march ANT, Printer, 
 iDgram-Court, London. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The discovery of America has produced im- 
 portant changes in the knowledge of the globe, 
 navigation, and natural history in its several 
 branches. The ancient systems of geography 
 have gradually vanished, and mankind have 
 founded their knowledge of the form and 
 surface of the terraqueous globe on facts and 
 experience. The w'hole art of voyaging by 
 sea, the construction and equipment of ships, 
 and the methods proper to preserve the lives 
 and health of seamen in all climates, are like- 
 wise much better known. The sphere of 
 natural history has been considerably enlarged 
 by the wider field which this discovery has 
 opened of the works of the Great Creator, 
 some of which appear there constructed on a 
 
 a 2 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 larger scale and in' a more magnificent style 
 than in the Old Continent. The vegetable 
 productions thus discovered have enriched the 
 medical art with many valuable acquisitions. 
 The precious metals, as well as diamonds and 
 pearls, have since been much more common; 
 and the fossil treasures, not only afiord many 
 useful articles in commerce and the arts, but 
 also demonstrate the certainty of an universal 
 convulsion of the earth at some remote period, 
 and thus confirm the truth of the sacred 
 records. Lastly, we may say, that the history 
 of this discovery and of the events which 
 followed it, in particular that of the conquest 
 of Peru and of Mexico, present descriptions 
 and facts so amazing and stupendous, that 
 truth may be said to have put fiction out of 
 countenance. 
 
 But, on the other hand, when we contem- 
 plate those immense countries invaded and 
 laid waste : their peaceful inhabitants either 
 butchered or loaded with chains; a dreadful 
 solitude established upon the ruins of an innu- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 V 
 
 merable, harmless, and hapi)y population; 
 the ferocious invaders destroying one another, 
 and heaping their dead bodies upon those of 
 their victims; and the traffic of man, sold and 
 purchased by his fellow-men, introduced in 
 order to replace the population thus destroyed, 
 and to assist in procuring those metals which 
 have been the cause of so many crimes, or to 
 cultivate that groupd still reeking with the 
 blood of its lawful possessors ; — when we 
 reflect that the West Indian Islands, which, 
 when first discovered, afforded a peaceable 
 and even delightful retreat to their inhabitants, 
 became, after a few bloody years, so many 
 frightful solitudes, impervious and unwhole- 
 some, the hot-bed of fevers, doomed for ever 
 after to destroy the strength, the health, the 
 lives of their visitors, and to communicate to 
 more salubrious climates the contamination of 
 their infected atmosphere ; — it may be asked, 
 are not the advantages obtained by this disco- 
 very counterbalanced, or at least considerably 
 embittered, by the reflection of the price 
 which humanity has paid for them? 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 If, proceeding further to the north, we 
 take a view of the immense extent of coast 
 which reaches from Cape-Florida to the Gulf 
 of Saint Lawrence, we cannot refuse our ad- 
 miration to the fortitude, industry, and per- 
 severance, whicli operated such a wonderful 
 change in the face of that country. 
 
 Before, the whole extent presented a surface 
 covered with inaccessible forests or marshes; 
 and these, cleared by European industry, soon 
 made room for commodious dwellings; the 
 wild beasts retired, and flocks of domestic 
 animals supplied their place, while to thorns 
 and briers succeeded the most luxuriant har- 
 vests: the coasts were covered with towns, 
 and the bays and harbours with ships. 
 
 But, on the other hand, when we observe 
 that those men who represented themselves as 
 the oppressed victims of persecution, soon 
 became themselves the most cruel persecutors; 
 — when we reflect on the inhuman laws and 
 proceedings of the Puritans against all who 
 
 £2 
 
I’REFACE. 
 
 trth, we 
 of coasi 
 the Gul 
 i our ad 
 and per 
 vonderfii 
 
 a surfact 
 marshes: 
 itry, sooj 
 ]gs; the 
 domestic 
 to thorn! 
 riant har 
 th towns 
 s. 
 
 re obserrt 
 
 mselvesa> 
 
 ion, so® 
 rsecuton 
 laws anf 
 : all wh" 
 
 vii 
 
 dissented from them; the horrid transactions 
 respecting the supposed witches; the conten- 
 tions wdiich perpetually disturbed the peace of 
 the colonies, even when the common safety 
 required the greatest unanimity ; the con- 
 tinual state of warfare natural to the savage 
 inhabitants of those countries, adopted there 
 by European nations among themselves, and 
 those very savages armed by Europeans against 
 Europeans; — we turn with astonishment to 
 that vast island, whose name is scarcely ever 
 mentioned in the history of those times, 
 Newfoundland, — discovered by Cabot even 
 before Columbus had made his first voyage to 
 the continent of America, — and settled by 
 Europeans long before any other part of the 
 new world. VVe ask with surprise how it 
 happens that Newfoundland should hitherto 
 have been so little known, as to make it, even 
 in our most modern systems of geography, a 
 matter of doubt whether Placentia or Saint 
 John’s were its capital, — whether the race of its 
 ancient inhabitants were extinct or still in ex- 
 istence, — whetlier it were inhabited by Euro- 
 
rill 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 peans, or a mere desert island. Has it been 
 thus hitherto neglected by historians and geo- 
 graphers, because, as some have supposed, it 
 is barren and useless? But, on closer investi- 
 gation, we find, on the contrary, that New- 
 foundland has been the object of frequent and 
 obstinate contests among the principal maritime 
 powers of Europe, in order to establish an 
 exclusive right to its possession, or at least to 
 obtain a participation in the' advantages which 
 it procures to its possessor: we find it holding 
 a distinguished rank in several declarations of 
 war, as well as in preliminaries and treaties of 
 peace among them. It is a mine of treasure 
 far more valuable than the boasted mines of 
 Peru, because more really advantageous to its 
 possessor and to mankind in general. The 
 Spaniards, while solely anxious to obtain the 
 possession, and to secure the produce of the 
 richest mines of silver and gold in the world, 
 neglected the arts and agriculture ; their wealth 
 and existence itself became dependent upon 
 the safe arrival of their galleons : poor in their 
 supposed opulence, they soon were found a 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 s it beei 
 and gea 
 posed, ii 
 r invest 
 lat New- 
 |uent ant 
 maritimi 
 ibiish ai 
 it least ti 
 es whicl 
 t holdim 
 ations oi 
 •eaties ol 
 tveasuit 
 mines a 
 !OUS to it 
 ;ral. Tb 
 obtain tb 
 ace of tb 
 the 
 
 leirwealf 
 kilt upfl 
 or in thfi 
 1 fouiitl* 
 
 different nation from what they had been 
 before. — Newfoundland, on the contrary, offer- 
 ing to its possessors an inexhaustible source of 
 commodities, easily obtained, and as easily 
 exchanged for silver and gold, not only in- 
 creased, or even, according to some writers, 
 created the naval power of England, but also 
 encouraged the arts and manufactures of the 
 mother-country, furnishing employment to a 
 vast number of mariners and fishermen, and 
 to a multitude of artificers and mechanics, 
 such as ship-carpenters, coopers, block-ma- 
 kers, blacksmiths, sjvinners, net-makers, sail- 
 cloth manufacturers, sail-makers, rope-makers, 
 salt-makers, tanners, curriers, &c. &c. 
 
 Newfoundland has hitherto been little known, 
 because it has not forced itself upon the notice 
 of the historiographer by deeds of cruelty, or 
 by intestine divisions or external attempts 
 which endangered the safety or the peace of 
 its neighbours ; but, on the contrary, like the 
 source of the Nile, unobserved and unknown, 
 it silently distributed subsistence to a conside- 
 
1 
 
 
 X preface. 
 
 rable portion of the inhabitants, and particu- 
 larly of the poor of both hemispheres; and 
 while the other settlements with which the 
 Europeans have covered the new' world, have 
 generally been the destruction of the first colo- 
 nists whom they have received, and of a great 
 number of their successors; the climate of 
 Newfoundland has even restored strength to 
 those whose health had been affected by less 
 wholesome climates, even to whole regiments, 
 as well as to merchants and others coming 
 from the West Indies. To these observations 
 it may be added, that this island, considered, 
 in respect to size, as next to Cuba and Saint 
 Domingo, contains in its interior a race of 
 men who, as we have strong reasons to believe, 
 have maintained themselves during eight cen- 
 turies, without any connexion whatever with 
 any other tribe or part of the human race. 
 
 Features so striking as these attracted my 
 notice soon after my arrival in Newfoundland, 
 in October 1799. More important considera- 
 tions led me afterwards to inquire minutely 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 d partict into its circumstances, interests, history, and 
 eires; aa laws. A collection of facts, selected from a 
 which i variety of respectable sources, extracts from 
 orld, b the Records of the Courts there, and my own 
 > first col observations committed to a diary, had, in the 
 course of thirteen years, supplied me with a 
 climate ( mass of materials which, I confess, I had 
 strength 1 some thought of arranging with a view to pub- 
 ed by la Hcation on my return to this country. But, on 
 regiment! my arrival here in the latter end of August, 
 rs comitt 1812, I became apprehensive that a work of 
 servation this nature might not possess sufficient claims 
 insidered to the attention of the general reader to autho- 
 and Sail rize its publication, particularly at a time when 
 a race i the most valuable interests of all the nations of 
 tobelien Europe engrossed the anxious thoughts of 
 eight ca every individual. I, therefore, determined 
 itever wil silently to consign over the produce of my 
 arace. labours to a number of manuscripts on other 
 subjects more immediately connected with 
 traded It the situations which I had held there, and 
 folindlait which I had accumulated during the leisure 
 consider hours that could be spared in the winter 
 . miniil^? season, consistently with my public duties. I 
 
Yii PREFACK. 
 
 persevered m this determination, although re- 
 peatedly asked why I did not publish some 
 work respecting that island, until the latter 
 end of the month of March, 1818 , when the 
 same question was asked, rather in terms ot 
 reproach, and with the assurance that “ such 
 a work would undoubtedly be very acceptable 
 to the British public.” Being thus induced to 
 reconsider the subject, I at last resolved upon 
 the attempt, communicated , my manuscript, 
 when completed, to a literary friend, and still 
 farther encouraged by his approbation and a 
 repetition of the same assurance, I now humbly 
 submit it to the perusal of a candid and indul- 
 gent public. 
 
 rmv - . 
 
 
t 
 
 Ithough 1 
 iblish 801 
 I the lati 
 h wheni 
 in terms 
 that “ so 
 ^ acceptal 
 induced 
 solved up 
 nanuscrij 
 d, and St 
 tion and 
 [)w huml) 
 and indi 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Preface iii 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The.Northmen. 
 
 Various claims to the first peopling of America 1 
 
 Newfoundland first discovered by accident by the 
 
 Northmen, who give it the name of Win4and* • • • (> 
 
 Wild vine — Martha's Vineyard — Isle of Bacchus • • • • 7 
 
 Bay of Exploits — Gander-Bay 9 
 
 Skroellingers or Esquimaux 1*2 
 
 Red Indians 14 
 
 Maritime intercourse' interrupted by the increase of the 
 
 Arctic ice 15 
 
 Voyage of the two Zenos of Venice ih. 
 
 Estotilaud 16 
 
 Revolution in Win-land in the beginning of the fifteenth 
 
 century • • • • 20 
 
 Savage life not the natural state of man • • • 22 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 John and Sebastian Cabot. 
 
 Discovery of the Brazils the effect of accident 23 
 
 Columbus applies to Henry VII 24 
 
XIV 
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Venice— John Cahot * 
 
 Voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot to Newfound- 
 land 
 
 Bonavista — Baccalaos 
 
 This discovery attributed by some writers to Sebastian 
 Fabian’s account of three natives of Newfoundland 
 
 brought to England by Cabot 
 
 Further account of Sebastian Cabot •.#••• 
 
 Remarks of Purchas, Sir William Monson, &c. on 
 
 this discovery of Newfoundland •• 
 
 Want of precision in the writers of those times •••••• 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 28 
 fft. 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 34 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 Continuation of the History from 1497 to 1548. 
 The Newfoundland fishery frequented as early as the 
 
 year 1500 
 
 Gaspar de Corte Real, in 1501 
 
 Conception-Bay — Terra Corterealis, or New Britain 
 
 — Labrador ’ 
 
 Voyages of Verazani by order of Francis I. 
 
 Attempt of Robert Thorne, of Bristol, by order of 
 Henry VIII. towards a passage to the Indies by the 
 
 North Pole, 1527 
 
 Why France attended at that time to voyages of disco- 
 very less than other nations 41 
 
 James Cartier, of Saint Maloes, in 1534 42 
 
 The same, in 1535 44 
 
 De Roberval, of Picardy, receives a most extensive 
 grant from Francis I. and makes great prepara- 
 tions for a voyage to North America 46 
 
 Cartier's third voyage 46 
 
 Hoare, of London, sails for Newfoundland, in 1536, 
 with a considerable number of gentlemen of fortune 47 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 f Page 
 
 Their extreme distress in that island^and return to 
 
 [ewfouni England 49 — 53 
 
 Rapid increase of the British Newfoundland fisheries, 
 
 *****••• and first act of parliament respecting them 54 
 
 Sebastian 
 
 foundland 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I, &c, on Continuation from 1548 to 1630. 
 
 ........ Why colonics were not sooner sent to America •••••• 57 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, “the parent of all the British 
 
 plantations in America,^' makes the first attempt 
 towards a settlement there in Newfoundland, for 
 
 which he obtains a patent from Queen Elizabeth, 
 
 [)7to 1W& and sails for that island in 1578 56 
 
 jy as the New regulations on property in fishing-rooms in 1582 59 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert's second voyage in 1583 60 
 
 ,,.***• He arrives at Saint John's and takes formal possession 
 
 w Brilaan of the island 62 
 
 Inquires into its nature, inhabitants, and productions 65 
 
 Supposed discovery of mines of iron, silver, &c. • • • • 66 
 
 order of Conspiracies among his crews 67 
 
 dies by the Delight 68 
 
 Loss of Sir Humphrey in the Squirrel, on his return to 
 
 sofdisc^ Euglaml 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh sails for North America 74 
 
 Sir Francis Drake sails for Newfoundland ib, 
 
 First attempt in the 5 ea/-fishery by Richard Strang, of 
 
 t eitensne Apsliam, in 1593 75 
 
 jt repara* Jones, of Bristol, in 1594 • • 77 
 
 Charles Leigh and Van Herwick, of London, in 1597 ^b. 
 
 De la Roche sails with a grant from Henry IV. of 
 
 . France, in 1598 79 
 
 ' .. . .. Chauvin, in 1600 and 1601, — Canadian trade* 80 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Samuel Champlain takes a part in the quarrels of the 
 Indians in Canada, and supplies them with fire- 
 
 arms 
 
 Hackluyt forms an association of men of rank for the 
 purpose of establishing colonies in North America, 
 
 in 1606 
 
 Attempt to discover a north-west passage in 1606 
 
 Quebec founded in J607, and James-Town in 1608 • • 
 Voyage of John Knight to Labrador and New- 
 
 foundland 
 
 Henry Hudson and John Guy, in 1610 
 
 Whitburn sent to Newfoundland, in 1614, with a com- 
 niission from the Admiralty to impannel juries, &g. 
 State of the English fisheries there in 1614 and 1615 
 Settlements then existing in Saint John's, Torbay, &c. 
 Doctor Vaughan and Whitburn at Ferryland, in 1615 
 Avalon founded by Sir George Calvert and Edward 
 
 Wynne, in 1623 
 
 Wynne's and Powell's accounts of the state of cultiva- 
 tion in the new province 
 
 Other improvements at Ferryland 
 
 Colony sent from Ireland 
 
 Defeat of a French squadron on that coast by Ldrd 
 Baltimore, who leaves Newfoundland in 1632, and 
 afterwards founds Maryland • • 
 
 81 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 ib. 
 
 82 
 
 ih. 
 
 84 
 
 ib. 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 ib. 
 
 87 
 
 88 
 
 ib. 
 
 88 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Continuation from 1633 to 1702. 
 Charles 1. encourages the English settlements and fish- 
 eries in North America, and issues a commission 
 for the better government of Newfoundland, in 
 1633 
 
 90 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xvii 
 
 Page 
 
 His example is followed by France 92 
 
 Sir David Kirk carries a colony to Newfoundland in 
 1654 — ^The number of settlements there increases 
 rapidly, the principal of which are Saint John's, 
 Ferryland, and Quidy-Vidy — Placentia founded by 
 
 the French 93 
 
 Consequences of Colbert’s measures respecting the 
 
 French fisheries at Newfoundland ih. 
 
 Ordinance of Louis XIV. 95 
 
 War with France * . 
 
 Failure of an attempt against Placentia 9G 
 
 France aims at the possession of all Norlii America • • 98 
 
 Attempt of Nesmond, in 1696, on Saint John’s 101 
 
 Capture by Brouillan and Ibberville of the whole 
 
 island, except Bonavista and Carbonier-Harbour 102 
 Fruitless expedition of Admiral Nevil and Sir John 
 
 Gibson 203 
 
 Peace of Rhyswick 
 
 Sir John Norrh, Governor in 1697, Sir Stafford Fair- 
 
 borne, in 1700, and Sir John Leake, in 1702— 
 Distinguished character of the officers appointed 
 
 to that station from 1675 104 
 
 King William's act ‘‘ to encourage the trade to New- 
 foundland " 205 
 
 Fishing Admirals and other important regulations for 
 the better government of the fishery and adminis- 
 tration of justice 206 
 
 Formation of “ the Society for the Propagation of the 
 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts" 208 
 
 First missionary in Newfoundland m 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 ' CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Retrospective View of the Newfoundland 
 Fishery, and of the Accounts of that 
 Island by different Writers of the seven- 
 ' TEENTH Century 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Continuation of the HsFtory from 1702 to 1713. 
 
 War with France—Hostilities in Newfoundland 120 
 
 Fruitless expedition of Vice-Admiral Graydon 121 
 
 Fruitless attempt of the French against Saint John s • • 123 
 Gallant and successful operations of a small English 
 
 squadron on the northern coast of Newfoundland 124 
 Resolution of parliament respecting that island in 1707 129 
 
 Saint John's taken and destroyed in 1708 • . . . . ih. 
 
 Fruitless attempt of the French against Carbonier* • • • 130 
 
 Alarm in England respecting Newfoundland 131 
 
 Fruitless expedition against Quebec and Placentia* • • • 133 
 
 Treaty of Utrecht .••••• 134 
 
 Death of Queen Anne 135 
 
 Disorders occasioned by the Jesuits in Nova Scotia and 
 
 Newfoundland ih. 
 
 Disputes respecting boundaries 137 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Continuation from 1713 to 1763. 
 
 Eflfects of the act of King William respecting New- 
 foundland — Insufficiency of the system of judi- 
 cature established by that act 139 
 
 Appointment of a Civil Governor; — of a Court of Oyer 
 and Terminer;— of a High Sheriff;— -of Justices of 
 the Peace in out-harbours and of Floating Sur- 
 rogates, in 1728 1^40 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 
 JDLAND 
 ? THAT 
 SEVEN- 
 
 2 TO 1713. 
 
 15( 
 
 121 
 
 olin’s •• 125 
 English 
 lodland 12l 
 in 1707 12} 
 
 d 
 
 ier*.** 11« 
 
 131 
 
 Ilia..** 131 
 
 131 
 
 13j' 
 
 otia and 
 
 il 
 
 13 
 
 53. 
 
 ng New* 
 of jo(K* 
 
 1 » 
 
 of Oyer 
 dices of 
 Dg Sur- 
 
 Page 
 
 Lord Graham — Admiral Byng 143 
 
 Court of Vice-AdDiiraity established 144 
 
 Appointment of a Naval Officer 145 
 
 France loses her part of Newfoundland, and the island 
 
 of Cape-Breton 140 
 
 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle 
 
 Origin of the war in 1755 147 
 
 Beginning of hostilities on the coast of Newfoundland 149 
 
 Sir Charles Hardy — Lord Rodney • • • • 150 
 
 Ancient custom in Saint John's in cases of insolvency* • 152 
 
 Captain James Webb 153 
 
 Captain, afterwards Lord, Graves 154 
 
 Claim of Spain to the Newfoundland fishery 155 
 
 War with Spain in 1762 157 
 
 Bay-Bulls, Saint John's, Carbonier, Trinity, See, taken 
 
 by a French squadron under Admiral de Ternay • • ib. 
 Retaken by Lord Colville and Sir Jeffrey Amherst • • 159 
 
 Robert Carter — Charles Garland • • 167 
 
 Captain James Cook • • * t • • . 168 
 
 Distress in Saint John's 170 
 
 Treaty of Paris in 1763 171 
 
 Coast of Labrador annexed to the government of New- 
 foundland 173 
 
 Tenor of tlie commissions of the peace issued at that 
 
 time 174 
 
 Court of Oyer and Terminer 175 
 
 Abuses respecting fishing-rooms, the administration of 
 
 justice, &c 176 
 
 Scot and a party of native Indians 181 
 
 Effects of the Treaty of Paris on the Newfoundland 
 
 fisheries 182 
 
 Population of the island in 1763* ••• 184 
 
 b 2 
 
XX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Continuation from 17C3 to 1775. 
 
 Alarm in England respecting Newfoundland 
 
 Increase of the fisheries 
 
 Captain Hugh Palliser 
 
 Captain Byron 
 
 Disturbances in Newfoundland — Custom-House •••••• 
 
 Sir Roger Curtis (Note) 
 
 Disturbances in the American colonies 
 
 Suspension of supplies from the continent 
 
 Sir Hugh Palliser’s act • • 
 
 Captain Duff — Salmon fisheries 
 
 Page 
 
 186 
 
 188 
 
 189 
 
 190 
 
 191 
 
 193 
 
 194 
 197 
 199 
 202 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Continuation from 1775 to 1793. 
 
 American privateers 204 
 
 Rear-Admiral Montague — Proclamation for the pro- 
 tection of the Newfoundland Indians 205 
 
 Sudden recall of the French fishermen and mariners 
 
 from the banks 207 
 
 War with France — Rear-Admiral Edwards 208 
 
 Vice-Admiral Camj)bell — Mr. Aaron Graham 209 
 
 Effects of that war on the British Newfoundland fish- 
 eries ib. 
 
 Treaties of 1783, — with America and with France* • • • 209 
 Change in the French boundaries in Newfoundland • • 210 
 Comparative increase of the British Newfoundland 
 
 fisheries in 1785 211 
 
 Act regulating the intercourse between Newfoundland 
 
 and the United States of America (b. 
 
 Act of 1786 for the encouragement of the Newfound- 
 land fisheries 010 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXI 
 
 188 
 
 188 
 
 188 
 
 188 
 
 191 
 
 198 
 
 191 
 
 m 
 
 IK 
 
 2K 
 
 I. 
 
 2I)' 
 
 lie pro- 
 
 20i 
 
 mariners 
 
 20! 
 
 2« 
 
 2«, 
 
 and fisb- 
 
 J 
 
 ioce**” ^ 
 jland •• 21* 
 )uudlafld 
 
 lundJdud 
 
 a 
 
 kvfound- 
 
 21J 
 
 Page 
 
 Beneficial changes in the courts of justice — Rear-Ad- 
 
 miral Elliot 214 
 
 Rear-Admiral Mark Milbanke — Court of Common 
 
 i'ieas 215 
 
 Establishment of the “ Supreme Court of Judicature" 21(i 
 
 Chief-Justice John Reeves 217 
 
 Act of the 33d Geo. III. cap. 76 219 
 
 Clause respecting cases of insolvency id. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Continuation from 1793 to 181 R. 
 Causes which had hitherto prevented the British Go- 
 vernment trom obtaining correct information on 
 
 the state of things in Newfoundland 221 
 
 Important consequences of the late improvements in 
 
 the administration of justice 224 
 
 State of the British Newfoundland fisheries in 1795 •• 225 
 Sir James Wallace and the French Admiral Richery . • 226 
 
 Vice-Admiral Waldegrave 227 
 
 . Premature attempt to establish a college in Saint Johifs 228 
 
 Curious trial 234 
 
 Vice-Admiral Gambier — Mr. Joseph Trounsell 236 
 
 State of Conception-Bay 237 
 
 Change there in the civil and ecclesiastical state of 
 
 things 239 
 
 Society for Improving the Condition of the Poor, and 
 
 Sunday-schools in Conception-Bay * . . . 241 
 
 A similar society established in Saint John's id. 
 
 Other improvements in Conception-Bay id. 
 
 Treaty of Amiens 242 
 
 Renewal of hostilities 244 
 
 A female Indian in Saint John's 245 
 
i 
 
 
 xxii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Loss of the Lady Hobart packet, and arrival of her 
 
 passengers and crew in Conception-Bay 
 
 Printing-office established - Volunteer militia formed 
 
 in Saint John's * * ” 
 
 Post-office established in Saint John’s and Conception- 
 
 Bay 
 
 Act of 180 J)— Coast of Labrador re-annexed to the 
 
 government of Newfoundland •••• •••• ••••••*• 
 
 First attempt to open a communication with the native 
 
 Indians of Newfoundland 
 
 Scarcity of cattle * 
 
 Sir John Thomas Duckworth 
 
 Second attempt respecting the native Indians 
 
 Sale of ships-rooms in Saint John's 
 
 Third attempt respecting the native Indians 
 
 War with America* 
 
 247 
 
 248 
 
 249 
 
 249 
 
 25Q 
 
 261 
 
 262 
 
 ib. 
 
 254 
 
 256 
 
 258 
 
 Ravages* by the small-pox in Saint John's • • • • ib. 
 
 Fire in Harbour-Grace 259 
 
 The History of Newfoundland continued to the year 
 1818 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Description of the Banks and Island of Newfound- 
 land AND OF THE COAST OF LABRADOR. 
 
 Theory of the Abbe Clavigero concerning the first 
 
 peopling of America 277 
 
 Atalantis 278 
 
 Revolutions produced by volcanoes and earthquakes* • 279 
 Remarkable earthquakes in Canada in 1663, and at 
 
 Boston in 1727 281 
 
 Traces of volcanoes in Massachusetts* * • • * 282 
 
 Extraordinary structure of the island and banks of 
 Newfoundland ••••*•**••*•••••••••••,••«•. 283 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXIU 
 
 il of her 
 
 il’ 
 
 I formed 
 
 il 
 
 ncepiion- 
 
 H 
 
 ;d to the 
 
 il 
 
 Ihe native 
 
 23 
 
 2i 
 
 23 
 
 i 
 
 23 
 
 2i 
 
 2i 
 
 
 
 the year 
 
 ........ J 
 
 )FNEWPon 
 HADOR. 
 g the W 
 
 J 
 
 * 
 
 ihquakes” ! 
 !3, and 
 
 • ^ 
 
 I 
 
 banks of 
 
 • I...*** ^ 
 
 Page 
 
 Outer or^False Bank — Great Bank — Other banks* • • • 284 
 
 Various theories concerning those banks 286 
 
 Gulf-Stream— Drift wood, &c. 289 
 
 Difference in length of tlie voyages to and fro, between 
 
 Europe and North America 291 
 
 Gulf-weed — Fogs on the banks 292 
 
 Appearance and description of the island of New- 
 foundland • ••• 293 
 
 Avalon — Trinity-Bay — Baccalao-Island • • • 295 
 
 Conception-Bay •• 297 
 
 Saint John’s — Bay-Bulls 302 
 
 * Southern coast — Trepassey-Bay — Saint Mary's Bay • • 308 
 
 Placentia-Bay — Richard Brothers 310 
 
 Fortune-Bay 312 
 
 Penguin, Burgeo, and other islands 313 
 
 Western coast 314 
 
 Bay of Islands — Bonne-Bay— Ingornachoix-Bay • • • • 315 
 Saint John's Bay and Highlands — Pistolet-Bay — Hare- 
 
 Bay 316 
 
 White-Bay — Bay of Exploits < — Gander-Bay — New 
 
 World Island — ^Twilingate — Fogo 317 
 
 Bonavista-Bay — Green's Pond Islands— Catalina-Har- 
 
 bour • 318 
 
 Islands of Saint Peter and Miquelons 319 
 
 Saint Peter's Bank— -Anticosti Island 322 
 
 Coast of Labrador — History — Seals and dogs 323 
 
 Mecatina and Shecatica-Bay — Saint Augustine's Square 326 
 
 Straits of Belle-Isle 327 
 
 Attempts to discover a north-west passage to India— 
 
 Cabot — Thorne — Frobisher— Davis— Hudson * • 329 
 
 
Page 
 
 
 xxiv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Of the Climate of Newfoundland and Coast- 
 OF Labradw. 
 
 Peculiar character of the climate of North America • • 334 
 Comparison hetween the climates of Newfoundland 
 and of Canada 
 
 Winter in Newfoundland 
 
 Effects of cold on the extremities of animals s 
 
 Aurora Borealis 
 
 Islands and fields of ice -Frozen fogs, or frost smoke 
 Mode of opening a passage for vessels through the ice 
 
 Spring — Summer • . . 
 
 Splendid appearance of Conception-Bay during the 
 
 capelin-scull 
 
 Fall, and approach of winter 
 
 Whether the climate of Newfoundland is capable of 
 
 347 
 
 348 
 
 349 
 351 
 
 ib. 
 
 354 
 
 ib. 
 
 355 
 
 improvement 
 
 356 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Of the Natural Productions of the Island of 
 Newfoundland and of the Coast of Labrador. 
 
 Attempts towards agricultural improvements 358 
 
 Mode of planting potatoes • • 359 
 
 Kitchen gardens 360 
 
 Fruits — Berries — Indian tea 361 
 
 Side-saddle flower, or pitcher-plant 362 
 
 Cotton-reeds — Flowers ib. 
 
 “ A short feast and a long famine '' 363 
 
 Trees — Newfoundland coffins” ib. 
 
 Animal flowers 366 
 
 Minerals 367 
 
 Catalina-stone—Burning mountain 369 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXV 
 
 ND COASt 
 
 merica*. 3} 
 Joundland 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 }st smoke 3) 
 gh Ihe ice i 
 
 3} 
 
 uring the 
 
 il 
 
 31 
 
 ipable of 
 3} 
 
 E Island t 
 Labradob. 
 
 3a 
 
 3i 
 
 83 
 
 3fi 
 
 33 
 
 ( 
 
 3( 
 
 I 
 
 31 
 
 33 
 
 33 
 
 Labrador-stone 
 
 Animals % 
 
 Fur-hunting 
 
 Change in the colour of animals in winter 
 
 Traps and snares 
 
 Newfoundland dog 
 
 Essential differences between the Greenland and the 
 
 Newfoundland dogs 
 
 G nats, or mosquitoes 
 
 Poultry— Wild-fowl— Wild geese 
 
 Partridges, <fec. 
 
 Various kinds of sea-birds 
 
 Baccatao birds, how far useful in navigation 
 
 Penguins 
 
 Morses, or sea-cows — Whales 
 
 Fatal issue of an attempt in the whale-fishery in Con- 
 ception-Bay , , 
 
 Cod-fish 
 
 Trout; -eels ; — ^lobsters; — plaice; <fec. 
 
 Capelin — Capelin-seiues 
 
 Salmon 
 
 Herrings, their annual migrations 
 
 Lance— Squid, cuttle-fish, or ink-fish— Mackarel. . . 
 
 Jiggers used in fishing * 
 
 Extraordinary voraciousness and fecundity of the cod- 
 fish 
 
 Other peculiarities 
 
 Stones in the head of this fish 
 
 Page 
 
 373 
 
 ib, 
 
 375 
 
 376 
 
 377 
 379 
 
 384 
 
 388 
 
 389 
 
 391 
 ib. 
 
 392 
 
 393 
 
 394 
 
 397 
 
 399 
 
 400 
 ib, 
 
 401 
 
 402 
 
 407 
 
 408 
 
 409 
 
 410 
 
 411 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Of the Newfoundland Fisheries. 
 
 Seals and seal-fishery 413 
 
 Uses of the seal to Greenlanders and to Europeans •• 417 
 
xxvi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Pag. 
 
 Of the flesh of seals 
 
 State of the Newfoundland coast at the time of the 
 
 seal-fishery 
 
 Manner of proceeding in this fishery 421 
 
 Mode of making seal-oil — Blubber 424 
 
 Eflfect of oil on the agitated surface of the sea, from 
 which rAbb6 Raynal foretold wonderful improve- 
 
 ments in navigation 
 
 Mode of preparing seal-skins 
 
 Mode of proceeding in the cod -fishery 
 Fishing — Curing— Salting 
 
 426 
 
 428 
 
 429 
 %b. 
 
 Drying — Laying-rooms — Hand and broad flakes •••• 
 
 Hardships attending the cod-tishery 
 
 Maggotty ; — salt-burnt ; — sun-burnt ; — slimy ; — dun- 
 
 fish • • * 
 
 Mud-fish 
 
 Cod-seines 
 
 Shore-fishery 
 
 Northern-fishery 
 
 Labrador-fishery 
 
 Bank-fishery • • • • 
 
 Western-fishery 
 
 Cod-oil 
 
 435 
 
 488 
 
 439 
 
 441 
 
 441 
 
 442 
 448 
 
 444 
 
 445 
 
 446 
 ib, 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Of the Character and Manners of the Aborigines 
 AND OTHER INHABITANTS OF THE fsLAND OF NEW- 
 FOUNDLAND. 
 
 How far gradual improvement is a most conspicuous 
 
 law of the nature of man 448 
 
 Anecdote related by Doctor Franklin ( JSote)* ••••••• 450 
 
 The North American Indians nearly the same in the 
 nineteenth century as when first discovered 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXVll 
 
 ***""'1 Artful and revengeful ; not numerous ; indolent 462 
 
 lime of 11 k Newfoundland Indians 456 
 
 *‘"”'"1 As described by Cabot; — Broughton; — James Cartier; 
 
 Sir Martin Frobisher; — Guy; — by Clarke, in 
 
 169G; — and by Patrick Gordon, in 1722 457 
 
 the sea, fm Inhabitants of European extraction 461 
 
 ^ful improw How far the seed is affected by difference of climate* • ib. 
 
 By the nature of the country; by diet • • 463 
 
 Of fish diet — Of the constant use of tea — Spruce-beer ib. 
 
 Houses — Tilts — Linneys — Kitchens 466 
 
 Character of the women 468 
 
 flakes HI. Longevity — Diseases — Customs 469 
 
 "I Saluting the bride — Marriages — Christenings 470 
 
 imyi-duD- Funeral ceremonies — Waking the dead 471 
 
 I Festivals of Saint George and Saint Patrick 472 
 
 Horse-shoes 
 
 Candlemas-day — Ash-Wednesday — Dragging the log 474 
 
 Christraas-log, or Yule festival — Christmas-boxes — 
 
 Mumming 475 
 
 General character of the inhabitants of Conception- 
 
 477 
 
 Religious professions 
 
 Courts of justice 430 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 FTHeAboIK Nfote 1. Northmanna-land 437 
 
 Island of5 2. Ancient ships and boats 
 
 3. Abraham Ortelio's “ Orbis Terrae Theatrum." 490 
 ;t coDspicut^ 4^ Names of Newfoundland, of West Indies, and 
 
 of Indians 492 
 
 '^ej***'*" ft- Revolutions in the Arctic ice 493 
 
 I same in 6. King Charles’s commission for the better 
 jovered’"” government of Newfoundland • • • 498 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 J 
 
 xxviii 
 
 Note 7. Ordinance of Louis XIV. concerning the ma- 
 rine and the fisheries 503 
 
 8. Introduction of the patata by Sir Walter 
 
 Raleigh 
 
 9. Of the use of iron among the savages of 
 
 ' North America 
 
 
 

 iog the u. 
 Sir WahB 
 
 savages (< 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OP THfi 
 
 ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 HOW was America peopled? is a question 
 which has naturally been an object of curiosity 
 and attention ever since that continent was 
 discovered. The theories and speculations of 
 ingenious men, with respect to this question, 
 would fill many volumes. There is hai'dly 
 any nation to which the honour of peopling 
 America has not been ascribed. The Phce- / 
 nicians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, tlie 
 Scythians, in ancient times ; the Chinese, the 
 Norwegians, the Welsh, the Spaniards, and 
 the Portuguese, in later ages ; are said to 
 have sent colonies thither at different periods, 
 and on various occasions. 
 
 B 
 
•2 HISTORY OF 
 
 Inquiries of this nature necessarily become 
 intricate and less capable of satisfactory 
 results in proportion to the distance of the 
 times to which they refer, and to the de- 
 feet of authentic records which were either 
 neglected to be made at the time, or have 
 been lost in the wreck of empires. Many 
 great revolutions in the natural as well as in 
 the political state of the world and many im- 
 portant discoveries may reasonably be sup- 
 posed to have taken place in distant countries, 
 of which we have no knowledge : and where 
 such events were recorded, besides the diffi- 
 culty of perpetuating those records previous to 
 the invention of the art of printing, we know 
 that all languages are subject to fluctuation^ 
 which, from various circumstances, will ulti- 
 mately change them, so as to render them 
 unintelligible even within the limits where they 
 were first formed or transplanted, unless they 
 have been consolidated by a succession of re- 
 spectable writers. All the ancient languages, 
 except the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Latin, 
 and all the modern languages, compared witli 
 what they were eight hundred years ago, prove 
 the truth of this assertion. The knowledge of 
 the Hebrew and of the Greek has been per- 
 petuated, because the original documents of ' 
 the JcAvish and of the Christian religions were 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 3 
 
 ily becoDi 
 satisfactoi 
 ince of ft 
 to the 4 
 were eith 
 me, or hai 
 hres. Maa 
 as well asi 
 nd raanyk 
 ably be sii| 
 ant counthe 
 : and wlia 
 des tlie di 
 s preumist 
 ig, we kno> 
 fluctuation 
 ces, will alt 
 
 respectively composed in those languages ; 
 and that of the Latin j chiefly because its use 
 was continued in the service of the Western 
 church, and in the public deeds of most of 
 the states of Europe. But even of languages 
 so eminently interesting,— of the Greek and 
 Latin so strong in their classical excellence, — ■ 
 how few, comparatively speaking, are the mo- 
 numents which have escajaed the revolutions of 
 empires and the wreck of time ! Had we all 
 the accounts which may be supposed to have 
 been written of the naval expeditions performed 
 by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the 
 Greeks, and the Chinese, it is probable that 
 our knowledge on this subject would be much 
 more extensive and satisfactory than it has hi- 
 therto been. . 
 
 render thei National prejndices and jealousies have 
 its where the likewise no small share in increasing the ob- 
 d, unless the scurity which veils the origin of the Aborigines 
 icession of n of America. An English writer has very 
 ent language justly asked: “To what cause, but to the 
 and the Lah prejudices of historians, is it owing that, in- 
 ;omparo*i wt stead of a faithful unclouded mirror of the 
 jars ago, pW'P^st events of this country^ we have Whig 
 iflowledge histories of England and Tory histories; Chnrch 
 as been pfof England histories, Calvinistical histories, 
 locuments and Roman Catholic histories ?” To the same 
 jligions wficause we may attribute the contradictions 
 
 B 2 
 
 / 
 
4 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 which are to be found in the authors of va- 
 rious nations who have written on this subject. 
 
