

63

BowlsSmall bowls with brims and por­

ringers with lugs, or handles, were com­monly used individual eating vessels forthe broths and gruels that made up agood part of everyday diet; bowls with­out brims could be used for mixing orservmg.

The Machault« cargo included sev­eral types of bowls; other types of bowlswere probably used on the ship. Theselection is amazingly varied: Conti­nental, French, English, and Chinese,some very sturdy and practical, othersmore decorative and refined.

Five sizes of tin-glazed earthen­ware bowls suggest various uses: the

smallest as handleless drinking cups;mid-range sizes as individual eatingbowls or slop bowls on tea tables; andthe largest as tureens or punch bowls.The woodengamelle, on the other hand,had a specialized use on the ship as acommunal mess tub from which four toseven men would have served them­selves.

Also found on the site but notshown here are a cargo of English soft­paste porcelain bowls, a coarse earthen­ware porringer with moulded lugs, anda small dark blue glass bowl with gildedlines encircling its flaring rim.

Cast-pewter porringer with twohandles

Small English mixing bowl ofplain white salt-glazed stoneware

St aue d wooden mess tub, orgamelle. (After Jean Boudriot,Le vaisseau de 74 canons [Gre­liable: Editions des Quatre Seig­neurs, 1974-77], Vol. 2, Fig.154.)

64

Chinese export porcelain bowl,suitable/or punches, with raised,moulded plum blossoms alternat­ing with cartouches of paintedfloral sprays in the famille rosepalette

Bowls

Plain French green-glazed coarseearthenware eating bowl

Four of thefive sizes oftin- glazedearthenware bowls made in En­gland in a Chinese shape anddecorated with a blue and reddragon pattern

65

66

Bowls

Chinese export porcelain bowlswit h b I u e - p a i n t e d flo r a Ilandscapes

Chinese export porcelain bowl,possibly for salads, with alternat­ing blue-painted floral bouquetsand clumps of lettuce

These items could be used as indi­vidual eating dishes or as servingpieces. Most are good quality table­wares although rather subdued for therococo period. A dot-pattern Saintongeplate from southwestern France, sherds

Plates and Platters

of a manganese-brown-glazed Ligurianpiece from northwestern Italy, a cargoof lower quality coarse earthenwareplates, and some fragments of woodenplates were also recovered from theMachault.

Chinese export porcelain dinnerplate in famille rose colours,circa 1755-58

Chinese export porcelain soupplate with a blue landscape andborder Fragment from a French faience

oval platter with a blue lambre­quin border

Pewter dinner plate

Frenchfaience plate with a mono­chrome blue border and centremotif

67

The European fashion for takingtea was gradually spreading to all socialclasses during the second half of the18th century, and tea drinkers aspiredto having their tables graced with por­celain and silver. However, tea was still acostly item, kept under lock and key,and made and served in small vessels. Abasic tea service of the period requireda teapot, a hot water or milk pitcher, asugar bowl, a slop bowl, tea bowls, andsaucers. Slop bowls received the colddregs of tea from cups and teapots, andthe water used to rinse them. It wascustomary for guests to place their cupsupside down in the saucers with theteaspoons balanced across the bases tosignal that they had had enough tea.

Although matching tea serviceswere available in the middle of the 18thcentury, the Machault's cargo of blue-

Two coffee or chocolate cups andsaucers, one set with blue-painteddecoration and the other set with abrown glaze (Batavian) decora­tion and famille rose reserves

Drinking Teapainted Chinese export porcelainshows that buyers sometimes wouldhave had to make up services from indi­vidual items with different patterns.

The cargo also included Englishsoft-paste porcelain teawares made atthe Bow factory. Unfortunately, theywere badly damaged and could not bephotographed. Also present were asmall n umber of exquisitely delicateChinese eggshell porcelain tea bowlsand saucers, some painted with farnillerose colours, some with gold.

Coffee and hot chocolate weredrunk from handled cups, larger andmore cylindrical than tea bowls, andwith larger saucers too. The Chineseexport porcelain coffee cups andsaucers shown here differ from eachother only in their painted decorations.

