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Part 2: First Settlements
After Eight and a half months of travel, the first settlers arrived in Terre Australe on December 9th, 1778, founding the colony of Louisport in Havre du Roi. The settlers found the climate to be quite nice (aside from the occasional heat wave, it is Australia after all), but the soil to be sandy and the sun to be intense. The early Louisport settlers survived off of hunting, fishing and supplies brought on the ships until more fertile land was found at Bèrmatte twelve miles to the west. Wild animals like Kangaroos, Dingos and Wombats (please suggest possible ATL French names for these, not Kangourou) also proved to be a problem for French colonists.
70 miles north of Louisport, the settlers from La Rochelle landed at the mouth of a river, naming both the river and town after the place they departed from, founding the colony of Rochelle. The Rochelle settlers found large deposits of coal nearby, which'd become quite important in the future. In addition, the settlers found decent farming and ranching land, as well as experimenting with wine growing.
Meanwhile to the south, French settlers found a nice harbor with fertile soils and nice weather, and decided to found the colony of Elouara, taking an indigenous name for the area. The area below the Elouara Hills (French: Collines de Elouara) became the breadbasket of the Terre Australe colonies, producing large amounts of Wheat, Maize and Vegetables, as well as wool and meat products. Wood was harvested in all three colonies, as well as small-scale quarrying and mining. Small forts were founded to defend the colony, either from natives or other Europeans looking to settle (cough cough, British, cough cough).
Part 2: First Settlements
With Terre Australe now on the French radar, King Louis XVI decided, despite France's bad financial situation, to settle Terre Australe. The crown recruited 8,000 settlers to leave for this mysterious landmass. The first group of 1,500 settlers were from Western France, leaving from the port of Nantes on March 26, 1778. Five more settlement parties left from France in the next year, from the ports of La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Le Havre, Marseille and St. Malo. Guided by sailors that had been on one or more of the exploration voyages, the ships made a few stops to pick up supplies along the way. After Eight and a half months of travel, the first settlers arrived in Terre Australe on December 9th, 1778, founding the colony of Louisport in Havre du Roi. The settlers found the climate to be quite nice (aside from the occasional heat wave, it is Australia after all), but the soil to be sandy and the sun to be intense. The early Louisport settlers survived off of hunting, fishing and supplies brought on the ships until more fertile land was found at Bèrmatte twelve miles to the west. Wild animals like Kangaroos, Dingos and Wombats (please suggest possible ATL French names for these, not Kangourou) also proved to be a problem for French colonists.
70 miles north of Louisport, the settlers from La Rochelle landed at the mouth of a river, naming both the river and town after the place they departed from, founding the colony of Rochelle. The Rochelle settlers found large deposits of coal nearby, which'd become quite important in the future. In addition, the settlers found decent farming and ranching land, as well as experimenting with wine growing.
Meanwhile to the south, French settlers found a nice harbor with fertile soils and nice weather, and decided to found the colony of Elouara, taking an indigenous name for the area. The area below the Elouara Hills (French: Collines de Elouara) became the breadbasket of the Terre Australe colonies, producing large amounts of Wheat, Maize and Vegetables, as well as wool and meat products. Wood was harvested in all three colonies, as well as small-scale quarrying and mining. Small forts were founded to defend the colony, either from natives or other Europeans looking to settle (cough cough, British, cough cough).
- Gabingston
- Word Count: 390