 Most of those writers seem to have beea 
 anxious only to claim for a particular nation 
 the glory of the first discovery, as establishii^ 
 of necessity an absolute and indefeasible right 
 of property : they would not consider that, if 
 such evidences were admitted amongst nations, 
 there w ould be no end of unhinging their pos- 
 sessions, or they must be involved in perpetual 
 war and bloodshed. What Englishman would 
 not be apt to treat very ludicrously any claim 
 of this kind set up by Spain to the island of 
 Jamaica? 
 
 Doctor Robert son, in his History of America, 
 appears inclined to think that Powell’s account 
 of the discoveries made by the Welsh Prince 
 Madoc, in the year 1169, must relate to Ma- 
 deira, or some of the western islands : he ob- 
 serves, at the same time, that the pretensions 
 of the Norwegians to the discovery of Ame- 
 rica seem to rest on a more solid foundation. 
 These pretensions are likewise more or less 
 positively supported by several other respecta- 
 ble writers and geographers of this and other 
 countries. 
 
 The inhabitants of the northern coast of 
 Europe, in the middle ages, were remarkable 
 for the boldness and extent of their maritime 
 
Nl^WFOUNDLAND. 
 
 thors of ti 
 this subjeo 
 ' have be 
 cular nati( 
 establishii 
 feasible rij! 
 sider that, 
 )ngstnatioi 
 ing their pc 
 I in perpetu 
 ihman woul 
 ly any clat 
 he island i 
 
 ofAmenci 
 ell’s accoui 
 ^elsb Prin( 
 date to M; 
 ands; hed 
 ; pretensioi 
 ery of Am 
 i foundatio 
 lore or k 
 iher respect 
 jis and otl 
 
 m coast 
 ; remarkal 
 eir maritii 
 
 excursions. They were then known by the 
 appellation of Northmen, and that country by 
 the name of Northmanna-land, afterwards call- 
 ed Northway and Norway, in the same manner 
 as the most northern point of that land was 
 then, and is still called. North-cape. They 
 had, for a long time, been the scourge of those 
 seas; they subsisted chiefly on plunder; and 
 the success of their piratical excursions encou- 
 raged vast numbers of emigrants from the 
 north, east, and south of that part of Europe 
 to forsake the inhospitable mountains and un- 
 fruitful plains, in order to share in their expe- 
 ditions and spoils. From this coast swanns of 
 bold and desperate adventurers continually 
 issued, who spread all around the terror of 
 their name, the men of the north. Not only 
 the Orkney and Shetland islands, Ireland, 
 England, trance, and Spain, but also Italy, 
 Naples, and Sicily, were by turns the scenes 
 of their piratical devastations: wherever they 
 landed they left a colony, which fresh acces- 
 sions of new adventurers, from the same coast, 
 .soon rendered sufficiently strong to set all op- 
 position at defiance. A party of these North- 
 men, in the year 874, by accident discovered 
 Iceland, where, according to their usual prac- 
 tice, they planted a colony. In the year 982, 
 they, in the same manner, discovered Green- 
 
 
6 
 
 HISTORY OK 
 
 laud, and established settlements there. From 
 thence some of them proceeded towards the 
 south-west, and discovered a country still more 
 inviting', where they found some plants of the 
 vine which bore gi'apes, and for that reason 
 gave it the name of VTin-land. Doctor Morse, 
 in his American Gazetteer, describes Winland 
 as a country accidentally discovered in the 
 year 1001, by Biron, or Biorn, a Norman, and 
 supposed to be a part of the island of New- 
 foundland. He says that an intercourse was 
 some time after opened between it and Green- 
 land; that, in the year 1221, Eric, bishop of 
 Greenland, went to Winland to reform his 
 countrymen, w'ho had degenerated into sa- 
 vages ; and that this prelate never returned to 
 Greenland, nor w as any thing more beard of 
 Winland for several centuries. “ The credit 
 of this story,” says Doctor Robertson, “ rests, 
 as far as I know, on the authority of the Saga,, 
 or Chronicle of king Glaus, composed by 
 Snorro Sturlonides, who was bom in the year 
 1179. His chronicle was published at Stock- 
 holm, in the year 1697. I should think that 
 the situation of Newfoundland corresponds 
 best with that of the country discovered by 
 the Norwegians. Grapes, however, are not 
 the production of that barren island.” In an- 
 swer to this objection, we must observe tliat 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 7 
 
 all the navigators who have contributed to the 
 ® discotery of North America agree in stating 
 that they found in those latitudes prodigious 
 quantities of wild vines, bearing grapes of dif- 
 ferent colours and size. Martha’s vineyard, 
 lots in New England, was so called by Captain 
 Gosnoll, in the year 1602, as I’lsle de Bac- 
 M chus, now the Island of Orleans, in the river 
 1) 3B Saint Lawrence, had received that name from 
 James Cartier, in the year 1535, on account 
 6 of the infinite number of vines growing there 
 
 'i 
 
 »re« spontaneously in the gi'oves and forests. The 
 ‘op < wild vine even now fonns a characteristic fea- 
 m ii ture of the forest scenery in Canada. With 
 to 8J respect to Newfoundland, Patrick Gordon, in 
 ed I the ninth edition of his Geography Anatomized, 
 wd( published in London in the year 1722, posi- 
 cred lively asserts, that those parts of the island 
 ‘rest w'hich were then possessed by the French, 
 
 : Sag namely, from Cape Bonavista round the north 
 led I to Point Riche, as settled by the treaty of 
 iey« Utrecht, produced plenty of vines; and, in a 
 Stod French translation of that work, from the six- 
 ik tk teenth edition, published at Paris in the year 
 spo« 1748, the same assertion is found in these 
 •edl words: “ Les cantons que les Francois y pos- 
 Pg [, s^dent produisent des vignes en abondance.” 
 jjji Mr. Pinkerton, referring to the origin of the 
 g names of Bacchus Island and Martha’s Vine- 
 
8 
 
 history of 
 
 yard, gives it as his opinion, that “ the same 
 cause most probably gave name to Norwegian 
 
 Vinland.” , t i i 
 
 The account of the discovery of the Island 
 
 of Newfoundland by the Northmen is given at 
 large in Doctor Forster s History of the Voy^ 
 ages and Discoveries made in the North. The 
 Doctor assures his readers, that the facts con- 
 tained in this account have been collected from 
 a great number of ancient Icelandic manu- 
 scripts, and inserted by Thormod Thorfoeus, 
 in his two works intituled Veteris Groen- 
 landiae Descriptio,” and “ Historia Vinlandia: 
 Antiqu® that the country of Winland is men- 
 tioned in “ Adam von Bremen’s Church His- 
 tory,” p. 151 ; also that very exact relations of 
 these discoveries have been preserved in “ An- 
 grim Jonas’s Specimen Icelandic Historicum, 
 and many other works; so that it is, in his 
 opinion, hardly possible to harbour the least 
 doubt concerning the authenticity of the rela- 
 tion. 
 
 He then proceeds to state that, in the year 
 1001, an Icelander of the name of Biorn, in a 
 voyage from Europe to Greenland, having 
 been driven by a storm a great way to the 
 south-west of this tract, discovered a flat 
 country covered witli thick woods, and soon 
 after an island. He, however, made no stay 
 
NEW FOUNDLAND. 
 
 9 
 
 at either of these places, but hastened, by a 
 ^ north-west course, to Greenland, whei’e he 
 was anxious to join Ilerjolf, his father. On 
 his aiTival there he mentioned his new disco- 
 'eni veries. Lief, a son of Eric Redhead, imme- 
 diately fitted out a vessel with thirty-five men, 
 and, taking Biom with him, set out for this 
 5 Cffi newly - discovered country. The first land 
 Ifro which he saw was rocky and barren, and he 
 M accordingly named it Hellelaiid, or Rockland, 
 ■foeii He next came to a low sandy land, covered 
 hoe with wood, wiiich he called Mark-land, or 
 andi Woody-land. Two days after he saw land 
 me again, and an island lying before the northern 
 1 Hi coast of it. Here w'as a liver into which he 
 ons entered, and which he found well stored with 
 “ A fish, particularly very fine salmon ; the bushes 
 •icuE on its banks bore sweet berries ; the soil was 
 ini fertile, and the temperature of the air mild, 
 le 1« At last he came to a lake, from which the river 
 lienj took its rise. Here he determined to remain 
 the winter, and on the shortest day saw the 
 Ijjji sun eight hours above the horizon. This sup- 
 jjj imposes, that the longest day, exclusive of the 
 jjjj dawn and twilight, must have been sixteen 
 jjji hours long; and hence, it follows, according 
 j I to our author, that this place being in the forty- 
 ninth degree of north latitude, in a south' 
 
J0 history of 
 
 westerly direction from old Greenland, must 
 either be the river Gander, or the bay of Ex- 
 ploits, in Newfoundland. During their stay 
 tliere, a German, of the name of Tyrker, who 
 had been missing, was found in the woods 
 making himself very happy with grapes, from 
 which he told them, in his country they used 
 to make wine. Lief, having tasted them, from 
 this circumstance called the country Winlad 
 dat Gode, that is, the good wine-country. 
 
 It may be said, in confinnation of the Doc- 
 tor’s conclusions, that Newfoundland is the 
 only land in those parts to which the descrip- 
 tion given in that passage can be applicable, 
 and that part of it which most exactly corre- 
 sponds with Lief ’s course an daccount, extend- 
 ing from Cape Ereels to New AVorld Island, 
 actually contains two large rivers and bays, 
 w here an extensive and most profitable salmon- 
 fishery has been carried on from time imme- 
 morial, both issuing from lai^e lakes, and both 
 having an island to the north or north-east 
 The river and bay of Exploits has New World 
 Island, and is annually frequented in summer 
 by the native Indians of Newfoundland. Gan- 
 der Bay has likewise Fogo Island to the north, 
 and issues from a lake of considerable extent; 
 but this river is much narrower than the former. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 11 
 
 ’ ® These bays were formerly included in the part 
 Newfoundland ceded to the French by the 
 “’treaty of Utrecht. 
 
 Lief returned to Greenland the following 
 '''•’spring, and was succeeded in this enterprize 
 ®>^by his brother Thorwald, who sailed from 
 °y “Greenland with the same crew, accompanied 
 >>i^by Lief’s mother. He, however, explored 
 ^*4hat year only the land that lay to the w^est- 
 T- ward. The next summer he examined that 
 lelKvhich lay to the eastward, and found the coast 
 is covered with wood and beset with islands, a 
 lescfeature peculiarly characteristic of Newfound- 
 icalland ; but they could not perceive any human 
 cobeing upon it. The third summer they exami- 
 JXtened the islands, where, on a point of land, 
 Islathey damaged their ship to such a degi*ee, that 
 d bthey found it necessary to build a new one. 
 saliWe may judge, from this circumstance, what 
 eifflkind of ships theii's were, and what an intrepid 
 ndkace they must have been, who ventured in 
 rth-fthose seas in ships that could be so easily and 
 ffeo soon constructed on a desert island. The 
 gumpld vessel was laid up on the promontory, 
 Gwhich for that reason they called Kioeler Ness. 
 ejjThey then examined once more the eastern 
 fjtfshore, and discovered three boats covered 
 jfiniwith leather, in each of which there were three 
 men. These they seized and xvantonly mur- 
 
 v .fi i.A 
 
 I 1 
 
j2 history of 
 
 dered, except one who escaped from their 
 hands. Soon after they were attacked by a 
 considerable number of people of the same 
 description, armed with bows and arrows , but 
 having erected a fence, made of planks, thej 
 defended themselves with so much spirit, that 
 after an engagement which lasted about the 
 space of an hour, their enemies were compelled 
 to retire. These people were very short ia 
 stature, and were for that reason called bj 
 Thonvald Skroelliiigers, or dwarfs. Thorwald 
 died soon after of a wound which he had re- 
 ceived from an arrow, and was buried on the 
 promontory, to which his people gave the name 
 of Krossa-ness, from two cr osses which were 
 placed there agreeably to his request. Hl< 
 companions passed the winter in Wiirlaitd; 
 arrd, in the beginning of the following sprii^, 
 retirrned to Greenland. 
 
 Thorstein, the third sorr of Eric Roude, or 
 Redhead, set sail in the same year for Win- 
 land, with his wife Gudrid, his children, and 
 servants, in all twenty-five persons ; but having 
 been driven by a storm to the western coast of 
 Greenland, and obliged to wirrter there, Thor- 
 stein and most of his followers died ; and, in 
 the following spring, Gudrid returned home. 
 She soon after married Thorfin, an Icelander 
 of some consequence, who formed the resolu- 
 
 I 
 
Newfoundland. 
 
 13 
 
 [u j tion to take possession of the newly-discovered 
 I country, and to settle there a colony ; he ac- 
 j cordingly proceeded to Winland with a vast 
 ws; 9^i^>hity of household furniture and cattle, and 
 j about seventy persons of both sexes. On their 
 an-ival they formed a regular settlement. They 
 were soon after visited by the Skroellingers, 
 and a most profitable trade was established of 
 
 inipt t 
 
 turs in exchange for other wares. Their visi- 
 would also willingly have bartered for 
 hon weapons, but this Thorfin had expressly 
 
 had however, found an 
 
 I opportunity to steal a battle-axe, and immedi- 
 ately made trial of it on one of his countrymen, 
 ^ ^whom he killed on the spot; the weapon was 
 instantly taken from him and thrown into the 
 f sea. 
 
 Having, in the course of three years, obtain- 
 »®l*ed a considerable quantity of very rich furs, 
 Thorfin returned to Greenland, and thence to 
 ‘^“'Iceland, where he built a very elegant house 
 on an estate which he purchased in the north- 
 W ern part of Syssel. After his decease, Gudrid 
 at '“made a pilgrimage to Rome, and afterwards 
 retired to Iceland, and ended her days in a 
 nunnery, which her son Snorro, a native of 
 ; am Winland, had founded for her. 
 id ^ Many similar voyages were made after this 
 cab to Winland ; and the descendants of the co- 
 
 ie«* 
 
j4 history of 
 
 lony planted there by Thorfin increased so 
 rapidly, that, in the year 1121, one Eric, ^¥ho 
 had been appointed bishop of Greenland, pre- 
 ferred going straight to Winland, in Older to 
 reclaim and convert his countrymen tliere, who 
 
 %rere become heathens. 
 
 From this period, continues Doctor Foister, 
 we have no further intelligence with respect to 
 that country; and it is highly probable that 
 the tribe still existing in the interior parts o( 
 Newfoundland, differing remarkably from al 
 the American Savages, as well in shape as in 
 their manner of living, and being in a state of 
 constant enmity with the Skroellingers oi 
 Esquimaux who reside on the opposite coaot, 
 are descended from those ancient Norfl- 
 men. It is a somewhat striking coincidence, 
 that these presumed descendants of the 
 family of Eric Roude, or J^cd-head, shouU 
 have been to this day distinguished by the 
 name of Red Indians. Mr. Pinkerton, in hh 
 Modern Geography, says that, “ as it is now 
 universally admitted that Greenland forms a 
 part of America, the discovery must, of course, 
 be traced to the first visitation of Greenland By 
 the Norwegians, in the year 982, which was 
 followed in the year 1003, by the discovery of 
 Winland; adding, that the colony in Green- 
 land continued to flourish till the maritime 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 15 
 
 intercourse was impeded by the increasing 
 shoals of arctic ice.* This interruption may, 
 in like manner, account for the obscurity 
 which prevailed respecting Winland, until it 
 was more effectually discovered by John Cabot, 
 in the year 1497 .” 
 
 If, as Mr. Pinkerton observes, the voyage of 
 Nicola Zeno, in the year 1380 , be not imagi- 
 he would appear also to have visited 
 iVinland. It is worthy of remark that, in the 
 ‘ Theatro d’el Orbe de la Tierra de Abraham 
 Jrtelio,” published at Antwerp, in the year 
 602, and dedicated to Philip the Third, King 
 f Spain, the relation of that voyage is ac- 
 jiowledged as authentic. Doctor Porster 
 ppears likewise inclined to admit it. 
 
 Nicola and Antonio Zeno were two brothers 
 f a noble and wealthy family of Venice, who, 
 aving formed the resolution of visiting Eng- 
 ind, had scarcely passed the straits of Gib- 
 iltar, wdien they were assailed by a violent 
 mipest, which continued several days, and at 
 Lst carried them to the Orkneys. Here they 
 miained a considerable time, and Avere of 
 isential service in assisting to oppose the in- 
 tads of the Northmen into those islands. As 
 return for these services, having resolved to 
 
 the notes . at the end of the volume* 
 
‘t- 
 
 ii ; 
 
 16 
 
 history of 
 
 proceed thence on a voyage of discovery, 
 they were liberally supplied with the means 
 necessary to fit out three ships for that pur- 
 pose. With these they set sail in the year 
 1394, and, taking a northerly course, arrived in 
 Engrcmeland, where they found a monasterv 
 and a church dedicated to St. 'Ihomas. A 
 trade there was carried on by the Friars, in 
 ships which went thither from the Orkneys, the 
 Shetland, and Faro islands, and also from 
 Orontheim, in Norway, from Sweden, and 
 other northern regions of Europe. Nicola fell 
 sick and died there. Antonio soon after pre 
 ceeded on his intended voyage of discovery 
 and, after having been several <lays at sea, 
 discovered an island called Estotiland, blessed 
 with a pure and healthy air, a good soil, fi® 
 rivers, and many other advantages ; little les 
 than Iceland in size, but much more fertile 
 having in the midst of it a very high mountaia 
 from w'hich sprung four rivers that passed 
 through the whole country. He found that tk 
 inhabitants of the southern part of the island 
 were civilized, had several towns, made their 
 buildings with walls, had arts and handicrafts 
 of various kinds, sowed corn and brewed 
 beer; they lived under the government of* 
 king, in whose library Zeno found some Latin 
 books which they no longer understood. Bui. 
 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 17 
 
 the inhabitants of the north were rude and un- 
 polished, living entirely by the chace, and 
 without any kind of government ; they carried 
 spears of wood, made sharp at the point; and 
 used bows, the strings of which were made of 
 the skins or entrails of beasts. All these cir- 
 cumstances, says Doctor Forster, respecting 
 the inhabitants of the south, are strong indica- 
 tions of a people that had its origin from the 
 northern nations of Europe. Nay, he adds, 
 it is evident that this Estotiland cannot possibly 
 be any other country than that of Winland, the 
 Newfoundland of the modems. It is beyond 
 all doubt that several Normans settled in this 
 country; these carried thither with them the 
 arts and handicraft trades then known among 
 them. That Latin books were found in the 
 possession of the king, or chief, is not surpri- 
 sing ; for, it is awII known that Eric, bishop of 
 Greenland, went, in the year 1121, to Winland. 
 As this prelate was never heard of afterwards, 
 it is probable that he died there ; and, conse- 
 quently, the Latin books in question might 
 have been carried thither by him. 
 
 On referring to the earliest geographical de- 
 scriptions of those countries, we find that, in 
 Ortelio’s Theatre d’el Orbe de la Tierra, the 
 typus orbis terrarum, bearing date of the year 
 1587 . Estotiland is there described as a larsre 
 
 o 
 
10 HISTORY OF 
 
 island, under the same latitude as Norway, 
 divided by the arctic circle into two parts, 
 nearly equal, and separated from the continent 
 by a strait, called De Tormenta, or of Tem- 
 pest; whereas, in the Novi Orbis Descriptio of 
 the same date, Estotiland is represented only 
 as a peninsula lying to tlie north of what is 
 now called Davis’s Straits. In the “ Principes 
 de Cosmograpliie,” translated from the Latin 
 of Viettus, and published in Paris in the year 
 1637, Estotiland is said to be that part of 
 North America which includes Davis’s and 
 Frobisher’s Straits. And, in the “ New De- 
 scription of the AVorld,” by Samuel Clark, 
 published in London in the year 1688, Estoti- 
 land is described as comprehending the north- 
 ern regions of the Mexican province, lying 
 between Ca7iida or Nova Francia and Hud- 
 son’s Bay ; and Estotiland, propei'ly so called, 
 as the most northern region on the east side of 
 America, to the south of that bay, being va- 
 luable only on account of the fishing trade, 
 particularly in the cod, called New-land-fish, 
 which is there so exti’emely abundant, that 
 with a hook and a red rag a man may catch 
 forty or fifty in an hour, which, when dried 
 and salted, are brought into England and 
 other parts of Europe. “ There is also a trade 
 with the natives for feathers, furs, and skips of 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 19 
 
 beasts ; and, the most noted places are Prince 
 Henry’s Fore-land, Cape Charles, King’s Fore- 
 land, and Cape Wolstenham. On the south 
 lies Newfoundland, which some term an island, X, 
 as being divided from the continent by a frith, 
 or strait, called Golfe de Chateaux, (strait of 
 Bellisle,) and surrounded with islands, called 
 by some Cabo Baccalaos, from the swarms 
 of Baccalaos, or cod-fish, found there.” 
 
 From these authorities, it is evident that the 
 name of Estotiland in those parts is of a very 
 early date, and that the Island of Newfound- 
 land was generally considered as a part of the 
 country so called. The learned author last 
 quoted also states, that the natives of that 
 island, upon the coming of the Christians, in* 
 habited the sea coast, but “ now for the most 
 part have betaken themselves to the woods 
 and fastnesses ; that they used to express their 
 duty and reverence towards their king by 
 stroking their foreheads and rubbing their 
 noses, which if the king accepted, or was well 
 pleased with the person, he turned his head to 
 his left shoulder as a mark of favour.” Accord- 
 ing to Laurent Echard, in his Geographical 
 Dictionary, published about the middle of the 
 last century, the country now designated by 
 the name of New Britain was then also called 
 Estotiland. ' 
 
20 
 
 HISTOKV OF 
 
 That some great revolution took place 
 among the native inhabitants of the island of 
 Newfoundland in the fourteenth or the fifteenth 
 century seems to be the decided opinion of 
 Doctor Forster, Doctor Robertson, and Mr. 
 Pinkerton. According to the former, it ap- 
 pears, that, from the year 1402 to the year 
 1404, a great multitude of the inhabitants of 
 Winland was carried oft' by a pestilence ; so 
 that, what with the diminution of their num- 
 bers, the want of assistance from Iceland and 
 other parts, and the increasing cold, the Nor- 
 man inhabitants were weakened to such a de- 
 gree, that at last it became an easy matter for 
 the Skroellingers, who had begun to shew 
 themselves about the year 1376, to make war 
 upon them ; and, that it is, therefore, probable 
 that these people have, at length, extirpated 
 the whole Norman race; and yet, the sapoe 
 writer, only three pages before, gives good 
 reasons for supposing, with still greater proba- 
 bility, that the tribe now existing in the interior 
 parts of Newfoundland derives its origin from 
 that same Norman race. Doctor Robertson 
 says, that it is manifest, that, if the Norwe- 
 gians did discover any part of America at that 
 period, their attempts to plant colonies proved 
 unsuccessful, and all knowledge of it was soon 
 lost; and Mr. Pinkerton, that the colony in 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 21 
 
 Winland was soon destroyed by intestine divi- 
 sions. 
 
 We are not in possession of the evidence on 
 which these several opinions are founded, and 
 therefore we cannot inquire into its validity 
 and exact tendency : but, we may easily con- 
 ceive, allowing the description of the popula- 
 tion of Newfoundland, given by Zeno, to be 
 coiTect, that intestine divisions should have 
 arisen between the northern and the southern 
 inliabitants of that island, the necessary con- 
 sequence of which must have been to weaken, 
 and ultimately to destroy, the ties of civilization, 
 which had been before observed to connect the 
 inhabitants of the south. This effect may 
 have been accelerated by the necessity in 
 which they found themselves from the year 
 1376, of uniting their efforts and directing their 
 whole attention to the defence of the island 
 against the increasing numbers of the Skroel- 
 lingers, or Esquimaux, on the opposite coast. 
 And though we cannot readily admit the pos- 
 sibility of extirpating the whole race, in an 
 island of such extent as Newfoundland, and 
 covered with woods and marshes, we may 
 easily conclude that this perpetual state of 
 warfare produced among all the inhabitants a 
 similarity of manners, habits, and mode of 
 living, the unavoidable consequence of an 
 
22 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 exact similarity of situation and of wants. A 
 savage life is certainly not the natural state of 
 man: but it cannot be denied that his passions 
 and appetites constantly tend to plunge him 
 into that state. From the necessity and habit 
 of devoting all his thoughts to the most effec- 
 tual means of defence and of subsistence, he 
 soon forgets the use of those faculties which he 
 ceases to exert ; the spirit of independence, at 
 all times so powerfully active, and all the sa- ! 
 vage passions gain rapidly upon him; and, 
 when the ties of subordination and of social 
 order are once loosened, all civilization is soon 
 at an end ; no effectual restraint remains to 
 curb the passions, the self-will, and self-inte- 
 rest of individuals ; nor will any consideration ' 
 be sufficiently powei’ful to prevail upon men ! 
 reduced to that state to submit voluntarily to 
 a regular and efficient form of government; and 
 to renounce their independent, wandering, 
 wild, and idle habits of life ; for man, in a savage 
 state, is seldom roused to exertions but by the i 
 immediate and pressing calls of hunger, or of ■ 
 danger, or the desire of revenge. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 2.3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT. 
 
 It was accident that had led the ancient 
 Northmen to the discovery of Greenland, and 
 afterw ards of New foundland ; the same cause, 
 five hundred years afterwards, led to the dis- 
 covery of the southern continent of America. 
 Vicente Yanez Pinzon had sailed from Spain, 
 in December 1499, on a voyage of discovery; 
 a violent tempest drove him from the Cape de 
 V erd islands to Cape Saint Augustin’s, on the 
 Brazil coast, where he landed on the 26th day 
 of January, 1500, and took possession of the 
 same in the name of the crown of Castile. 
 Exactly three months after, Pedro Alvarez 
 Cabral, who had sailed from Lisbon with a 
 fleet destined for the East Indies, was also 
 driven by stress of weather to the same quarter 
 of the globe. Thus, by an extraordinary con- 
 currence of circumstances, if the sagacity of 
 Columbus had not led him to America, that 
 extensive continent would have been discover- 
 ed seven years later by mere accident. 
 
24 
 
 rilSTORV OK 
 
 Let us not, however, deprive Columbus of 
 his well-earned glory. His discovery of the 
 New World was the effort of an active genius, 
 enlightened by science, guided by experience, 
 and acting upon a regular plan, conducted 
 with no less courage than perseverance. If 
 accident had any share in this enterprize, it 
 was in depriving Heniy the Seventh, King of 
 England, of the honour of this fii’st precon- 
 certed attempt towards the discovery of the 
 western hemisphere. Columbus, having in 
 vain successively solicited the assistance of 
 Genoa, his native country, of Portugal, of 
 Spain, and of Fi’ance, sent his proposals to the 
 King of England, by his brother Bartholomew. 
 The latter was taken by pirates in his voyage 
 thither, Columbus had made the necessary 
 preparations, and was on the eve of his depar- 
 ture for England, when Spain, at length, con- 
 sented to second his views, but not until that 
 great man had spent six years in anxious sus- 
 pense and fruitless solicitations. 
 
 Henry, however, had the honour of contri- 
 buting to the first discovery of the continent of 
 America, for Christopher Columbus did not 
 discover it till his third voyage, in the year 
 1498, nor did Americus Vespucius see it be- 
 fore the year 1499. 
 
 At that time the Venetians were distinguish- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 25 
 
 ed by the flourishing state and the extent of 
 their navigation and commerce : their harbours 
 were continually crow ded with foreign vessels, 
 while tlieir own sailed to every trading port. . 
 They had factories in the diflerent towns and 
 cities of the northern kingdoms, and agents 
 wherever they deemed it advantageous to pre- 
 serve an intercourse. John Gabota, or Cabot, 
 by birth a Venetian, was employed in that ca- 
 pacity at Bristol ; he had long resided in Eng- 
 land, and a successful negotiation in which 
 he had been employed, in the year 1495, with 
 the court of Denmark, respecting some inter- 
 ruptions which the merchants of Bristol had 
 suflered in their trade to Iceland, had been the 
 means of introducing him to Henry the Se- 
 venth. 
 
 His skill in every science connected with 
 navigation and commerce, and the success 
 which had attended the enterprizes of Colum- 
 bus, led him to suppose that land might pro- 
 bably be discovered to the north-west; or, 
 according to some writers, that a passage to 
 China might be found in that direction. He 
 laid his conjectures before Henry, who direct- 
 ed him to prepare immediately for the voyage, 
 and by letters patent, dated at Westminster, 
 March 5, 1496, invested him with a commis- 
 sion, by which “ full authority was granted to 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 ^ y 
 
 John Cabot, to Lewis, Sebastian, and Santo, 
 his sons, and to their heirs and assigns, to sail 
 to all parts, countries, and seas, of the east, of 
 the M'est, and of the north, under the royal 
 flag, with five ships of what burthen soever 
 they be, and as many mariners or men as they 
 might desire to have Mith them, upon their 
 proper costs and charges ; to discover whatso- 
 ever isles, countries, lands of the heathens and 
 infidels, and whatsoever they be, which before 
 this time had been unknown to all Christians; 
 to set up his standard and take possession of 
 the same, as his vassals and lieutenants; pay- 
 ing him the fifth part of the profits of every 
 voyage, as often as they should arrive at Bris- ' 
 tol, the only port to which they were to return, 
 all necessary costs by them made being first 
 deducted. They, their heirs and deputies, 
 were to be free from all payment of customs of 
 all merchandizes brought from the newly-dis- 
 covered countries ; and these were not to be 
 frequented or visited by any other of the king’s 
 subjects, without the licence of John Cabot, 
 his sons, and their assigns, under the pain of 
 forfeiture of ships and goods.” ; 
 
 Some authors assert that John Cabot and I 
 
 , his three sons sailed the same spring, with two I 
 
 ships, on a voyage intended for China, through < 
 tlie north-west, and fell in with the north side ' 
 
 k 
 
 1 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 27 
 
 of Terra de Labrador, coasting as far as the 
 fifty-seventh degree of nortli latitude; that the 
 next year, 1497, .John made a second voyage 
 with Sebastian, when tliey discovered, on the 
 24th of June, Cape Bona vista, in Newfound- 
 land; and that, in the year 1502, they went 
 again to Newfoundland, and brought three 
 natives of that island to Henry the Seventh. 
 Other writers state, tliat it was not till the year 
 1497, that the necessary preparations were 
 completed for the voyage. Henry fitted and 
 victualled at his own expense two ships at 
 Bristol, and the merchants of that city, jointly 
 tvith those of London, furnislied four small 
 vessels laden with coarse cloth and various 
 other articles proper for the enterprize, Henry 
 having, by a special commission, increased the 
 number of vessels to six. 
 
 On board this fleet, says Fabian, a cotem- 
 porary writer, in his Chronicle, John Cabot 
 embarked, with his son Sebastian and their 
 associates, in the beginning of May, in the 
 year one thousand four hundred and ninety- 
 seven. He took a north-west course, and, 
 after having, on several occasions, experienced 
 the same difficulties from his men which had 
 before so often tried the fortitude and presence 
 of mind of Colupibus, he had, at last, on the 
 24th of June, a sight of land, to which he gave 
 
28 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 the name of Prima, or Bonavista, (first or plea- 
 sing sight,) a Cape still so called on the eastern 
 coast of Newfoundland. Having landed in 
 the adjoining bay, he saw several natives, who 
 were dressed in the skins of animals ; he saw 
 likew ise many stags and bears, black hawks, 
 partridges, and eagles. He then, in the name 
 of the King of England, took possession of 
 that island, which he named Bacccdaos, the 
 word used for cod-fish by the natives. He 
 next fell in, on the feast of Saint John the 
 Baptist, with a smaller island, to which, on 
 tliat account, he gave the name of Saint John’s. 
 Thence continuing his course, in a south-west 
 direction, he explored the coast, taking posses- 
 sion, as he proceeded, for the crown of Eng- 
 land, according to the forms observed in those 
 times, until he found himself nearly in the 
 same latitude as the straits of Gibraltar, and in 
 the longitude of the island of Cuba, which is 
 supposed to have been Chesapeak Bay, in Vir- 
 ginia. Finding himself short of provisions, he 
 was compelled to stop there, and returned to 
 England with a good cargo. 
 
 Stowe and Speed ascribe this discover} 
 wholly to Sebastian, without any mention of 
 the father, perhaps from a foolish national pre- 
 judice, because Sebastian was a native of Bris- 
 tol, and that John was a foreigner; several 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 29 
 
 distinguished writers have fallen into the same 
 mistake. But Hakluyt says, that John Cabot 
 was knighted for these services; and Fabian, 
 who, as we have already observed, lived and 
 WTOte at the time of the' discovery of New- * 
 foundland, states expressly, that “ on board 
 this fleet John Cabot, his son Sebastian, and 
 their associates, embarked in the spring of the 
 year 1497 .” 
 
 It is probable that John Cabot made more ^ 
 than one voyage to America; for he is said to 
 have carried his discoveries as far as the gulf 
 of Florida. He is also said to have brought 
 to England three natives of the island of New- ' 
 foundland; and, from the following extract 
 from Fabian’s Chronicle, this voyage must have 
 taken place in the year one thousand four hun- 
 dred and ninety-eight or ninety-nine; for King 
 Henry VII. came to the throne on the 22d of 
 August, 1485 . If Cabot’s retum, in the present 
 instance, was later in the year than the month 
 of August, it must have been in 1498 ; and, if 
 before that month, then it was in the year 1499 . 
 
 “ In the fourteenth year of Henry VII. there 
 were brought unto him three men taken in the 
 Newfound-island. These were clothed in 
 beasts-skins, and spake such speech that no 
 man could understand them; and, in their de- 
 meanour were like brute beasts; whom the 
 
30 
 
 HISTORY OP 
 
 king kept a time after; of the which about two 
 yeai'S after I saw two apparelled after the man- 
 ner of Englishmen, in Westminster -palace, 
 which at that time I could not discern from 
 Englishmen, till I was learned what they were; 
 but, as for speech, I heard none of them utter 
 one word.” 
 
 Hakluyt says, that a map of the joint dis- 
 coveries of John and Sebastian Cabot, drawn 
 by Sebastian, with his father’s effigies on one 
 side of it, was hung in the privy gallery at 
 Whitehall. 
 
 It appears that Sebastian Cabot had, at 
 some period, left the service of England ; for j I 
 we are informed that, in the twenty-fourth year 1 • 
 of King Henry VIII, he was persuaded, by a I * 
 merchant of Bristol, named Robert Thome, to 
 leave the service of Spain and return to Eng- 
 land. Here he obtained the esteem of King 
 Edward the Sixth, who appointed him grand 
 pilot of England, and also settled upon him 
 for life a pension of £ 1 G 6 :,13 : 4 , by a grant, 
 dated at Westminster, January 6 , 1549 . Ha- 
 ving been placed at the head of the Company ' 
 of the Merchant Adventurers, he made him- 1 
 self eminently useful to this country in curbii^ 
 the immoderate influence and ambition of the d 
 Easterlings, or Hanse-towns merchants, who, 5 
 by an abuse of the extensive privileges which ' 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 31 
 
 had been granted them in their charters, in the 
 year 1551, had not only wholly monopolized 
 the woollen trade, but, by employing the ship- 
 ping of their own country, exceedingly injured 
 the navigation of England. 
 
 Purchas is very much offended that America 
 should be called by that name, and says that 
 it ought rather to be called Cabotmia or Sehas- 
 tiana, on the ground that Sebastian Cabot dis- 
 covered more of it than either Americus or 
 Columbus himself. A modem waiter observes, 
 that “ it is evident that Newfoundland was 
 the first of our plantations, and that it has 
 been the source of wealth and naval power to 
 this nation : and, it may truly be said of Sebas- 
 tian Cabot, that he was the author of our ma- 
 ritime strength, and opened the way to those 
 improvements which have since made us so 
 great and flourishing a people.” In the same 
 spirit Sir William Monson had said before: 
 “ To come to the particidars of the augmenta- 
 tion of our trade, of our plantations, and of our 
 discoveries, because every man shall have his 
 due therein, I will begin with Newfoundland, 
 lying upon the main continent of America, 
 which the king of Spain challenges as first 
 discoverer. As we acknowledge the king of 
 Spain the first light of the western and south- 
 western parts of America, so we and all the 
 
32 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 world must confess that we were the first that 
 took possession for the crown of England of 
 the north part thereof, and not above two yeais 
 difference betwixt the one and the other; and, 
 as the Spaniards have, from that day and year, 
 held their possessions in the west, so have wt 
 done the like in the north ; and, although then 
 is no respect in comparison of the wealth be- 
 twixt the countries, yet England may boasi 
 that the discovery, from that time to this ven 
 day, has afforded this kingdom annually one 
 hundred and twenty thousand pounds, and in- 
 creased the number of our ships and mariners, 
 as our western parts can witness by their fish- 
 ery in Newfoundland. Neither can Spaii 
 challenge a more natural riglit than we to its 
 discovery; for, in that case, we are both alike 
 If we deal truly with others and deprive then 
 not of their right, it is Italy that must assumt ! 
 the discovery to itself, as well in the one pait 
 of America as in the other. Genoa and Chris- 
 topher Columbus must carry away the praise 
 from Spain; and the like may be said of Se- 
 bastian Cabot, a Venetian, who, by his earnest 
 intercession to Henry VII. drew him to the 
 discovery of Newfoundland, and called it by 
 the name of Baccalao, an Indian name for fish, 
 from the abundance of fish he found on that 
 coast. ’ In this passage, Sir William Monsoa 
 
KF.WFOUNDLAND. 
 
