3. We shall be transported altogether, in our own vessel, to Plaisance, a French Port in New Newfoundland. We do not wish to give up the fort till we have embarked, and we shall keep the French flag over the fort till we march out. 4. If we meet with our vessels there shall be a truce between us, and it shall be permitted to transport us with whatever belongs to us. 5. We shall take with us all the beaver skins and other merchandise obtained in trade this year, which shall be embarked with us upon our vessels. 6. All my men shall embark their clothes and whatever belongs to them without being subject to visitation, or robbed of anything. 7. In case of sickness during the voyage, you shall furnish us with all the remedies and medicines which we may require. 8. The two Frenchmen, who ought to return with the Indians, shall be received in the fort on their return, where they shall be treated the same as the English, and sent to Europe during the same year, or they shall be furnished with everything necessary to take them to Rochelle. We shall have the full exercise of our religion, and the Jesuit priest, our missionary, shall publicly perform the functions of his ministry. CHAPTER XIV. 1696-1697. Imprisoned French Fur-Traders Reach Paris -- A Fleet under Iberville Despatched by Lewis to the Bay -- Company's four Ships precede them through the Straits -- Beginning of a Fierce Battle -- The _Hampshire_ Sinks -- Escape of the _Dering_ and capture of the _Hudson's Bay_ -- Dreadful Storm in the Bay -- Losses of the Victors -- Landing of Iberville -- Operations against Fort Nelson -- Bailey Yields -- Evacuation by the English. The French prisoners captured in the Company's expedition of 1696 suffered an incarceration of nearly four months at Portsmouth. No sooner had their liberty been regained than they boarded a French brig bound for Havre, and on arrival in Paris lost little time in making known the condition of affairs at Hudson's Bay. Lewis and his Ministers, gazing upon this emaciated band of traders and bushrangers, could hardly refrain from taking immediate action to retrieve the situation. Precisely following the tactics of their enemy in the previous year, they engaged four men-of-war; which fleet was despatched to join Iberville, then at the port of Placentia in Newfoundland. The Court was well aware that there was no one man so thoroughly equipped at all points in knowledge of the Bay, and the conditions there of life and warfare, as this hero. Consequently, although numerous enough, all other offers to lead the expedition were rejected. On the arrival of the French ships at Placentia, Iberville took command, embarking in the _Pelican_, of fifty guns. The others were the _Palmier_, the _Weesph_, the _Pelican_, and the _Violent_.[31]