In 1663, when New France was transferred from the Compagnie des Cent-Associés to royal control, the authorities looked to slavery as one means of increasing the necessary workforce to establish the colony. According to Winks, in 1677, Jean-Baptiste de Lagny, Sieur des Bringandières obtained royal permission to exploit the colony's resources and, in 1688, he approached Jacques-Réné de Brisay, the colony's governor, who, with the support of the colony's intendant, Jean Bochart de Champigny, appealed to the imperial authorities for the provision of enslaved African workers (Winks, 2000, p. 4).  
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[^0]:    2 Johnston outlines the archival evidence for the controversy over Da Costa's employment by French and Dutch traders, his contract to work for Dugua de Mons, signed in 1608, and Da Costa's imprisonment for 'insolences' in 1609. In his analysis of the 'possibilities and probabilities' regarding Da Costa, Johnston points to the long history of European-African contact, the role of African interpreters, the development of trade languages and the possibility of his transatlantic travel prior to the 1608 contract, thus exploring the possible means by which Da Costa acquired his skills. Johnston makes reference to scholarship by Hilary Russell, who 'summarizes the evolution of the published references to Da Costa in her unpublished manuscript, Looking for Mathieu da Costa, ms. on file, Parks Canada, Halifax' (Johnston, n.d.).