 33 
 
 has, with equal judgment and impartiality, ex- 
 patiated on the advantages accruing to Eng- 
 land from so important a discovery. Although 
 mistaken in the name, ascribing to Sebastian, 
 a native ,of Bristol, what was due to Sir John y 
 Cabot, a native and citizen of Venice, it should 
 never be forgotten that New'foundland was 
 iliscovered by this illustrious adventiu’er.* It 
 does not appear that earnest intercession was 
 necessary to induce Henry VII. to second the 
 views of John Cabot in this respect, as that 
 prince w as generally reputed one of the most 
 sagacious as well as one of the most opulent 
 monarchs in Europe. When Bartholomew 
 Columbus, having, at last, effected his escape 
 from his long captivity, laid his brother’s pro- 
 posals before Henry, that king received them 
 w ith more approbation than they had been re- 
 ceived by any prince to whom they had hitherto 
 been presented; and it may reasonably be 
 supposed that the disappointment occasioned 
 by the compliance of the court of Spain with 
 Christopher’s wishes, while his brother was ne- 
 gotiating in England for the same purpose, 
 and the subsequent success of the Spanish ex- 
 pedition, must have operated as a strong in- 
 
 * Churchill’s Voy. HI. 396. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 history of 
 
 ducement in the £nglish court to listen favour- 
 ably to the proposals of John Cabot. 
 
 A want of precision is the great fault of the 
 writers of those times. Inattentive to circum- 
 stances, and even less solicitous concerning 
 dates, they delivered a conftised account of 
 facts, which circumstance has not only occa- 
 sioned much trouble to later historians, but 
 also prevented them from obtaining materiak 
 on which they could depend, on many import 
 ant points. Hence those different and contra- 
 dictory accounts of dates and names, whicli 
 are to be found in most of the authors wlio 
 have written on the discovery of Newfound- 
 land. 
 
NEWFOUNDLANU. 
 
 3S 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1497 — 1548 . 
 
 John Cabot had brought home no treasures 
 ill gold or silver, the great object of such en- 
 terprizes in those times; we are, however, in- 
 formed that he brought a valuable cargos and 
 the account that he gave of the immense 
 quantities of fish which he had observed on 
 tlie coasts of Newfoundland, could not be re- 
 ceived with indifference in a country which, 
 long before, had shewn a just sense of the im- 
 portance of Fisheries. Although her disputes 
 with Scotland engrossed at that time the atten- 
 tion of England, so as to suspend all attempts 
 towards similar enterprizes on the part of the 
 government, it may be supposed that private 
 adventurers, and particularly the merchants of 
 London and Bristol, would not neglect a 
 branch of commerce of so great importance to 
 Roman Catholic countries, at a time when all 
 the nations of Europe most strictly professed 
 that religion. 
 
 Doctor Forster informs us that, as early as 
 
 D 2 
 
1 
 
 S6 HISTORY OK 
 
 the year 1500, the fishery was carried on by 
 tlie Portuguese, Biscayans, French, and other 
 nations, on the banks or shallows, and on the 
 coast to the east and south of the island of 
 Newfoundland. Although by no means fa- 
 vourable to the validity of the claims of the 
 English to that island, he, however, acknow- 
 ledges that the crown of England had “ dis- 
 covered it at its own expense adding, that as 
 long as Spain, Portugal, and France, were 
 powerful at sea, the English did not venture to 
 dispute with them the title to this fishery; but, 
 as soon as Spain was engaged in a war with 
 England, the latter power, in the year 1585, 
 sent a squadron into those seas, under the 
 command of Sir Francis Drake, who seized 
 the ships of Portugal, then subject to the 
 crown of Spain, and carried them to England 
 as good and lawful prizes. This taking pos- 
 session of Newfoundland is, he says, the foun- 
 dation of the rights which England has to the 
 fishery carried on by her subjects in those seas. 
 The same writer very justly observes, that 
 “ as, according to the account which Captain 
 Anthony Packhurst gave to Hakluyt, so many 
 nations carried on the fishery olT the coast of 
 Newfoundland so early as the year 1-578, it is 
 clear that so considerable a fishery could never 
 have sprung up all at once, but that it must 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 37 
 
 luive been established by degrees; conse- 
 quently, it must have been carried on a great 
 while, before it could have risen to the height 
 at which it then was, No\v, the French having 
 fished on this coast so far back as the year 
 1504, it is very probable that the Portuguese, 
 who had there, in the year 1578, fifty ships 
 carrying altogether three thousand tons biu- 
 then, must, in 1504, or at least not long after, 
 have fished there also.” How, then, can we 
 suppose that the English alone should have 
 neglected to reap the fruits of the risks and 
 expense attending the discovery of that valua- 
 ble island? though they might, perhaps, not 
 think it necessary or prudent to enforce their 
 exclusive right to that fishery, until an una- 
 voidable war with Spain gave them a fair op- 
 portunity in the year 1585. We are expressly 
 told that the produce of the first voyage of 
 John and Sebastian Cabot to Newfoundland 
 wsis a valuable cargo, which could consist only 
 of furs and fish; and that they made several 
 voyages to those parts, which must have pro- 
 duced the same favourable result, and which 
 may be supposed to have been the motive 
 which induced the other maritime nations of 
 Europe to direct their attention to those lati- 
 tudes, whilst they neglected the more southern 
 parts of North America. 
 
38 
 
 HISTORY OR 
 
 Portugal appeal's to have been the first nj- 
 tion which followed the steps of John and 
 Sebastian Cabot to the northern parts of North 
 America. She was then in her glory; her 
 sons were animated with the spirit of action 
 and enterprize ; and her government attended 
 with equal ardour and promptitude to ever)' 
 important object that presented itself. Then 
 also she looked upon the discoveries made by 
 Spain and by England as so many encroach- 
 ments on her own rights and domains. Aiu- 
 ions to discover new countries and to open a 
 new route to India, Caspar de Corte Real, a 
 Portuguese of a distinguished family, set sail 
 trom Lisbon in the year 1501, and in the 
 course of his navigation arrived at Newfound- 
 land, in a wide and deep bay, which he named 
 Conception Bay, an appellation which it si 
 retains. He explored the whole eastern coast 
 of that island, and then proceeded to the 
 mouth of the great river of Canada, or Saiiit 
 Lawrence; after this, he discovered a land, 
 which he named Terra Verde, or Green land, 
 afterwards called from him Terra Corterealis, 
 or de Cortereal, now New Britain: that part 
 of it which, being under the fiftieth degree of 
 north latitude, he thought was still fit for culti- 
 vation, he named Terra de Labrador, or Terra 
 Agricolae, as it is called in the Cosmography of 
 
KEWFOUNDLANU. 
 
 39 
 
 »Seb}if<tian Munster. He then returned to Por- 
 tugal; and, in a second voyage to that part of 
 the world, he is supposed to have been mur- 
 dered by the Esquimaux, or, according to other 
 writers, to have perished in the ice. 
 
 In the year 1502, Hugh Elliot and Thomas 
 Ashehurst, merchants of Bristol, obtained from 
 Henry VII. letters patent for the establishment 
 of a colony in Newfoundland; but we find no 
 information whether they ever made use of this 
 grant or set on foot any voyages thither, either 
 in the writers who were their cotemporaries, 
 or in those that immediately succeeded them. 
 
 Bergeron, a French historian, says, that in 
 the year 1504, the fishermen of Normandy and 
 Brittany visited the great fishing banks near 
 Cape Breton, to which they gave that name, 
 supposing it to be a part of the continent, and 
 which it has retained ever since, although found 
 afterwards to be an island. Doctor Forster 
 likewise makes mention of a voyage performed 
 in the year 1506, by Jean Denis, from Hon- 
 fleur to Newfoundland, who drew a map of 
 the river Saint Lawrence; and another, in 
 1508, by Thomas Hubert, or Aubert, from 
 Dieppe to the same island, who is said to have 
 carried over to France some of the natives; 
 but these, he says, are rather loose hints than 
 regular accounts of places explored by the 
 
40 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 French, who seem to have shewn the least de- 
 sire of any nation to attempt the discovery of 
 countries, which did not promise the same 
 sources of wealtlvthat th,e Spaniards had found 
 in Peru and Mexico. At last, however, Fran- 
 cis I. a sensible and enterprizing prince, in the 
 year 1523, sent four ships, under the command 
 of Verazani, a native of Florence, to prosecute 
 discoveries in that part of the world ; but Vera- 
 zani only took a view of the island of New- 
 foundland and part of the continent, and then 
 returned to France. The next year he under- 
 took a second voyage, and, having touched at 
 the island of Madeira, directed his course to 
 the American coast, where he was assailed by 
 a violent storm, and gave up the enterprize. 
 lie embarked again on a third expedition, and 
 was no more heard of. 
 
 In the year 1527, Robert Thorne, a merchant 
 of Bristol, the same who prevailed upon Sebas- 
 tian Cabot to leave the service of Spain and 
 return to that of England, presented to King 
 Henry VIII. a memorial, respecting a passage 
 to the Indies by the North Pole. Henry, 
 though involved at that time in a multiplicity 
 of afl'airs, observing in Thorne a considerable 
 degree of activity and of sagacity, ordered 
 that two ships should be immediately manned 
 and provided with every thing necessary for 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 41 
 
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 su(4i an expedition. In these Thome and his 
 associates sailed on the 20th of May. On 
 their, anival near Newfoundland, one of the 
 ships was cast away at the entrance of a dan- 
 gerous gulf (the straits of Bellisle,) between the 
 northern parts of Newfoundland and the coast 
 of Labrador. The other ship, to which Henry 
 had given the name of Dominus Vobiscum, 
 then shaped its course along the eastern coast 
 of that island, towards Cape Breton and the 
 coasts of Arembec, now Nova Scotia, fre- 
 quently lying to, whilst parties went on shore 
 on the different islands and places by which 
 they passed. In the beginning of October, in 
 the same year, the adventurers I’eturned home 
 disappointed in their hopes of discovering the 
 north-west passage, notwithstanding their in- 
 defatigable assiduity and earnest endeavours. 
 
 L’Abbe Raynal obsenes that the discovery 
 of America by the Spaniards, and that of the 
 route to the East Indies by the Cape of Good 
 Hope by the Portuguese, do not appear to 
 have had so much effect on the French as they 
 had upon the English and the Dutch, to excite 
 them to similar enterprizes. Entirely taken 
 up with her views on the crow'n of Naples and 
 on the dutchy of Milan, France neglected her 
 navy, and cherished a romantic spirit of chi- 
 valry, with an extreme contempt for every 
 
42 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 thing relative to trade and commerce. These 
 prejudices prevented her from giving that at- 
 tention to voyages of discovery which they de- 
 served. It is not, therefore, surprising to find 
 that France has contributed but very little to- 
 wards the discoveries made in the north; nor 
 was it until the times of Heniy the Great Mitli 
 his favourite Sully, and of Lewis XIV. with 
 his great minister Colbert, that merchants and 
 ‘manufacturers began to be considered as va- 
 luable members of society, and their profes- 
 sions to receive that respect to which they are 
 justly entitled, in as much as they enrich the 
 state. He adds that, towards the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, France,* notwithstandini 
 her indifference to her navigation and com- 
 merce, began, however, to give a serious con- 
 sideration to the value of the gold mine, which 
 the discovery of New foundland had opened in 
 her fisheries. Francis I. not discouraged by 
 the unsuccessfid issue ofVerazani’s expedition, 
 sent, in the year 1534, a fleet from Saint Ma- 
 loes, under the command of James Cartier, an 
 experienced navigator of that towm. Rapal 
 speaks of this as of an enterprize which seemed 
 to have been entered upon merely from imite' 
 tion, and was neglected from levity. Greater 
 justice is done in this instance to the French 
 monarch, not only by Doctor Forster, who was 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND, 
 
 43 
 
 ' ;t (ierman writer, but also by Doctor Wynne, 
 an Englishman, in his general history of the 
 British empire in America. 
 
 James Cartier sailed from Saint Maloes on 
 the 20 th of April, 1534, with two ships and 
 noili one hundred and twenty-two men ; on the 10 th 
 of May following, he arrived at Bonavista, in 
 Newfoundland; the land was as yet covered 
 cha with snow', and the coast surrounded by great 
 ?re(li quantities of ice. He thence sailed round the 
 eir f island and found many commodious harbours ; 
 ihtii but the country was so uninviting, and the cli- 
 enii; mate so cold, that he did not make a long stay 
 midi there. He saw several of the natives of the 
 hstj island, of a good size and tolerably well shaped ; 
 and they were dressed in beasts-skins, and wore 
 rioiL< their hair tied in a bunch, on the crow n of their 
 jae,i head, adonied with feathers. He thence took 
 O|i 0 a southerly course, and entered into a bay, 
 which, on account of the sailtry weather which 
 ,j|(( he experienced there, he called Baye des Cha- 
 §31 leurs, a name which it still retains. It is a 
 broad and deep bay on the w estern side of the 
 j river Saint Lawrence. He landed at several 
 places on the banks of that gulf or river,' and, 
 on the 15th of August, he sailed for France, and 
 ^ arrived on the 5th of September at Saint Ma- 
 
 L The account which he gave of this voyage 
 
44 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 on his return, induced Francis to send him out 
 again with a larger force. Three ships well 
 rigged and manned were now placed under 
 his command, on board of which were several 
 young men of distinction. With these he put 
 to sea on the 19th of May, in the year 1535. 
 The slhps were soon after dispersed by a 
 storm; but met again, on the 26th of June, at 
 their general place of rendezvous in the bay or 
 gulf of Newfoundland, to which he then gave 
 the name of Saint Lawrence, on account of his 
 entering into it on the day of that festival. On 
 the 15th he came to an island which he named 
 Assumption, now called Anticosti, from the 
 Indian name Natiscotee. He next anchored 
 by a small island, which he named I’lsle au 
 Coudres from the number of hazel-trees grow- 
 ing upon it, a name which it still retains, about 
 forty-five miles north-east of Quebec. Sailing 
 farther up the river, he came to a large and 
 fine island, covered with an immense quantity 
 of vines growing spontaneously in the groves 
 and forests, and hence named it I’lsle de Bac- 
 chus, now the Isle of Orleans. 
 
 Cartier on his return to France, in the same 
 year, expatiateel on the advantages which 
 would result from a settlement being formed in 
 those parts; a nobleman of Picardy, Francois 
 de la Roque, vSeigiieur de Roberval, entered 
 
I NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 45 
 
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 into his views; and Francis, who used to call 
 fiim the little king of Vimere, on account of his 
 great influence in his own province, readily 
 gave to this Seigneur every encouragement that 
 he could desire. He created him “ Lord of 
 Norimbega (also called Arembec, now Nova 
 Scotia) and his Lieutenant-General and Viceroy 
 in Canada, Hochelaga, (now Montreal,) Sa- 
 guenay, a river which empties itself into the 
 gulf of Saint Lawrence, Newfoundland, the 
 general name for all the country discovered 
 by John and Sebastian Cabot, Bellisle, Carpon, 
 a bay or harbour in the north of Newfound- 
 land, Labrador, the great bay, meaning most 
 probably Conception Bay, and Baccalaos.” 
 This long enumeration shews at once the tem- 
 per of Roberval, the sagacity of Francis who 
 sought to flatter his vanity by this long list of 
 seigniories or lordships, and the great igno- 
 rance that prevailed at that time in France re- 
 specting those countries : we cannot help ad- 
 miring at the same time the extreme liberality 
 of the French king. 
 
 Roberval, determined to appear in his new 
 government with a grandeur suitable to the 
 dignity with which he was invested, procured 
 cannons from Normandy, and fitted out two 
 ships at his own expense, making preparations 
 which were not completed before the cxpira- 
 
40 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 tiou of two years. Cartier, who was to go be- 
 fore as his captaiu-general, set sail with five 
 ships, on the 23d of May, in the year 1540. 
 After meeting with very rough weather, he 
 made and landed in the harbour of Carpon, or 
 Quirpon, on the north of the island of New- 
 foundland. He next proceeded to Hochelaga 
 where he waited for the arrival of Roberval, 
 who however did not leave France before 
 April, in the year 1542. Cailier discouraged 
 by this delay, finding his stock of provisions 
 considerably reduced, and having reason M 
 , apprehend an attack from the native savages, 
 set out at last on his return to France, intend- 
 ing in his way to take another view of New- 
 foundland. There he unexpectedly found 
 Roberval in the road of Saint John’s, where 
 the latter had arrived just before him witli 
 three ships full of men, women, and children. 
 Not being able to prevail upon his captain-ge- 
 neral to continue with him, Roberval proceeded 
 with his small fleet to the coast of the gulf 
 Saint Lawrence and built a fort on a hill close 
 to the shore. He afterwards sent his first 
 pilot, Jean Alphonse de Xaintonge, to the 
 northward to discover a passage to the Indies: 
 hut this pilot did not go beyond fifty-two de- 
 grees of north latitude, and Roberval soon after 
 returned to France. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 47 
 
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 dly 
 
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 sett 
 
 The expeditions and captivity of Francis 
 diverted for some time the attention of the 
 French from such remote interests; nor are we 
 informed of the fate of the numerous colony 
 which Roberval had earned to Hochelaga. In 
 the year 1549, Roberval, with his brother, who 
 is said to have been one of the bravest men of 
 those times, and a numerous train of adventu- 
 rers, embarked for the same part of America, 
 and were never after heard of. This calami- 
 tous event discouraged so much the French 
 government and nation, that fifty years elapsed 
 before any similar attempt was again made by 
 them. 
 
 In the mean time England, though at that 
 period fully employed by the changes which 
 were then making in the established religion, 
 the domestic troubles of Henry VIII. the dis- 
 turbances in Scotland, and the insurrections at 
 home, was not inattentive to the intei’ests of her 
 North American possessions. A London mer- 
 chant, named Hoare, proposed a plan for ma- 
 king a settlement in the island of Newfound- 
 land, and w'as joined by several young gentle- 
 men who engaged to share with him the ex- 
 penses and risks of the enterprize. According 
 to Hakluyt, Mr. Hoare was tall and graceful in 
 his person, of an insinuating address, a cultiva- 
 ted understanding, and opulent. Among his 
 
48 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 associates were Messrs. Tuck, a gentleman of 
 Kent; Tuckfield Thomas Butts, the son of Sir 
 William Butts, of Norfolk, Hartlie, Biron, Car- 
 ter, Wright, Rastal, Ridley, Weekes, and scYe- 
 ral others, in all thirty persons of, ancient fami- 
 lies and considerable property, who all em- 
 barked with Mr. Hoare in the admiral ship, 
 called the Trinity, of one hundred and forty 
 tons. In another ship, the Minion, went 
 Messrs. Armigal Wade, afterwards clerk oftlit 
 council to Henry \TI1. and Edward VI. Oliver 
 Daubeney, a merchant of London; Joy, after- 
 wards gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and 
 several others, many of whom were men of 
 rank and opulence. 
 
 On the 30fh of April, in the year 1536, they 
 sailed from Gravesend, and continued at sea 
 during two months without seeing any land, 
 until they made Cape Breton. They next arri- 
 ved at Penguin Island, a rock of some extent 
 on the southern coast of Newfoundland, where 
 they landed. Here they found a prodigious 
 quantity of white and grey birds as large as 
 geese, which, \\\\en flead and dressed, were de 
 licious eatixig. Sea birds have always a disa- 
 greeable^s/ta/ taste, which is supposed to adhere [ 
 to the skin and to disappear with it. Black | 
 and white bears were likewise very numerous; | 
 some of them w'ere killed and proved tolerable 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 49 
 
 « food. From this small island they proceeded 
 to the coast of Newfoundland, where tliey re- 
 mained several days at anchor without seeing 
 any of the natives. At last some of them were 
 observed rowing towards the ships ; a boat was 
 manned and sent after them, but they immedi- 
 ately retreated, and, gaining the shore, fled to 
 an island in the bay ; this also they left at the 
 approach of the men, who found there a fire, at 
 which the side of a bear was roasting on a 
 wooden spit. 
 
 Mr. Hoare and his associates remained there 
 till their provisions became short, and being 
 then afraid to tmst themselves at sea in such a 
 condition, their distress became so great that 
 they were reduced to feed upon herbs and roots 
 of all kinds, which they gathered on the shore. 
 And now a most horrid transaction took place 
 which we would gladly pass over, if it had not 
 been mentioned and most grossly misrepresent- 
 ed by other writei’s. “ And it fortuned,” says 
 Hakluyt; “ that one of the company or crew of 
 one of the vessels, driven with hunger to seek 
 abroad for relief, found in the fields the 
 savour of broiled flesh, and fell out with one, 
 for that he would suffer him and his fellows to 
 starve, enjoying plenty, as he thought; and this 
 matter growing to cruel speeches, he that had 
 the broiled meat burst out into these words; 
 
50 
 
 history Of 
 
 ‘ If thou wonldst needs know, the broiled meat 
 that I had was a piece of such a mans but- 
 tock.’ The report of this brought to the ship, 
 the captain found what became of those that 
 M'ere missing, and was persuaded that some of 
 them were neitlfer devoured by wild beasts nor 
 yet destroyed by savages.” 
 
 This transaction, says Doctor Forster, ap- 
 pears almost incredible; it is not easy to con- 
 ceive how any but the most depraved of human 
 beings could be driven to the necessity of mur- 
 dering and feeding upon their fellow-creatures, 
 in such a place as Newfoundland, Avhere fish 
 abounds, and where, by their own account, 
 there are great numbers of birds and other ani- 
 mals. And yet horrible as is this transaction 
 as stated by Hakluyt, Doctor Forster has 
 thought proper to render it still more so by a 
 direct falsification of Hakluyt’s account; for 
 his own relation runs thus: “ One of them 
 came behind another w'ho was digging up some 
 roots, and killed him with a view to prepare 
 himself a meal from his fellow-creature’s flesh; 
 and a third smelling the delicious odour of 
 broiled meat went up to the murderer, and by 
 threats and menaces extorted from him a share 
 in this shocking meal.” Now, according to 
 Hakluyt’s account, so far from the third per- 
 soix forcing fi’om the murderer and taking with 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 51 
 
 lilm a share in the horrid repast, knowing what 
 it was, it is manifest that he was totally igno- 
 rant of what it consisted, and only expressed 
 his anger that he should enjoy, as he thought, 
 plenty, and at the same time suffer his compa- 
 nions to starve. He could not be a partaker 
 of it, because it is plain that the murderer had 
 finished his meal before the altercation began, 
 from his words: “ the meat that I had” It is 
 farther evident, that the third man was impress- 
 ed with a proper sense of the enormity of the 
 other’s crime, by his making a report of it to the 
 captain, whose horror on the discovery is very 
 fully shewn by his conduct on the occasion. 
 But the idea which Doctor Forster’s account 
 seems intended to convey is, that they were all 
 equally guilty and equally ready to perpetrate 
 those horrid and detestable crimes. 
 
 As to the causes which led them to this ex- 
 treme distress in such a place as Newfound- 
 land where fish abounds, and where there were, 
 according to their ow n account, great numbers 
 of birds and other animals, it may be sufficient 
 to observe, 1. That although fish is exceeding- 
 ly abundant on that coast, it is not equally so 
 every where and at all times ; it comes in peri- 
 odically in shoals, is continually changing its 
 course, and when stationary is found only on 
 grounds or ledges of a certain depth. In the 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 -very heat of the fishery, when fish k most 
 abundant, the inhabitants sometimes catch it 
 at a small distance from the shore, sometimes 
 they are obliged to go to a considerable dis- 
 tance, and sometimes even to other parts of the 
 coast ; nor can it be caught without proper bait 
 and implements expressly made for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 2. Where mention is made of great numbers 
 of birds and other animals, this must be under- 
 stood in reference to Penguin Island where 
 they had first landed, and w hich was then par- 
 ticularly remarkable for the multitudes of birds ’ 
 of that name and of other kinds, which laid 
 their eggs there, and nested unmolested and un- 
 disturbed, as is now the case with Baccalao 
 Island, off Conception Bay, and a few other 
 desert islands and rocks on that coast. At 
 what distance they were then from Penguin 
 Island; whether the wind blew to or from it; 
 whether they had strength sufficient in their 
 starving condition to navigate their vessels back 
 to that island; or whether, if able and the 
 wind favourable, they were so w^ell acquainted 
 
 with its exact situation as to venture on the 
 
 \ 
 
 open ocean with confidence tow^ards it; these 
 are so many questions on which Ave have no 
 grounds to decide. 
 
 Lastly, it is still more incredible that so 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 53 
 
 §reat a number of gentlemen of sense, judg- 
 ment, and spirit, should have tamely submitted 
 to that state of distress, if it had been in their 
 power by uny means to extricate themselves 
 from it. 
 
 In fact they actually seized upon the first 
 opportunity that presented itself to escape, by 
 means which nothing but that extreme distress 
 could possibly excuse or reconcile to their o^vn 
 feelings. A French ship laden with provisions 
 soon after put into the same harbour; they 
 made themselves masters of her, and leaving 
 their own to the French, to whom Doctor 
 Forster acknowledges that they distributed a 
 sufilcient quantity of provisions, they hastened 
 to leave a country in which they had endured 
 such miseries. After having observed vast 
 islands of ice, though during the summer sea- 
 son, they arrived tow ards the ,end of October 
 at Saint Ives, in Cornwall. The alteration 
 produced in their persons by the sufferings 
 which they had experienced w'as so great, that, 
 although they had not been absent seven 
 months, Sir William Butts and his lady 
 could not recollect their own son but by an 
 extraordinary wart on his knee. Hakluyt 
 assures his readers that they may rely on the 
 authenticity of his account of this voyage, as 
 he rode two hupdred piiles in order to take the 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 particulars from the month of Mr. Butts him- 
 self, the then only survivor of those who had 
 been engaged in it. Some time afterwards the 
 owners of the ship which they had seized upon 
 in Newfoundland came to England to com- 
 plain of that seizure. The king examined 
 closely into the afl'air; and finding that extreme 
 necessity had occasioned this act of violence, 
 he gave orders that they should be satisfied to 
 the full extent of their demands by the pay- 
 ment of a considerable sum out of the royal 
 treasury. 
 
 The circumstances of this unfortunate voyage 
 prove that no settlement had yet been effected 
 there by any European nation; and the con- 
 duct of the savages seems to indicate that the 
 sight of an European vessel was not usual to 
 them ; nor does it appear that Mr. Hoare and 
 his associates, in their voyage out and home, 
 met with a single vessel. The French ship, 
 which put into the harbour in which they were, 
 must have been driven thither by false reckon- 
 ing, stress of weather, or some other accident; 
 for there were no inhabitants for whose use the 
 provisions with which she was laden could be 
 intended. 
 
 To these beginnings, says an English writer, 
 alluding to Mr. Hoare’s voyage, we owe the 
 Newfoundland trade. That trade, however, 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 had commenced long before; but from this 
 time the fishery was pi'osecuted by the English 
 with greater vigour and systematic consistency 
 than ever: it became a r^ular and distinct 
 tdfi. branch of the commerce of this country; the 
 * merchants of London, Bristol, and tlie west of 
 exit England, who engaged in it, became more nu- 
 viob merous, as well as the vessels which were fitted 
 :is6(i out for that particular object. Sailing from the 
 the I English ports in the spring, those ships retum- 
 ieit ed in autumn with their whole freight of fish 
 both salted and dried on the coast of the island, 
 iew a situation far more favourable to the fishery 
 1 ell than the banks to which it had hitherto been 
 the I confined, and where the fish was injured by 
 that remaining too long in the salt or pickle, as well 
 gsoi as by the excessive pressure of the upper layers, 
 [o® and where it could not be dried on account of 
 the damp and thick ft^s that perpetually cover 
 j(j,j those banks. This trade, in the course of 
 twelve years after this last voyage, became of 
 such consequence as to be deemed an object 
 jgjjiji deserving the interference and support of 
 ggj, the legislature. In the year 1549 , the third 
 of the reign of King Edward VI. an act 
 of parliament was passed “ for the better en- 
 couragement of the fisheries in Iceland and 
 ’ Newfoundland.” This act expressly prohibited 
 the exaction of money, fish, or other rewards, 
 
 |io»f 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 under any pretext whatsoever, from the Eng- 
 lish fishermen and mariners going on this ser- 
 vice, by the officers of the Admiralty, or any 
 others, on pain of forfeiture of treble the amount 
 or value for the first offence, and for the second 
 of loss of employment, and of making fine and 
 ransom at the king’s will and pleasure. 
 
 Hakluyt very justly observes, that it appears, 
 from this act, that’ the trade out of England to 
 Newfoundland was common about the reign of 
 that Prince. To this remark of Hakluyt 
 Doctor Forster adds, that this measure proves 
 likewise, that many other nations used at the ' 
 same time to carry on a lucrative fishery there, i 
 which it was intended to wrest out of their < 
 
 hands by these means. Hence we may draw a ' 
 
 general conclusion, that the English Newfound- 
 land fishery had at that time attained a consi- 
 derable degree of importance in the opinion of 
 all the maritime nations of Europe. 
 
 
 1 
 
 ( 
 
 i 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 57 
 
 k\ 
 
 
 'nib 
 
 
 
 
 heai 
 
 
 lest 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 
 1548—1630. 
 
 itan 
 
 !ngl» “ Those authors,” says Mr. Pinkerton, “ who 
 beia wonder that colonies were not sent sooner to 
 Hm x4.merica, only shew their ignorance of the in- 
 ure p tentions of the first navigators. At that period, 
 sed* there was not one man in Europe who could 
 leryl have formed the smallest idea of the benefits of 
 it of a colony ; it was the success of the Spanish 
 ajdi colonies, allured by gold alone, that, towards 
 the end of the sixteenth century, opened the 
 djj eyes of mankind; but, even then, Raleigh’s 
 opjg transcendant mind held out gold to all his fol- 
 iowers as the sole inducement.” The attention 
 of Europe had been particularly directed since 
 the time of Cabot to the “ gold mine of the 
 Newfoundland fishery, like which, says twice 
 the celebrated Bacon, of all the minerals there 
 is none so rich.” Hence the many attempts 
 made to settle a colony in that valuable island, 
 notwithstanding every discouragement that 
 could arise from the nature of its soil and cli- 
 mate. The first attempt of this kind, whicji 
 
58 
 
 history of 
 
 also paved the way to others of a similar na- 
 ture successfully made afterwards in other 
 parts of North America, and which procured 
 to its author the title of “ the parent of all the 
 English plantations” in that part of the world, 
 was made in New'foundland. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, descended from an 
 ancient family in the county of Devon, equally 
 conversant in theory and in practice with cos- 
 mography, navigation, and the art of w'ar, and 
 remarkable for an entei-prising spirit, for intre- 
 pidity and eminent abilities, had formed the 
 resolution of settling a colony in the island of 
 Newfoundland. Queen Elizabeth entered at 
 once into his view^s, and, by letters patent, 
 dated the 11th of June, 1578, invested him with 
 full powers, similar to those which Henry had 
 before granted to Cabot, to discover, settle, and 
 regulate any remote countries not in the actual 
 possession of any Christian prince or people, 
 with all commodities, jurisdictions, and royal- 
 ties, to him, his heirs, and assigns, for ever, 
 within two hundred leagues where he or they 
 should fix the place of their residence, within 
 the six years next ensuing. Having obtained 
 this patent. Sir Humphrey endeavoured to pro- 
 cure associates in the enterprise, and received 
 assurances of support from a great number of 
 persons who declared their resolution to attend 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 59 
 
 him on tlie voyage. Wlien the vessels were 
 ® completely equipj)ecl, and the crews assembled 
 ' near tlie coast in readiness to embark, the ma- 
 jority of the adventurers departed from their 
 agreements, and signified their intention of re- 
 serving tlieir property for the support of plans 
 fi* concerted among themselves. Sir Humphrey, 
 still determined to proceed with the few friends 
 who yet remained unshaken in their attachment, 
 fw sailed instantly, in the summer of the year 
 i fill 1578 , for Newfoundland, where he made a short 
 for® stay; and came back to England, having nar- 
 lei rowly escaped, with the loss of one vessel, 
 enie from a squadron of Spanish men of war by 
 m} which he had been intercepted. The great ex- 
 >dliii penses which he had incurred in preparations 
 Hayi for this enterprise had so impaired his estate, 
 that he was compelled to desist for some time 
 ijIki from the resumption of his project. 
 
 About this time a material change was intro- 
 jjili duced respecting the nature of the property in 
 ^ fishing-rooms at Newfoundland. It appears, 
 that hitherto the space of ground requisite to 
 , cure and dry the cod-fish belonged to the first 
 u person who seized upon it. This custom having 
 been a perpetual source of disputes. Sir Thomas 
 Hampshire, who was sent by Queen Elizabeth, 
 \ in the year 1582 , into those latitudes with five 
 ships, was authonzed to secure to every master 
 
60 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 of a fishing crew the property of that fishiDg. 
 room which he made the object of his choice, 
 so long as he kept it employed for the use of 
 the fishery. This new arrangement is said to 
 have considerably increased the number of the 
 expeditions to Newfoundland. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, not in the least dis- 
 couraged by the disappointments and miscai 
 riage of his first enterprise, and seeing that 
 nearly five of the six years to which his patent 
 was limited were expired, sold his estate, which 
 produced a considerable sum, and wth the 
 assistance of Sir George Peckham and other 
 friends, who liberally contributed to the ex- 
 penses of the undertaking, he equipped a small 
 fleet of five ships and barks. The admiral was 
 the Delight, of one hundred and twenty tons, 
 of which Sir Humphrey himself took the com- 
 mand, appointing William Winter, a part- 
 owner, captain, and Richard Clarke, master; 
 the second was the Raleigh, vice-admiral, of 
 two hundred tons, fitted out and commanded 
 by Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Humphrey’s brother 
 by his mother’s side, having under him Captain 
 Butler, and Robert Davis, of Bristol, master; 
 the others were the Golden Hind, of forty tons, 
 Edward Hayes, owner and captain, and Wil- 
 liam Cox, of Limehouse, master; the Stcallote, 
 of forty tons, Maurice Brown, captain ; and, 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 61 
 
 the Squirrel, of ten tons, William Andrews, 
 captain, and Robert Cade, master. The num- 
 rtlif ber of men on board the whole fleet amounted 
 tisi to two hundred .and sixty, including several 
 shipwrights, masons, carpenters, smiths, miners, 
 and refiners. 
 
 le Is It had been resolved by the proprietors that 
 indi this fleet should take a northerly course, and 
 seat follow with all possible exactitude the trade- 
 hhii way to Newfoundland, from whence, having 
 statf taken in a proper supply of necessaries, it was 
 id ij to sail towards the south and enter every bay 
 1 jiiij or river which might appear deserving of notice, 
 toi The proprietors drew up the orders to be obser- 
 p(()j ved during the voyage, and delivered copies of 
 jdur them to all the captains and masters of the 
 vessels. 
 
 jifl On the 11th of June, 1583, the fleet sailed 
 , fromCawsand Bay, near Plymouth, and on the 
 , 13th Sir Walter Raleigh was obliged to put 
 back to Plymouth in consequence of an infec- 
 tious distemper which had seized his captain 
 . L and several of his crew. The Golden Hind 
 then became vice-admiral, and the fleet pro- 
 ceeded on the voyage. On the 30th of July 
 .. they first discovered lan<l, but imperfectly on 
 ^ account of an intense fog. Finding nothing 
 ’ „ but bare rocks they shaped their course to the 
 south-east, and arrived, at length, at Penguin 
 
62 
 
 history of 
 
 Island north, now Fogo, where they took in a 
 good stock of fowls or sea birds. After this, 
 they reached the island of Baccalao, in the 
 nioiith of Conception Bay, and entered into 
 that bay where they found the Swallow which 
 they had lost in the fog. Tlien proceeding fur- 
 ther to the southward, they made the bay of 
 Saint John’s, Avhere they found the Squirrel 
 which had been refused admittance into that 
 hai-bour by vessels of different nations which 
 were within. These, according to Hakluyt 
 amounted to thirty-six sail, and accordii^ to 
 Doctor Forster (p. 292), to four hundred, of 
 which he says further (p. 401,) that fifty were 
 Portuguese, of at least three thousand tons 
 burthen. Sir Humphrey prepared to obtain a 
 passage for his .ships into that harbour by force, 
 but, previous to his adopting this measure, 
 he sent some of his officers to inform the 
 people within the harbour, that he was empow- 
 ered by the Queen of England to take formal 
 possession of the place in her name ; and that, 
 if he met with the least resistance, he should 
 instantly employ the means in his power to 
 carry her majesty’s commands into execution. 
 The answer which he received from them was, 
 that their intentions were peaceable, that they 
 had only waited to be fully apprized of the ob- 
 ject of his expedition, and that in token of their 
 
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 respect they would cheerfully intrust him with 
 a discretionary power of laying a tax on their 
 provisions, in order to supply the necessities of 
 his fleet. The ships then entered into the har- 
 bour; and, the next day. Sir Humphrey and his 
 associates were conducted on shore by the 
 owners and masters of the English vessels. 
 
 On the 5th of August, Sir Humphrey, having 
 ordered a tent to be erected within sight of all 
 the ships, summoned the English and foreign 
 merchants to attend, and in their presence he 
 caused the commission under the great seal of 
 England to be publicly read, and afterwards to 
 be explained to the foreigners who were not 
 conversant with the English language. He 
 then informed the assembly that, under the 
 royal authority, he stood possessed of the har- 
 bour of Saint John’s and > all the adjacent 
 land within the circumference of two hundred 
 leagues; that thencefomard the witnesses of 
 this transaction, and, through their information, 
 all persons whatsoever, must consider these ter- 
 ritories as belonging to the Sovereign of Eng- 
 land, and acknowledge that he, the General of 
 Queen Elizabeth, was empowered by royal 
 licence to possess and enjoy them, and like- 
 wise to enact laws for the government thereof, 
 as conformable to the laws of England as the 
 nature of circumstances would admit; under 
 
history or 
 
 ()4 
 
 whicli roguliitions it was oxpoctod tliat all ad- 
 venturers who might arrive at future times, 
 either to dwell within the place, or to maintain 
 a traffic with the inhabitants, should quietly 
 submit to be governed. The customary cere- 
 mony of delivering a rod and a turf from the 
 soil to the new proprietor was then performed 
 in the presence of the assembly. 
 
 Sir Humphrey, having thus taken possession, 
 proceeded to the exercise of his legislative au- 
 thority by publishing some regulations concern- 
 ing the public exercise of religion and the ciril 
 government of the place, to which the whole 
 assembly promised obedience. The meeting 
 was then dissolved ; and, on the same spot, the 
 general erected a wooden pillar, to which tlie 
 arms of England engraved on lead were affixed. 
 He then granted several parcels of land, thete- 
 nants being under covenant to pay a certain rent 
 and service to Sir Humphrey, his heirs, and as- 
 signs, for ever, and yearly to maintain possession 
 of the lands by themselves or their assigns; and 
 having done this, he next issued orders for the 
 collection of the tax on provisions from the 
 ships and vessels in the harbour of Saint Johns 
 and on the adjoining coast. Doctor Forster 
 says, that on this occasion the General received 
 also valuable presents from all the captains of 
 the ships that lay off that island. 
 