68

Chinese eggshell-porcelain teabowland saucer with painted dec­oration

Drinking Tea

Hlue-painted Chinese porcelainteaioarcs and a cost-peuiterspoonwith a rococo pottern

69

Chinese export porcelains in theMachault collection are decorated withunderglaze blue and overglaze Irnari­style and famille rose colours. Decora­tions in all three colour palettes reflectthe French partiality at the time forfloral and landscape themes; only onescene includes human figures. Chineseporcelain factories operated on an as-

Blue-painted floral decorationwith a pendant border

Painted Porcelain

sembly-line system in which severalhands painted different elements of thesame pattern, which accounts for thevariations in colour and in pattern de­tails in the grape-and-trellis bowls.Overglaze decorations were more care­fully executed than underglaze decora­tions, and hence overglaze-decoratedporcelains were more expensive.

Detail from a large bowl with afloral landscape in the Imari style

70

Painted Porcelain

Detail of a figure [rom a blue­painted garden

Bowls with blue grape-and-trellispatterns

Blue-painted landscape on ahuge Chinese porcelain bowl

71

Painted Porcelain

Decoration in famille rose col­ours on a fluted bowl

Landscape in the famille rosepalette

Floral pattern in the famillerose palette

Floral landscape in the famillerose palette

72

When English potters began tomake porcelains in the mid-18th cen­tury, they often decorated them withpatterns copied from Chinese pro­totypes, patterns like the blue-painteddragons found on two sizes of smallbowls made at the Bow factory in about1755. The dragon motif was also re­produced on English tin-glazed earth­enware bowls found on the Machault.

Blue-painted dragon pattern onEnglish porcelain. (Private col­lection.)

Painted PorcelainThe English also copied Conti­

nental European porcelain patterns.The Immortelle pattern on teapots inthe Machault's cargo was produced atthe Bow factory between 1755 and1759; two versions of this long-livedpattern are still produced today by theRoyal Copenhagen porcelain factory ofDenmark.

One ofseveral Bow porcelain tea­pots with Immortelle patterns

73

74

Clothing

Venison & Claret. or SI'Humpv Haunch Bar: of Glut­ton Hall ... 1772. (Courtesy ofthe Colonial Williarnsburg Foun­dation, Williarnsburg, Virginia.)

75

Buckles were common clothingfasteners in the 18th century. Shoe,knee, and garter buckles were found onthe Mcchault, most represented bybuckle frames. The buckles once hadbackpieces that attached them to gar­ments. Buckles usually outlived the gar­ments they fastened, and the back­pieces permitted them to be easilytransferred to other garments.

Shoe buckles were worn by bothmen and women; a variety of decorativemotifs can be seen here, although thosein the second row were probably the

Clothing Fastenersmost fashionable. In most cases onlythe shoe buckle frame has survived, buttwo are complete with the backpiecesthat attached them to the shoes.

Knee buckles, used to fasten men'sbreeches below the knee, are smallerthan shoe buckles. Smaller still is thegarter buckle used to fasten the strapthat held up a man's or woman's stock­ing. Its T-shaped flange hooked into abuttonhole on the garter, and a tongue,which is missing, kept the strap tight onthe leg.

Seven pewter or brass shoebuckles

Knee buckleframes, two in brass,one in pewter

76

All of these practical types ofclothing fasteners are still in use todayalthough the 18th-century exam pIeshere display decorative elements fash­ionable in their day. For example, thestamped sheet-brass clasp has a ser­rated edge and cut-out, heart-shapedcentre. Its two prongs grasped one sideof a heavy outer coat or cloak and the

French silver garter buckle,stamped with a fleur-de-lys andthe name ACHARD, 2.7 on by2.5 cm

Brass clasp

Clothing Fastenershook caught a corresponding loop onthe other side of the garment.

Sleeve links served the same pur­pose as modern-day cufflinks, but inthe 18th century were more likely usedonly by men of means. These examplesare made of silver, gilt brass, and facet­ted glass.

