FISHERIES OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

Prince Edward Island is in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and is one hundred and seventeen miles long.

Cabot, in 1497, after losing sight of Newfoundland, and on the 24th of June, saw other land, to which, in honor of the day, he gave the name of St. John. The discovery was assumed to be this island, and it bore the name of St. John for a long period. The French, claiming that Verrazani was the first discoverer, granted it-in 1663-to the Sieur Doublett, a captain in the navy, to be held by him in vassalage of the royal company of Miscou. The Sieur's associates were two companies of fishing adventurers from St. Maloes and elsewhere in France, whose settlements upon the island were confined to places on the coast suited to their pursuits.

The French from Nova Scotia and Cape Breton emigrated thither until the government, to prevent the depopulation of Louisbourg, prohibited fishing except in certain harbors.

In 1758 the isle St. John surrendered to the British; and at the peace of 1763, was permanently annexed to the crown of Great Britain. The population was about 6,000. There were several thousand "black cattle" owned by the inhabitants at this time; and the cultivation of the soil was so extensive that it was called the " 'granary of Canada." Among the proprietors of land in 1775 was General Charles Lee, who owned a tract of ten thousand acres, on which he had expended about five thousand dollars. As he had been an officer in the British army, and had served in America, it may be presumed that this estate was a grant from the crown.*

At the peace of 1783, the isle St. John became the home of several of the "tories" or loyalists of the Revolution, and, the following year, was formed into a colony and called Prince Edward Island. The population in 1806 was less than 10,000; in 1841 it was upwards of 47,000.

The north and south coasts are much indented with bays and coyes, and the waters teem with fish. But as the soil is generally good, and owned by persons of skill and property, the fisheries are much neglected. Various attempts have been made to induce greater attention to maritime pursuits.

In 1842, it is believed that a company was formed in England, with a capital of several hundred thousand dollars, to promote this object. The plan of this association was, as is said, to purchase land for a town, erect buildings, and send over two thousand persons. Of its actual operations and success I have no knowledge. In 1844 the governor of the colony, "in a speech from the throne," recommended the organization of a company for the prosecution of the fisheries.

Mackerel are at times abundant. A single example will suffice: In 1848 an American schooner was dismasted, and put into Georgetown to repair. Having refitted, she went to sea, and returned to port with

* General Charles Lee was a colonel in the British army, and served in America in the French war. He lost the favor of the ministry by his course in the revolutionary controversy, and entered the service of Congress. His dislike of Washington was the cause of his ruin. He died at Philadelphia in 1782.

eighty barrels of fat mackerel, after being absent only one week. The fish were taken, however, in two days, the weather interfering with operations during the remaining part of the time.

The exports of Prince Edward Island are not large, and often merely nominal; the catch of the various kinds of fish hardly exceeding the demand for domestic consumption."

During the season for fishing our vessels frequent the coasts in fleets; and as many as six or seven hundred have been seen in the vicinity of the island in a single year.

Captain Fair, of the royal navy, in command of her Majesty's ship the Champion, who was upon the station in 1839, passed the number here stated, and bears honorable testimony to their good conduct.

The feelings of the inhabitants towards our countrymen may be ascertained from the following resolution, which is understood to have passed the House of Assembly unanimously during the session of 1852: "Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare an address to her Majesty the Queen, praying that she will cause to be removed the restrictions of the treaty of 1818, prohibiting American citizens from fishing within certain prescribed limits on the shores of the island; provided the American government admit articles the growth or production of this island into the United States duty free, in accordance with the act 12 Vic., cap. 3, including fish; also, vessels built on this island to American registry; and that the legislative council be requested to join in the said address."

FISHERIES OF THE MAGDALENE ISLANDS.

The Magdalene Islands fisheries are of consequence. These islands, seven in number, are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and about forty miles northwesterly of Cape Breton. They originally belonged to the French, and were first granted, I suppose, in 1663, to the Sieur Doublett and his associates, as a fishing station, under the feudal tenure, as a fief of the royal company of Miscou. After they became possessions of the British crown they were granted to Richard Gridley, of Massachusetts, who served under Pepperell at the siege of Louisbourg, who, in 1775, laid out the works on Bunker's Hill, and who was retained by Washington as chief of the engineer department of the continental army.t

The Magdalene islands are thinly inhabited, at the present time, by fishermen, many of whom are the lineal descendants of the Acadians, who made the first permanent settlement in North America, under De Monts, the original French grantee of Acadia, or Nova Scotia. The

*The value of the products of the sea exported in 1851, was only $38,776; while of the sin gle agricultural article of potatoes, the value was $47,568.

+ Whether Colonel Gridley retained the ownership of these islands until the Revolution, and lost them in consequence of the part he took in that event, is unknown to me. But the Magdalenes were a second time granted by the British crown. The last grantee was the late Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, who, at his decease, is understood to have bequeathed them to Captain John Townsend Coffin, of the royal navy, to be held by him and hs heirs male, in strict entail. Captain Coffin leased these islands for the term of his life, it is believed, in the spring of 1852, to Benjamin Wier, of Halifax, and John Fontana, a resident at the Magdalenes.

fishermen of Acadian descent retain to this day the dress, the customs, language, and religion of their ancestors.

The herring fishery at these islands at times is very extensive. The catch, in some seasons, has been from eighty thousand to one hundred. thousand barrels; and as many as one hundred and fifty vessels from the United States have been seen there at once. The quality of the fish is, however, poor, and the curing and packing carelessly performed. I have seen whole cargoes that, unfit for human food, were entirely worthless, except as dressing for grass lands.