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 While some of the English were engaged in 
 this service, and others in repairing the vessels, 
 Sir Humphrey sent several parties to explore 
 the coast and to make excursions through the 
 country, in order to inquire into the different 
 productions of the island. The result of their 
 observations was that the southern parts seem- 
 ed destitute of inhabitants, a circumstance, 
 says Hakluyt, wdiich probably Avas owing to 
 the frequent appearance of the Europeans, 
 Avhose presence might have intimidated the na- 
 tives, and induced them to retire into the inte- 
 rior. Towards the north they had met with 
 some of them who had approached without 
 dread, and appeared to be of gentle dispositions. 
 The country was generally very hot in sum- 
 mer, and extremely cold in Avinter. The sea 
 abounded so much in cod-fish that there Avere 
 but very feAv instances equal to it elsewhere; 
 they had also observed near the coast bonitos, 
 turbots, large lobsters, and a large kind of 
 herrings ; whales Avere likewise found in great 
 numbers, for Avhich fishery alone Biscay used 
 to send tAventy or thirty vessels every year. In 
 the bays and rivers tliere were salmons and 
 trouts in great abundance. Wood grew with 
 the greatest luxuriance over the Avhole country ; 
 game of every description Avas very common, 
 and they could easily procure hides and furs of 
 
 F 
 
histoky of 
 
 t)6 
 
 all sorts. They also represented the soil as 
 very fertile, and thought that by cultivation it 
 would not be difficult to obtain hemp, flax, and 
 corn. But what was calculated still more })ar- 
 ticularly to attract the attention of Sir Hum- 
 phrey and his associates, was the repoit of the 
 discovery of mines of iron, lead, copper, and 
 silver, by the party sent for the special purpose 
 of searching for metals on the coast to the 
 northward of Saint John’s. One Daniel, a na- 
 tive of Saxony, who is represented as an honest 
 and religious man, and a very expert miner and 
 assayer, brought to the General a kind of ore, of 
 which he said that he would stake his life that 
 it contained a considerable quantity of silver. 
 Captain Hayes, of the Golden Hind, appearing 
 to doubt the quality and value of the ore, and 
 requesting that he might be allowed to have 
 part of it: “ Content yourself,” answered the 
 too sanguine Sir Humphrey, “ I have seen 
 enough; and were it not improper to satisfy ray 
 ovm humour, I would proceed no farther. The 
 engagements which I am under to my friends, 
 and the necessity of bringing the southern 
 countries also within the compass of my patent, 
 which is nearly expired, alone prevail upon rae 
 to continue the voyage. As for the ore, I have 
 sent it on board, and desire that no farther 
 mention be made of it so long as we shall re- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
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 main in the harbour, there being Portuguese, 
 Biscayans, and French, not far off, from whom 
 tliis discovery must be kept a secret. When 
 we are at sea an assay shall be made of it, and 
 then, if we think proper, we may return the 
 sooner hither.” 
 
 At tfiis time, while liis faithful companions 
 were endeavouring to accelerate the prepara- 
 tions for the continuation of the voyage, a party 
 had conspired to prevent it by seizing the ves- 
 sels and the officers during the absence of Sir 
 Humphrey in the night, after which they in- 
 tended to proceed directly for England. This 
 conspiracy was discovered in time to prevent 
 its execution ; but some of the refractory crciws 
 still succeeded in their attempts to abandon the 
 General. A vessel freighted with fish in one of 
 the adjoining bays was seized upon by some 
 of them, who compelled her crew to retire to 
 the shore, whilst numbers, concealing them- 
 selves in the woods, watched for opportunities 
 to escape in the ships which daily departed 
 from the coast; others fell sick of fluxes and 
 other violent disorders, of which several died, 
 and the rest were permitted to return to Eng- 
 land on board the Swallow, under Captain 
 William Winter, with such a supply of provi- 
 sions as could be spared from the common 
 stock. 
 
 F 2 
 
08 
 
 history of 
 
 The three remaining vessels Ijeing completely 
 fitted for the intended voyage, the General 
 hoisted his flag on board the Squirrel, a light 
 and expeditious sailer, and the best construct- 
 ed for the purpose of entering creeks and small 
 harbours; he gave the command of the Delight 
 to Captain Maurice Brown, and the Golden 
 Hind to Captain Edward Hayes. On the 20th 
 of August they sailed from the harbour of 
 Saint John’s, which they found by observation 
 to be in forty-seven degrees forty minutes north 
 latitude. In the following night they made 
 Cape Race, distant twenty-five leagues, and 
 from thence nearly eighty-seven leagues to- 
 wards Cape Breton. 
 
 On the 27th, in the latitude of forty-five de- 
 grees, Sir Humphrey gave orders to sound, and 
 at the depth of thirty fathom they found white 
 sand; in the succeeding afternoon the wind 
 veered to the southw^ard, when, in opposition 
 to the advice of William Cox, master of the 
 Golden Hind, the ships bore in with the land 
 during the Avhole night at w'est-north-west. 
 The next day it blew a violent storm at south 
 and by east; the rain descended in torrents, 
 and the fogs were so extremely thick that no 
 object could be distinguished at a cable’s 
 length. Towards day-break, on the 29th, they 
 were alarmed by the appearance of surrounding 
 
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 sands and shoals, and, at every third or fourth 
 ship’s lengtli, observed the water lessening in its 
 depth. A signal was thrown out for tlie De- 
 light to stand off to sea, but at that very instant 
 she struck, and soon after her stem and rpiar- 
 ters were dashed to pieces. The Squirrel and 
 the Golden Hind immediately casting about 
 east-south-east, and bearing to the south, with 
 much difficulty got clear of the shoals and re- 
 gained the open sea. 
 
 In the Delight perished Captain Maurice 
 Brown and about a hundred of his associates, 
 who, with a resolution that bordered upon 
 madness, refused to set what they thought a 
 bad example by deserting the ship, although 
 they must have been convinced that it was im- 
 possible to save her. Fourteen of her crew 
 leaped into a small pinnace and remained a 
 short time alongside their ship, in the hope of 
 being joined by their captain, but in vain. 
 Having, at last, prevailed upon Richard Clarke, 
 the master, and one of his companions, to join 
 them, they cut the rope and ventured out to 
 sea, furnished only with a single oar, and desti- 
 tute of fresh water and provisions. 
 
 As the pinnace appeared to be much over- 
 laden, Edward Headly proposed the casting of 
 lots, so that four of them might be thrown over- 
 board. Clarke, whom it had been unanimously 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 agreed to except from this measure, availing 
 liimself of the affectionate regard with which 
 he was considered by his companions, strenu- 
 ously endeavoured, and at last succeeded, in 
 persuading them rather to bear their present 
 calamitous condition with Christian fortitude. 
 
 The pinnace was driven before the wind 
 during six days and nights, while these men 
 were reduced to feed upon some weeds which 
 they picked up on the surface of the sea. Sink- 
 ing under the sufferings of thirst, hunger, in- 
 tense cold, and constant fatigue, Headly and 
 another man expired on the fifth day ; and, on 
 the seventh, the remaining fourteen were fortu- 
 nately driven towards the coast of Newfound- 
 land, where they obtained a passage in a 
 French vessel, and at last arrived safely in 
 England. To the regular continuance of tlie 
 wind at south during the time of their passage 
 may be attributed tlie preservation of their 
 lives; for, had it shifted to any other quarter, 
 they could not possibly have made the land; 
 and what is remarkable, w ithin half an Imt 
 after they had reached the shore, the wind 
 changed full north. 
 
 This melancholy fate of the Delight was a 
 most distressing event to Sir Humphrey, who 
 had to lament, not only the loss of such a num- 
 ber of men of tried fidelity and th^ destruction 
 
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 of a valuable ship, but also the loss of his 
 Saxon miner with the supposed silver ore 
 which he had procured at Newfoundland. 
 So confident was he of the value of this ore, 
 that he had boasted to his friends, that, on the 
 credit of the mine, he did not doubt of obtain- 
 ing from Queen Elizabeth the loan of ten thou- 
 sand pounds, to defray the expenses of another 
 similar enterprise. 
 
 From this time the crews of the two remain- 
 ing ships became intimidated, and expressed 
 their apprehensions lest, their store-ship being 
 now lost, they should be exposed to the incle- 
 mency of the approaching winter, together 
 with the want of provisions and raiment. Sir 
 Humphrey, in consequence of these represen- 
 tations, resolved to return to England; and, 
 on the captain and master of the Golden Hind 
 offering some arguments to induce him not to 
 adopt this resolution : “ Be content,” said he to 
 them, “ we have seen enough ; take no thought 
 of the expenses which we have incurred. If 
 the Almighty should permit us to reach Eng- 
 land in safety, I will set you out royally in the 
 course of the next spring; therefore I pray you, 
 let us no longer strive here where we fight 
 against the elements.” 
 
 On the first of September the vessels changed 
 
n 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 thoir coui’S6 and stoered for li^ngland, and on 
 the second they passed in sight of Cape Race. 
 Some days afterwards Sir Humphrey went on 
 board of the Golden Hind, in order to have his 
 foot dressed for a wound received by acciden- 
 tally treading upon a nail. The wind was 
 violent, and the ocean so extremely agitated, 
 that Captain Hayes and the whole of his asso- 
 ciates and crew, who every moment expected 
 that the Squirrel would be swallowed up, ear- 
 nestly entreated Sir Humphrey to remain on 
 board their vessel. He, however, instantly 
 departed, declaring that no consideration should 
 induce him to. quit the vessel and the brave 
 associates with whom he had encountered so 
 many dangers. On the ninth of September 
 the Squirrel sunk, and was seen no more. In 
 the course of the preceding evening Sir Hum- 
 phrey had been observed unmoved in the stem 
 of his ship with a book in his hands. Some 
 philosophical historians adduce this as an in- 
 stance of his ardent love of knowledge, which 
 did not forsake him even in the extremity ot 
 danger; while others suppose the book which 
 he had then in his hands to have been one of a 
 religious kind ; and this supposition seems to 
 agree much better than the former, with the 
 words which he w as at the same time frequently 
 
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 heal’d to repeat w’ith a loud voice: “ Courage, 
 my lads, we are as near heaven at sea as we 
 are pn land.” 
 
 Such was the fate of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 
 
 “ than w'hom,” say the authors of the Biogra- 
 phia Nautica, “ few persons in that era were 
 more distinguished by exalted understanding 
 and undaunted resolution. He was in a man- 
 ner the parent of all our plantations, being the 
 first who introduced a legal and regular mode 
 of settling, without which such undertakings 
 must necessarily prove unsuccessful. His 
 'treatise concerning the north-west passage* 
 was the ground of all the expectations which 
 the most enlightened seamen had formed during 
 many years of actually finding such a tract to 
 the East Indies; and even now we find that 
 many of his conjectures are true, and that all 
 of them are founded on reason and the philo- 
 sophy which was commonly received at that 
 period.” 
 
 The Golden Hind arrived safely at Falmouth 
 on the 22d of September, and, more fortunate 
 than the rest of the fleet, brought home her 
 whole crew, excepting only one mariner. Of 
 the fate of the Swallow we have no account. 
 
 Tbe melancholy issue of this expedition did 
 
 Published in tbe year 1576. 
 
74 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 
 f 
 
 not deter the celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh, 
 Sir Humphrey’s brother, from engaging in a 
 similar enterprise. Having, in the year 1584, 
 obtained from Queen Elizabeth a patent of the 
 same nature as his unfortimate relative’s, he 
 fitted out two ships and sailed for North Ame- 
 rica, to which he gave the name of Virginia in 
 honour of the Queen, a title which continiled 
 to be applied to the British settlements in that 
 part of the w orld, the original name of New- 
 foundland being then confined to the island 
 now so called. 
 
 The year following, war having been de- 
 clared between England and Spain, Sir Francis 
 Drake was sent with a squadron to the Island 
 of Newfoundland, where he took several 
 Portuguese vessels freighted with fish and oil, 
 and returned to England with his prizes. Doc- 
 tor Forster, on this occasion, gives another 
 strong instance of that inconsistency which 
 lessens the value of his work. Anxious to 
 prove the priority of right which, in his opinion, 
 tlie Spaniards, Portuguese, and French have 
 to fish at Newfoundland, he says, “ this taking 
 possession of that island, on the part of the 
 crown of England, is the foundation of the 
 rights which this nation has to the fishery car- 
 ried on by her subjects in those seas.” And 
 yet, only two pages before, viz. p. 295, he had 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 75 
 
 * said that “ the Portuguese, Biscayans, French, 
 and other nations, liad usurped this fishery 
 on the coast of a country which the crown 
 
 ^ of England had discovered at its own ex- 
 
 rcklilf 
 
 Dense. 
 
 nra voyage to that island, recorded by 
 
 the historians of those times, was performed by 
 ® Richard Strang, of Apsham, and is remarkable, 
 as it appears to have been the first expedition 
 expressly sent for a purpose distinct from the 
 ® tl* cod-fishery, and more similar to what is now 
 called the seal-fishery. Strang sailed from 
 in? Ik Falmouth on the 1st of June, 1593, with two 
 n,Sil ships, namely, the Marygold, of seventy tons, 
 to tie and another ship belonging to George Drake, 
 took I both of London, and having on board several 
 fell I butchers and coopers. Their destination was 
 pii® to the island of Ramea, then called by the na- 
 rivfji tives of the adjoining continent Menquit, within 
 iteicj the straits of Saint Peter’s, on the back of 
 t 0 Newfoundland to the south-west. On the 
 shores of this island, particularly in April, 
 May, and June, there were, in Hakluyt’s time, 
 multitudes of amphibious creatures called 
 ! paiii ^'accae marinae, or morses, with two large teeth 
 resembling ivory, which, as well as their oil, 
 considered as valuable articles of 
 commerce. The proper season for catching 
 these animals was almost expired before the 
 
76 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 departure of the ships from England which 
 had separated during the voyage, and did not 
 join again. The vessel commanded by Captain 
 Drake having reached Newfoundland, pro- 
 ceeded directly to Ramea, where a ship from 
 Saint Maloes was lying at anchor, almost full 
 freighted with morses. On the approach of the 
 English, she slipped her cables and stood out 
 to sea, leaving l>ehind three shallops and 
 twenty- two men. 
 
 On the 11th of July the Marygold made 
 Cape Saint Francis at the entrance of Concep- 
 tion-Bay, thence proceeded to the bay then 
 called Rogneuse, (Renowes,) doubled Cape 
 Razo, (Race,) and sailed towards the bay of 
 Saint Peter’s; but as the crew were at a loss 
 what course to steer, she lost her way, and at 
 length fell in with Cape Breton, where they 
 went on shore and saw several of the natives. 
 They next bore away to the south-west, and at 
 the distance of nearly sixty leagues from that 
 Cape, observed great numbers of seals and 
 porpoises, several of which they killed; they 
 saw likewise several whales of an enormous 
 size. After having hovered near the coast of 
 Arembec, (Nova Scotia,) for the space of eleven 
 weeks from the time of their arrival at Cape 
 Saint Francis, the captain of the Marygold 
 yielded to the persuasions of the master and 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 77 
 
 [lajiil _ 
 
 his associates and returned to England by the 
 iu ^"'ores. 
 
 ^ The year following Captain Rice Jones sailed 
 . from Bristol for the gulf of Saint Lawrence, 
 ^ with a bark of thirty-Jive tons, so familiar were 
 ’ then the people of Bristol with this navigation. 
 
 On the 19th of May he fell in with Cape Spear, 
 
 ' * then called d’Espere, on the coast of New- 
 found land, and proceeded to the islands of 
 San Piedro, or Saint Peter’s, where, laying his 
 vessel upon the lee, the crew in less than two 
 hours catched with their hooks three hundred 
 ^ cods which served them for provisions. They 
 »ubl« found in the bay of Saint George the wrecks of 
 s tk two Biscayan ships, out of which they took 
 ;real seven hundred whale fins; they then returned 
 TO to the bay of Placentia, and were employed 
 wte with great success in catching cod. They ar- 
 tliei rived at Bristol on the 24th of September, / s’ 
 •west Three years afterwards, exactly one hundred 
 lesin years from the discovery of that island by John 
 if 8(ii Cabot; Charles Leigh and Abraham Van Her- 
 jjilW wick, merchants of London, equipped two 
 ij (OH armed ships, a practice which, from the relation 
 of this voyage, appears at that time to have 
 jjpdfr been adopted by the French merchants in 
 IjjIiI Newfoundland. These ships were the Hope- 
 j JIj well, of one hundred and twenty tons, com- 
 jijjU manded by Captain William Grafton, and the 
 
 
 t 
 
 /07 - 
 
78 
 
 history op 
 
 Chancewell, of seventy tons, commanded hj 
 Captain Stephen Bennet. With these Charles 
 Leigh and Van Henvick’s brother sailed as 
 directors of the voyage. On the 8th of April, 
 1597, they left Gravesend ; on the 18th of May 
 they reached the bank of Newfoundland; and 
 on the 20th they came into Conception-Bay. 
 Having caught a considerable quantity of cod- 
 fish at different places on that coast, the Hope- 
 well arrived on the 18th of June at the island 
 of Ramea, where she found two vessels from 
 Saint Maloes and two from Sibiburo, with all 
 of which she was engaged, at first with some 
 prospect of advantage; but, at the close of the 
 action, overpowered by their superior force, she 
 retreated from the island, after having lost her 
 pinnace, together with a cable and anchor. 
 
 The Chancewell, which had been separated 
 from the Hopewell, was unfortunately wi'ecked 
 upon the main of Cape Breton on the 23d of 
 June. Eight of the mariners, whom the french 
 had plundered even of their shirts, put to sea 
 in their shallop, and came up with the Hope- 
 well in her return from Ramea. They w'ere no 
 sooner received on board, than Captain Grafton 
 sailed towards the road where the Chancewell 
 had been lost, in order to secure the wreck 
 and take in the remainder of the crew. On 
 the passage, the Hopewell intercepted a lai^ 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 79 
 
 Iff si 
 
 M 
 
 Biscayan ship of three hundred tons, the crew 
 of w'hich had been concerned in plundering the 
 crew of the Chancewell; and, partly by threats, 
 and partly by mild persuasion. Captain Grafton 
 prevailed upon them to restore a considerable 
 mill portion of the plunder. On the 18th of July, 
 iccjiii as the master and sixteen men were cruising in 
 intitj their boat, they attacked and took a Spanish 
 i8t,fc ship which they were towing to the Hopewell, 
 atl when, in their turn, they were attacked by 
 ivesi some barks from Saint Juan de Luz, and after 
 Ijiim i an obstinate resistance they were obliged to 
 fjt give up their prize. On the 25th, being in the 
 harbour of Cape Saint Mary, they there enga- 
 ged a ship belonging to Bellisle, of two hun- 
 dred tons and forty men, and took her after a 
 jjjijlong and sharp action. Mr. Leigh, having de- 
 spatched the Hopewell to the Azores, proceed- 
 j ed in his prize on his return to England, and in 
 ’ i the beginning of September arrived at Graves- 
 end with a valuable cargo of fish and oil. 
 
 Henry the Fourth was then on the throne of 
 France; the advantages which might be ex- 
 pected from settling colonies in North America 
 ^|could not escape the penetration of his minister 
 Sully, and the commission, which had been 
 granted by Francis tlie First to Roberval, was 
 renewed in favour of the Marquis de la Roche, 
 of Brittany, who was apjwinted the French 
 
 ithtk 
 
 jrei 
 
history of 
 
 
 king’s lieutenant-general in Canada, Hoche- 
 laga, Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Bay 
 and River of Saint Lawrence. 
 
 De la Roche sailed from France in the 
 year 159B, with forty criminals taken out of 
 • different prisons in France. On his arrival at 
 the Isle of Sables, he landed there these men, 
 and then stood away for the Coast of Acadia, 
 now Nova Scotia. After having cruised there- 
 about for some time, he returned to France 
 without these men, was ill received at Court, 
 and soon after died of a broken heart. Heniy 
 sent a ship to bring the poor wretches from the 
 miserable island where they had been left, and 
 where, out of forty, only seven were found 
 alive, who, on their return to France, received 
 from the king a general pardon, and fifty 
 crowns each. 
 
 On the death of La Roche, his patent w 
 transferred to Chauvin, who made two voyages 
 in the years 1600 and 1601 to Canada, from 
 both of which he returned with a most 
 valuable cargo of furs. The French merchants 
 then began to understand the value of the 
 Canadian trade ; a considerable company was 
 soon after formed for that purpose, the success 
 of which was at first equal to the activity and 
 perseverance with which they carried on their 
 operations. But the injudicious policy adopted 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 81 
 
 by Samuel Champlain, the founder of Quebec, 
 >“ill in taking a part in the quarrels of neighbour- 
 ing Indian tribes, and supplying them with 
 ranee fire-arms, paved the way to those sanguinary 
 tala struggles and ferocious mode of warfare, which 
 his I never ceased to endanger the peace and safety of 
 
 re ^ all the European settlements in North America, 
 istd until the French were completely excluded 
 cnis! fi'om that continent. Quebec, founded in the 
 ledti year 1608, upon the borders of the river Saint 
 iveill Lawrence, became the origin, centre, and ca- 
 heail * New France, or Canada, 
 
 tchfsl reverend, enlightened, and indefatiga- 
 
 1 ^^ ble Hakluyt,* though a private clergyman, 
 
 has immortalized his name by his exertions to 
 
 in ww 
 
 I encourage and direct the spirit of tliscovery at 
 ^ this period. Under liis auspices an associa- 
 tion was formed of men of rank and talents, 
 for the purpose of establishing colonies in 
 
 North America; and on the 10th of April, 
 le ^ 
 
 1606, a patent was granted to them by King 
 
 James the First, which led to the first perma- 
 
 nent settlement founded at James Town, at the 
 
 mouth of the river in Chesapeak-bay, in the 
 
 year 1607, and firmly consolidated by Lord 
 
 comp! Uelawar, in the month of June, 1610. 
 
 The year 1606 was likewise remarkable for 
 
 jjjKjt 
 
 urwl' 
 
 poll?* 
 
 • He was llien Prebendary of tbe Cathedral of Bristol. 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 a renewal of the attempt to discover a nortli- 
 west passage by the Muscovy Company in 
 England, who fitted out a bark of forty tons, 
 under the command of Captain John Knight. 
 On their arrival on the coast of Labrador, 
 Kniffht and some of his associates having ven- 
 
 o 
 
 tured on shore, were attacked and massacred 
 by the savages; the I'est of the crew, at a time 
 when their vessel had sprung a leak and un- 
 shipped her rudder, were surrounded by up- 
 wards of fifty Indians whom they gallantly 
 repelled; and, having repaired the damages, 
 they proceeded to New foundland, where, Hak- 
 luyt says, they obtained from the inhabitants a 
 plentiful supply of provisions and other neces- 
 saries. On the 20th of September they arrived 
 at Dartmouth. Newfoundland was also visited 
 three years afterw ards by the celebrated Henry 
 Hudson in his third voyage, as well as the coast 
 of Labrador, to which he then gave the name 
 of Magna Britannia. 
 
 At this time the island of Newfoundland 
 apj^ears to have engaged the public attention in 
 England in a considerable degree. John Guy, 
 a merchant, and afterwards mayor of Bristol, 
 published, in the year 1009, a treatise on the 
 advantages which would result to England 
 fi*om the establishment of a colony in that 
 island ; this treatise produced such an effect on 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 83 
 
 eras 
 
 'foitj' 
 
 lii 
 
 b'ii( 
 
 all 
 
 !aku 
 
 ygi 
 
 lUiil 
 
 itkri 
 
 Jieyi 
 
 ak« 
 
 atedi 
 
 astk 
 
 retki 
 
 iVfoilH 
 
 attaa 
 
 Join) 
 
 offc 
 
 itko 
 ) &? 
 DJ®' 
 uill< 
 
 the public mind that a company was soon after 
 formed, consisting of tlie Earl of Southampton, 
 Lord-Keeper; Sir Laurence Tanfield, Lord- 
 Chief-Baron; Sir Jolm Dodderidge, King’s 
 Serjeant; Sir Francis Bacon, the celebrated 
 father of true philosophy, then Solicitor-Gene- 
 ral, afterwards High - Chancellor and Lord 
 Verulam; Sir Daniel Donn, Sir Walter Cope, 
 Sir Percival Willoughby, Sir Jolm Constable, 
 John Weld, Esq. and several other persons of 
 distinction and respectability. To this com- 
 pany King James, by letters patent, dated the 
 27th of April, 1610, made a grant of all the 
 part of Newfoundland from Cape Bonavista in 
 the north to Cape Saint Mary in the south of 
 Saint John’s. A colony was sent to that island 
 under the direction of Mr. John Guy, who was 
 appointed governor of the same. 
 
 After a voyage of twenty days, Guy arrived 
 and landed near Conception-harbour, now 
 Harbour-grace, in a cove since called Mus- 
 quito, in Conception-bay. Here huts were 
 immediately constructed to serve as habitations 
 during their stay, and Guy behaved towards 
 the natives with so much prudence and kind- 
 ness, that he apparently gained their friendsliip, 
 and was permitted without interruption to carry 
 those measures into execution which were the 
 most likely to insure success to the undertaking. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 HISTOKY OF 
 
 We are not informed from wliat cause the dis- 
 appointment which followed arose, notwith- 
 standing these favonrable circumstances, but 
 Guy dnd his associates soon after returned to 
 England. 
 
 Four years afterwards Captain Whitburn, 
 who, since the year 1591, had been successively 
 employed in the Bank-fifiherij by Messrs. Cot- 
 ton and Crook, merchants of Southampton, 
 was sent to Newfoundland with a commission 
 from the Admiralty, authorizing him to impannel 
 juries, and to inquire upon oath of divers abuses 
 and disorders committed among those who car- 
 ried on the fishery on that coast. The authors 
 of the Universal History very properly con- 
 clude from this circumstance that the trade was 
 then confined to the English ; for the Admiralty 
 would hardly have taken upon themselves the 
 cognizance of crimes and abuses committed 
 by the subjects of another prince. By virtue 
 of this commission. Captain Whitburn held a 
 court of admiralty immediately on his arrival, 
 and received the comj)laints of one hundred and 
 seventy masters of English vessels, of injuries 
 committed in trade and navigation; a proof of 
 the flourishing state of the English cod-fishery, 
 even at this early period. 
 
 It has already been observed that, by the 
 new arrangement made by Queen Elizabeth, in 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 86 
 
 the year 1582, Sir Thomas Hampshire was 
 autliorized to secure to every master-fisherman 
 the property of tliat portion of the coast which 
 he fixed upon for the actual purpose of the 
 fisheiy carried on by himself. By this measure, 
 and by the grants afterwards made by Sir 
 Humphrey (iilbert, a kind of property was in- 
 troduced whicli gave confidence and security 
 to the parties concerned in that fishery, and 
 created a considerable degree of emulation 
 among the adventurers at home. The expedi- 
 tions to Newfoundland multiplied so rapidly, 
 that, in the year 1615, upwards of two hun- 
 dred and fifty English vessels, carrying altoge- 
 ther more than fifteen thousand tons, were em- 
 ployed on those coasts. Fixed habitations 
 were formed, which gradually extended on the 
 eastern side from Saint John’s and Thorne-bay, 
 or Torbay, to Cape Race. The inhabitants, 
 compelled by the nature of their employment, 
 and the irregularities of the ground, to live at 
 a distance from each other, opened paths of 
 communication through the woods; their gene- 
 ral rendezvous was at Saint John’s, where, in 
 an excellent harbour formed between two steep 
 mountains at a small distance from each other, 
 they met the vessels from the mother-country, 
 which supplied them with every necessary arti- 
 cle in exchange for the produce of the fishery. 
 
8(i 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 In the year 1615, Doctor Vaughan purchased 
 from the patentees a part of the country inclu- 
 (led in their grant, and settled a small colony 
 at Cambriol, on the southern part of the island, 
 of which he appointed Whitburn Governor. 
 He soon after proceeded himself to Newfound- 
 land, and is said to have made Ferry- Land the 
 seat of the muses. It does not appear, how- 
 ever, that he continued long there, or derived 
 any permanent advantage from this underta- 
 king. In the year 1623, Sir George Calvert, 
 then one of the principal Secretaries of State, 
 having obtained a patent for him and his heirs 
 to be absolute lord and proprietor, with the 
 royalties of a county palatine, of the peninsula 
 formed by the bays of Placentia and of Trinity, 
 erected the same into a province, to which he 
 gave the name of Avalon. This was the name 
 of a place in Somersetshire where Glastonbury 
 now stands, the first fruits of Christianity in 
 Britain, as Sir George intended his new pro- 
 vince to be in that part of America. A consi- 
 derable colony, composed chiefly of puritans, 
 accompanied to Newfoundland Captain Ed- 
 ward Wynne, whom Sir George had sent with 
 the commission of Governor, to prepare every 
 thing necessary for his reception ; while he em- 
 ployed, in the mean time, his interest and his 
 fortune in securing the success of his enterprise. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 87 
 
 in which lie is said to have laid out two thou- 
 sand live hundred pounds sterling. Captain 
 Wynne, on his arrival, settled himself at Ferry- 
 land, where he built the largest house ever yet 
 seen on the island, erected granaries and store- 
 houses, and accommodated his people in the 
 best manner possible ; while he likewise endea- 
 voured to establish an intercourse and trade 
 with the natives. The following year he recei- 
 ved a reinforcement of colonists, and a consi- 
 derable supply of stores and implements ; and 
 soon after the colony was in so flourishing a 
 state that, on the 17 th of August, he wrote to 
 Sir George: “ AVe have wheat, barley, oats, 
 and beans, eared and codded ; and though the 
 late sowing of them, in May or the beginning 
 of June, might occasion the contrary, yet they 
 ripen so fast, that we have all the appearance 
 of an approaching plentiful harvest.” In the 
 same strain he sjieaks of his garden, which 
 flourished wdtii all kinds of culinary vegetables. 
 Captain Powell, who commanded the ship in 
 which the new colonists had been carried to 
 Avalon, confirmed this account by a similar 
 letter, in which he expatiated on the excellence 
 of the soil and pasture, the commodious situa- 
 tion and state of the Governor’s house, the 
 quantity of pasture and arable ground cleared 
 .since their arrival, and the numerous herds of 
 
I 
 
 u 
 
 gy HISTORY OF 
 
 cattle which they had already collected and 
 reared. 
 
 These flattering accounts of the fertility of 
 the soil, and of the expectation of a plentiful 
 harvest, in an island which has always depend- 
 ed upon othei- countries for bread and other 
 articles of first necessity, have subjected Go- 
 vernor Wynne and Captain Powell to the im- 
 putation of wilful misrepresentation. It may, 
 however, be observed, that the state of the cli- 
 mate and of vegetation there, during the months 
 of July and August, is generally such as to 
 have fully justified those expectations. Vege- 
 tation is surprisingly luxuriant and rapid during 
 the summer season; but this favourable state 
 of the weather is not of sufficient duration to 
 bring wheat, barley, and oats to perfect ma- 
 turity. 
 
 We are farther informed, that a salt-work 
 was erected, at Ferryland, by Captain Wynne, 
 and completed by Mr. Rickson; and so de- 
 lighted was the proprietor, now created Lord 
 Baltimore, . with the flourishing state of the 
 colony, that he removed thither Avith his 
 family, built a handsome and spacious house 
 and a strong fort at Ferryland, where Caecilius, 
 his son, resided several years. 
 
 In the mean time, the plantations in New- 
 foundland received a considerable accession 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 89 
 
 from -a colony sent from Ireland by Lord 
 Faulkland, then Lord Lieutenant of that king- 
 * dom ; hut they soon after sustained more than 
 *1^ an equivalent loss by the departure of Caecilius, 
 second Lord Baltimore. The French Admiral 
 de I’Arade, with three men of war, had redu- 
 ced the English fishermen there to great extre- 
 mities: Lord Baltimore, with two ships, manned 
 ^ at his own expense, drove away the French, 
 took sixty of them prisoners, and thus relieved 
 gtliei Newfoundland. Finding, however, that his 
 I Slid plantation was much exposed to the insults of 
 ions, the French, he returned to England in the year 
 rapid! 1632. He then obtained from Charles the 
 luraliit First the grant of a part of the continent of 
 tdiM North America, to which, ip the letters patent, 
 pew the King gave the name of Maryland, in 
 honour of his Queen Mary. Lord Baltimore, 
 a nevertheless, still kept possession of his settle- 
 ment at FeiTyland, which he governed by his 
 and! deputies. 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1633—1702. 
 
 W E are now entering upon a new and import- 
 ant era of the history of Newfoundland, as it 
 is of the history of all the British settlements 
 in North America in general ; an era which 
 strongly evidences the abilities and zeal of 
 Charles the First to appreciate and to promote 
 the national interests of England. 
 
 At this period the colonization of Viipnia 
 was completed ; Ncav England was in a flou- 
 rishing state ; Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catho- 
 lic, was laying the foundation of the future 
 prosperity of Maryland on the broad basis of 
 security to property and of freedom in reli- 
 gion ; and his colony appeared disposed to 
 adhere, and actually did adhere, strictly to these 
 professed principles. By a proclamation, dated 
 at Whitehall, 24th November, 1630, King 
 Charles had expressly prohibited the disoric^ 
 trading with the Savages of America, especially 
 “ the furnishing them with weapons and other 
 habiliments of war.” In this proclamation re- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 91 
 
 ference is made to another issued in the reign 
 ,of King James, for preventing the insufferable 
 abuses committed by divers interlopers, irregu- 
 lar inerchaDts, and disobedient fishermen and 
 mariners, who, to the great prejudice and dan- 
 ger of the planters, bartered away to the sa- 
 vages of that country arms, powder, shot, and 
 other things, Avith Avhicli they destroyed the 
 f"® English, Avho sold those Aveapons to them; an 
 lOfflul abuse Avhich, introduced by Champlain, was 
 ih a probably aftenvards adopted by the English 
 ^•settlers, on the principle of self-defence. Ano- 
 ^ ^ ther proclamation Avas issued, d^ted at Green- 
 andl Avich, 24th May, 1631, “ for the better order- 
 itl' ing of fishing upon the coasts of his Majesty’s 
 dominions.” * A commission, dated 8 th Decem- 
 Iwiber, 1630, had been directed to the Lord- 
 iRw Treasurer and others, to erect a common fish- 
 lofiery as nursery for seamen; and, in the year 
 bwii 1633, King Charles issued another commission, 
 reedot “ for the Avell governing of his subjects inha- 
 ed biting in Netcfon/ulland, or trafficking in bays, 
 jtiiflt creeks, or fresh rivers there.” 
 jljjijif This document, a copy of which Avill be 
 18 found in the Appendix, is of considerable inte- 
 (lie j rest, as this is the first attempt to establish in 
 that island effectual restraints and rules for the 
 ipoBi* protection of persons and of property, and for 
 irocliJ 
 
history or 
 
 92 
 
 the maintenance of good order. The reader 
 will likewise observe with what admirable care j 
 provision is here made for eveiy possible case 
 of importance that might arise; he will also i 
 see in the sequel of this History, that this com- 
 mission of Charles the First was the ground- 
 work of all the laws and regulations whicli 
 were afterwards adopted by the legislature 
 under King William, and by the celebrated 
 Colbert, under Lewis the Fourteenth, respect- 
 in‘>- the Newfoundland trade and fisheries. 
 
 Several other proclamations, issued by Ring 
 Charles, may be seen in Rymer’s Fcedera, 
 which indicate the same sense of the import- 
 ance of the fisheries, and an ardent desire to 
 put the English navy upon a permanent and 
 most respectable footing. Though, in the 
 reign of King James the First, the Newfound- 
 land trade had been entirely in the hands of 
 the English without a rival, yet, through the 
 weakness and neglect of that Prince, their 
 navy was by no means in a state of propor- 
 tionable respectability. Charles directed the I 
 attention and abilities of his ministers to that 
 important object, duly appreciating the value 
 of Newfoundland in this point of view; and 
 the example of England was eagerly followed 
 by France, which even submitted, in the year 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 93 
 
 Tk 
 
 be I 
 tbitl 
 slier 
 iabot 
 belq 
 bed 
 ieii4 
 Ifisk 
 ssued 
 ner'sl 
 oftb 
 denii 
 «raii 
 100^ 
 kii« 
 1 tbei 
 !t,llll» 
 Pt* 
 ated 
 s ifc 
 linislff 
 [till? I 
 [of« 
 
 1 634, to the payment of a tribute of five per 
 cent, ratlier than give up the privilege of fishing 
 at Newfoundland. 
 
 In the year 1654, Sir David Kirk obtained 
 a kind of grant from the parliament of certain 
 lands in Newfoundland, and immediately re- 
 paired thither Avith a small colony. In the 
 space of a few years settlements had been 
 effected in fifteen different parts of the island, 
 the principal of Avhich were Saint John’s 
 Town, FeiTyland, and Quidy-Vidy; the whole 
 amounting to upwards of three hundred fami- 
 lies, notwithstanding the opposition of the 
 French who had settled a colony at Placentia, 
 which occasioned constant bickerings between 
 them and the English. 
 