Wooden toggle

Brass clothing hook

Sleeve links

77

Punched leather discs, extremelysimple and crudely made, contrastsharply with decorative buttons madeby crimping the edges of stampedsheet-brass shells over plain woodenbutton moulds. Alternatively, woodenbutton moulds could be the bases of

Clothing Fastenersintricately wrapped thread buttons. Afourth variety of button shown here ismade of brass or pewter, cast in twopieces, and soldered together. These 13buttons are fairly typical of the varietyavailable at the period to fasten men's,rather than women's, clothing.

Thread-covered wooden buttonmould

Encyclopedic ... Recueil deplanches ... , Sect. 8, "Tail­leur... ," Pl. 1.

78

Clothing Fasteners

Plain leather and cast-metalbuttons

Stamped metal buttons

79

Almost 500 unworn, virtually iden­tical men's shoes were part of the Ma­chault's cargo. They may have beenintended for military use, but similarshoes were the everyday footwear ofmost of the civilian population as well.Fashioned to be closed with buckles,they are well-made, sturdy shoes, handstitched with welted soles, their leatherheels attached with wooden pegs. Inwelted construction the shoe's upper issewn to a narrow leather welt and thewelt is then stitched to an outer sole.This makes a neat, sturdy attachment,common on 18th-century footwear andstill used on better quality shoes today.

Footwear

These shoes were made to be worn oneither foot, and the owner could switchhis left and right shoes to make the pairlast longer.

Another way to prolong a shoe'slife was to nail a metal plate to its heel.This heel plate, decorated with a cut­out heart, was probably from a high­heeled gentleman's or lady's shoe.

Examples of men's turnshoes werealso found. Turnshoe pieces are sewntogether without a welt to produce alightweight shoe worn mainly indoorsfor dancing, fencing, and other leisureactivities.

Shoe quarter and brass buckle

Brass heel plate

Welted cargo shoe

80

Footwear

Leather components of a weltedshoe: (top row) two shoe quarters,toe and heel reinforcements; (bot­tom row) the vamp, an inner sole,an outer sole with attached heel,the welt

81

Its characteristic warmth andwater resistance have traditionallymade wool popular for both woven andknitted clothing. Many fragments ofhand-knit woollens were found on theMachault; however, only four could beidentified. These three have all beenknit in stocking stitch using two-plyyarn on four needles, and all have beendarned rather crudely, possibly by themen who owned them. Although theyare not a pair, both stockings were made

Wool tuque

Knitted Clothingto reach almost to the wearers' kneesand both have double bands of garterstitch at their tops.

The tuque, knit in a long, seamlesstube closed at both ends, was foldedback on itself for a double layer ofwarmth on the wearer's head. By in­creasing the number of stitches in themiddle of the tube, the knitter createdear pockets in the finished hat. Alsorecovered was a hand-knit mitten.

Wool stockings

82

Textiles recovered from the Ma­chault represent a variety of woven fab­rics available during the 18th century,but these three alone are completeenough to reveal their original shapes.Wool, silk, cotton, and linen have losttheir colours, and all look variousshades of mottled brown. The silk rib­bon had been wound and secured witha brass pin. The twill tape was wound

Woven Clotharound a flat wooden card and heldwith a brass pin similar to the one thatsecured the ribbon. The bow, a foldedsilk ribbon tied in the centre with asmaller piece of silk, might haveadorned a man's three-cornered hat.Other textiles from the Machault are asvaried as coarsely woven burlap andfancy silk dress fabric.

Seventeen metres o{ silk ribbon

Silk ribbon bow

Roll of twill-woven wool and cot­ton tape

83

84

Miscellany

The pin seller, Les Cris de Paris.(Fortress of Louisbourg NationalHistoric Park, Parks Canada.)

85

Grooming and HealthFashionable ladies and gentlemen

had worn wigs since the early 17th cen­tury, but at this period the hairdos wereparticularly elaborate. Abundant curlsand ringlets on wigs were made withheated iron tongs and held in place withcombs. These bone and horn combswere treated to resemble tortoiseshell, amore expensive material than bone orhorn.

Horn and bone hair combs

Encyclopedie ... Recueil deplanches .... , Sect. 7, "Perru­quier...," PI. 1.