Large seines are used in the fishery, and hundreds of barrels are often taken at a single haul. The inhabitants welcome the arrival of our fishermen, and treat them kindly. No serious difficulties have ever occurred, and in no part of British America, probably, have the relations of the people of the two nations been more intimate or more harmonious.*

By a singular arrangement, these islands are included in the government of Canada. As communication with the capital of that colony is interrupted by ice and inclement weather nearly half of the year, and is generally free with Nova Scotia, annexation to the latter is much to be desired.

Statistics of the year 1848.-Exports.

The Bay of Chaleurs was explored by Jacques Cartier, in 1534 He gave the name it bears-the "Bay of Heat." On its shores are some of the oldest settlements in North America.

As at the Magdalene islands, many of the fishermen here are Acadian French, a people whose story possesses a melancholy interest, and whose sufferings at an eventful period of their history have been commemorated by the poet Longfellow, in "Evangeline." They continue to live in villages distinct from the English settlers, and within sound of the chapel bell. The most devout and decided Catholics, they seldom intermarry with protestants. After the services of Sunday, they as

Perhaps the year 1852 forms an exception. There was a difficulty of some sort in the spring, but the exact facts have not been ascertained. The Halifax Sun, in giving an account of the trouble, says: "The Americans, not satisfied with infringing the provisions of the treaty by casting their nets side by side with the British residents and subjects within the limits prescribed, per force of numbers and audacity took possession of the fish in the nets of their competitors. The indignant residents rallied in strong force; an American vessel and crew were captured in way of reprisal, and taken into harbor. The Americans during the night following gathered in their strength, and triumphantly 'cut the vessel out,' leaving the skipper, however, in durance under lock and key."

semble for social enjoyment and amusement. Few of them are corrupt and vicious, but most are superstitious and ignorant. The women, like those of the ancient fishing-town, Dieppe, in France, from which their ancestors came, wear calico caps or handkerchiefs tied over the head, short petticoats of woollen stuff striped with red, white, and blue, and plaited in large folds at the waist, and blue stockings; while on Sunday, over a neat and clean attire, they throw upon the shoulders a small blue cloak, reaching about half way down the body, and fastened at the breast with a brass brooch. The men appear in short round jackets, with straight collars and metal buttons set close together, blue or scarlet waistcoats and blue trowsers, and sometimes the bonnet rouge, but generally round hats. Individuals, however, of both sexes, dress differently. The women, or "fish-wives"-as at the fishing ports of Normandy, Piccardy, and Brittany, in France-work very hard, performing the whole labor of curing the fish, in addition to the ordinary duties of cooking, spinning and weaving, and the care of the children.

The cod-fishing establishments in this bay are ancient and extensive. Of those of modern times, that of Messrs. Robin & Co., founded in 1768, is the largest, best ordered, and most prosperous. They have a number of finished buildings, which are conveniently arranged, and kept in excellent repair. They export about 30,000 quintals of cod annually, besides a quantity of pickled fish and oil. Their vessels come from the Isle of Jersey in the spring, are dismantled on arrival, and lie moored until the close of the fishing season; the masters and crews either fishing in boats, or collecting the fish caught by residents, who obtain their supplies and outfits of the firm. In the autumn the vessels are equipped, and depart for Europe with full cargoes. It is said that the first head of the firm, the late Charles Robin, among other rules for the management of the business, directed in his will that no female should reside at, or be employed at any of the fishing establishments of the concern; and that, in accordance therewith, the gentlemen and clerks of the present firm of Robin & Co. leave their families in Jersey while sojourning in the Bay of Chaleurs.

The fishery is carried on almost entirely in boats, two persons in each, who return home every night and land the day's catch. At the close of the season the resident fishermen settle with the merchants with whom they deal, carrying to their storehouses all the fish not previously collected by their agents.

The whale fishery is pursued to some extent in the Bay of Chaleurs and the adjacent seas. "The whales caught within the Gulf of St. Lawrence," says Macgregor, "are those called 'hump-backs,' which yield, on an average, about three tuns of oil. Some have been taken seventy feet long, which produced eight tons. The mode of taking them is somewhat different from that followed by the Greenland fishers, and the Gaspè fishermen first acquired an acquaintance with it from the people of Nantucket. An active man, accustomed to boats and schooners, may become fully acquainted with everything connected with this fishery in one season. The vessels best adapted for the purpose are schooners of from seventy to eighty tons burden, manned with a crew of eight men, including the master. Each schooner requires two boats, about twenty feet long, built narrow and sharp, and with pink

sterns; and two hundred and twenty fathoms of line are necessary in each boat, with spare harpoons and lances. The men row towards the whale, and when they are very near, use paddles, which make less noise than oars.

"Whales are sometimes taken fifteen minutes after they are struck with the harpoon. The Gaspè fishermen never go in quest of them until some of the small ones, which enter the bay about the beginning of June, appear; these swim too fast to be easily harpooned, and are not, besides, worth the trouble. The large whales are taken off the entrance of Gaspè bay, on each side of the island of Anticosti, and up the river St. Lawrence as far as Bique."

In Gaspè basin-I ascertain from another source-the whale fishery is one of the chief means of support. Yet the number of inhabitants is small. Four or five schooners of the size mentioned by Macgregor are employed, and probably two hundred men. The produce is about 20,000 gallons annually. The basin is safe, commodious, and easy of access. The whales are taken at and near its entrance in the spring, and around the island of Anticosti and on the north shore of the St. Lawrence in the summer.

The fisheries of Canada, other than those of the Magdalene islands, Bay of Chaleurs, and Gulf of St. Lawrence generally, are too inconsiderable to require attention. While Canada was a possession of France, the seas were neglected. Twenty years after the conquest the exports of fish were small. From Canada proper there has been no increase, as will be seen.

Exports from Quebec, Gaspè, and New Carlisle, presumed to be of the produce of the Bay of Chaleurs fisheries.