 In the year 1675, the French king prevailed 
 upon Charles the Second to give up the duty of 
 five per cent.; and the celebrated Colbert, 
 appointed Surintendant des Finances, on the 
 recommendation of Cardinal Mazarin, as a 
 man particularly fit for that office, manifested 
 equal capacity for advancing the interests of 
 F^rance by improving her navigation and com- 
 merce. “ The surprising Success of the 
 French in navigation,” says the author of a 
 General Treatise of the Dominion and Laws 
 of the Sea, published in London in the year 
 1705, “ is, in my opinion, principally owing to 
 
94 
 
 history of 
 
 the excellent naval laws and ordinances wliicb 
 have of late been established in that kingdom 
 for the regulation of all maritime affairs, in 
 which their summary and easy method of pro- 
 ceeding has been found to be very benoticinl 
 to all who have had occasion to be concerned 
 in it; for the government finding that the only 
 means to have a jiowerful navy was to encou- 
 rage trade and navigation among private per- 
 sons, nothing was omitted that could in any 
 manner tend to that object. Haying consulted 
 all the law s and statutes in force in every part 
 of Europe on naval affairs, retrenching what 
 was superfluous or inconvenient, and supply- 
 ing what was deficient with proper regulations 
 for every subject, they have certainly compiled 
 the most accomplished system of laws for 
 • trade and navigation that Europe ever saw: 
 and, whether we consider the strength of the 
 French navy, their surprising success in nah- 
 gation, to which but in our fathers’ time they 
 were almost absolute strangers, the number ot 
 their merchants’ ships and mariners, or the pre 
 sent state of their foreign plantations, the good 
 effects of the means which they have used to 
 encourage navigation wdll be obvious. Upon 
 an exact survey of their trade, we shall find 
 that five or six particular towns in France have 
 now more ships belonging to them, than, I 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 .96 
 
 lieve, the whole kingdom could have mustered 
 not many years ago. Bourdeaux, Rochelle, 
 
 * Nantes, Saint Maloes, Havre de Grace, Dieppe, 
 
 ^ and some other towns in Brittany and Nor- 
 mandy, send every year a good number of 
 •CM ships to the fishings of Newfoundland, which 
 tki is a veiy beneficial trade, employing a great 
 as It many men and ships, besides those that go 
 !pm thither.” 
 
 cony The laws to which this writer alludes are 
 inp« contained in an “ Ordinance of Lewis the 
 mill Fourteenth concerning the marine, given at 
 enck Fontainbleau, in the month of August, 1681,” ^ 
 , ant of which an extract is inserted in the Appen- 
 CTiedix./' 
 
 iiilTj The rapid increase of the French commerce 
 
 of 1 and navy from this time soon excited the sur- 
 
 pfj, prise and alarm of all the naval powers of 
 
 JPJJ 5 Europe. When King William was called to 
 
 jjjjjithe throne of England, Lewis had long ren- 
 
 jjj’ljdered himself the terror and scourge of the 
 
 Continent. A confederacy was then formed 
 
 ^,against him by the Emperor of Germany and 
 
 ! ' jthe States - General ; and the Commons of 
 
 , England unanimously resolved that, if a war 
 lia«i * 
 
 ITIOII!' 
 
 should break out with France, they would 
 “^enable the King to prosecute it with vigour. 
 This event took place soon after, and it is a 
 
 "^ remarkable circumstance that, in the English 
 
 111 ,® 
 
 ■ yZ. A-'- f- - 
 
HISTOUY of 
 
 9() 
 
 declaration of war, the first gi-ievance stated 
 as one of the causes of this measure is, “ that 
 it was not long since the French took licenses 
 from the governor of Newfoundland to fish 
 upon that coast, and paid a tribute for such 
 licenses, as an acknowledgment of the sole 
 right of the crow n of England to that island; 
 but, of late, the encroachments of the French 
 upon that island and his Majesty’s subjects, 
 trade, and fishery there, had been more like 
 the invasions of an enemy than becoming 
 friends, who enjoyed the advantages of that 
 trade only by permission.” 
 
 The history of this'W^ar does not, however, 
 furnish any remarkable event particularly con- 
 nected with Newfoundland, except an unsuc- 
 cessful attempt mentioned in Doctor Wynne's 
 History of America, Avhich proves that the 
 French were, at that time, in greater force 
 there than w^as known by our government at 
 home. He says that, on the 14th of Septem- 
 ber, 1692, the French governor of Placentia, 
 having received advice that a squadron was at 
 anchor within five miles of that place, Baron 
 La Houtan was despatched with about sixty 
 men to post himself where the English were 
 most likely to land. On the 17th, Commodore 
 Williams summoned the governor to surrender 
 that place, and every other that the French had 
 
N E W FOUN DLA N D. 
 
 97 
 
 fails 
 
 iiei 
 
 looll 
 
 llanil 
 
 lUlei 
 
 jfi 
 
 otk 
 
 iftk 
 
 ily'si 
 
 tai 
 
 anil 
 
 ita,% 
 
 not. I 
 rtidi 
 :epti 
 iclotl 
 ovfsl 
 gist 
 [0tfn 
 thofi 
 offi 
 iiadm 
 :ph(t 
 :lialiii 
 Eiijit 
 
 rto* 
 
 in that bay. Tliis the governor refused in re- 
 .solute terms, and immediately ordered a boom 
 to be thrown across the harbour. The follow- 
 ing day, the English squadron found that they 
 had no less than three forts to attack; they 
 began a brisk cannonade, but towards the 
 evening of the 19 th they drew off, and the 
 expedition ended in falling upon Point Vesti, 
 which they set on fire. 
 
 This aflair, says our author, excited great 
 surprise; it was difficult to account for the 
 raslmess of the Commodore in attempting a 
 place with the strength of which he was not 
 acquainted; the precipitancy of the retreat of 
 the English was also made a subject of blame, 
 it being said that the French were reduced to 
 their last charge of powder, and forced even 
 to return the balls which they picked up during 
 the engagement. Some have supposed, that a 
 kind of mutiny in the squadron obliged the 
 commanders to give over their enterprise; 
 others have attributed this failure to their ill 
 conduct, of which, it is said, they gave many 
 glaring instances. 
 
 It is more reasonable to attribute this failure 
 to the superior strength of the French in that 
 quarter. For, while the attention of King 
 William was entirely confined to the continen- 
 tal interests, France, which had long before 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 1 
 
 made North America an object of attention, 
 was now taking measures in order to obtain 
 possession of the whole of it. The English 
 occupied, at that time, the sea coast, the 
 harbours, and the mouths and banks of the 
 rivers, extending in a few instances as fai- as a 
 hundred, or at most one hundred and fifty 
 miles into the country. The French had made 
 settlements on the Mississipi and the Saint 
 Lawrence, fonuing a line almost parallel to 
 the sea coast. Here surely was an extent of 
 territory sufficient for the emigrants of both 
 nations, had they been in numbers infinitely 
 greater than they actually were, and had they 
 attended solely to the avow'ed purposes of 
 those emigrations, the planting and settling 
 those uncultivated wastes and forests; it must 
 have been long before their interests could 
 possibly have interfered with each other. But 
 several causes contributed to feed there that 
 hostile disposition, which, ever since the days 
 of Edward the Third, had subsisted between 
 the two nations, and to occasion the commis- 
 sion of open acts of violence in the new con- 
 tinent, when their respective States were at 
 peace in the old world. The immensity of 
 those territories naturally prevented any boun- 
 daries being properly adjusted in the first in- 
 stance; and when once disputes had begun 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 • • 99 
 
 upon this point, and national honour or piivate 
 interest came to be, or were thought to be, con- 
 corned, it became impracticable ever after. 
 The indefinite and extravagant charters, or 
 grants of land, made by the pow'ers of botli 
 ^ kingdoms to their respective subjects, necessa- 
 * rily induced both to look upon each other as 
 mutual encroachers. It is further to be obser- 
 
 [1 |L 
 
 ved that, whilst the English colonists assidu- 
 I® ously attended to their natural employment, 
 namely, agriculture and a certain degree of 
 commerce, the French, who, at that time, paid 
 little attention to commerce, and who looked 
 upon agiiculture only as a secondary conside- 
 ptuf ration, appear to have had no other object in 
 atl the new w'orld than conque.st and extension of 
 rest; territory. Instead of mercantile factories, they 
 tereit confined themselves to the erection of military 
 bill forts at the back of the English settlements, 
 tdi from Quebec to New Orleans. At the conclu- 
 liucd sion of each war, the points in dispute re- 
 jgtedl specting boundaries were left to be settled 
 1 Ik* uncertain and endless proceedings of 
 
 l],(ii Commissaries. Animosities and encroach- 
 Itate' in the mean time, continued to the 
 
 same extent, until it became evident that 
 the only event which could be expected to 
 put an end to that perpetual state of war- 
 ^^1^ fare, M^as the absolute exclusion of one of 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 history of 
 
 the contending Powers from that part of the 
 world. The immense distance of the scene of 
 those transactions from Europe prevented the 
 respective governments from obtaining correct 
 information, and from keeping the private pas- 
 sions of their people under the necessary con- 
 troul ; nor could France, for the same reason, 
 check the restless, ambitious, and arbitrary 
 conduct of her Commandants and Governors in 
 America, who, at last, actually boasted, as the 
 result of their able and patriotic exertions, that 
 they would soon be able “ to drive the English 
 colonists into the sea.” Such views must have 
 been highly gratifying to the French nation at 
 large ; and thus the French ministry were, in 
 some measure, compelled to second them by 
 adequate encouragement and assistance from 
 the mother-country. 
 
 Newfoundland was too valuable to be over- 
 looked in these extensive views, both as a 
 fishery and as a naval and military station: its 
 entire conquest had always been one of the 
 most favourite objects with the French people, 
 whom the destruction of a few inconsiderable 
 fishing settlements, enlarged into a most im- 
 portant and brilliant achievement, had fre- 
 quently seemed to console under the failure of 
 enterprises of much greater consequence, or 
 under signal defeats nearer home. It was in 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 101 
 
 psni 
 
 liet 
 
 erei 
 
 lint) 
 
 anei 
 id I 
 
 Gott 
 
 aslid 
 
 leiM 
 
 itliel 
 
 nm 
 
 icb 
 
 istryi 
 
 ondl 
 
 sistw 
 
 s, W 
 ryslii 
 !D0K 
 'reiidi' 
 news 
 
 031 
 
 Dsefi* 
 IP. I’ 
 
 pursuance of these views that, in the year 
 1696, the Chevalier Nesmond was ordered, 
 with ten ships, to join the Rocheford squadron, 
 to proceed to Newfoundland, and, having 
 driven the English from that island, to go to 
 Boston, which he was to attack, and after- 
 wards to destroy all the English settlements 
 between that town and Piscataqua. Nesmond 
 did not arrive at Placentia till towards the lat- 
 ter end of July, when it was resolved, in a 
 council of war, to make a descent upon the 
 harbour and town of Saint John’s, which con- 
 tained, at that time, thirty-four English ships 
 and vessels: but Nesmond failed in this at- 
 tempt, and was obliged to return to France. 
 
 In the mean time another squadron, com- 
 manded by Ibberville and Bonaventure, arri- 
 ved at Placentia, on the 24th of September. 
 Brouillan had before set sail with eight ships 
 from Saint Maloes, with orders to attack the 
 town of Saint John’s; but, a misunderstanding 
 having arisen between him and the men of 
 Saint Maloes, he was obliged to give up the 
 attempt; and, having taken Fort Forillon, the 
 commander and garrison of which he made 
 prisoners, he returned to Placentia. There he 
 had some difl'erences with Ibberville, whose 
 Canadians, reftising to obey any other orders 
 
than those of that officer, threatened to return 
 to Quebec. It was, however, at length agreed, 
 that they should proceed in separate bodies to 
 the attack of Saint John’s, w hich they found 
 an easier conquest than they had expected; 
 for the fortress was but weakly defended, and 
 the garrison equally in want of military stores 
 and of provisions. Fresh disputes arising 
 among the victors, concerning the mode of se- 
 curing their conquest, it was finally determined 
 to abandon it, after setting fire to the fort and 
 to the town, while two ships were allowed for 
 carrying the garrison to England. 
 
 Brouillan then returned to Placentia, whilst 
 Ibberville pursued his successes with his Cana- 
 dians, by entering the bay of Bulls, attacking 
 and destroying an English frigate, commanded 
 by Captain Cleasby, who made a glorious de- 
 fence, and, by demolishing all the settlements, 
 except those of Bona vista, and Carbonier-flar- 
 bour in Conception - Bay, which proved too 
 strong for them. After this he likewise return- 
 ed to Placentia, w here he w aiteel a considera- 
 ble time, but in vain, for reinforcements from 
 France; and thus this enterprise terminated. 
 
 1 he next year, a squadron, under Admiral 
 iVevil, with fifteen hundred land-forces, com- 
 manded by Sir John Gibson, was sent to re 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 103 
 
 edit 
 
 ijlki 
 
 iKli 
 
 \k 
 
 lute 
 
 
 'eal 
 
 ceDS 
 
 rili 
 
 1^11’ 
 
 ies65 
 
 hfH" 
 
 ke»s 
 
 lad 
 
 cesie 
 
 lefDE 
 
 ludffJ 
 
 i-fou* 
 
 ass< 
 
 venge and retrieve the late losses. It is said, 
 by the authors of the Universal History,* that 
 the ignorance of one of these officers and 
 the cowardice of the other rendered the ex- 
 pedition fruitless; that Nevil, with a superior 
 force, declined engaging the French Admiral 
 Ponti; and, pretending to have lost time in a 
 fog, returned to England, without either reco- 
 vering any of the settlements that had been 
 lost, or securing those that remained. It is 
 not unreasonable to suppose that, if this repre- 
 sentation of the transaction were founded in 
 truth, the conduct of these officers would have 
 been subjected to public inquiry, and we 
 should have more satisfactory proofs than a 
 mere allegation. This would not be the only 
 instance to be found in the history of that part 
 of America, where a fleet, dispersed and be- 
 calmed in the impenetrable fogs which fre- 
 quently cover the Banks of Newfoundland, 
 had been detained there so long as to be at 
 last compelled to retire from a coast at all times 
 dangerous, and still more so during and after 
 the equinoctial gales. The peace of Rhyswick, 
 accelerated by the sudden resolution of the 
 Commons, that all the land-forces, raised since 
 the 29th of September, 1680, should be paid 
 
 • Modern Part, vol. xxxix. section 16 . 
 
. 104 
 
 history of 
 
 and disbanded, replaced Newfoundland in the 
 same state of division between England and 
 Erance, in w'hich it w'as at the beginning ot 
 this war. A squadron was soon after sent 
 thitlier, under the command of Captain, after- 
 wards Admiral, Sir John Norris, as Governor 
 of Newfoundland, to restore all things to order, 
 and to see that the stipulations of the treaty 
 were duly observed. 
 
 It appears that, even at this time, Newfound- 
 land had acquired a sufficient degree of im- 
 portance to make the appointment of Governor 
 of that island an object of ambition; for, from 
 this period, we find this office generally filled 
 by gentlemen, whose names hold a distinguish- 
 ed rank in the naval history of these kingdoms. 
 Thus, Sir John Berry, who held it in the 
 year 1675, is represented in the “ Biographia 
 Nautica” as a great, gallant, and good man, 
 who had received the honour of knighthood in 
 1672, for his meritorious conduct at the battle 
 of Solebay, accompanied Avith the following 
 compliment from King Charles II. “ As your 
 thoughts have been now upon honour, we will 
 hereafter think of profit; for I would not hare 
 so lirave a man a poor knight.” In the short 
 space of seventeen years this officer rose from 
 the rank of Lieutenant to that of Vice-Admiral, 
 to which he was appointed in the year 1682. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 105 
 
 ndi 
 
 lait 
 
 lie 
 
 H,i 
 
 Goi' 
 
 ;stiii 
 
 tki 
 
 M 
 
 jtel 
 
 iffo 
 
 i;li 
 
 mil 
 
 ‘Iw 
 
 din 
 
 Bid 
 
 \p» 
 
 at tit 
 
 leiH 
 
 “i 
 
 our,* 
 
 ert«* 
 
 ice-il 
 
 We learn, from the same writers, that Captain 
 Thomas Gillam, who, in the famous year 1692, 
 had the honour of first discovering the French 
 fleet under Tourville, and of contributing, by 
 his activity and bravery, to the glorious victory 
 which ensued, was, for these services, rew'ard- 
 ed by a promotion to the Saint Alban’s, in 
 which ship he was ordered the same year to 
 Newfoundland, as Governor, and that he cap- 
 tured several valuable prizes oflf that coast. 
 Sir John Norris, after a regular routine of ser- 
 vices, had been appointed Captain in July, 
 1690, and, in the short space of eighteen years, 
 was raised to the rank of Admiral of the Blue, 
 in 1708, having, four years before, been ho- 
 noured by Queen Anne with knighthood, and 
 one thousand pounds, for his eminent services 
 as second to Sir Cloudesly Shovel, in the en- 
 gagement ofi‘ Malaga. He Avas succeeded on 
 tlie Newfoundland station, in 1700, by Sir 
 Stafford Fairborne, an officer distinguished by 
 great abilities and intrepidity. And Sir John 
 Leake, or Lake, who has left the reputation 
 of a generous, humane, brave, and good man, 
 and who is reported to have been one of the 
 greatest Admirals of the age in which he lived, 
 was appointed to the same government in the 
 year 1702. 
 
 In the year 1698, the consideration of the 
 
10(> 
 
 history of 
 
 fisheries became api’incipal object of the atten- 
 tion of the English Parliament. An act wa$ 
 passed prohibiting, on pain of forfeiture of ship 
 and cargo, the importation of fish taken by 
 foreigners in foreign ships. This was soon 
 after followed by another, intituled, “ An Act 
 to encourage the Trade to Newfoundland,” 
 which is said to be little more than an enact- 
 ment of the rules and constitutions which had 
 been in force there for many years before. By 
 this act, the right and privilege of la-nding and 
 drying fish on the shores of Newfoundland was 
 limited to British subjects arriving there from 
 the king’s European dominions, and to aliens 
 residing in England ; — in vessels fitted out and 
 manned according to certain regulations speci- 
 fied in the act, one of which was, that the 
 crews should be composed of at least one 
 fresh or green man in every five: a certijicdei 
 those conditions being duly complied with, 
 from the officers of the customs, entitled those 
 vessels to the privileges of fishing ships, one 
 of which w as the free and exclusive use of any 
 part of the coast for the purposes of the fishery. 
 The master of every ship so qualified, firet 
 entering into a harbour, became Admiral of 
 that harbour for the season ; the second, Vice- 
 Admiral; and the third, Rear-Admiral. These 
 Fishing Admirals were authorized to decide and 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND^ 
 
 107 
 
 determine all causes of disputes which might 
 arise there, subject, in cases of intricacy, or 
 where either party might think himself aggrie- 
 ved, to an appeal to the commanders of such 
 of his majesty's ships as should be appointed 
 for convoy. Murders and all other capital 
 offences committed there could be tried only 
 in England, to which the persons accused 
 were to be sent prisoners for that purpose. 
 
 By these regidations, the adventurers or 
 merchants, and others, wlio visited Newfound- 
 land only for. the fishing season, were supposed 
 to have obtained a considerable advantage 
 over the pretensions of the inhabitants and 
 planters who were settled there. This act like- 
 wise removed the obstacles that might be 
 thought to lie in the w'ay of a free fishery, from 
 the various charters formerly granted of that 
 island. It cannot be denied that the import- 
 ant changes made by this law produced, in 
 course of time, abuses of a contrary nature, 
 and equally prejudiciail to the interests of the 
 fishery, as those which it was intended to re- 
 medy. Those fishing admirals were not always 
 the best informed, the most impartial, and in- 
 corruptible judges; Hence, about thirty years 
 afterw ards, it w'as found necessary to modify 
 several provisions of this act, and to appoint 
 a Civil Governor and .Justices of the peace, for 
 the protection of the inhabitants and planters, 
 
108 
 
 historv of 
 
 
 for the better administration of justice, and for 
 the support of public order and tranquillity. 
 This act, nevertheless, was so well suited to 
 the circumsta.nces and necessities of New- 
 foundland, at the close of the seventeenth 
 century, that, under its influence, the trade 
 and fisheries of that island increased rapidly, 
 and to a very great extent. 
 
 This measure for the encouragement of the 
 trade and fisheries of Newfoundland from the 
 
 King’s European dominions, was soon after 
 followed by another of still greater importance, 
 which embraced all the English plantations in 
 North America, and was the origin of that 
 most excellent institution, now known by the 
 name of the “ Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in Foreign Parts.” 
 
 A public-spirited clergyman, of the name of 
 William Castel,* the author of “ A short 
 Discovery of America,” inserted in the eighth 
 volume of Churchill’s Collection of Voyages, 
 had presented to parliament, in the reign oi 
 James the First, a petition “ For the propaga- 
 ting of the Gospel in America,” signed by se- 
 veral divines of London and other parts of 
 England. An ordinance was then made by 
 parliament, by which Robert, Earl of Warwick, 
 
 * Then Rector of Conrtenhall, in the county of North- 
 ampton. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 109 
 
 it 
 
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 k 
 
 ><< 
 
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 \k 
 
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 ml 
 
 F? 
 
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 wF 
 
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 oflff 
 
 being constituted Governor-in-Chief and Lord 
 High Admiral of all those islands and planta- 
 tions inhabited, planted, or belonging to any 
 of his Majesty’s subjects within the ’bounds 
 and upon the coasts of America, a committee 
 wa.s appointed to assist him for the better go- 
 vernment and preservation of the said planta- 
 tions; but chiefly, “ for the advancement of 
 the true Protestant religion, and farther spread- 
 ing of the Gospel of Christ among those that 
 yet remained there in great and miserable 
 blindness and ignorance.” 
 
 Notwithstanding the extreme importance of 
 the object in view, the zeal of parliament, the 
 e.xeitions of great numbers of sincere Chris- 
 tians, and the earnest petitions of the planters, 
 adventurers, and owners of land in those plant- 
 ations, nothing was done until King William 
 took effectual measures to encourage that truly 
 noble design. By his royal charter, dated the 
 K?th of June, 1701, he erected and settled “ a 
 Corporation, with a perpetual succession, by 
 the name of The Society for the Propa- 
 gation OP THE Gospel in Foreign Parts, 
 for the receiving, managing, and disposing of 
 the contributions of such persons as should be 
 induced to extend their charity towards the 
 maintenance of a learned and orthodox 
 clergy, and the making of such other provi- 
 sion as might be necessary ; it appearing, that 
 
110 
 
 HISTORY OF . 
 
 in many of those plantations., col.ouiesj <uid 
 factories, beyond tlie seas, tlie provision tor 
 ministers was mean ; and a g reat number of them 
 were wholly unprovided with a maintenance 
 for ministers and the public worship of God; 
 so that, for lack of support and maintenance, 
 many of the king’s subjects wanted the admi- 
 nistration of God’s word and sacraments, and 
 seemed to be abandoned to atheism and infi- 
 delity, and others of them to popish supereti- 
 tion and idolatry,” 
 
 This society, by the charter, was composed 
 of the chief prelates and dignitaries of the 
 church, and of several lords and eminent per- 
 sons in the state, with power to elect, from 
 time to time, such others to be members of the 
 corporation as they, or the major [>art of them, 
 should think beneficial to their charitable de- 
 signs. They were directed to give to the Lord 
 High Chancellor, and to the Lords Chief Jus- 
 tices of the King’s Bench and of the Common 
 Pleas, an annual account of the several suras 
 of money by them received and laid out, and 
 of the management and disposition of the re- 
 venues of the corporation. And, certainly, no 
 other society has more reason to say, as they 
 do in their annual reports, that “ through an 
 especial blessing this work of the Lord hath 
 all along prospered in their hands.” 
 
 Soon after their incorporation, they received 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 Ill 
 
 m 
 
 ivet 
 
 lerii 
 
 it; 
 
 ip« 
 
 ile 
 
 \k 
 
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 sen 
 
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 to4* 
 
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 SIJ.» 
 
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 cl^ 
 
 applications from several parts of the Ameri- 
 can plantations for ministers and schoolmas- 
 ters, accompanied with promises to do their 
 best for the maintenance of such as should be 
 sent to them, churches being already built or 
 building in different places, which was easily 
 accomplished in those countries, as all build- 
 ings were ^commonly constructed w ith wood. 
 In the short space of four years from the date 
 of their charter, this Society formed in North 
 America an establishment of twenty-eight mi- 
 nisters, catechists, and schoolmasters, to who.se 
 maintenance they contributed at the annual 
 expense of five hundred and ninety-five pounds 
 sterling, besides four hundred and ninety-four 
 pounds, which they paid in the year 1705 for 
 libraries and gratuities to their missionaries. 
 
 Newfoundland, at that time, had several 
 considerable settlements of English people, 
 besides a vast number of occasional inhabit- 
 ants w'ho resided there during the fishing sea- 
 son, to the amount of several thousands, with- 
 out any regular public exercise of religion. The 
 Society sent to Saint John’s a clergyman, of the 
 name of Jackson, with an annual salary of 
 fifty pound.s sterling, besides a gratuity of 
 thirty pounds for the expenses of his voyage. 
 
112 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE NEWFOUND- 
 LAND FISHERY, AND OF THE ACCOUNTS OF 
 THAT ISLAND, AS GIVEN BY DIFFERENT 
 WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Having brought the History of Newfound- 
 land up to this important epoch, it may be in- 
 teresting to the reader to take a retrospective 
 view of the British and French fisheries, and 
 of the accounts given of that island by the 
 writers of those times. 
 
 According to I’Abbe Raynel, France, after 
 the agreement made with King Charles, in 
 1634, sent annually her fishermen to that 
 island, where they fished only on the northern 
 part, which they called Le Petit Nord, and on 
 the southern point, w here they had formed a 
 kind of town upon the bay of Placentia, which 
 united all the conveniences that could be desi- 
 red for a successful fishery. He says that, in 
 the year 1660, the French government unfor- 
 tunately gave up the property of that bay to 
 an individual, named Gargot, whose rapacih 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 113 
 
 compelled the planters and fishermen to drive 
 him away. The French ministry did not per- 
 sist in supporting’ this man’s unjust proceedings, 
 but the system continued the same. The labo- 
 rious men, whom necessity had united upon 
 this barren land, were persecuted without in- 
 termission by the commanders who succeeded 
 each other in a fort which ha<l been erected 
 ® in that town. This system of oppression, 
 cts which prevented the colonists from acquiring 
 that degree of competency necessary to enable 
 them to pursue their labours with success 
 must also have prevented their increasing in 
 retro? number. 
 
 iskn! The author of the “ Considerations on the 
 iW Trade to Newfoundland,” inserted in thesecond 
 volume of Churchill’s Collection of Voyages, 
 FraB observes, that, “ in the reign of Queen Anne, the 
 Ck French by this trade had so far increased their 
 luejl riches and naval power as to make all Europe 
 iki stand in fear of them ; w'hich plainly shews, that 
 \jotii twenty years quiet possession of this trade i.s 
 ,jjl( capable of making any prince the most formid- 
 ((jlii able by sea and by land, by the yearly increase 
 of men, ships, bullion,” &c. He asserts, that 
 jjjsi the whole increase of the naval greatness of 
 ^ France had its foundation from this trade, and 
 thus explains the grounds of this assertion, 
 wi “ nature of this trade is such, that about 
 
 1 
 
114 
 
 history of 
 
 one-fourth of the men employed in it are grm 
 men, that is, men who were never before at 
 sea: and the climate being very healthy, scarce 
 one man in fifty dies in a voyage; whereas, in 
 the voyages to the East and West Indies, few 
 green men are employed, and it is too well 
 known what great numbers are swept away in 
 those unhealthy countries. And it farther 
 pears that their naval strength arises from this 
 trade, by looking back to their first beginnmg 
 therein. France had before very few ships, 
 and these were of inconsiderable force and 
 bulk ; whereas,” says _our author, “ they' have 
 since been enabled frequently to contend at 
 sea with the united powers of England and 
 Holland, and have besides a great many stout 
 and large privateers to infest Our coasts and 
 ruin our merchants.” He adds that, “ at this 
 time, namely, towards the end of the seven- 
 teenth century, the French were in the habit 
 of employing in these fisheries about five hun- 
 dred sail of ships, a great many of which were 
 of good burden, and mounted from sixteen to 
 forty guns ; to man which they have,” he says, 
 “ by a moderate computation, about sixteen 
 thousand men, of which one-fourth being 
 men, they must consequently breed up by this 
 single trade four thousand sailors every year. 
 The same writer observes also, that “ the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 115 
 
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 still! 
 
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 in{k 
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 red 
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 offlsii 
 
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 lert! 
 
 iO,i< 
 
 Frencli, by their extraordinary frugality, joined 
 with their other great advantages, such as the 
 cheapness of salt, and having the best and 
 most convenient part of the country for fishing, 
 &c. have quite beaten the English out of this 
 trade, as may be instanced in many of the out- 
 ports of our nation, and particularly Barnsta- 
 ple and Biddeford, which formerly employed 
 in this trade above fifty ships, and now do not 
 fit out above six or eight small ships. This 
 proceeds from the superior advantages of 
 that part of New foundland which the French 
 occupy, namely, on the south-west coast to 
 the westward of Cajie Ray. They are seldom 
 annoyed with ice, as lying farther to the south, 
 and in the best part of the island ; whereas, our 
 small jvortion, lying more to the north-east, is 
 sometimes not clear of Jirm lands of ice till the 
 beginning of May ; and till that ice is gone no 
 fish are taken, and it often hinders our ships 
 from getting in; so that the French are in the 
 country and at their tmsiness long before the 
 English. They have better harboui-s, and 
 greater quantities of fish; they have also salt, 
 and some other fishing craft, cheaper than we 
 have; and generally kill one or two hundred 
 quintals per boat more than the English; 
 which, besides the great inequality in fishing, 
 on a moderate computation, may make their 
 
 I 2 
 
no 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 fish, at least, five shillings per quintal cheapei 
 than the English; and, what adds to their 
 great profit, they are generally in Spain, Por- 
 tugal, Italy, &c. Irefore the time of our ships 
 leaving the country, and consequently have the 
 preference of all markets; which cannot be less 
 than five shillings per quintal more than our 
 later fleets can get:' their fish being also better 
 esteemed. The aforesaid ten shillings per 
 quintal more to them than the English gain is 
 undeniable evidence what prodigious advan- 
 tage they reap by this trade; w'hen we, under 
 our present circumstances, are little better than 
 losers, accounting fifteen or sixteen shillings 
 per quintal a good price for our fish, as coming 
 to after-markets.” 
 
 In “ A short Discovery of America, by the 
 Reverend William Castel,” inserted in the 
 eighth volume of Churchill’s Collection of 
 Voyages, we find the following description of 
 Newfoundland, as it was known at that pe- 
 riod. 
 
 “ Concerning the goodness of the soil, and 
 the fitness for a constant habitation, though Mr. 
 Whitburne, in a book written of Newfound- 
 land, does, in both the aforesaid respects and 
 some others, over highly commend it, yet, upon 
 better inquiry of those who have formerly 
 written of it, as also from those who usually 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 117 
 
 itald 
 
 Idu 
 
 Span 
 
 ofd 
 
 )tlyh 
 
 W 
 
 )rei 
 
 ?alii 
 
 d^M 
 
 im 
 
 ;nni 
 
 leld 
 
 («• 
 
 ill.S 
 
 erict 
 
 ertfil 
 
 Cote 
 
 lescit 
 
 lati 
 
 tie* 
 
 i,tl« 
 
 fS(^ 
 
 reel*' 
 
 lit? 
 
 itei 
 
 «ln' 
 
 resort tiiither, I find it to be a convenient habi- 
 tation for summer, but not for winter, by reason 
 of the exceeding coldness, and the deep over- 
 covering of the land with snow, and of the 
 waters with huge shelves of ice, whereby they 
 
 ai*e debarred of necessary provisions, such as, 
 • • * 
 in summer time, the island affords in great 
 
 abundance and variety, viz. land-fowl and 
 
 water-fowl, and fresh fish, being all the sus- 
 
 tentation that the island affords. And yet, 
 
 the yearly rich commodity of sea-fish, almost 
 
 of all kinds, which are there usually iu great 
 
 quantities taken and transported into Europe, 
 
 cause not only* us, but all other neighbouring 
 
 nations, yearly to I’esort thither; and because 
 
 the constant return of that fish commodity is 
 
 worth, at least, ttvo hundred thousand pounds 
 
 yearly, there have been divers contentions be- 
 
 tw'een the English and other nations, who, 
 
 whether we would or no, have taken full liberty 
 
 of fishing there. 
 
 “ This great island affords many convenient 
 and safe harbours for ships : towards the north, 
 the first northern port nearest to the south, which 
 is Cape de Raz, is Rennosa, lying a little above 
 the forty-sixth degree; then Aquaforte, two 
 leagues more to the north ; then Punta de Faril- 
 ham, as many more. Much higher, near upon 
 the forty-eighth degree, are Thorne-Bay, then 
 
history of 
 
 118 
 
 the Bay of Conception, half a degree higher 
 to the north; then Bay Blanche and BayOrge, 
 lying between 50“ and 51“. From CapedeRaz, 
 on the south side towards the west, are as many 
 ports of far greater note, and much more ad- 
 vantageous for taking greater store of fish; 
 viz. Abram-Trepessa, two leagues from the 
 said Cape; then Chincheca, two more; Saint 
 Mary’s Haven, six leagues more: much more 
 to the west, near 47“, is Presenea; after which 
 follow five small islands, known by the name 
 of St. Peter’s; then Port Basques and Claire- 
 Bay, all safe and convenient harbours, remote 
 - the one from the other about forty miles. 
 
 “ The most western capes are De Raye and 
 Anguilla, from whence the land turns again to 
 the north-east, from 48° to 52°, in all which 
 space I read of no haven but that of Saint 
 George, twelve leagues distant from Anguilla- 
 Promontory ; neither is that of any repute, be- 
 cause unsafe to come unto. 
 
 “ This island is, on all sides, found to have 
 many other- islands, great and small, thereunto 
 belonging. On the north-east side, besides 
 many very small, rather rocks than islands, 
 there are two of a pretty extent, of good us® 
 and note, viz. Haccalaos, upon the 49th degree, 
 and Aves, somewhat above the 50th. To the 
 south, many leagues distant, lie four great 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 119 
 
 inlands, viz. Great Bank, Vert Bank, Banqne- 
 V reaux, and Sable, between 43° and 46°, which 
 to have named may suffice, as being of little 
 K*' worth, save only for fishing, wdierein they are 
 iM reputed not inferior to Newfoundland. 
 
 “ To the west and north-west, in a kind of 
 s li Mediterranean Sea, known by the name of St. 
 nwf. Lawrence’s Gulf, lie the isles of Britton, Tan- 
 mint geaux, Brion, Rameos, and Natiscotee, not so 
 aid big, but as profitable, and more pleasant and 
 )v4i apt for habitation, than any of the former, 
 anil • These difter much in respect of latitude, some 
 part of the Isle of Britton falling to the 46th 
 mile degree, whereas the most southern part of 
 leJi Natiscotee arises to the 50th, between which 
 two islands lie the other three, environed with 
 jjjl seas very narrow, shelvy, and rocky; and 
 yj therefore to be carefully observed by those 
 jjijl, who trade among them.” 
 yif 
 
120 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER Vll. 
 
 1702—1713. 
 
 In less than two months after the accession of 
 Queen Anne to the throne war was declared 
 ao-ainst France. This was done on the 4th of 
 May, 1702, and, on the 24th of June following, 
 Captain, afterwards Sir John Leake, received 
 instructions from Prince George of Denmark, 
 the Queen’s Consort, and Lord High Admiral 
 of the kingdom, to proceed to Newfoundland 
 with a small squadron, in order to take posses- 
 sion of the whole island. He arrived therein 
 the month of August, destroyed the French 
 settlements and fishing -boats at Trepassey, 
 Saint Mary’s, Colinet, Great and Little Saint 
 Lawrence, and the island of Saint Peters, 
 where there was a small fort, with six guns, 
 which he razed to the ground. Having thus 
 successfully executed his commission, he found 
 himself, by the end of October, ready to return 
 to England with the homevvard-bound ships, 
 after having taken twenty-nine sail of the ene- 
 my, and burnt two. Of these prizes, three 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 121 
 
 iCCS 
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 [ID I 
 
 aetii 
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 ih 
 ligU 
 evil 
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 til? 
 llit 
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 itlisi 
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 adfla 
 
 :0 
 
 were laden with salt, twenty-five with fish, 
 and one from Martinique with sugar and 
 molasses. 
 
 The English did not, however, continue long 
 in the undisputed posses.sion of Newfoundland; 
 for, in the year 1703, upon the news of the 
 misfortune and death of the brave Admiral 
 Benbow, in the West Indies, Vice-Admiral 
 Graydon, having been sent with a squadron to 
 protect the plantations, made the coast of 
 Newfoundland on the 2d of August. In the 
 evening of that day, there arose a fog, which 
 continued for thirty days with such density, 
 that it was difficult to discover one ship from 
 another; this occasioned the total dispersion 
 of the fleet, which could not again be brought 
 together until the 3d of September. The Ad- 
 miral then thought proper to refer to a coxmcil 
 of war the consideration of the propriety of 
 attempting an attack on the French at Placen- 
 tia, and thereby forcing them to quit New- 
 foundland, which, it appears, was the principal 
 object of the expedition under his command. 
 It has been said that councils of war, except 
 in some very particular cases, seldom forebode 
 much heroism; that, when a commander-in- 
 chief, whose power is absolute, condescends 
 to ask advice of his inferiors, it is a tacit ac- 
 knowledgnrent that his abilities are inadequate 
 
122 
 
 history of 
 
 to his power; or, that he is inclined to do that 
 for which he dares not to be responsible. It 
 has also been observed that, had the unfortu- 
 nate Admiral Byng, in 1756, been positively 
 ordered to call no councils of war, but to re- 
 lieve Minorca at all events, he would have re- 
 turned triumphant to Britain. 
 
 The council of war, in the present instance, 
 consisted of the Admiral, Rear-Admiral Whet- 
 stone, thirteen captains of the royal navy. Co- 
 lonel Rivers, commander-in-chief of the land- 
 forces, six captains, and an engineer; and their 
 unanimous opinion was, that to make an at- 
 tempt on that place with the ships and forces 
 in the condition in which they were, and at 
 such a season of the year, was altogether im- 
 practicable, and, instead of any probability of 
 success, might tend to the dishonour of her 
 Majesty’s arms. Thus ended this imfortunate 
 expedition. 
 
 On Vice-Admiral Gray don’s return to Eng- 
 land, the House of Lords instituted an inquiry 
 into his conduct, and addressed the Queen to 
 remove him from all employments, and to 
 direct her attorney-general to prosecute him for 
 impressing servants in the West Indies. The 
 authors of the Biographia Nautica observe, 
 that, it has been said, though Vice-Admi- 
 ral Graydon did not, on this occasion, do the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND, 
 
 123 
 
 to t ' • 
 
 nation any remarkable service, yet, as to pro- 
 tecting the trade, and the otlier things in his 
 poww, he did all the service he was able; that 
 1* it was his misfortune, first, to feel the effects of 
 other men’s mistakes, and next, to be made 
 answerable for them ; and that he suffered for 
 miscarriages which it was not in his power to 
 avoid.* 
 
 The miscarriage of this expedition seems to 
 have operated as an encouragement to the 
 of French to attempt the conquest of the w'hole 
 r;* island of Newfoundland. Historians complain 
 Hal' that the navy of England, then under the direc- 
 8a# tion of the Prince of Denmark, assisted by a 
 [fte, council, was very badly managed; whilst the 
 Itojd army, under the command of the great Duke 
 inlBi of Marlborough, performed achievements which 
 bob will ever form one of the most brilliant epochs 
 gf> in the History of England, 
 
 The French garrison of Placentia had been 
 jjji reinforced by a strong party of men, and twelve 
 jjji officers from Canada. In the year 1705, these, 
 jj (jj under the command of Subei’case and of 
 I L’Epinay, commander of the French man of 
 war La Guepe, set out from Placentia with 
 about five hundred men, and marched to Petty- 
 
 ic»* 
 
 * Biog. Naut. vol. v. p. 20. 
 
 sioii* 
 
124 
 
 * HISTORY OF 
 
 Harbour, an English port within nine miles of 
 Saint John’s; and having reached the latter 
 place, they made a resolute attack on the two 
 principal forts: but failing in their attempt, 
 
 they ravaged the different settlements, destroy- 
 ed Fort Forillon, made all the inhabitants pri- 
 soners, and from thence they spread their de- 
 vastations along the coast as far as Bonavista. 
 