Wrought-iron curling tongs

86

This very small collection hints atsome of the complexities of keepingclean and healthy in the 18th century.The mortar and pestle might have beenused to pulverize ingredients for oint­ments, powders, and syrups. Severalfragments of glass vials in which medi­cines were dispensed were also found.The syringe was used for irrigating apatient's bladder, part of the treatment

Bronze mortar and pestle

Grooming and Healththen for such illnesses as venereal dis­eases.

Few personal grooming items werefound on the Machault: fine-tootheddouble-edged combs useful for remov­ing lice from human hair; a barber'sbasin with a wide brim and a semi-circu­lar opening that tucked under theshaver's chin; and several boxwoodsprinklers, probably stoppers for bot­tles of cologne or other toilet requisites.

Pewter ,Iyringe

87

Boxwood comb

Encyclopedic '" Recueil depla nches.v., Sect, 7, "Perru­quier, Barbier...," rt. 1,

Green-glazed coarse earthenwarebarber's basin of Frenchmanufacture

Grooming and Health

Wooden sprinklers or squirt tops

88

Gaming, Drinking and SmokingThe wooden disc is a counter or

marker that could have been used in anumber of different games. Sailorswere as notorious for gambling duringlong sea voyages as they were for gam­bling during brief furloughs ashore.

A glass pocket flask for carrying asmall supply of liquor is not illustrated.Similar small bottles are found on otherFrench colonial sites in North America.

Small metal tobacco boxes werepopular in the 18th century when

smoking had become a common habit.Many tobacco boxes originated in theNetherlands, as this one did. It is cov­ered with engravings and biblical texts(Luke 2: 44-46 and Luke 7: 2-4) inDutch; the top depicts Christ in thetemple and the bottom, a supplicantapproaching Jesus. On the sides of thebox someone has added a cryptic mes­sage loosely translated as "I will holdfast to my resolution to stop indulgingin sweets, if not today, tomorrow."

Wooden gaming piece

Engraved brass and copper to­bacco box

89

In North America and northernEurope, people commonly smokedtheir tobacco in pipes, following thepractice of native North Americans.Two types of moulded, unglazed claysmoking pipes are shown here, bothvery typical of the late 18th century.

Long, thin-stemmed one-piecepipes with upright cylindrical bowls arevery often found on our sites. Tippetpipes from the Machault confirm howeasily one-piece pipes were broken: theillustrated example, missing a largeportion of its stem, is nevertheless themost complete of a cargo of pipes.

One piecefrom a cargo of tobaccopipes attributed to the R. Tippetfirm of Bristol, England

Spurred I'D smoking pipe, proba-bly of British manufacture ••••

Two human-effigy componentsmoking pipes made by GottfriedA ust, a M oravian working inNorth Carolina in 1760

"Canadiens en Raquette [sic}.... "in c.c. Le Roy Bacqueville de laPotherie, Histoire de l'Arne­rique septentrionale.... (Paris:1722), Vol. 1,facing p. 51. (Pub­lic Archives Canada, C-1854.)

SmokingTeeth marks on the TD pipe show thatit was used even after the stem had be­come so short that smoking would havebeen uncomfortably hot. Its owner mayhave thrown it away when the bowlbroke, or lost it when it fell from his hat,the safest place for an active man tocarry so fragile an item.

The effigy pipes in the lower rowsare component pipes to which a buyeradded his (or her) own reed or othertype of stem. Component pipes are notoften found on 18th-century Canadiansites although they were commonlymade in the American colonies.

90

Knives. Ring and MedallionNearly everyone in the 18th cen­

tury carried his or her own personalknife for eating with although it hadany number of other general uses aswell. Wood, bone, and horn handlesfrom folding knives show the varietiesof handle styles and materials that wereavailable.

Neither the medallion nor the ringare carefully crafted or expensiveitems. The medallion is stamped with

-~.....-..~

---Wood, bone, and horn knifehandles

Christian symbols and was once at­tached to a chain, perhaps a rosary.

