 Determined to claim a sealing concession of his own, Fornel explored Hamilton Inlet (until then known as Baie des Esquimaux and named Baie Saint-Louis) in Labrador aboard the "Expérience", which he owned with François Havy and Jean Lafebvre.According to his record of the journey, Fornel devised an experiment to prove that the Inuit did not, as was commonly supposed, live on raw meat and salt water.Fornel's claim to the Bay was never formally recognised until after his death, when it was granted to his widow, Marie-Anne Barbel, who carried on the family business.