 In the following year, viz. on the 25th of 
 July, 1706, a report was brought to Saint 
 John’s, that the enemy had a considerable num- 
 ber of ships employed in the fishery in several 
 harbours to the noithwai’d, and other parts of 
 the island. Captain John Underdown, com- 
 mander of the Queen’s ship the F’alkland, was 
 then in Saint .Tobn’ss Harbour with the Nonsuch, 
 commanded by Captain Carleton. Having 
 been petitioned by the merchants, masters of 
 vessels, and inhabitants of that place, to protect 
 the British trade in those parts, he accordii^ly 
 set sail from Saint John’s, on the 26th of July, 
 accompanied by Major Lloyd, who desired to 
 be employed in this expedition, with twenty of 
 las company, on board the Falkland, and as 
 many on board the Nonsuch. The next day 
 they came before Bonavista, and finding there 
 no appearance of an enemy, the Commodore 
 ordered Captain Hughes, commander of the 
 
NEAVFOUNDLAND. 
 
 125 
 
 iiiei 
 
 ^Oll 
 
 leiti 
 
 nte.1 
 
 lati^ 
 
 .k 
 
 gki 
 
 idfflb 
 
 mi 
 
 Dtk 
 
 irdw 
 
 'alUi 
 
 the5 
 
 on. 
 
 ice,i! 
 
 eacn 
 
 ioi! 
 fitki» 
 land I 
 rki! 
 
 Cm 
 
 aiido 
 
 iVIodway, on Uiat station, to join him with a 
 French ship of war, which the latter had taken 
 a few days before. On the 2d of August they 
 stood into Blanche-Bay till they arrived off 
 Fleur-de-lys-Harbour, when Major Lloyd, in 
 the commodore’s pinnace, and the first lieute- 
 nant of the Falkland, in the pinnace belonging 
 to the Nonsuch, were immediately sent into the 
 harbour. "^I’liey found there several stages and 
 other necessaries for the fishery, which they de- 
 stroyed, and afterwards returned to their ships. 
 At six o’clock the next morning they doubled 
 the Cape, and saw a ship which struck upon 
 the brisk exchange of a few shot; this was 
 found to be Le Due d’Orleans, from Saint 
 Maloes, of about three hundred and sixty tons, 
 thirty guns, and one hundred and ten men. In 
 another arm of the same bay, called Eguillete, 
 they saw another large ship; but the place be- 
 ing rocky, and the water so shallow that none 
 of the English men of war could come near 
 her, the Medway’s prize was ordered to go in 
 as close as she could with safety, whilst Cap- 
 tain Carleton, Major Lloyd, and the first lieute- 
 nant of the Falkland, in boats well-manned 
 and armed, were directed to land upon the 
 island under which that ship lay. This was 
 executed so promptly and so ably, that the 
 French ship struck, after having fired several 
 
126 
 
 history of 
 
 broadsides, her crew being no longer able to 
 keep the deck against the small shot from the 
 shore. This ship belonged also to Saint Maloes, 
 carrying twenty guns and eighty men. 
 
 Having here received information that, about 
 three leagues farther north, in a place called 
 La Conche, or Conch- Harbour, there were two 
 ships of thirty-two and twenty-six guns, both 
 of Saint Maloes, the commodore directed Cap- 
 tain Hughes to bum the last prize, and after- 
 wards to join him at that place, whither he 
 proceeded himself with the Falkland and the ( 
 Nonsuch. On the afternoon of the fifth, they 
 arrived at Conch-Harbour, where they found 
 two ships ready for sailing. After exchanging 
 several broadsides, the French set their ships 
 on fire, and went over to the next harbour, 
 called Carouge. The commodore being in- 
 formed that there were four French ships in 
 that place, immediately stood for it, meeting in 
 his way, at about eight o’clock in the evening, 
 the Medway’s prize ; but there being very little 
 wind, and that at south-west, it w'as near six , 
 o’clock the next morning before he' could get 
 off the harbour’s mouth: he then sent in his 
 boat, and found that the French ships had 
 escaped, taking advantage of their great num- 
 ber of men and boats, by cutting and towing 
 out. T. he Faiglish ships then proceeded to the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 127 
 
 iiortliward, and about five o’clock in the alter- 
 noon came' off the harbour of Saint Julian, 
 **■ where they discovered a large French ship; 
 standing in for that harbour, they came to an 
 anchor in twenty-six fathom water. The place 
 pl® where that ship had been hauled in being very 
 narrow and shoaly, the Medway’s prize was 
 ordered to go as near her as possible; the 
 iiitd French ship then fired two guns ; but, it being 
 it, a late in the evening, and the enemy appearing 
 !)»li determined to make a spirited resistance, it 
 laidi was not thought advisable to commence tlie 
 lie if attack before the following morning. 
 
 « tie On the sixth of August, at four o’clock in the 
 jesc forenoon. Captain Carleton, Major Lloyd, and 
 ictik Lieutenant Eagle, went towards her with all 
 lesil their boats, well -manned and armed; and 
 It having effected their landing, attacked, and at 
 last drove the enemy from a strong post which 
 jj^g they occupied on the shore. They then board- 
 jjIjji, ed the French shi|), where they found several 
 jjjjg trains of powder laid, for the purpose of blow- 
 waii ”P- timely discovery the ship 
 
 , was preserved, and, by noon, towed out to 
 
 SfS 
 
 ^ The British pilots being unacquainted with 
 the coast, the commodore resolved not to pro- 
 ceed any farther north, but to sail back to 
 • Carouge, and there await the arrival of the 
 
 'xem ^ 
 
128 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 Duke of Orleans prize, which had been left at 
 Grand Canarie with a lieutenant and sixty 
 men. They looked into Petit Maitre, where 
 they destroyed a considerable number of stages 
 and boats, and found vast quantities of fish and 
 oil ; and at about seven o’clock in the afternoon 
 they came to an anchor, and moored in Ca- 
 rouge-Harbour. On the 12th and 13th, it 
 blew a hard gale at south-west; on the 14th, 
 having been joined by the Duke of Orleans 
 prize, they weighed at four o’clock in the 
 morning, stood out to sea with her, and came 
 into Saint John’s Harbour, where the Falkland 
 and the Nonsuch arrived with the two prizes 
 on the 17th, the Medway’s prize having before 
 been ordered to proceed to Trinity. 
 
 From this expedition, which deserves to be 
 recorded on account of the activity and judg- 
 ment displayed by Captain Underdown and 
 his associates, equal to the good fortune that 
 attended their operations, it appears that 
 while the English had on that station only 
 the Falkland and Nonsuch in Saint John’s, 
 and the Medway at Bonavista, the French had 
 in the northern parts of the island no less than 
 ten armed ships, mounting from twenty to 
 thirty-two guns. The loss which the latter 
 suffered by the capture or destruction of six of 
 them, and the ruin of their fisheries, must have 
 
NEAVFOUNDLAND. 
 
 129 
 
 been a severe blow to their trade. So large a 
 force shews the degree of importance which 
 they then attached to the Newfoundland trade. 
 
 On the 8th of April, 1707, the House of 
 Commons complained in strong terms of the 
 “ great declension of the British interest in, 
 and lucrative trade to, Newfoundland,” and 
 resolved, that “ an humble address be pre- 
 sented to her Majesty, that she will be gi’a- 
 ciously pleased to use her royal endeavours to 
 recover and preserve the ancient possessions, 
 trade, and fishery, in Newfoundland.” 
 
 This resolution was so well timed, that, as 
 the events of the following year proved, the 
 French, in the midst of the repeated disasters 
 which they experienced under the victorious 
 arms of the Duke of Marlborough and the 
 Confederates, still continued to attend to their 
 interests in Newfoundland, and to persevere in 
 their determination to attempt the conquest of 
 the whole island. 
 
 Saint Ovide, the French King’s Lieutenant 
 at Placentia, on the first day of the year 1708, 
 actually took and completely destroyed the 
 town of Saint John’s. He had arrived the day 
 before within five leagues of that harbour with- 
 out being discovered ; having effected a land- 
 ing without opposition, he marched into the 
 town ; the commandant advancing to meet him 
 
130 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 witliin three hundred feet of the first palisade 
 which surrounded one of the principal forts, 
 Saint Ovide rushed forward, entered by the 
 gate which had been left open, and calling out 
 “ Vive le Roi,” the English were struck with 
 such a panic, that he and his people had time 
 to fix their scaling ladders to the main body of 
 the place, which they mounted, and, the gover- 
 nor of Fort William being wounded, in less 
 than half an hour Saint Ovide had taken pos- 
 session of both forts. The singularity of the 
 season fixed upon for such an enterprise, may 
 easily account for the surprise into which this 
 unexpected attempt threw the garrison. The 
 next day. Saint Ovide, with the garrison, con- 
 sisting of sixty men, immediately despatched an 
 account of his proceedings to Costebelle, Com- 
 mander-in-chief on that station, who sent him 
 orders to dismantle the forts, destroy the town, 
 and then return to France. 
 
 Costebelle then turned his thoughts to tlie 
 reduction of Carbonier, the only settlement of 
 any consequence which remained, at that time, 
 to the English. He divided his troops into two 
 bodies, one of which was to proceed by land 
 from Placentia to Conception-Bay, whilst the 
 other went round to Trinity-Bay in two sloops, 
 umler the command of one Bertrand, a native 
 of Placentia, with orders to take the short- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 131 
 
 cipl 
 teii 
 cdi 
 itnitl 
 leb 
 laiiii 
 Itbi 
 Hi 
 I tali 
 
 Dull 
 
 ■risdi 
 
 :S|NlC 
 
 ekli 
 
 I'bot 
 
 OTlk 
 
 ivbtii 
 «fll# 
 at it 
 
 1 ( 1,11 
 
 e*it roatl to tlie back of Cafljo'tlief. On thb 
 affival of the sloojys iti Trirtity-Fay, they took 
 an English fiigate, of th»>ty gtiiifs, aiul one hun- 
 fTred ami thirty irten: btrt Berti-atid h'avinff 
 been killed in the engagement, his coitipanioTis 
 were so much disheartened that, on seeing two 
 privateers at a distance, they abandoned their 
 prize, and marie all possible speed to get eieaf 
 out of the bay. In the mean time, the body 
 which had come by land, disappointed in their 
 expectation of support from Bertrand’s party, 
 retired from Conception-Bay, after having de- 
 stroyed every house and other erections vVithin 
 their reach. 
 
 As soon as the news of these events reached 
 England, the effect which they produced may 
 easily be conceived by those who are acquaint- 
 ed with the state of parties at that time. Strong 
 memorials were presented to government, as if 
 the dearest interests of the nation were on the 
 verge of destruction; declamatory pamphlets 
 issued from every press ; the daily j)rints an- 
 nounced the speedy annihilation of British 
 commerce. The ministers, who were at this 
 juncture in a critical situation, found it neces- 
 sary to provide against clamoiu's which could 
 not be appeased but by immediate and etfectual 
 measures to recover an island of such imporf- 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 history of 
 
 ance to the British merchants, and on which 
 their commerce with Spain, Portugal, and Italy, 
 depended in a considerable degree. They 
 saw that, in order to effect this object, it was 
 necessary to send such a force as should be 
 able to curb the power of France in North 
 America 5 and, for this purpose, an expedition 
 was formed, under the command of two officers 
 of great experience, namely. Captain George 
 Martin, of the royal navy, as Commodore, and 
 Colonel Francis Nicholson. The latter was 
 sent to Boston, in New England, to collect all 
 the forces which could be spared from that 
 colony, so that they might be ready to embark 
 as soon as the Commodore should arrive with 
 his squadron. 
 
 That the French at that time had a consi- 
 derable force in North America, is evident from 
 the details of the operations of this expedition, 
 which, however well planned by the govern- 
 ment at home, had no other result than the 
 capture of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, which 
 then received the name of Annapolis Royal, in 
 honour of Queen Anne. 
 
 With respect to Newfoundland, we are in- 
 formed that, in the same year. Captains John 
 Aldred, in the Rochester, Humphrey Piidner, 
 in the Severn, and George Purvis, in the Port- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 133 
 
 land, visited and destroyed all the fishing 
 places which the French had on the north side 
 of the island. 
 
 In the year 1711 , a plan was formed for an 
 attack on Quebec, in Canada, which proved 
 unsuccessful. The object to which govern- 
 ment directed their attention, as next in import- 
 ance, was the conquest of Placentia, which 
 was generally considered, of the two, both the 
 most practicable and the most profitable for 
 England. The fleet in her way to Quebec had 
 intercepted a packet from Costebelle, who was 
 still Commandant at Newfoundland, to Pont- 
 chartrain, the French Minister of Marine, in 
 which he complained of the defenceless state 
 of Placentia, and, in general, of the French 
 possessions there, stating that he could hardly 
 muster one hundred men fit for service in the 
 whole island. It is said, that the English fleet 
 had then on board upwards of seven hundred 
 and fifty men, and that, although they were so 
 short of provisions as not to have enough for 
 more than ten weeks, the conquest of Placentia 
 would not have taken them more than three 
 days. The question was debated in a council 
 of war, and carried in the negative. 
 
 Thus the French continued in peaceable pos- 
 session of Newfoundland until the conclusion 
 of the Treaty of Utrecht, which was signed on 
 
134 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 the first of April, 1713. By this Treaty, that 
 island, and the adjacent islands, were declared 
 to belong of right icholly to Great Britain; the 
 French were allowed to catch fish, and to dry 
 them on land, only in that part which stretches 
 from Cape Bonavista to the northern pointofthe 
 island, and from thence down by the westemside 
 as far as Point Kiche ; but they could not fortify 
 any place, or erect any buildings there, except 
 stages and huts for the fishery ; nor were they 
 to resort to Newfovmdland beyond the time 
 necessary for fishing and drying of fish. In all 
 places to be restored by France, the French 
 subjects might either remove themselves with 
 all their moveables to any other place, or re- 
 main and become British subjects; in the 
 latter case, they were to enjoy the free exercise 
 of their religion, according to the usage of the 
 Church of Borne, as far as the laws of Great 
 Britain allowed the same. 
 
 The cession of Cape Breton to France was 
 strongly condemned, as endangering all the 
 acquisitions which the English had made by 
 this Treaty in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, 
 and was attributed to the inability of the minis- 
 ters to stand out any longer against the oppo- 
 sition carried on at home. 
 
 Queen Anne, harassed with discordant 
 counsels, and agitated by the altercations 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND, 
 
 136 
 
 e». 
 
 eis 
 
 titan 
 
 aiult 
 
 poil 
 
 ifeste 
 
 llMi 
 
 letfei 
 
 )t» 
 
 id 4 
 ii 
 tkl 
 
 iisa,^ 
 
 i\ts« 
 
 ifns 
 
 iad« 
 
 o(|i 
 
 Kti» 
 
 1 dsK 
 akff’ 
 
 which passed between her ministers at a long 
 Cabinet-Council held on that occasion, was 
 seized with an apoplectic disorder, which 
 caused her death on the first of August follow- 
 ing, in the thirteenth year of her reign ; a reign, 
 wliich, from the desperate ettbrts of the Preten- 
 der, the gigantic exertions of France, the bril- 
 liant and hitherto unpai-alleled achievements of 
 Marlborough, and the favourable stipulations 
 of tlie Treaty of Utrecht, has insured her a 
 distinguished place in the annals of Great Bri- 
 tain. 
 
 It must, however, be acknowledged, that 
 the regrets occasioned by the necessity of ac- 
 ceding to the cession of Cape Breton, and the 
 injurious consequences to the British interests 
 which were apprehended from that measure, 
 were fully justified by subsequent events. In 
 consequence of the liberty which the Treaty of 
 Utrecht gave to the French inhabitants of 
 Nova Scotia to retire to that island, it became 
 in every respect a French settlement, where 
 neither laws nor language were admitted but 
 the French. 
 
 In Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, the 
 priests performed publicly their sacerdotal 
 functions, as if popery had been the established 
 religion of the country. Richards, the English 
 Commander-in-chief, very judiciously endea- 
 
136 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 voured to abridge those impolitic indulgences, 
 and to prevent the dangerousconsecpiences of the 
 unpardonable oversight, by which the French, 
 who had consented to remain in the ceded 
 countries, were exempted from taking the oath 
 of fidelity to the British Crown. But lie was 
 not supported in these wise measures, which, if 
 carried into effect, might have prevented a great 
 Avaste of blood and treasure. The inlluence 
 thus obtained by the Church of Rome was the 
 more pernicious, as it was in the hands of the 
 Jesuits, avIio, equally regardless of the laws 
 and interests of either government, appear to 
 have considered their mission in those parts of 
 the world, as intended merely to propagate the 
 tenets, and to extend the poAver and wealth of 
 their OAvn order. By representing the English 
 in the odious light of heretics, they exaspe- 
 rated the national jealousy and animosity to 
 the utmost height, and omitted nothing that 
 could excite and confirm a ferocious aversion 
 among the inhabitants of the countries in which 
 they had obtained a footing. 
 
 The cession of the Avhole Island of New- 
 foundland by the Treaty of Utrecht, set for ever 
 at rest the contested claims respecting the pro- 
 perty of that island, and put an end to the 
 ruinous state of the English trade and fisheries 
 there, Avhich had long been the subject of loud 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 137 
 
 int^ 
 
 loeiKji 
 
 Mit 
 kiiH 
 Bill: 
 itesj 
 FeDlK 
 file I 
 [loiltl 
 hant 
 iso(t 
 
 tbo* 
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 agife 
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 I am 
 hdii 
 tiouii 
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 landd 
 
 ecW' 
 
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 ulijfd' 
 
 and well-grounded complaints at home. But 
 the privilege reserved to France, of fishing from 
 Cape Bonavista round the north to Point 
 Riche, proved a new source of disputes, which 
 actually remained in an unsettled state until 
 the close of the American war. The object in 
 contest was the real situation of Point Riche, 
 which, it seems, could not be found in any of 
 the charts known at the time of the treaty. 
 The French insisted, that their line of demarca- 
 tion ought to extend as far south as Cape 
 Rave, while the merchants and planters of 
 Newfoundland, in a petition which they pre- 
 sented to the British parliament, in 1710, stated, 
 that I*oint Riche ought to be fixed at fifty de- 
 grees and a half of north latitude. This alle- 
 gation, supported by a letter found by the mi- 
 nisters from Prior, who had been a party to 
 the conclusion of the Treaty of Utrecht, and had 
 settled the business of the limits, was at last 
 admitted as conclusive by the Court of France, 
 in 1704. But the latter, some time afterwards, 
 alleging that they had discovered in their 
 archives a manuscript chart, drawn by Jean 
 Denis, to which, they said, reference had been 
 made in the negotiation in 1713, and which 
 placed Point Riche at forty-nine degrees upon 
 the border and to the north of the Bay of the 
 Three Islands, now called North-Head, they 
 
HISTORY OF 
 
 demanded for these claims the same deference 
 as they had shewn for those which had been 
 presented to them. This, says I’Abbe Raynal, 
 was reasonable and just 5 and yet the French 
 who ventured to frequent the contested space 
 experienced the loss and disgrace of having 
 their boats confiscated. Such, according to 
 the same writer, was the state of things, whai 
 hostilities were renewed between the two na- 
 tions in the year 1778. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 139 
 
 neii 
 
 tlitl 
 
 « CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ced 
 
 171.3—1763. 
 
 tiif , 
 
 tl*> Ii'has been observed, that the act of the 10th 
 and 11th of Kin" William III. had given a 
 considerable advantage to the merchants and 
 adventurers who visited Newfoundland only 
 for the fishing season, over the pretensions of 
 the planters and inhabitants, many of whom 
 had engrossed, and detained for their own pri- 
 vate benefit, a cQnsideralile proportion of the 
 places on the coast fit for the puiposes of the 
 fishery. This act was so well suited to the 
 circumstances and necessities of Newfound- 
 land at that time, that under its infiuence, after 
 the Treaty of Utrecht, the trade and fisheries of 
 that island increased to a wonderful extent. 
 The number of resident planters and inhabi- 
 tants increased likewise in proportion, and they 
 soon began to feel the want of the protection 
 of a Government and Police, and of an Admi- 
 nistration of Justice more efficient and impar- 
 tial than could be expected from the Fishing 
 Admirals. Disorder and anarchy hgd long 
 
 V 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 prcvailod in tho isl&nd, p&rticulmly during the 
 winter months; and the British Government 
 found it necessary to put some stop to that 
 state of confusion, by the appointment of a 
 Civil Governor and of Justices of the Peace. 
 This appointment is considered by Chief Justice 
 Reeves as an advantage gained by the inhabi- 
 tants and planters over the adventurers and 
 merchants who carried on the fishery there 
 from this country, and who, he says, preferred 
 the former inefficient courts, because they could 
 make use of them when they needed their as- 
 sistance, and could intimidate them and ob- 
 struct their proceedings, whenever they them- 
 selves were to be the objects of animadversion. 
 He even goes so far as to state, that the only 
 remedy against the ignorance or partiality of 
 the Fishing Admirals, which lay in an appeal 
 to the naval commanders on that station, not 
 always easy of access on account of the dis- 
 tance and other circumstances, was frequently 
 made useless, as “ he that made a present of 
 most quintals of fish was sure to have the de- 
 tennination in his favour.” Hence arose a 
 powerful opposition to every attempt at intro- 
 ducing order and government into Newfound- 
 land. 
 
 Captain Henry Osborne, whose merits as an 
 officer may be estimated from the circumstance 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 141 
 
 fl* of his having afterwards obtained the tlianks of 
 ^ the House of Commons, and a pension of 
 £1,200 a year during life, was ordered to 
 nhi Newfoundland as Governor in the year 1728, 
 flk with authority to appoint such respectable per- 
 Cfe sons as he should think most proper, to act as 
 yl Justices of the Peace, and to hold Courts 
 enl® of Record, hearing and determining on all 
 fiif matters in dispute between parties according 
 ays,| to the laws of England, not extending to c^pi- 
 isei tal offences, which were, as before, to be tried 
 tieii only in England. 
 
 lieu In the year 1730, an affray having hap- 
 pened at Torbay, Ijetween one Blackmore and 
 nimi Goss, in which the latter was killed, 
 tkai Blackmore was brought prisoner to England, 
 tried, and acquitted. About the same time, 
 
 ^ jj, another man, of the name of Steel, was likewise 
 at* I^fought to England on a charge of murder, 
 gj tried at the castle of Exeter, and condemned, 
 wail expense and risk of bringing several 
 
 eap on these occasions, and the number. 
 
 ) bK persons who were thus unavoidably detained 
 
 in England as evidences, and thereby kept 
 eifli fisheries, were considered both as a 
 
 ito.lf ^od a public detriment. This led to a 
 
 commis.sion to hold a Court of Oyer and 
 Terminer at Newfoundland, and to try of- 
 fenders for capital crimes. This commission, 
 
 EdP 
 
142 
 
 history of 
 
 granted under the great seal to the Governor tod 
 
 Commander-in-chief, authorized him, as Chief 
 Magistrate of the island, to appoint iiersonsof 
 character and integrity as Commissioners to liold 
 this Court; these were, at that time, the three 
 Justices in Saint Johns and four piincipal mer- 
 chants. A Sheriff was also nominated by the 
 Governor, to be annually elected hy him, under 
 the name of The High Sheriff of New- 
 foundland. Grand Juries were to he empan- 
 nelled from among tlie j)rincipal merchants, 
 and Petty Juries from the most respectable 
 boat-keepers. Justices of the Peace \vere, at 
 the same time, appointed by the (governor, and 
 Courts of Session established in tlie i)i'incipal 
 out-harbours, which now formed so many dis- 
 tinct districts; and these were annually visited 
 bv some mail of war, whose Captain was com- 
 missioned to hold a Surrogate s Couit, for 
 the trial of civil causes, as well as to sit in the 
 Courts of Session as a Justice of the Peace. 
 This, however, says very candidly the author 
 of the ‘‘ Remarks on the British Newfountlland 
 Ffehery,” usnally ended in a friendly visit' 
 
 * Remarks on the British Newfoundland Fishery and its 
 Laws, published at Dartmouth in the year 179*2, for the 
 avowed purpose of pointing out the vety injurious conse- 
 quences to the trade and fisheries^ of all the acts of Govern* 
 menl and of Parliament subsequent to the 10th and 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 143 
 
 These Judges were afterwards called Float- 
 iNo Surrogates. 
 
 *1” In the year 1740, we find the office of “ Go- 
 owf vernor and Commander-in-chief, in and over the 
 Island of Newfoundland and its dependencies,” 
 filled by the Right Honourable Lord George 
 « Graham, who was then Captain of the Adven- 
 •yi ture. He was succeeded, in 1741, by the 
 Fm Honourable John Byng, the fourth son of 
 George, Lord Viscount Torrington, and who 
 il n was then Captain of the Sunderland, of sixty 
 (tin guns. Governor Byng’s active, judicious, and 
 etfi brave conduct, particularly whilst on the New- 
 [jois foundland station, give him a distinguished 
 
 1 llie| 
 l!0l 
 iniijl 
 toil' 
 'e’s(' 
 
 ofk 
 
 0 
 
 King William III. whicli are therc'said “ by their operations 
 to have so burdened the fishery, as to check the industry 
 of the adventurers, and to destroy all confidence between 
 master and servant, and between every other description of 
 persons ” Speaking of the system of judicature established 
 under that act, the same writer says: “ The authority there- 
 by given to Fishing Admirals, to determine all disputes rela- 
 tive to the fishery, is founded on a strict plan of justice, 
 ecpiity, and reason. It is leaving the decision of controvCT- 
 
 Keilii* ® description of persons who alone can judge of tlie 
 
 . wrong done, and who cannot be led away or biassed by any 
 I reward. They are really and bond Jide arbitrators between 
 the parties. Again, to prevent the possibility of partiality 
 or self-interested views, (if such could be,) either of the 
 parties may bring the matter before the Captain of one of his 
 7^^ Majesty's ships, who is again an umpire between theiii. Can 
 there be a more equitable mode?" 
 
144 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 rRnk suTionj^ the erninont clifiiRctTrs Rhicli 
 adorn the list of the Governors of that island. 
 
 En«:land was then at war with Spain, whose 
 ships of war and privateers carried their depre- 
 dations on the British commerce in every part 
 of Europe and Ameiica with unprecedented 
 activity and boldness. The squadron under 
 the command of Governor Byng, not only most 
 effectually protected the Newfoundland trade 
 and fisheries, but also were uncommonly suc- 
 cessful in making captures on the enemy. It 
 was, in consecpience, judged necessary that a 
 Court of Vice-Admiralty should be esta- 
 blished at Newfoundland, in order to prevent 
 the expense and risk of sending the prizes to 
 England for trial and condemnation. Such a 
 court was accordingly established, with power 
 to take cognizance of all matters within the 
 jurisdiction of the High Court of Admiralty in 
 England, to which an apjoeal lay from tlie 
 decisions of the Vice-Admiralty Court in New- 
 foundland. The Judge of this Coui't was like- 
 wise Chief Justice of the Courts of common 
 law, and President Co^piissioner of the Court 
 of Oyer and Terminer. 
 
 The first Judge of the Vice- Admiralty Court 
 of Newfoundland w'as William Keen, Esq. ® 
 old experienced merchant in that trade; hf 
 was also the first person who was appointed 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 145 
 
 te Naval Officer, an office intended for the 
 Ibat, purpose of collecting from the different Fishing 
 pai Admirals their annual returns, so as to make 
 tli9 up the y early schemes for the informa- 
 
 tion of government. He was besides to examine 
 ipiKi ships’ cockets, to receive the manifests and 
 
 aim reports ot sliips’ masters, taking accounts of 
 »ot« their lading, forwards and back, every voyage. 
 
 iidlii ^ Deputy Naval Officer was also appointed^in 
 * every out-port. 
 
 ie« ^ arrangement w as so much approved 
 
 ^ by the merchants and masters of vessels there, 
 mM proposed, of their own accord, to pay 
 
 der» officer half-a-crown for each ship, and five 
 
 .tk ®*“***ngs foreveiy certificate, or bill of health, 
 that might be required. 
 
 j ^ Dappy, says the author of the “ Remarks 
 ^ on the Newfoundland Fishery,” happy would 
 
 fli ^**^^*^ concerned in this, then 
 
 , I beneficial trade, had a bill been brought be- 
 fore parliament and passed, so as to have 
 made permanent, and to have established by 
 ^ , law, the good policy of these arranged and 
 ^ consolidated customs, proved ^ood Jyy experi~ 
 ence. 
 
 Disputes concerning the limits in Newfound- 
 land, as well as between Canada and Nova 
 R*® Scotia, had continued to be the source of 
 tint* discord, and the pretence for encroachments 
 
 L 
 
140 
 
 history of 
 
 on the part of the Frencli settlers in North 
 America, since the year 1713. France very 
 justly considered her fishery in Newfoundland 
 and Cape Breton as the principal branch of 
 her commerce, and the foundation of her mari- 
 time force. But she had the mortification to 
 see that important trade suspended in 1745 by 
 the loss of her part of Newfoundland, which 
 was, soon after, followed by that of Cape 
 Breton. 
 
 The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in the year 
 1748, was no sooner signed, than France began 
 to restore her marine which had been nearly 
 ruined in the late war, to revive the disputes 
 respecting the boundaries of Nova Scotia, and 
 to aim at the conquest of all the British settle- 
 ments in North America. In gradually draw- 
 ing and extending a line along the borders of 
 those settlements, from the Saint Lawrence to 
 the Mississipi, and building forts to secure the 
 most convenient passes on the lakes and rivers 
 that formed the communication, one of the 
 great objects of the French Commandants and 
 settlers there appears to have been to cut off all 
 intercourse and traffic between the Indians ot 
 the interior countries and the British colonies. 
 This plan was now followed up by erecting forts 
 and forming settlements upon the River Ohio. 
 The French inhabitants of the district of Anna- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 147 
 
 iii 
 
 m polls, with parties of the neighbouring Indians, 
 made incursions on the British settlements! 
 ljuj "^hese hostile attempts, accompanied by all the 
 
 cruelties ofthe Indian mode of warfare, increased 
 
 y in audacity in proportion to the forbearance of 
 
 mill ^-'Ogland, who, for a long time, endeavoured to 
 
 put an end to that state of things in America 
 t d complaints of her Ambassador, and the 
 
 memorials of her Commissaries at Paris. The 
 inefficacy of these measures of conciliation, and 
 Uie increasing distress of the British colonies, 
 exasperated the government and the people of 
 Bngland to such a degree, that war became at 
 Ilf® last inevitable; and never was a war more 
 Sew universally considered as national, and as 
 
 ntek springing from a root truly English. The 
 
 Idli ministers having received certain intelligence 
 il«if that a considerable number of Indians, sup- 
 ported by some European regular troops, were 
 osfl on their march, intending, as it was appre- 
 hended, to commit hostilities on some parts of 
 OHM British America, the Earl of Holdernesse, one 
 jjdg of the principal Secretaries of State, wrote 
 
 toed circular letters, dated the 28th of August, 1753, 
 
 ijIjJ to the several Governors of North America, 
 
 jjjul directing them to unite in a confederacy for 
 
 ^ their mutual security, and to endeavour to 
 jjjtf! engage the Indians on their side. Major Wash- 
 ietdi ington, who afterwards acted so conspicuous 
 
 L 2 
 
 a 
 
148 
 
 history of 
 
 part in the cause of American independence, 
 had, previous to this, been deputed by the 
 Government of Virginia to the French Com- 
 mandant on the Ohio, to demand by what 
 authority he had erected forts, and made set- 
 tlements within the limits of the British pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 About the same time, the French sent eight 
 thousand troops, of whom two thousand fiie 
 hundred w'ere intended for Canada, three thou- 
 sand five hundred for the Mississipi, and two 
 thousand for Saint Domingo. They also col- 
 lected together, at Brest and at Rochefort, a 
 considerable number of seamen to be sent to 
 Canada, to man some men of war that had been 
 built there. A most unaccountable spirit of de- 
 lusion and of infatuation appears to have, atthis 
 period, blinded the French ministry ; for, w hilst 
 their Ambassador in London was making great 
 protestations of the sincere wish of his court 
 speedily and finally to adjust all disputes be- 
 tween the two crowns concerning America, 
 and was encouraging discussions on that sub- 
 ject, intelligence arrived in England that the 
 French had a squadron at sea. 
 
 General Braddock was then immediately 
 sent with troops to Virginia; and a squadron 
 w'as ordered to sail for Newfoundland, under 
 Admiral Boscawen, who, on his arrival on that 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 149 
 
 pat 
 
 tH 
 
 Ik,' 
 
 hsa 
 
 onsu 
 
 ,tk 
 
 pi, I 
 «yilii 
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 f;fe 
 
 malii 
 
 oik 
 
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 Dgk 
 
 oiik 
 
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 nidi* 
 
 C 03 st, took Ills station off Capo Race. A few 
 days after, the French fleet, under the com- 
 mand of M. Bois de la Mothe, arrived near the 
 same coast: and, favoured by one of those 
 impenetrable fogs which are so common in 
 that part of the world, his fleet efl’ected their 
 passage to Canada, some by the usual way, 
 between Newfoundland and Cape Breton, and 
 the rest by the straits of Belleisle, on the north 
 of Newfoundland, a navigation hitherto unat- 
 tempted by large ships of war. Two of them, 
 the Alcide and the Bys, both sixty-four gun 
 ships, being separated from their consorts in the 
 fog, were intercepted by two English ships 
 of the same strength, the Dunkirk and the 
 Defiance, commanded by Captains Howe and 
 Andrews, who bore down upon them, and, 
 after a vigorous resistance, took them, with 
 about eight thousand pounds on board. 
 
 When it was known in France that Admiral 
 Boscawen had put to sea with the British 
 fleet, the French Ambassador was ordered 
 to intimate to the British court that, in case 
 this armament acted upon the offensive, he 
 would consider the first gun that should be 
 fired as a declaration of war. Being now sen- 
 sible, by the capture of those two ships, which 
 was first published in the London Gazette on 
 
/ 
 
 J50 HISTORY OF 
 
 the 15th of July, 1755, that England was no 
 longer to be amused with fruitless unmeaning 
 negotiations concerning the limits of Nova 
 Scotia, France recalled her two Ambassadors 
 from London and Hanover. Thus began that 
 war which, provoked by flagrant acts of hosti- 
 lity committed by the French Commandants 
 and settlers in America since the year 1748, 
 soon spread like a devouring flame over every 
 quarter of the globe, and which, in the end, 
 cost France all her possessions in Canada. By 
 the capture of all the ships and vessels em- 
 ployed by the French in the Newfoundland 
 fishery, it is said that they lost upwards of 
 twenty-five thousand seamen, and that, in con- 
 sequence of this loss, they were, during the 
 whole of that war, incapable of properly 
 manning their fleet. 
 
 Cape Breton w as soon after taken by Colonel 
 Monkton, whilst Captain Rous destroyed all 
 the French fishing erections and settlements 
 'upon the coast of Newfoundland. 
 
 Governor Byng had been succeeded, in 
 1744, by Sir Charles Hardy, Captain of the 
 Jersey of sixty guns. He is represented as 
 a brave, generous, and worthy man. Several 
 of the ships uirder his convoy having been 
 captured by the enemy, on his return from 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 151 
 
 Newfoundland, at the end of that year, his 
 conduct became the subject of a court martial, 
 which terminated in his honourable acquittal. 
 It appears, however, that he did not return to 
 Newfoundland, for it is said, that, in the 
 month of July following, he was employed 
 near the Straits’ mouth, where he distin- 
 guished himself in an engagement with a 
 French seventy-four. 
 
 - In the year 1749 Captain, afterwards Lord 
 George Brydges Rodney, whose name holds 
 so distinguished a rank in the Naval History 
 of Great Britain, particularly for his victory 
 of the 12th of April, 1782,* was appointed 
 > Governor of Newfoundland, in the Rainbow, 
 and continued on this station until the usual 
 time of recal, that is, generally three years. In 
 the first year of his government, the principal 
 
 • Admiral Rodney appears to have first set the example 
 of that religious mode of reporting signal victories, which, 
 during the last war, formed so striking a contrast with the 
 bombastic reports and bulletins of the republican and im- 
 perial generals of France. His letter to the Admiralty 
 respecting this victory began with these words: “ It has 
 pleased God, of his divine providence, to grant to His 
 Majesty’s arms a most complete victory over the fleet of his 
 enemy, commanded by the Count de Grasse, who was him- 
 self captured with the Ville de Paris, and four other ships 
 of the fleet, besides one sunk in the action.” 
 
152 
 
 history of 
 
 morchants, traders, and others, coiicei ned in the 
 fishery, represented to him, in a memorial, that 
 their trade sufiered greatly from the illegal 
 practices committed by the mei chants and 
 traders residing in the northern and southern 
 parts of the island, in forcibly seizing and 
 carrying away from those boat-keepers and 
 inhabitants who were indebted to them, their 
 fish, train-oil, boats, and crafty theieby len- 
 dering them incapable of prosecuting the 
 fishery to the end of the season ; and keeping 
 all such effects to themselves,, without having 
 any regard to other creditors : which practices, 
 if not timely prevented, might be the ruin, nnt 
 only of many inhabitants and fishermen, but 
 of the trade in general. 
 
