Cyrano de Bergerac's imaginary voyage to Canada: a survey of the colony -- Europeans and "the wild people": French-Amerindian relations -- Scepter and Main de justice: government ambitions to create a renewed France in North America -- The difficulty of finding settlers for New France and the reluctant exile of Manon Lescaut's countrymen -- Sea voyagers and Bonhomme Terreneuve: the newcomer's reception and appeals to come home -- Proud as a Canadien, stubborn as an Acadien: the emergence of new peoples -- Group and institutional loyalties: social rank, occupation, and parish -- The sovereign family -- Magic and religion in the colonists' world