-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        French "Lieue"
Date:   Sun, 30 Apr 2006 15:08:20 -0400
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I am requesting help in determining

1) what "lieue" was being used by French explorers in North America in
the late 1600s;

2) when the change occurred from using the "Old Lieue" (=1666 toises)
to using the "Lieue de Poste" (=2000 toises), common in the 1700s.


The following may or may not be of any help:

"Lieue
An old french unit of length (English translation = league). There were
a number of
different definitions of a lieue, ranging from the 17th century lieue
equal to 1666 toise
[7], the 18th century "lieue de poste" or "Lieue de Ponts et Chaussées"
equal to 2000
toise (2.422 miles) [6,7] to a "lieu" equal to 10 km (6.24 miles). [3]
In modern metric
France, the Lieue is now considered to equal exactly 4 km (2.486 miles)."

http://www.rootsweb.com/~qcchatea/factors.htm


Thank you very much for any help you can provide,

Michael McCafferty