 In consequence of this representation, Go- 
 vernor Rodney issued a Proclamation, dated 
 at Saint John’s, the 19th of August, 1749, 
 prohibiting such unjust and violent practices 
 on pain of being prosecuted Avith the utmost 
 severity of the law ; and requiring that the 
 ancient usage then in force in St. Johns should 
 be sti'ictly followed ; namely, that whenever 
 a boat-keeper, or other person concerned in 
 the fishery, became, in consequence of an 
 unsuccessful voyage, or by any unforseen ac- 
 cident, incapable of paying his just debts, the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 153 
 
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 hi 
 
 idiN 
 
 eidi! 
 
 eeffj 
 
 tla 
 
 lenk 
 
 iciilit 
 
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 hw 
 
 ntatt 
 
 atioi 
 
 igg 
 
 ‘ntp 
 
 itbei 
 
 at»k 
 
 0«l 
 
 leDtt' 
 
 inf# 
 
 istddi 
 
 creditors should content themselves with a fair 
 proportion of tlieir respective debts, paying the 
 servants’ wages in full, so that there might 
 be no hinderance to the prosecuting of the 
 fishery to the end of the season ; the said 
 creditors choosing a person to receive the pro- 
 duce of the voyage, and to make a propor- 
 tionable division thereof according to the 
 amount of their respective claims, at the close 
 of the fishery. And whenever any doubt 
 or suspicion arose, that the debtor had not 
 wherew'ith to discharge all his just debts and 
 the servants’ wages, the principal creditors 
 were authorized to adopt such measures as 
 should appear the most proper to secure the 
 due execution of this ancient and equitable 
 usage. 
 
 In the beginning of July, 1760, Captain 
 James Webb, of the Antelope, then Governor 
 of Newfoundland, having received intelligence 
 that some French ships were on the north- 
 western part of the island, proceeded in quest 
 of them in the Fortune sloop of war, and, in 
 the course of his cruise, took the Tavignon, 
 of St. Maloes, with upwards of three thousand 
 five hundred quintals of dry cod fish ; the 
 whole of which capture produced, by public 
 sale in St. John’s, the sum of ,£2570. The 
 officers of this ship, on her arrival at that 
 
154 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 place, were allowed to go on shore on tlieir 
 parole. One of them, being suspected of 
 having taken a plan of the garrison, was 
 searched, and the plan was actually found 
 concealed in the lining of his coat, with a 
 packet from St. Christopher’s for Mr. Secretary 
 Pitt. 
 
 In the year 1761, Commodore Webb was 
 succeeded in the government of Newfound- 
 land by Captain, afterwards Lord, Grares, 
 well known for the important share which he 
 had in Lord Howe’s victory of the first of 
 June, 1794. So inconsiderable w as the naval 
 force on that station at the latter end of the 
 year 1761, that the trade, in a memorial pre- 
 sented to the Governor about the middle of 
 November, offered to equip, at their own 
 costs and charge, the Weymouth, a merchant- 
 man, carrying twenty guns, and one hundred 
 and twenty-five men, as an armed vessel, for 
 the protection of the fleet homeward-bound, 
 there being no ship for the last convoy to 
 England. This offer was accepted, and the 
 command of that ship was given to Lieutenant 
 John Neale, commander of the Sui’prise, 
 whose guns, ordnance, and stores, were con- 
 veyed. on-board the Weymouth. The Gover- 
 nor sailed in the Antelope, in the beginning of 
 December, with the last convoy bound for 
 
. NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 155 
 
 te« 
 
 ISfit 
 
 nisi 
 
 Ml' 
 
 lr.Si 
 
 )t4'. 
 
 mi 
 
 ftk 
 
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 ki 
 
 at i 
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 Spain and Portugal, consisting of seventy sail, 
 carrying altogether about seven thousand tons, 
 six hundred and eighty men, and near two 
 hundred guns. 
 
 In the course of this year France had ex- 
 perienced very considerable losses in her navy, 
 privateers, and merchant service. Yet, by a 
 dexterity of negotiation of* which there is 
 , hardly an example in history, she acquired, at 
 the close of a most ruinous war, such a power- 
 ful and hearty assistance, as afforded her the 
 fairest hopes of retrieving at once all her mis- 
 fortunes. Spain manifested a considerable in- 
 terest in her cause, and extreme uneasiness at 
 the unprecedented successes of the British 
 arms. And while France was negotiating a 
 treaty at London, expressing her readiness to 
 procure the blessings of peace by the most 
 humiliating concessions, her minister at the 
 Court of Madrid was employed in such mea- 
 sures as, instead of extinguishing the flames 
 of war, tended to spread them more widely. 
 Every concession on the part of France be- 
 coming a new incentive to the animosity of 
 Spain towards England, even at the very 
 time that the negotiation seemed nearest to 
 a conclusion, then was the moment for Spain 
 to interpose, and at one explosion to blow 
 up the whole basis of the treaty. With a 
 
156 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 plan for an accommodation perfectly agree- 
 able to the English ministry, Mr. Bussy, the 
 French Agent at London, delivered a privak 
 memorial, in which he stated that, in order to 
 establish the peace upon the most solid foun- 
 dation, it might be proper to invite the King 
 of Spain to guarantee and confirm it ; and, for 
 this purpose, it would be necessary finaUy to 
 adjust the differences which subsisted between 
 the Crowns of Spain and England ; namely, 
 among others, the restitution of the captures 
 which had been made on the Spanish flag, and 
 the “ privilege of the Spanish nation to foh 
 on the Banks of Neufaiaidland.” It is not 
 difficult to conceive with what surprise such 
 unexpected proposals were heard and with 
 scorn rejected by the manly spirit of Mr. Pitt, 
 who clearly saw that there was a perfect union 
 of interests and councils between the Courts 
 of France and Spain ; and that, if the latter 
 deferred to declare war, it was principally be- 
 cause she waited the arrival of her fleet from 
 America. He accordingly advised prompt 
 measures, which were wairanted by the evasive 
 and insulting conduct of the Spanish Ambassa- 
 dor in London, and which, by intercepting 
 the Spanish resources in their arrival to Europe, 
 would have disabled Spain from giving assist- 
 ance to France. He could not, however, 
 
 f 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 157 
 
 rt, 
 
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 valiei 
 
 persuade liis colleagues in administration; and, 
 in consequence, “ unwilling to remain in a 
 situation wdiich made him responsible for mea- 
 sures which he was not permitted to guide,” he 
 resigned the seals on the 9th of October, 1761. 
 The British ministry continued to negotiate by 
 means of Lord Bristol, Ambassador at the 
 Court of Madrid, until the Spanish galleons 
 being safely arrived in Cadiz, Spain at last 
 tore asunder the veil which her policy had 
 hitherto thought proper to assume. Lord 
 Bristol quitted Madrid the 17th of December ; 
 soon after the Spanish Ambassador left Lon- 
 don, and >var was declared in January, 1762. 
 Spain immediately prohibited the importation 
 of fish from Newfoundland, and the Pope 
 seconded this prohibition, releasing by a re- 
 script the subjects of that kingdom from those 
 fasts which rendered that fish indispensably 
 necessary. 
 
 About the latter end of May, in the year 
 1762, intelligence Avas received by the Admi- 
 ralty, that a French squadron under the com- 
 mand of M. de Ternay had sailed from Brest 
 under cover of a fog. Sir Edward Hawke, 
 with seven ships of the line and two frigates, was 
 immediately sent in pursuit of them ; but they 
 eluded his vigilance. They were seen about fifty 
 leagues to the northward of the IJzard, by Cap- 
 
158 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 tain, afterwards Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, 
 who, though greatly inferior in strength, and 
 having under his care a fleet of merchant-men 
 bound to the East and West Indies, no sooner 
 perceived them than he made a disposition for 
 battle ; they then tacked to the northward; he 
 gave them chase until they were nearly out of 
 sight ; and, having no hope of bringing them 
 to action, he discontinued the pursuit and re- 
 joined his convoy ; his squadron consisted 
 only of one seventy-four, one forty-four, and 
 one thirty-eight gun ships. 
 
 On the *24th of June the French squadron 
 entered into the Bay of Bulls, and landed 
 there some troops, which marched towards 
 Saint John s. This place not being in a con- 
 dition of defence, surrendered by capitulation; 
 and the garrison, consisting only of sixty-three 
 men, were made prisoners, together with the 
 officers and crew of the Gramont sloop of 
 war, which happened to be at that time in the 
 harbour. The French found there several 
 merchant- vessels which they seized, as well as 
 every kind of property wdthin their reach ; and 
 being determined to keep possession of this 
 place, they immediately began to repair the 
 fortifications of the towm and harbour. They 
 took likewise Carbonier and Trinity, and in 
 general availed themselves of the unprepared 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 159 
 
 state of the island to make any resistance, to 
 commit every kind of devastation on its trade 
 and fisheries. When the knowledge of these 
 *’* transactions arrived in England, the ministry 
 were universally and loudly blamed on ac- 
 count of their neglect of Mr. Pitt’s advice for 
 the protection of Newfoundland: and while 
 they endeavoured to persuade the public that 
 w the loss of this cold, barren, and inhospitable 
 roiiii island was of very little consequence, they 
 
 ortii nevertheless did not delay to prepare an arma- 
 ment for its recovery. But their preparations 
 inch for this purpose were rendered unnecessary by 
 1, 9iii the vigilance and activity of Captain Charles 
 'ey Douglas, of the Syren man of w^ar; of Go- 
 leiKi venior Graves ; and of Lord Colville and Sir 
 ycjp Jeffery Amherst, who commanded the sea and 
 land forces in North America. 
 
 Captain Douglas, who happened to be at 
 mg) that time on a cruise at the southward of 
 IjjIIi) New'foundland, having received information 
 jlijj of the appearance of a French squadron 
 w ith land forces on that coast, took into the 
 service two merchant-vessels then in Saint 
 Mary’s harbour, and appointing to each a 
 petty officer from the Syren, he immediately 
 ^ despatched them with directions to cruise 
 ^ during a stated time on the Banks, in order to 
 
160 
 
 history of 
 
 communicate this intelligence to the convoy 
 that was daily expected from England, and 
 then to proceed with letters for General Am- 
 herst to Halifax, where they were to take in 
 supplies and bring them to Placentia. 
 
 The brig William, having cruised on tke 
 Banks her appointed time without meeting the 
 convoy, proceeded to Halifax, and thence to 
 Placentia, where she was discharged on the 
 24th of September following. 
 
 The Bonetta sloop, commanded by Peter 
 Burne, master of the Syren, was much more 
 foi'tunate. She met on the outer edge of the 
 Great Bank Governor Graves, in the Antelope, 
 with a large fleet of merchant-men, which 
 were thus prevented from falling in with the 
 enemy. Burne was immediately ordered by 
 the Governor to transport a party of rnariires 
 from the Antelope to the Island of Boys, near 
 Ferryland, where it was understood that a 
 considerable number of the inhabitants of that 
 part of Newfoundland had taken refuge, aird 
 which was to be as strongly fortitied as cir- 
 cumstances would permit ; he was thence to 
 proceed w ith the utmost expedition to Halifax 
 with the Govenror’s and Captain Douglass 
 despatches. He accordingly parted from the 
 Antelope, which he afterwards rejoined ami 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 161 
 
 ^1^ left at Placentia on the . 30 th of July, and 
 
 rtMi reached Halifax in safety some days before the 
 
 etii William. 
 
 itia, Governor Craves, on his arrival at Placen- 
 
 tia, finding the forts in a ruinous state, and 
 tins place in a defenceless condition, ordered 
 
 idi ’ Frederick and Castle-Hill to be imme- 
 ^ d lately repaired, so as to be able to oj>pose 
 
 eflTectually any attempt that the French might 
 ddk ^‘' 1 ^® so advantageous a position. He 
 
 a$u ^^o<led there a party of his marines, waiting 
 
 erft ^*^-'iously for the expected reinforcement from 
 
 ^ Halifax. Captain Douglas was at the same 
 
 time superintending the repairs of the fortifi- 
 cations on the Island of Boys, a place Avhich 
 '9® M as then considered as of great importance. 
 
 Lord Colville, on receipt of the despatches 
 brought by the Bonetta, sailed from Halifax, 
 ofl> and, having looked into Bay of Bulls, arrived 
 etslW off Saint John’s harbour, which he blocked up, 
 abi® M'hilst M. de Ternay lay inside at anchor with 
 keni# a superior squadron. Colonel Amherst, bro- 
 foii! ther to Sir Jeffery, had sent Bume to Louis- 
 jasl bourg with orders to get some troops in readi- 
 jjoiiii ness; on the 11th of September he joined the 
 ptaiil squadron under Lord Colville’s command off' 
 Saint .John’s, with about eight hundred men, 
 
 [5 rfi chiefly Highlanders, and some provincial light 
 infantry. 
 
 M 
 
history of 
 
 162 
 
 The Frepch having stopped up the narrow 
 entrance of Quidy-Vidy, by sinking shallops 
 in the channel, the troops proceeded to Tor- 
 bay, about seven miles to the northward of 
 Saint John’s, where they landed under a galling 
 fire, which continued to annoy the boats until 
 the light infantry compelled the enemy to retire. 
 The latter took to the woods, through which 
 the British force had to go, over hills and 
 difficult passes, under a continual bush-fire, 
 which wounded several of their men. Captain 
 Mac Donald, with his company of light in- 
 fantry, having succeeded in dispersing the 
 enemy’s force, the British troops then ad- 
 vanced rapidly to the strong post of Quidy- 
 Vidy, which they took sword in hand. Tins 
 advantage opened a communication with the 
 ships, for landing the artillery and stores. 
 They next proceeded to dislodge the enemy 
 from a strong position on a hill on the other 
 side of the pond, from which the French 
 retreated with precipitation, leaving several 
 prisoners behind them. The French were 
 still in possession of two very high and steep 
 hills, the one in the neighbourhood of the 
 English advanced posts, now called Signal- 
 Hill, f om which it was necessary to dislodge 
 them ; and this was performed with great re- 
 solution and bravery by Captain Mac Donald, 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
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 at the head of his own and the provincial light 
 infantry. With this corps, he passed the sen- 
 tries and advanced guard unobserved, nor 
 was he discovered till the main body of the 
 hrench saw him climbing up the rocks and 
 almost at the top, when he actually gained it 
 in the midst of the enemy’s fire, which he 
 soon returned with such vivacity that the 
 I'rench gave way. In this engagement the 
 gallant Captain received a mortal u'ound, his 
 Ijieutenant and four of his men were killed, 
 and eighteen men wei'e wounded. 
 
 On the 16th of September, Colonel Amherst 
 proceeded vigorously in his preparations to 
 attack the fort and town of Saint John’s. The 
 breastwork and unfinished battery which com- 
 manded the harbour being taken, the guns on 
 Sigual-IIill pointed towards the town, and the 
 entrance of the channel cleared of the shal- 
 lops, which the French Admiral had sunk in 
 it, the rest of the artillery and stores were 
 landed from the ships. This, fortunately for 
 the English, was performed before a violent 
 gale of wind drove Lord Colville to a con- 
 siderable distance from the coast ; the French 
 Admiral, taking advantage of this circum- 
 stance, slipped his cables and made his escape 
 under cover of a thick fog, without being seen 
 by the English fleet till he had got too far out 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 history of 
 
 at sea to allow of a pursuit. Indeed, his con- 
 duct was so very extraordinary in al)andoning 
 a place and j^'an’ison which had been entrusted 
 to his protection, that the J^nglish could not 
 at first believe that the ships which they de- 
 scried were those of M. de fernay. 
 
 On the night of the 17th, the Colonel opened 
 a battery with one eight-inch mortar, seven 
 cohorns, and six royals; the trench at the 
 same time began a bi’isk fire from the fort, and 
 threw several shells ; but, finding themselves 
 abandoned by their fleet, they capitulated on 
 the 20th, in' the morning, and surrendered 
 themselves jvrisoners of war, on condition of 
 being conveyed to Brest by the first oppor- 
 tunity. This condition was immediately com- 
 plied with by Lord Colville, who had by this 
 time returned into the harbour. 
 
 Thus the town and fort of Saint Johns, with 
 all the other places which the French had 
 taken on this coast, were recovered by a small 
 number of men, who acted throughout with 
 the greatest resolution, and surmounted many 
 considerable difficulties by dint of indefatiga- 
 ble labour and perseverance. In this expe 
 dition Lieutenant Schuyler of the Royal 
 Americans was killed ; Captain Mac Donald 
 died of his wounds ; Captains Bailie and Mac 
 Kenzie were wounded, but recovered ; aod 
 
 4 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 165 
 
 !d,k 
 
 mat 
 
 lin^ 
 
 icU 
 
 f, 
 
 lODtll 
 
 Ollt 
 
 rend 
 
 kk 
 
 ?i 1 b 
 
 ipitiili 
 1 m 
 cd 
 efe 
 A 
 oliii 
 
 itJdi 
 
 I Fm 
 dill 
 roi^' 
 101 # 
 old 
 Id if 
 f tie 
 lHacI 
 ailie* 
 
 not uljove twenty men were lost on the jaart 
 of the English in all the different actions with 
 the French, who are reported to have been a 
 fine body of troops. 
 
 It is said that this retaking of Newfoundland 
 was, at that time, highly extolled as “ adorn- 
 ing the lustre of the liritish arms,” in a year 
 remarkable for the compiest of Martinique 
 and of all the Caribbees ; of the llavannah, 
 w ith its fleet and rich magazines ; and of the 
 Phili[>pines, or Manillas, which is represented 
 as one of the best conducted, most s|)lendid, 
 and most important of all the successes which 
 marked the progress of this glorious war. 
 It is likewise observed by the writers of that 
 period, that, in the retaking of Newfoundland, 
 as w'ell as in the reduction of the Havannah 
 and of the Philip[>ines, the fleet and army 
 co-oj)erated with singular harmony and suc- 
 cess ; and that both the whole plan and the 
 subordinate parts of these expeditions, were 
 conducted with consummate wisdom and 
 heroic bravery. 
 
 With respect to Newfoundland, the French 
 squadron, then in Saint John’s, consisted of the 
 Hobuste, of seventy-four guns, I’Eveille, of 
 sixty-four. La Garonne, of forty - four. La 
 Licome, of thirty, and a bomb-ketch: they 
 had fifteen hundred soldiers, and a proportion- 
 
166 
 
 history of 
 
 able quantity of artillery and stores; whilst the 
 English, with an inferior squadron, had only 
 eight hundred soldiers, and these were neces- 
 sarily divided between Placentia, the island of 
 Boys, and the expedition engaged in the re- 
 taking of Saint John’s. The French had had 
 sufficient time to strengthen themselves in a 
 place which they had taken without any loss 
 either of men or of ammunition, and to avail 
 themselves of every advantage of a position 
 fortified by nature, and capable of every im- 
 provement which art could add to its strength. 
 That the French government was particularly 
 anxious to keep possession of Newfoundland 
 is evident, from the activity with which the 
 French Commandant repaired and added to 
 the fortifications of Saint John’s, and also from 
 the circumstance of a large French frigate, 
 bound for that island, with a considerable 
 supply of military stores, which Captain Hervey, 
 afterwards Earl of Bristol, met and took, in 
 the month of September, in his passage from 
 the Havannah to England. 
 
 Having paid this just tribute of praise to the 
 officers who eminently distinguished themselves 
 on this occasion, justice requires the honour- 
 able mention of two merchants, whose names 
 are still well known and highly respected in 
 Newfoundland, and whose public spirit and 
 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 167 
 
 services were essentially useful at that critical 
 time. 
 
 One of them was Robert Carter, a merchant 
 at Feriyland, who, by his prudence and inde- 
 fatigable exertions, found the means to procure 
 a sufficient supply of provisions and other 
 necessaries, for the support, not only of the 
 garrison at the island of Boys, but also of a 
 considerable number of distressed inhabitants, 
 who had retired thither for protection and re- 
 lief, from the 24th of June to the 9th of Octo- 
 ber. From the account of the articles thus 
 supplied, during that period, and afterwards 
 certified by four magistrates and principal mer- 
 chants of Saint John’s, to be according to the 
 price current, previous to the arrival of the 
 French squadron on that coast, it appears, that 
 the wholesale prices were as follows, viz. 
 
 Bread, 14s. — flour, 16s. — and cordage, 50«. 
 per cwt.~ Beef, £3, and pork, £4 per barrel . — 
 Butter, 9d. — cheese, 4d. — and nails, 6|d. per 
 lb. — Sheep, 14s. a head, and fire- wood, 15s. 
 per 100 sticks. 
 
 The other was Charles Garland, then a mer- 
 chant and Justice of the Peace, in the district 
 of Conception-Bay. Carbonier-Island was then 
 deemed a place where a battery could be useful 
 to the port and to the neighbouring settlements. 
 Mr. Garland supplied, at his own expense, and 
 
168 
 
 history of 
 
 for a considerable time, a small detachment 
 which he had obtained from the head-quarters 
 for that small island, w ith fire-w ood, provisions, 
 and additional pay, until the French took it 
 and destroycHl the works and batteries. He 
 was also most active and successful in pro- 
 viding, in conformity to a requisition of Gover- 
 nor Graves, a number of seamen from his dis- 
 trict, for the English squadron, on condition 
 of being discharged, if they required it, as 
 soon as the people should be enabled to follow 
 their usual business. Mr. Garland was fully 
 indemnified afterwards for his expenses, and 
 his services were most honourably acknow- 
 ledged by the government. 
 
 Another fact relating to a single individual, 
 which I shall beg leave to mention, is, that 
 under the respectable, but, at that time, very 
 inferior cliaracter of Master, the Northumter- 
 land, one of Lord Colville's squadron, con- 
 tained the, afterwards, justly celebrated Cap- 
 tain James Cook. 
 
 This great and unfortunate officer, to whom 
 it was reserv ed to prove to the world, by re- 
 peated trials, that voyages might be protracted 
 to the unusual length of three and even four 
 years, in unknown regions, and under every 
 change and rigour of climate, not only without 
 affecting the health, but even without diminish- 
 
, 1 . 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 109 
 
 ad probability of life in the smallest degree, 
 
 ^ was, in the year 1758, appointed master of the 
 Northumberland, the flag-ship of I..ord Colville, 
 ' who commanded the squadron stationed on 
 r ^'orth America. It was there 
 
 that, when about thirty years of age, during a 
 onott severe winter, he first read Euclid, and applied 
 himself to the study of mathematics and astro- 
 nomy, without any other assistance than what a 
 ]iiiiw few books and his own industry afibrded him. 
 
 He remained in that ship until the conclusion of 
 ndn the war, in the year 1703; when, through the 
 xpeBx recommendation of Lord Colville, and of Go- 
 iblyjt vemor Graves, he was appointed to survey the 
 Gulf of Saint Eawrence and the coasts of 
 jleimii Newfoundland. In this employment he con- 
 itiou tinned till the year 1707, when he was fixed 
 latlit upon by Sir Edward Hawke to command an 
 NoiH expedition to the South Seas. The charts, 
 luafc "hich weie drawn from the surveys taken by 
 ebraltt ^t that time, are still held in very high 
 
 estimation. 
 
 cer,{f Governor Graves, on resuming his command 
 ivorli Saint Johns, very humanely direcfinl his 
 l)e|)(if attention to the means of alleviating the extreme 
 ^^^‘^tress, w hich had been occasioned by the cap- 
 ^ ture and temporary occupation of that tow n by 
 [oiihi' trench. The principal inhabitants repre- 
 ,ou(li there was a great number of 
 
170 
 
 history of 
 
 distressed Irish servants in the island, without 
 masters, and without means of paying for their 
 passage home; and that there was not provisions 
 enough to subsist even the poorer inhabitants 
 throughout the ensuing winter. They proposed 
 to send as many of them home, as tw o sloops, 
 then lying up in the harbour of Saint Johns, 
 could carry, engaging to furnish a sufficiency 
 of provisions for that voyage. The Governor 
 readily acceded to this proposal, and agreed 
 to take the two sloops into his Majesty’s service 
 for that purpose, at the expense of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The unexampled success which, in the latter 
 half of the year 1762, had attended the naval 
 and military enterprises of Great Britain, and 
 the consequent losses suffered by France and 
 Spain, produced in the French and Spanish 
 Cabinets an unfeigned inclination to peace, 
 from which the Court of London was not 
 averse. On the 25th of November, his present 
 Majesty declared, from the throne, that “ He 
 “ had pursued this extensive war in the most 
 “ vigorous manner, in hopes of obtaining an 
 “ honourable peace ; and that, by the prelimi- 
 “ nary articles, it w’ould appear that there was 
 “ not only an immense territory added to the 
 “ empire of Great Britain, but a solid founda- 
 “ tion was laid for the increase of trade and 
 
NEM FOUNDLAND. 
 
 171 
 
 . ' “ commerce ; and the utmost care had been 
 
 “ taken to remove all occasions of future 
 “ disputes between his subjects and those of 
 “ France and Spain.” This w^as in reference to 
 *•1* the signing of the preliminary articles of peace 
 between the, three powers, which had been 
 done at Fontainbleau, on the 3d of the same 
 month. In the course of the negotiations, 
 Fhedi France unequivocally acknowledged her sense 
 il<i of the importance of her Newfoundland fish- 
 ajestji ery, by accepting that privilege as the com- 
 se dl pensation for her voluntary unsolicited cession 
 of the whole country of Canada. 
 
 By the Definitive Treaty, concluded at 
 Bilell Paris, on the 10th of February, in the year 
 at Bn 1703, France renounced all pretensions to 
 byfii Nova Scotia, or Acadia, and to Canada, with 
 |i ail all their dependencies, as well as to the island 
 tioB • Cape Breton, and all the other islands and 
 mdoi' coasts in the Gulf and River of Saint Law- 
 iteB *‘c*ice; and England agreed to grant the liberty 
 djp lli of the Catholic Religion to the inhabitants of 
 jar ill Canada, as far as the laws of Great Britain 
 permitted. The thirteenth article of the Treaty 
 bylkl Utrecht, relating to the privilege of the 
 rliilll ^od dry their fish, on the part 
 
 ^ of the coasts of Newfoundland therein specir 
 ■ fied, was renewed and confirmed. The French 
 , were also allow'ed to fish in the Gulf of Saint 
 
17*2 
 
 HISTORY Of 
 
 Lawrence, but only at the distance of three 
 leagues from all the -oasts belonging to Great j 
 Britain, as well those of the Continent as 
 those of the islands situated in the said Gulf of 
 Saint Lawrence; and of fifteen leagues from 
 the coasts of the island of Cape Breton. 
 land ceded to France the islands of Saint 
 PieiTC and Mifjuelons in full right, to serve as 
 a shelter to tlie French fishermen; the King of 
 France engaging not to fortify the said islands, 
 nor to erect any buildings upon them, but such 
 as were necessary for the convenience of the 
 fishery, and to keep upon them a guard of fifty 
 men only for the police. And, by the eigh- 
 teenth article, the King of Spain desisted from 
 all pretensions to the right of fishing in the 
 neighbourhood of Newfoundland. 
 
 By this Treaty, Great Britain acquired a 
 totality of empire in North America, extending 
 from Hudson’s Bay to the mouths of the 
 Mississipi. The countries and islands thus 
 ceded were formed into four distinct govern- 
 ments, called by the names of Quebec, East 
 F’lorida, West Florida, and Grenada. And to 
 the end that the open and ivee fishery of the 
 subjects of Great Britain might be extended to, 
 and carried on, upon the coast of Labrador 
 and the adjacent islands, his Majesty thought 
 fit to put all that coast, from the River Saint 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 173 
 
 acei 
 
 m 
 
 le^ 
 Ireta 
 nils I 
 tUi 
 i;li 
 
 eniffi 
 ip* 
 i, byl 
 idea 
 feba 
 1 ( 1 . 
 
 liDif 
 
 rian 
 
 noiiib 
 
 listmfl 
 
 fQiltb 
 
 bees* 
 
 stflfb 
 
 laje*) 
 
 llielb* 
 
 John’.s to Hudson’s Straits, togetlier with the 
 islands upon the said coast, under the care 
 and inspection of his Governor of Newfound- 
 laml ; while the islands of Saint John’s and of 
 Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, with the smaller 
 islands adjacent thereto, were annexed to the 
 government of Nova Scotia. 
 
 The title of the Governor of Newfoundland, 
 which was before “ Governor and Commander- 
 in-chief in and over the island of Newfound- 
 land, the fort and garrison of Placentia, and 
 all other forts and garrisons erected, or to be 
 erected, on that island,” was, in consequence 
 of these new arrang<iments, changed into that 
 of “ Governor and Commander-in-chief in and 
 over the island of Newfoundland in North 
 America; and of all the coast of Labrador, 
 from the entrance of Hudson’s Straits to the 
 River Saint John’s, opposite the west end of 
 the island of Anticosti, including that island 
 with any other small islands on the said coast 
 of Labrador; also the islands of Madeleine, in 
 the Gulf of Saint Lawrence: and of all the 
 forts and garrisons erected or established, or 
 that shall be erected or established in the said 
 island, or on the coast of Labrador, M'ithin the 
 limits aforesaid.” 
 
 By the Commissions of the Peace thenissue<l, 
 in form generally similar to those used in Eng- 
 
174 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 land, “by virtue of the povrer given and 
 granted unto the said Governor, by letters 
 patent, dated at Westminster, the 30th of 
 March, in the third year of the reign of Geoi^ 
 the Third, &c.” the magistrates appointed in 
 the several districts w ere directed to take care, 
 that all persons guilty of any capital offence 
 should be carried to the prison at Saint John’s, 
 in order to take their trials at the Assizes, yearly 
 to be held there. They Were required not to 
 do any thing, by virtue- of such commission, 
 contrary or repugnant to the act for encoura- 
 ging the trade to Newfoundland, passed in the 
 10th and 11th years of the reign of King Wil- 
 liam the Third; nor in any manner to obstruct 
 the power thereby given and granted to tire 
 admirals of the harbours, or to the captains of 
 his Majesty’s ships of w ar, or any matter or 
 thing prescribed by the said act. They were 
 also directed to appoint some of the inhabitants 
 and planters, residing there in the winter, as 
 constables and other ministers of justice, for 
 the preservation of the peace. 
 
 To the power of issuing such commissions, 
 originally granted by letters patent, dated the 
 3 1st of May, in the year 1723, to Henry 
 Osborne, then Governor of Newfoundland, 
 and continued to all subsequent Governors, was 
 now added the power and authority to appoW 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 175 
 
 rpj 
 
 r,li! 
 
 I toll 
 apiti 
 tSai 
 
 hen 
 
 ctf«t 
 
 .F 
 
 lofh 
 
 Ml) 
 gnii 
 lhe(^ 
 aDji 
 ct. 1 
 ftheii 
 itk* 
 iOfj< 
 
 iM® 
 
 itenl* 
 
 73A» 
 
 lOiii!*' 
 
 Judges, and, in certain cases. Commissioners 
 of Oyer and Terminer, who were to meet only 
 once in the year, during the time that the 
 Governor was residing in Saint John’s. The 
 Governor w’as authorized to pardon offenders, 
 and to remit all penalties, forfeitures, and hnes, 
 cases of wilful murder only excepted, when he 
 might, however, on extraordinary occasions, 
 grant reprieves. No officer of any ship of 
 war, or trading ship, was to be deprived of life 
 by sentence of such court, before the King’s 
 pleasure should be known: and persons ac- 
 cused of treason were to be sent to England 
 for trial, with the witnesses. 
 
 The Governor, in his instmetions, was par- 
 ticularly enjoined not to permit any officer, 
 soldier, or others, belonging to the garrisons, 
 to be concerned in the fishery, to take up any 
 beaches or fishing-rooms, or to interrupt the 
 fishermen in their business. He was also re- 
 quired to see that the laws against blasphemy 
 and immorality were duly put in force; to re- 
 port to the Lord Bishop of London any minis- 
 ter of the Established Church who should give 
 scandal by his life or doctrine; and to see that 
 the Lord’s day was duly observed. 
 
 Governor Graves was further directed, taking 
 the act of King William for his guidance, to 
 inquire into several gross abuses which were 
 
176 
 
 HisTony OF 
 
 then prevalent, to the great injury and discou- 
 ragement of the fishery. 
 
 The evils which the act of King William was 
 expressly intended to remedy, respecting the 
 engrossing of places convenient for the fishery, 
 had, notwithstanding, continued to exist and 
 ^0 increase, Considerahle tracts of land alon^ 
 the water-side, w hich had originally been fixed 
 upon, on account of their superior convenience 
 for the purposes of the fishery, were either 
 built upon or converted into fields or gardens; 
 the ancient custom of ei-ecting houses, build- 
 ings, or enclosures, not immediately connected 
 with the curing and drying of fish, at a suita- 
 ble distance fi’om the water-side, had lon^ 
 been disregarded. To have mei’ely cleared 
 the ground of a few bushes, to have carried on 
 the fishery for one or more seasons on the 
 same spot, was considered as conveying an 
 exclusive right thereto, though the claimant 
 neither actually used it, nor intendeil to use it, 
 for the purposes of the fishery. Masters of 
 fishing-ships, not connected with the principal 
 mercantile houses there, though qualified ac- 
 cording to the act of King William, trequently 
 found themselves under the necessity of paying 
 an arbitrary rent to some of the inhabitants, 
 for the use of convenient places for the purposes 
 of curing and drying their fish, which were then 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 177 
 
 unoccupied, rather than injure their voyages by 
 tlie delay, or expose themselves to the doubtful 
 issue and certain loss of a reference to the Fish- 
 ing Admirals, or Justices of the Peace, who, 
 besides, might reside at a considerable dis- 
 tance from the spot which they had chosen. 
 
 It was said of the Fishing Admirals, and of the 
 Justices of tlie Peace in the out-harbours, that 
 their decisions and conduct were uniformly 
 characterized by the grossest partiality and in- 
 justice. With respect to the former, the owners 
 of their ships, their agents, connexions, and 
 friends, could not possibly be in the wrong in 
 any case; and as to the resident Justices, a 
 quarter-cask of Lisbon or Madeira, a present 
 of some choice spirits, nay, a ban’el of apples, 
 a fe>v bottles of West-Indian pickles, as well 
 as the promise of support against all unfavour- 
 able representations, and the threat of being 
 turned out of office, or of being unhorsed, as 
 they termed it, were the usual grounds of the 
 decisions of those administratoi-s of Justice. 
 Taverns, originally intended for the conve- 
 nience of people travelling from harbour to 
 harbour, were the common resorts of servants, 
 who obtained there an unlimited credit, the 
 publicans relying upon the influence of their 
 suppliers to enable them to recover, at the 
 fall, the debts so contracted, out of the 
 
178 
 
 MI STORY OF 
 
 servants’ wages ; as well as upon their extrava- 
 gant charges, which left them a handsome 
 profit, even if they recovered only one-fourtli 
 part of those debts. Employers supplied, 
 their own servants with mixed hi^uors, 
 at the publicans' price, taking care to i eimburse 
 themselv'es at the fall out of the servants ba- 
 lance for these articles, as well as for the 
 lects of duty which such a practice necessarily 
 rendered extremely frequent. These chaiges, 
 together with those for m;cessary articles sup- 
 plied during the season, not only completely 
 balanced the accounts between the masters 
 and servants, but frequently left the latter k 
 debt to the former. Without employment, and 
 destitute of means of siqiport, the servants 
 readily availed themselves of the facilities 
 afforded by the New England traders to with- 
 draw to the Continent of America; whilst those 
 who were compelled to remain in the island, 
 were either tempted to commit thefts, or other 
 acts of rapine and violence, or obliged, if they 
 could find masters, to hire themselves, on any 
 terms, for the ensuing season; still lookii^ 
 anxiously forward to the means of escaping to 
 the Continent, as the only resource left them 
 to extricate themselves from this state of op- 
 pression and disti’ess. Such desertions were, 
 at that time, become so frequent, as to attract 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 179 
 
 leirtj 
 
 i laij 
 
 yoiH 
 
 rs 
 
 ikedii 
 
 tota 
 
 semi 
 
 ski 
 
 ;e» 
 
 btt 
 
 faitb 
 
 lyc« 
 
 I tbei 
 itliei 
 ployiK 
 tki 
 thei 
 ^ideisi 
 a;»i 
 Id if' 
 kitsi 
 
 sek* 
 
 stilli 
 
 bs»i 
 
 esfli* 
 
 t,as“' 
 
 the most serious attention of the British go- 
 vernment. It was also a common practice, by 
 warrant under the hand of a Commissary, to 
 attach or stop the servants’ wages in their mas- 
 ter’ hands, at any time during the fishing 
 season, for debts contracted to the publicans, 
 or for balances claimed l)y their former em- 
 ployers. 
 
 The Commissioners of the Admiralty had 
 issued the most express orders to the Governor 
 of the island, to insist upon the masters of 
 fishing-ships bringing home from Newfound- 
 land, at the fall, the number of men which they 
 carried out, but without [uoducing any consi- 
 derable effect; in fact, the measure was im- 
 practicable beyond a very limited extent. 
 When it is considered that, for example, a ship 
 of one hundred and fifty tons burden, engaged 
 in the northern fishery, employed no less than 
 sixty men, in various capacities, how could . 
 that ship, laden w ith fish and oil, be expected 
 to bring home all those men? and still less, if 
 she was bound to a fox-eign port, or to the 
 West Indies. The author of the “ Remarks 
 on the Newfoundland Fishery,” asserts that, 
 previous to the act of the 15th Geo. III. which 
 directed, that “ the sum of forty shillings 
 should be stopped out of each servant’s wages, 
 for the payment of his passage from New- 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 founclland to his native country, in order to 
 prevent their being left beyond sea, it having 
 caused many to turn pirates and lobbers, the 
 fishermen were embarked in ships from Great 
 Britain and Ireland early for the fishing sea- 
 son, and returned the following winter to their 
 respective homes; that ships were prepared in 
 a current manner for the accommodation of 
 servants from Europe to Newfoundland, and 
 hack again from Newfoundland to their native 
 countries, at the end of the season. No allow- 
 ance seems to be made, in the latter part of this 
 statement, for the different degree of accommo- 
 dation for such purposes, in vessels going out 
 in ballast, or with a small cargo of goods, and 
 in vessels returning home or going to market 
 with a full cargo of fish and oil. He adds that, 
 a real fisherman never wintered at Newfound- 
 land from choice in those days, which is readily 
 admitted, though not in the sense which he 
 means to convey; and what he says farther, 
 that no master ever kept more winter-servants 
 than the occasion of his situation compelled 
 him to do, is a confirmation of the state of 
 wretchedness to which servants were thenr^ 
 duced. 
 
 Attempts had been made, at various times, 
 by the Governors of Newfoundland, to open a 
 communication and establish an intercourse 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 18J 
 
 idt 
 
 illi with the native Indians of the island; but 
 hitlierto without success. About this time, 
 froBi, another ship-master and a 
 
 m ‘^aint John’s to the 
 
 Mat Exploits, which was known to be 
 
 pte^ ™'^ch frequented by the Indians, during the 
 
 nodi summer-season. Scot and his party having 
 
 vjju landed at the mouth of the Bay, built there a 
 tteii residence, in the manner of a fort. 
 