Rings like this one are thought tohave been trade goods because they aremost often found on early French con­tact sites. They are frequently referredto as Jesuit rings and are quite indi­vidual in their decoration: this one isengraved with a wrigglework patternand the letters FI.

Brass finger ring

Brass medallion

91

Sewing and MendingPins and thimbles are humble re­

minders that clothing had to last a longtime. In 18th-century Europe pin mak­ing was a well-developed factory opera­tion, and these pins with coiled wireheads are typical of the period.

The thimbles do not differ muchfrom those we have today. The larger

one, open at the top, is often called atailor's thimble.

The needlecase, which had a slip­on top, probably held large, blunt nee­dles called bodkins. Drawstrings andlacings so commonly used to fasten18th-century clothing were threadedthrough loops and bands with bodkins.

•

Wooden needlecase, 11.5 cm long

Brass thimbles

..--......~--~....

•

•Brass straight pins

92

Candles, the most common formof artificial lighting in the 18th century,would not burn without frequent atten­tion: someone had to snuff the wick ­trim its charred end - two or threetimes an hour to keep a burning candlefrom sputtering out. Snuffers, resem­bling scissors with a box on one bladeand the box lid on the other, could beplain or fancy, but had to be kept closeat hand, either in an upright snufferholder like the one shown here, or onan oblong tray.

Portable brass candleholder

LightingHolders for candles were made in

many different styles and materials,and two very different types are shownhere. The elegant table candlestick, castin a style fashionable in the 1750s, wasone of a pair found on the ship. Thecandleholder with a handle and its owndrip pan was designed to be carriedwherever light was needed. The handlerivets on this example from the Ma­chault had been hastily mended to keepit in use. Several tallow candles werealso recovered in the excavation of theship.

Cast-brass candlestick, brass can­dle snuffer and upright snufferholder

93

94

Colour Illustrations

95

96

Massive elm deadeye

Brass buttons

Dutch tobacco box

97

Fine-toothed wooden comb

98

Brass knee buckle

Saintonge coarse earthenwaremilk pan

A la mousquetaire sword

Rope handle or grip

Knuckle-guard decoration on anarsenal sword

99

Coarse earthenware plates

100

Brass and copper pot lid

Fancy brass handlefrom a tea kettle

Small brass nesting pot

Chinese export porcelain teasertnce

101

English tin-glazed earthenwarebowls

Brass candlestick

102

lmari-style Chinese export por­celain bowl

103

Many of the artifacts shown herecan be seen at Parks Canada's visitorreception centre at Pointe-a-la-Croix,Quebec, where the Battle of the Res­tigouche is being commemorated. Fur-

ther information on the objects, thesite, and the battle can be found in thefollowing sources, or by contactingParks Canada.

104

Bacqueville de la Potherie, C.C. LeRoy1722H istoire de l'A merique septentrionale ....Paris, n. p. Vo!. 1.

Barton, K.J.1977"The Western European Coarse Earth­enwares from the Wreck of the Ma­chault." Canadian Historic Sites: Occa­sional Papers in Archaeology and History,No. 16, pp. 45-71. Ottawa.

Basedow, Johann B.1774Elmentarwerk. Vogel, Leipzig.

Beattie, J udith, and Bernard Pothier1977"The Battle of the Restigouche." Cana­dian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers inArchaeology and History, No. 16, pp. 5-34.Ottawa.

Blanchette, Jean-Fran~ois1977"Faience and Related Tin-GlazedEarthenwares from the French FrigateMachault (1760)." Manuscript on file,National Historic Parks and SitesBranch, Parks Canada, Ottawa.

Boudriot, Jean1974-77Le vaisseau du 74 canons: traiti: pratiqued'art naval. Editions des Quatre Sei­gneurs, Grenoble. 4 vols. Vols. 1and 2:Construction du vaisseau.

BibliographyBradley, Charles S.1981"The Ship's Fittings, Rigging Compo­nents and Rope Recovered from theWreck of the Machault." Manuscript onfile, National Historic Parks and SitesBranch, Parks Canada, Ottawa.1983"Preliminary Analysis of the StavedContainer Remains From the Under­water Excavation of the French Pri­vateer." Microfiche Report Series No.113, Parks Canada, Ottawa.

