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This 1744 map, drawn by Nicolas Bellin and included in Charlevoix's Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France, provides a detailed depiction of Port Dauphin (present-day Englishtown), located on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The map shows the strategic layout of the harbor and the surrounding geographical features, including rivers, fortifications, and the entrance to Labrador.
The upper left inset provides a close-up of the proposed fortifications designed to protect the entrance to Port Dauphin, labeled Fort Projeté pour défendre l'Entrée du Port Dauphin. The fort plan illustrates its defensive structures, including batteries and curtain walls. The larger map also highlights natural features such as the Grand Étang, Pointe Rouge, and Cap Dauphin, with additional emphasis on maritime navigation, showing depth soundings and anchorage points.
Bellin’s map is significant for its precise detailing of French colonial military strategies in North America, aligning with Charlevoix's broader historical and geographical work on New France.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at only the age of 18, he was appointed Hydrographer to the French Navy. In August 1741, he became the first Ingénieur de la Marine of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine (the French Hydrographic Office) and was named Official Hydrographer of the French King.
During his term as Official Hydrographer, the Dépôt was the one of the most active centers for the production of sea charts and maps in Europe. Their output included a folio-format sea atlas of France, the Neptune Francois. He also produced a number of sea atlases of the world, including the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These gained fame and distinction all over Europe and were republished throughout the eighteenth and even in the nineteenth century.
Bellin also produced smaller format maps such as the 1764 Petit Atlas Maritime, containing 580 finely-detailed charts. He also contributed a number of maps for the 15-volume Histoire Generale des Voyages of Antoine François Prévost.
Bellin set a very high standard of workmanship and accuracy, cementing France's leading role in European cartography and geography during this period. Many of his maps were copied by other mapmakers across the continent.
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