Bryce, Douglas1984Weaponry from the Machault, an l Sth-Cen­tury French Frigate. Parks Canada,Ottawa. Studies in Archaeology, Archi­tecture and History.

Davis, Stephen R.1982"Wearing Apparel from Le Machault: ADescriptive Inventory." Microfiche Re­port Series No. 97, Parks Canada,Ottawa.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography1966-University of Toronto Press, Toronto.Vo!. 3: 1741 to 1770; Vo!. 4: 1771 to1800.

Encyclopedie, ou Dictionnaire raisonnedes sciences, des arts et des metiers ...Recueil de planches ....1762-72Briasson, etc., Paris. 11 vols.

105

Gusset, Gerard1983"Les poteries communes de l'epave duMochault - Inventaire et interpreta­tion." Manuscript on file, National His­toric Parks and Sites Branch, ParksCanada, Ottawa.

Lescallier, Daniel1791Traiiepratique du greement des vaisseaux etautres batiments de mer.... Clousier, Paris.

Litalien, Raymond1972"Le Machault, bateau corsaire duXVIIle." Culture Vivante, No. 24(March), pp. 11-16. Quebec.1977"Le Machault de Bayonne, Fregate Cor­saire echouee au Canada en 1760." Bul­letin de la Societe des Sciences, Lettreset Artsde Bayonne, No. 133, pp. 199-218. Bay­onne.

McNally, Paul1977"Table Glass from the Wreck of the Ma­chault." Canadian Historic Sites: Occa­sional Papers in Archaeology and History,No. 16, pp. 35-44. Ottawa.

Myles, Virginia1980"Bricks from the Wreck of the Ma­chault." Microfiche Report Series No.101, Parks Canada, Ottawa.

BibliographyProulx, Gilles1979"The Machauli: Some Research Notesand New Source Documents." ResearchBulletin, No. 110, Parks Canada, Ottawa.1982"Le dernier effort de la France au Can­ada - Secours ou fraude?" Revue d'his­toire de l'Amerique[ranause, Vol. 36, No. 3(Dec.), pp. 413-26. Montreal.1985"L'expeditiori de Ristigouche." Gas­pesie, Vo!. 23, No. 1 (March), pp. 16-28.Caspe.

Ritchie, Clarence F., and Charles S.Bradley1983"Clay Tobacco Pipes from the Wreck ofthe Machauli" Manuscript on file, Na­tional Historic Parks and Sites Branch,Parks Canada, Ottawa.

Ross, Lester A.1981"Eighteenth-Century French NavalDuties as Reflected by the Tools Re­covered from Le Machault, a 5th-RateFrigate Sunk in Chaleur Bay, Quebec,AD 1760." Manuscript on file, NationalHistoric Parks and Sites Branch, ParksCanada, Ottawa.

Sullivan, Catherine1979"A Catalogue of the Container Glassfrom the Machauli," Microfiche ReportSeries No. 93, Parks Canada, Ottawa.

106

Whate, Ron1981"A Cargo of Porcelains for Montreal,1760." Canadian Collector; Vo!. 16, No. I(Jan/Feb.), pp. 24-28. Toronto.n.d."The Chinese Export Porcelain Cargofrom the Machault," Manuscript in pro­gress, National Historic Parks and SitesBranch, Parks Canada, Ottawa.n.d."The 1': nglish Soft -Pas te PorcelainCargo from the Muchault:" Manuscriptin progress, National Historic Parksand Sites Branch, Parks Canada,Ottawa.

BibliographyWoodhead, Eileen I.1978"Artifacts from the M achault Related toFoodways, Artificial Lighting and Per­sonal Use or Wear: Metal and OrganicMaterials." Microfiche Report SeriesNo. 86, Parks Canada, Ottawa.

Zacharchuk, Waiter, and Peter J.A.Waddell1984The Excaoation of the Machault, an 18th­Century French Frigate. Parks Canada,Ottawa. Studies in Archaeology, Archi­tecture and History.

107