 Some days afterwards, a large party of Indians 
 r appeared in sight, and made a full stop, none 
 
 )fl showing the least inclination to ap- 
 
 eki nearer. Scot then proposed to tlie 
 
 f i *^**^^*^ ship-master to go among them : the latter 
 S advised to go armed; Scot opposed it on the 
 
 11 create an alarm. They 
 
 proceeded towards the Indians with part of 
 their crew, without any arms. Scot went up 
 ichiii to them, mixed among them witFi every sign of 
 ise * amity that he could imagine, taking several of 
 sapl them, one after another, by the hand. An 
 Bterif old man, in pretended friendship, put his arms 
 
 inci^ round his neck; at the same instant another 
 
 tkeiii stabbed Scot in the back; the war-whoop re- 
 
 ifwi sounded, a shower of aiTows fell upon the 
 
 English, which killed the other ship-master 
 ;ari(H6l and four of his companions. The rest of the 
 
 Q(l,»| party then hastened to their vessel, and re- 
 
 jjmff turned to Saint John’s, carrying one of those 
 
18-2 
 
 history of 
 
 who had, been killed, with the arrows sticking 
 in his body. 
 
 Captain Thompson, of his Majesty s ship 
 Lark, was more successful with another tribe. 
 
 He was cruising, in September, 1763, as Surro- 
 gate, along the south-west part of Newfound- 
 land, when he observed a large party of 
 the Indians, called Mickmacks. Having had 
 a conference with their chiefs, he succeeded 
 in concluding with them, in the name of 
 the whole tribe, a treaty, by which they 
 engaged themselves to live in strict friend- 
 ship with the subjects of Great Britain where- 
 soever they should meet them, and to give j 
 their assistance against the enemies of the King 
 of Great Britain, as long as the sun and nwon 
 should endure. 
 
 It has been already seen, that by the Treaty of 
 Paris, Spain entirely gave up all claims to the pri- 
 vilege of fishing in these latitudes. With respect 
 to France, it had been contended that, should 
 the fish-trade to Newfoundland be allowed to 
 her imder any restrictions, this would be giving 
 her the surest and best nursery for seamen, and 
 enabling her to rear again with facility a rival 
 naval pow'er, which it had been one of the 
 greatest advantages reaped by this war to have 
 destroyed ; that she would not only acquire by 
 it this invaluable benefit, but also be enabled 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 183 
 
 8 silt 
 
 cstj'll 
 
 ota 
 
 !,Jsii 
 
 Ken 
 
 Hai 
 
 le M 
 wliii 
 stiicii 
 iritaiiii 
 aiiilt 
 soflli 
 sujiai 
 
 fthel! 
 linsiiii 
 , ffili! 
 itbfti 
 
 'Oiildto 
 
 )f jOISi 
 
 idliifi 
 
 ysrt‘ 
 
 )nly*f 
 
 to carry on and enjoy the profits of a superior 
 trade, as she had done formerly. On the other 
 hand, it was observed, that comparative bene- 
 fits arising to France were an unsure scale of 
 the interests of Great Britain; that things of 
 less value to her might be of an importance 
 .to Great Britain, infinitely greater than others 
 which slie held at a much higher price; and that 
 the greater or less facility of obtaining certain 
 objects should be rated as constituting no in- 
 considerable part of their intrinsic value, be- > 
 cause they tended to hasten or protract the 
 conclusion of peace, and to prolong or shorten 
 its duration: that the total loss of the New- 
 foundland fishery would be to France more 
 than any positive gain to England ; that France 
 and her islands would be exposed to all the 
 extremities of want, rather than open their 
 markets to British fishermen; that this was 
 true, not of France only, but of Spain, who had, 
 since her declaration of war, prohibited the 
 importation of fish from Newfoundland; and 
 the Pope had freed her subjects, by indulgen- 
 ces, from those fasts which rendered it indis- 
 pensably necessary. How far the same eccle- 
 siastical policy might prevail in other popish 
 countries (and those of that persuasion are the 
 only customers of England for fish in Europe) 
 could not be 'foretold; but should an enmity to 
 
184 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 heretic England prevail with the see of Rome, 
 to dispense with her own' injunctions, and a. 
 jealousy of Engiand incline other popish states 
 to avail thenisehes of such dispensations, in- 
 stead of acquiring more by an attempt to possess 
 all, England might lose a considerable part, if 
 not the whole of the advantages which she 
 before enjoyed from that fishery. 
 
 The first overtures to the Treaty declare, 
 that the privilege of the fishery at Newfound- 
 land was the compensation for Canada, whilst 
 England considered Canada as of considerable 
 value, both as an acquisition of country and 
 as a frontier; and her conquests in North 
 America, in general, as the first and most im- 
 portant objects of that war. The lirilish colo- 
 nies, thus secured from every hostile atiack at 
 the price of British blood and treasure, and of 
 many national advantages which England had 
 it then in her power to exact from France and 
 Spain, were placed in such a situation as no 
 longer required the immediate protection of 
 Great Britain. From that moment they may 
 be said to have obtained independence, when 
 their condition enabled them to assume it. 
 
 By a. census taken at the close of the year 
 1763, it appeared that the population of New- 
 foundland consisted altogether of 13,112 inha- 
 bitants, including women and children; oi 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 185 
 
 wpiii 
 
 DsaiKi 
 
 sulit 
 
 eatyi 
 life 
 anaii 
 fcoH 
 [ M 
 sts* 
 .aiiili 
 ebiiiii 
 )stiki 
 ■ea* 
 
 i£i^ 
 illlflS 
 sitaff 
 ! pr# 
 
 whom 4795 were Roman Catholics, and 7500 
 were constant residents in the island. It ap- 
 peared also that, in the course of that season, 
 there had been made 386,274 quintals of cod- 
 fish, of which 348,294 quintals had been car- 
 ried to market; 694 tierces of salmon; 1598 
 tons of train oil ; and fur taken by the inhabi- 
 tants, estimated at the value of about £ 2000 : 
 — and that there were 106 ships qualified, ac- 
 cording to the act of King William, for carry- 
 ing on the fishery; 123 sack-ships, that is, 
 vessels coming to Newfoundland for the sole 
 purpose of purchasing fish ready made; and 
 142 ships from the British American colonies. 
 Of the number of quintals of fish stated above, 
 235,944 bad l)een caught and cured by the 
 resident inhabitants of the island. No men- 
 tion was then made of a 5gaZ-fishery there; but 
 it was thought that a very considerable whale 
 and sea-cow fishery might be carried on in the 
 Gidf of Saint Lawrence, and upon the coast of 
 Labrador. 
 
186 
 
 historv of 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1763 — 1775 . 
 
 The Treaty of Paris, after many warm debates, 
 had, at length, obtained the sanction of both 
 Houses, and the animated warfare between 
 political writers on this subject had ceased, in 
 some degree, to agitate the public mind. The 
 pacific intentions of the French and Spanish 
 Courts had been sufficiently manifested in every 
 transaction since the conclusion of the Treaty; 
 and, if any doubt could have remained of the 
 sincerity of those intentions, it must have been 
 completely removed by the known strength of the 
 British navy in the parts where those powers were 
 most vulnerable. Nevertheless, a considerable 
 degree of dissatisfaction still prevailed among 
 the people. The Earl of Bute, under whose 
 auspices the peace had been made, had never 
 been popular; and the judicious liberal spirit 
 which had dictated the conditions of the 
 Treaty, was considered as a mean surrender'd 
 the many important advantages which might 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 187 
 
 easily have been obtained from the decidex^l 
 superiority of England at the termination of 
 the contest. The “ North Briton” of John 
 Wilkes, which, in hatred to that minister, who 
 was a native of Scotland, revived those national 
 distinctions which ought to have slept for ever, 
 from the time that Great Britain became united 
 under one Sovereign ; and the satirical publica- 
 tions of Churchill, added fresh fuel to the fer- 
 »amli ment. Just at this critical time, a sloop of war 
 ictiMi arrived at Portsmouth from Newfoundland, with 
 the intelligence thatthe French had aformidable 
 laiid fleet on 'that coast; that, in opposition to the 
 iciis positive stipulations of the lateTreaty, they had 
 manifested an intention to fortify the island of 
 ifesleii Saint Peter’s; and that the British squadron, 
 oftliil on that station, was by no means in a condition 
 to prevent that measure. As soon as this intel- 
 Qiislli ligence became public, an immediate war with 
 istraS France was pronounced to be unavoidable, 
 ijjpoB unless the British government were disposed to 
 
 acoK 
 
 [evailfi' 
 
 I Js 
 
 idel* 
 
 IS I 
 
 an# 
 
 iS 
 
 sacrifice all the advantages which had been 
 obtained by the peace. Commodore, after- 
 wards Sir Hugh Palliser, then Governor of 
 Newfoundland, despatched a sloop of war to 
 the French Governor at Saint Peter’s, to inquire 
 into the truth of these reports, and to know 
 whether he had mounted cannon and erected 
 works on that island. The French Governor 
 
188 
 
 HISTOUY OF 
 
 answered by assurances, that he had no more 
 than one four-pounder mounted, without a 
 platform, and with no other intention than to 
 make signals, and to answer those which were 
 made by the fishing-ships ^ that the guard had 
 never exceeded fifty men; and that no works 
 or buildings whatever had been erected con- 
 trary to the Treaty. A ship of fifty guns, a 
 frigate of twenty-six guns, and another of infe- 
 rior force, formed their whole strength; Captain 
 Palliser was also assured that none of those 
 vessels had ever attempted, or would ever at- 
 tempt, to enter into any of the harbours on the 
 coast of Newfoundland. 
 
 Thus ended an affair which had threatened 
 both hemispheres with the renewal of the 
 horrors of war. The origin of this mistake 
 could .never be satisfactorily traced to its 
 source. All the information that can be ob- 
 tained from historians on this subject is, that 
 the suspicions had arisen from the haughty, 
 reserved, or equivocal conduct of the captain 
 of the French fifty-gun ship on that station. 
 
 The considerable increase of the British 
 Newfoundland fishery, since the last peace, 
 may easily be estimated from the following 
 short statement of the number of quintals of 
 fish carried to market, viz. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 189 
 
 In 1783.. 348, 294, as stated by Governor 
 
 Graves, and 
 
 Mhi 1784. .470,118, ^ as stated by Governor 
 
 1 765.. 493,854, J Palliser. 
 tl»!» making a difference between 1763 and 1765 of 
 tki 145,360 quintals. 
 
 II ft# Captain Palliser was Governor of New- 
 ){ i; foundland from the year 1764 to the year 1768, 
 mk both inclusive. When about thirty-five years 
 enjili; of age, in the year 1756, he had received, in a 
 ; n® desperate action in the Mediterranean, with a 
 TMli frigate of superior force, a severe wound in the 
 haite wliich, baffling all the skill of the faculty, 
 subjected him ever after to ceaseless torture, 
 yi eventually occasioned his death in March, 
 teiien notwithstanding, indefatigable 
 
 of§ ™ business, and acquired a considerable de- 
 ^ gree of experience and knowledge in the vari- 
 tofl concerns of the fishery. The wise and 
 iSoljK iaws which he afterwards caused to 
 
 In tltl 6ii»cted for the benefit of the Newfoundland ^ 
 •tofll protection of the fishermen, 
 
 a that* Pi’ocfs of a sound mind and of a just and 
 
 of * disposition. He had sufficient oppor- 
 
 ® tunities to observe the confusion which pre- 
 vailed there among all classes of persons, and 
 ” . a corresponding degree of humanity and pa- 
 tience to investigate, in order to find out a 
 remedy for the enormous abuses which existed, 
 
I 
 
 190 HISTORY OF 
 
 at that time, in the island. He appears, like- 
 wise, to have been ably supported in his 
 view« by the captains of his squadron, whom 
 he sent as Surrogates to the different out-har- 
 bours. 
 
 Sir Hugh Palliser was succeeded, in tlie i 
 year 1769, by the Honoux'ahle Captain John 
 Byron, a son of William Lord Byron, and 
 who has left the reputation of a brave and 
 excellent officer. He is well known for 
 the important share which he had in the 
 voyage of discovery made under the com- 
 mand of Commodore Anson, and still more 
 for the result of a similar voyage to the unex- | 
 plored parts of the southern hemisphere, under . 
 his own command, during the years 1764. 
 1765, and 1766, the plan of which had been 
 formed soon after the accession of his present 
 Majesty to the throne. Governor Byron shewed 
 himself in no respect inferior to his predeces- 
 sor, during the time of his government ol 
 • Newfoundland. 
 
 The spirit of insubordination which, since 
 the year 1764, had been rapidly increasing in 
 the British North American colonies, had, as 
 it might be expected, communicated some of 
 its baneful influence to Newfoundland. 
 year 1765 had been remarkable for several 
 acts of open violence throughout the island- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 ap 
 
 poittg 
 
 aaik 
 
 lenti 
 
 iCift 
 rdBii 
 fab 
 ellb 
 he b 
 indal 
 aadi 
 a^lil 
 
 then 
 
 ioi*!'' 
 
 idhi* 
 
 kaWef 
 
 191 
 
 In Conception- Bay, in particular, a formidable 
 riot bad taken place, in which the authority of 
 the magistrates and constables was set at de- 
 fiance, and their persons most grossly insulted 
 in the execution of their office. Twelve of the 
 principal offenders having been at last appre- 
 hended and brought to Saint .John’s, were tried 
 and condemned to suffer corporal punishment, 
 both in that town and at Harbour-Grace. But 
 now, it was not only the lower classes, which, 
 driven to desperation, disturbed the public 
 peace; some of the principal merchants mani- 
 fested the same spirit, and the custom-house 
 became the grand object of their attacks, and 
 the ostensible pretence of their declared oppo- 
 sition to the measures of government. 
 
 This custom-house had been established in 
 Saint John’s, in the year 17(54, in consequence 
 of several attempts that had been made to in- 
 troduce contraband goods into the island: a 
 building had been erected for that purpose, 
 a Collector appointed under the Commissioners 
 of the custom-house at Boston, and the esta- 
 blishment was soon after completed by the 
 appointment of a Comptroller. This measure, 
 as calculated to protect the fair trader, had at 
 first been generally approved by the people 
 concerned in the Newfoundland trade. But 
 
192 
 
 history of 
 
 the cry of “ no taxation,” which resounded 
 from every part of the British Empire in Ame- 
 rica, in consequence of the well-known Stamp- 
 j4.ct reached also ^Newfoundland. The custom- 
 house there was then loudly complained of as 
 an infringement ol the rights of nj’iec tisher), 
 and its J'scs as an unjustifiable tux on tlie fisheiy 
 and trade. 
 
 Petitions were presented to the government 
 at home for removing it altogether, on tlie 
 ground that the act of the 2d and -3d of 
 Edward the Sixth had declared illegal all 
 admiralty fees on ships employed in this 
 fishery; that the act of the 15 th of Charles the 
 Second forbids all persons whatever from taking, 
 levying, or collecting any duty, or toll, or cau- 
 sing the same to be done in Newfoundland, on 
 any kind of fish; and that, Newfoundland 
 being a fishery, and all ships and goods im- 
 ported there, being for the use of that fishery, 
 no ship there could be liable to custom-house 
 fees. 
 
 These arguments had a great appearance 
 of plausibility: one very important distinction 
 was, however, overlooked in this mode of 
 reasoning, namely, that of articles which were 
 really and strictly necessary for the fishery, 
 within the intent of the 10th and 11th of 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 I.‘).3 
 
 William III. such as compo.sed the ladino- 
 of hanhtng vessels, and the mixed cargoes 
 which it had since been customary to import 
 into the island for the convenience of the inha* 
 bitants in general. This last description of 
 imports had, of course, been increasing in pro- 
 portion to the number and wealth of the popu- 
 lation, and justly subjected that part of the 
 IS'ewfoundland trade to the provisions of the 
 acts of parliament, either general or special, 
 respecting the colonial trade. 
 
 The consequence of these petitions was, that, 
 in the year 1772, government, after having 
 taken the opinion of the crown lawyers, di- 
 rected Commodore Molineux, afterwards Lord 
 Shuldham, then Governor of Newfoundland,* 
 to issue circular letters to the merchants of the 
 several harbours, with positive orders that the 
 olhcers of the customs there should be paid 
 the legal fees to w hich they were entitled by 
 act of parliament, as set forth in a table with 
 
 In tire Otter sloop of war, on that station. Sir Roger 
 Curtis was Lieutenant. It was there that his professional 
 abilities first attracted the attention of Governor Shuldham, 
 whose unlimited confidence he soon acquired, as he did 
 afterwards that of Earl Howe, by his judicious, able, and 
 gallant conduct, at a tifiie when the troubles in the Ameri- 
 can colonies rendered that service admirably adapted to call 
 forth and dis])lay the talents of young officers. 
 
194 
 
 history of 
 
 ( 
 
 which those officers were then furnished for 
 their government, on all ships and vessels 
 which had been entered and departed the said 
 iiarbours, since the appointment of Commodore 
 Slmldham to that government, or Avhich might 
 hereafter enter and depart the said ports. 
 
 This measure produced, at the time, the 
 desired eftect; but, in the following year, an 
 action having lieen brought against the Comp- 
 troller of the Customs for the amount of some 
 goods, purchased by him at a public sale, of 
 the effects of a bankrupt, occasion was taken, 
 from so'me countercharges for fees of office 
 during the three preceding years, to contest the 
 legality, not of the counter-charges as a proper 
 set-off in the present case, but of the custom- 
 house itself; and the Judge of the Vice-Admi- 
 ralty Court, before whom this cause was tried, 
 and who had called in the assistance of two 
 merchants of Saint John’s “ to give their opi- 
 nions in this cause,” as the record expresses it. 
 openly and unequivocally allowed the validity 
 of the plea, that “ it was doubtful whether 
 Newfoundland were included in the acts of 
 parliament respecting the officers of the' cus- 
 toms in the colonies of America.” 
 
 We are now arrived at the awful epoch of that 
 explosion, which seemed, for a time, to threaten 
 the very existence of the British empire with 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 195 
 
 TOIb 
 
 iitidii 
 
 leil 
 
 Con 
 
 wW; 
 
 ipoio. 
 
 be n 
 
 'injB 
 
 sttk> 
 
 lOiui 
 
 ublit! 
 
 onw 
 
 feesi 
 
 toed ' 
 
 ;esasi 
 
 oftk' 
 
 beVitt 
 
 ausfo 
 
 ffitaoo 
 
 giffi 
 
 rdes|» 
 
 ed Ik' 
 
 lubtliil' 
 
 inlfei 
 
 eis 
 
 f 
 
 1 . 
 
 ilepK*' 
 
 inif.®* 
 
 shfff 
 
 inevitable destruction, and which, by trans- 
 planting into the very countries of Europe, 
 from which it afterwards derived its chief sup- 
 port, those principles of republicanism and 
 anarchy, which had so long disturbed the 
 peace and good government of the American 
 Colonies, was eventually to spread the baneful 
 ravages of revolutions, and, for the space of 
 twenty-five years, to drench with blood the 
 fairest fields of the Continent of Europe. ' 
 In consequence of the wise and liberal po- 
 licy of England towards those colonies, they 
 had increased in numbers, w’ealth, and re- 
 sources, with a rapidity which surpassed all pre- 
 vious calculation. They had advanced nearly 
 to the magnitude of a nation, while the greater 
 part of Europe was almost wholly ignorant 
 of their progress ; nor do they themselves 
 appear, while gradually rising higher in the 
 scale of political importance, to have been 
 sensible of their own consetpience. Feeling 
 their dependence for protection on the mother- 
 country, so long as they saw themselves sur- 
 rounded by powerful rivals ; as soon as the 
 treaty of Paris had put an end to all appre- 
 hensions from that quarter, from that moment 
 they may be said to have obtained their inde- 
 pendence. That restless disposition, which 
 had hitherto manifested itself by continual con- 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 history ov 
 
 tentions between the legislatures of the pro- 
 vinces anti their respective governors, soon 
 assumed a more formidable appearance after 
 the passing of the Stamp-act, which required, 
 that bonds and certain other instniments of 
 writing, in order to be valid, should be d^a^vn 
 on stamped paper on which a duty was laid. 
 This act was repeale'd in the following year; 
 but this measure did not allay, in a material 
 degree, the spirit of dissatisfaction, which,' four 
 years after, broke out with irresistible violence 
 on the passing of another act, which imposed 
 a duty of three-pence per pound on all tea im- 
 ported into the colonies. This was followed 
 by open acts of insubordination, an avowed 
 determination to resist by force the measures 
 of the British Government, and, at last, a 
 revolution, which, from Boston, flew like an 
 electrical shock throughout a considerable ex- 
 tent of British America. Although Nova 
 Scotia and Canada, as well as Newfoundland, 
 successfully resisted all attempts to induce 
 them to enter into the association, yet the in- 
 terruption of trade, and the total deprivation of 
 supplies from the other colonies, which this 
 new state of things occasioned, produced, 
 particularly in that island, a degree of distress 
 which has, even to this day, left there the most 
 painful recollections. 
 
NEITFOUNDLAND. 
 
 187 
 
 0 ((| 
 eia 
 leant 
 bicliii 
 istnt 
 mill la 
 intyii 
 )loat 
 , imi 
 
 )D,lll 
 
 istilile' 
 
 thidi 
 
 doni!' 
 
 svaiii 
 
 ID, a 
 letlifi 
 >nii,t 
 
 ID,I» 
 
 ytw 
 Ne»i« 
 Dpi! til 
 iioDDli 
 
 lie!.*!' 
 «ed. f 
 e^i/i 
 ftiflis 
 
 The first act of tlie “ General Congress,’* 
 which met at Philadelphia, on the 5th day of 
 September, in the year 1774, was the publi- 
 cation of an address to the people of Great 
 Britain, which, among other things, contained 
 the information that » they had sus^nded 
 their importation from the British dominions \ 
 and that, in less than a year’s time, unless 
 their grievances were redressed, they would 
 likewise discontinue their exports to tliose 
 countries.” Tliis resolution, in which the in- 
 habitants of Newfoundland were peculiarly 
 concerned, inasmuch as they had hitherto been 
 in the habit of procuring the greatest part oi 
 their provisions from those colonies, was ac- 
 tually carried into effect against them by the 
 second, or “ Continental Congress,” in the 
 month of May following. This Congress 
 having met at Philadelphia, on the 10th of 
 that month, two memorials were presented, 
 on the 15th, by some merchants of that town, 
 respecting cai^oes which they had purchased 
 with the intention to send them to Newfound- 
 land, and which had been stopped by the 
 committee of that city and, on the 17th, it 
 was “ unanimously resolved, that all exporta- 
 tions to QuelK^c, Nova Scotia, the Island of 
 Saint John, Newfoundland, Georgia, and the 
 Floridas, should immediately cease ; and that 
 
198 
 
 HISTOKY OF 
 
 'h 
 
 no provisions of Hny kind, or otlioi n6C6ssaries, 
 should be furnished to the British fisheries on 
 the American coasts, until it should be other- 
 wise determined by the Congress, .that is, 
 until those colonies should have consented 
 to join the association. So determined were 
 they to enforce this measure with the ut- 
 most rigour, that, in order to prevent such sup- 
 plies being clandestinely obtained by the Bri- 
 tish fishermen from or through Nantucket, an 
 island belonging to the State of Massachusetts, 
 and situated about eight leagues to the south- 
 ward of Cape-Cod, it was further ordered by 
 the Congress, on the 29th of the same month, 
 that “ no provisions, or other necessaries of 
 any kind, should be exported to that island, ex- 
 cept from the colony of Massachusetts-Bay, and 
 that, only as much as should be necessary for 
 its internal use, and no more.” It was fur- 
 ther stated in this order, that “ the Congress, 
 deeming it of great importance to North 
 America that the British fishery should not 
 be furnished with provisions from the con- 
 tinent through Nantucket, earnestly recom- 
 mended a vigilant execution of this resolve to 
 all committees.” 
 
 This sudden suspension of the usual sup- 
 plies was particularly distressing to the inhabi- 
 tants and fishermen of Newfoundland; so that, 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 199 
 
 in order to prevent an absolute famine, several 
 ships put immediately to sea in ballast for Ire- 
 land, to jirocure provisions. 
 
 From this time, all commerce and communi- 
 cation ceased between Newfoundland an<l the 
 American colonies which had consented to the 
 object and terms of the association; and from 
 which that island is said to liave hitherto annu- 
 ally imported produce to an amount nearly 
 equal to that of her imjiorts from Great Britain 
 and Ireland, namely, upwards of three hun- 
 dred and forty-live thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 These measures of the Continental Congress 
 against Newfountlland and the British fisheries 
 in North America, and the severity with which 
 they were enforced, led to the passing of the 
 act of the 15 Geo. 111. cap. 10, by Avhich 
 the colonies that had joined the Association, 
 were prohibited from coming to the fisheries in 
 those seas; and this was in December follow'ed 
 by another, prohibiting all trade and inter- 
 course whatever with them. 
 
 In the same year was also passed the act of 
 the 15 Geo. III. cap. .31, commonly called 
 “ Sir Hugh Palliser’s Act,” which forms an 
 important epoch in the History of Newfound- 
 land. 
 
 The British parliament, in making regula- 
 tions for the revenue on salt, usually granted 
 
200 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 certain allowances on the exportation of salted 
 fish, which operated in the nature of a homtif. 
 By the 5 Geo. I. cap. 18, the collectors of the 
 salt-duties were directed to allow five shillings 
 per hundred of cod-fish of a certain size ex- 
 ported from Great Britain. The next experi- 
 ment was to encourago, Ijy direct bounties, the 
 Jilting-out for the purpose of these fisheries. 
 This was first done in 1733, respecting the 
 whale-fishery, and, by Sir Hugh Palliser’s act, 
 extended to the Newfoundland bank fishery, 
 carried on in vessels which had cleared out 
 from the British European dominions, and 
 which had complied with the conditions requi- 
 red in the act. The privilege of landing and 
 drying fish on the shores of Newfoundland was 
 confined to British subjects arriving there from 
 British Europe. Ships duly qualified might 
 occupy for the fishery any part of the island 
 not in actual use for that purpose, and were 
 declared not to be liable to any restraint with 
 respect to days or hours of working. 
 
 This last clause has frequently given offence 
 to well-meaning people in Newfoundland. It 
 is probable that the contentions between mas- 
 ters and servants, of which an extreme tender- 
 ness of conscience on this point might have 
 been either the cause or the pretence, in a con- 
 cern which demands so much attention and 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 201 
 
 ' continual care as the fishery carried on at 
 Newfoundland, could not have been quieted 
 * by any other method. L’Abbe Raynal seems 
 also to thi’ow some light on this subject, when, 
 among the many grievances of which he pre- 
 tends that the French fishermen there had, at 
 ' that time, reason to complain, he says, that 
 ^ “ the English Fishing Admirals carried the 
 
 t insolence of superiority so far as to forbid the 
 
 t French fishermen to fish for cod on a Sunday, 
 i upon the pretence that their own abstained 
 I . from catching any on that day.” 
 
 K 'I he same act made the master of any vessel 
 t that should, without the Governor’s leave, 
 i carry as passengers from any place within the 
 |g government ot Newfoundland, any sailors or 
 » other persons employed in the fisheries, to the 
 j|; Continent of America, liable to a penalty of 
 two hundred pounds. It directed all agree- 
 g ments between masters and servants to be 
 jg made in writing; fixed the rate of deductions 
 to be made from the servants’ wages, in cases 
 of absence without leave, or of neglects of 
 jg duty; and the punishment to be inflicted on 
 g them w'hen they deserted from their employers. 
 
 It provided that no more than one-half of the 
 ^ wages should, at any time, be advanced to 
 them ; and that the other half should be fully 
 ^ paid them immediately at the expiration of the 
 
202 
 
 history of 
 
 covenanted time of service, in money or in bills 
 of exchange, payable in the country to which 
 such servants respectively belonged, a certain 
 sum being first deducted for their passage 
 home. Lastly, it declared all the fish and oil 
 taken and made by the employer liable, in the 
 first place, to the payment of the servants’ 
 wages. 
 
 These excellent regulations were intended 
 and well calculated, if duly observed and en- 
 forced, to put an eftectual stop to the perpetual 
 contentions and disappointments which had 
 hitherto prevailed between the masters and the 
 servants ; and to encourage the latter to fidelity 
 and industry, by the certainty of being paid the 
 price of their labour at the expiration of their 
 time of servitude, and of receiving a balance 
 which would enable them to maintain them- 
 selves and their families at home, during the 
 ensuing winter. 
 
 Commodore Robert Duff was, at this time, 
 Governor of the island. From a proclamation 
 issued by him in the month of July, 1775, it 
 appears, that considerable salmon fisheries were 
 then carried on in Freshwatei’-Bay, Gander- 
 Bay, the Bay of Exploits, and several other 
 places on the north-eastern part of Newfound- 
 land, which, it was said, might be greatly ex- 
 tended and improved. This proclamation 
 
NKWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 203 
 
 established several excellent regulations, framed 
 upon the principles and enactments of Sir 
 Hugh l^alliser’s Act, and equally intended for 
 giving an advantage and a security to the fish- 
 *ery carried on from the mother-country. 
 
•204 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1776—1793. 
 
 On the 11th of April, 1776, the American 
 Congress issued, covumissions to the privateers 
 in their service against the ships and vessels 
 belonging to the inhabitants and subjects of 
 Great Britain. Newfoundland, though pro- 
 tected by a strong naval force, could not escape 
 the depredations of those privateers. Well 
 acquainted with her several settlements, har- 
 bours, coves, and creeks, which they were 
 before in the habit of frequenting, as British 
 subjects, for the purposes of the fishery, they 
 used to seize vessels and goods at the very 
 wharfs of the merchants, and to carry their 
 depredations along the coast in small fast-sail- 
 ing vessels, even in sight of the larger men of 
 war, which, from their superior size and 
 draught of water, could not reach beyond a 
 certain distance to the shore. Harbour-Grace, 
 Carbonier, and other parts of Conception-Bay, 
 were at first considerable sufferers ; but small 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 205 
 
 l! 
 
 I 
 
 h 
 
 i» 
 
 e 
 
 n 
 
 IS 
 
 h 
 
 isl 
 
 V 
 
 ii 
 
 « 
 
 II 
 
 f 
 
 $ 
 
 I# 
 
 P 
 
 K 
 
 batteries, erected on Carbonier island, and on 
 a rising ground which commanded the bar or 
 channel into the port of Harbour-Grace, con- 
 tributed, in a considerable degree, to the secu- 
 rity of those two harbours. A good spirit 
 appears to have prevailed at that time in the 
 district of Conception-Bay, to which several 
 loyal Americans had previously retired. 
 
 This year is also remarkable in the History 
 of Newfoundland, 1st. for affording the first in- 
 stance of an officer of a higher rank than that 
 of captain or commodore being appointed to 
 that government, in the person of Rear-Admi- 
 ral Montague; a proof of the increasing conse- 
 quence of its trade and fisheries in the opinion 
 of the British government: and 2dly. for an 
 exertion of the humane solicitude of his 
 Majesty in behalf of the native Savag’es of 
 that island. 
 
 On the 6th of May, 1776, Governor Mon- 
 tague issued a proclamation, in which it was 
 stated, that “ it had been represented to his 
 Majesty that his subjects residing in New- 
 foundland, instead of cultivating such friendly 
 intercourse with the native Savages inhabiting 
 the island, as might be for their mutual benefit, 
 treated the said Savages with the greatest in- 
 humanity, and, in some instances, had de- 
 stroyed them without the least provocation; 
 
HISTORV Ol' 
 
 20t) 
 
 that it was his Majesty’s royal will and plea- 
 sure that he, the Governor, should express his 
 Majesty’s abhorrence of such inhuman barba- 
 rity.” These representations, which, upon strict 
 inquiry, have been found to be greatly exagge- 
 rated, originated in occurrences which were 
 frequently the unavoidable consequence of ac- 
 cidental meetings in the northern parts of the 
 island, during the winter season, behyeen the 
 people who were left there for the purpose of 
 collecting furs, and the native Indians, who 
 have ever been known to attack and pursue, 
 with savage ferocity, all strangers, wlretlier 
 Europeans, or belonging to any of the tribes 
 on the opposite Continent. This perpetual 
 state of warfare was thought, in some instairces, 
 to have led to acts of unprovoked aggression 
 on the par-t of the furriers, exceeding the exact 
 limits of the natural principle of self-defence, 
 which, however, of itself was a sufficient mo- 
 tive to abstain from such acts' of unprovoked 
 aggression. The proclamation concluded with 
 strictly enjoining and requiring all his Majestys 
 subjects to live in amity with the said Savages; 
 and all officers and magistrates to use their 
 utmost diligence to discover and apprehend all 
 persons who might be guilty of murdering any 
 of the said Indians, so that such offenders 
 might be sent over to England for trial, as 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 207 
 
 directed by the statute of the 10th and 1 1th 
 
 * of William 111. 
 
 '' Tlie affairs on tlie Continent of America 
 had, at this time, taken such a turn as 
 
 * to exclude all hopes of a reconciliation. The 
 States, by an act of the Congress, on the 
 
 * 4th ot ,)uly, 1776, were declared free and in- 
 ^ de[)cndent ; and there soon appeared, from 
 
 various circumstances, strong grounds to ap- 
 ^ prehend that France, notwithstanding her 
 
 * strong and reiterated assurances, by her Am- 
 •li bassador in London, of her friendly and 
 ii' peaceable dispositions towards England, would, 
 4 ere long, take an active part in the contest in 
 If favour of the colonies. These apprehensions 
 (I were considerably increased by the sudden 
 C departure of all the French fishing-ships and 
 ^9 vessels from the banks and coast of New- 
 el foundland, in the beginning of the month of 
 § October, 1777 ; which was found to have been 
 ^ in consequence of an order from l)e Sartine, 
 ^ the French Minister of Marine, which had 
 gl 6een communicated to them by the commander 
 il) ' of a French frigate sent for that purpose. 
 ,, This order was dated from Versailles, August 
 ^ !4th, 1777. 
 
 ^ So sudden and unprecedented a measure 
 was considered as a strong indication of 
 . I an immediate rupture with Great Britain. It 
 
208 
 
 histouy of 
 
 was remembered that at the commencement 
 of the preceding war, the English ministry had ' 
 taken care to seize the French vessels and 
 sailors employed in the Newfoundland fishery; 
 a stroke of policy which France felt severely 
 at that time, and which, it was supposed, the 
 French ministry were now determined to avoid. 
 On the 6th of February following, a treaty of 
 amity and commerce between France and the 
 United States of America was signed, of 
 which the Manpiis de Noailles, the French 
 Ambassador at the Court of London, gave an 
 official notice on the 13th of March, and, on 
 the 20th of the same month, the Marquis set 
 off for Paris, in consequence of an order from 
 his Court for his immediate departure. 
 
 As soon as information was received in 
 Newfoundland that hostilities had been com- 
 menced by Count d’Estaing in North America, 
 Governor, now Vice-Admiral Montague, issued 
 orders for the reduction of the islands of Saint 
 Peter and Miquelons, the inhabitants of which, 
 to the number of 1932, were sent to France. 
 He was succeeded in the government, in the 
 year 1779, by Rear-Admiral Edwards, whose 
 .squadron was uncommonly successful during 
 that summer, and, in the course of the year 
 1780, in the number of privateers and other 
 vessels captured, both French and Americans. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 •209 
 
 ^ In the year 1782, Vice-Admiral John Camp- 
 
 I bell was appointed Governor of Newfound- 
 
 f land, an officer of remarkable simplicity of 
 
 li manners, and well known in the naval history 
 
 I of Great Britain for his bravery, particularly 
 
 i» in the defeat of the Marquis de Conflans, in 
 
 II the year 1759, by the fleet under the command 
 
 II ‘ of Sir Edward Hawke. Vice-Admiral Camp- 
 Ji bell was continued in that Government during 
 9 the unusual term of four years. His secretary 
 k was Mr. Aaron Graham, whose name is still 
 t remembered with respect in Newfoundland, 
 
 \ and stands high in the list of the able and 
 I active gentlemen who had before and have 
 , since filled that important office. 
 
 1 he Newfoundland trade and fisheries being, 
 at this time, entirely in the hands of Great 
 II, Britain, assumed a degree of importance supe- 
 rior to what they had enjoyed at any former 
 jjj period. And although, at the conclusion of 
 ^ the American war, France and the United 
 States were re- admitted to a participation in 
 
 III these fisheries, yet the British fishery continued 
 ^ to maintain a decided superiority over that of 
 ^ the rival powers. 
 
 ^ By the treaties of 1783, the United States 
 were allowed the privilege of Jishing on the 
 same footing as previous to the war; but they 
 
 p 
 
‘210 
 
 history of 
 
 could cure and dry their fish on the Britisli 
 North American shores, only in the unsettkd 
 bays, harbours, and creeks of Nova Scotia, the 
 Magdalen islands, and the coast of Labrador. 
 The stipulations of the Treaty of Utrecht re- 
 specting Newfoundland were fully confirmed, 
 with one important exception, namely, that 
 the King of France, “ in order to premi 
 quarrels which had hitherto arisen between the 
 two nations of Lngland and France, renoun- 
 ced the right of fishing from Cape Bonavista 
 to Cape Saint John, granted him by the Treaty 
 of Utrecht, and agreed, that henceforth tlie 
 French fishery should commence at the said 
 Cape Saint John, situated on the eastern coast 
 of Newfoundland, in about Jifty degrees of 
 north latitude, and going round to the north, 
 and down the western coast of Newfoundland, 
 should have for boundary the place called 
 Cape Ray, situated in forty-seven degrees fifteen 
 minutes of north latitude.” This new arrange- 
 ment, by clearly defining the limits of the 
 French shore of Newfoundland, put an end to 
 the last source of contention in those distant 
 countries, between the two kingdoms, arising 
 from uncertainty of boundaries, and to the 
 perj>etual quarrels that had prevailed on that 
 account among the English and French fisher- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 211 
 
 men there, from the time of the conclusion of 
 the Treaty of Utrecht, to the commencement 
 of the war with France in the year 1778. 
 
 The increase of the Britisli Newfoundland 
 fisheries, from .this time, may be estimated 
 from a comparison of the quantity of dried 
 cod-fish carried to foreign markets (in addition 
 to the fish and oil sent to British Furope) in 
 the two years following the peace of 1763 and 
 that of 1783. From the official returns made 
 by Sir Hugh Palliser and by Governor Camp- 
 bell, it appears, that the number of quintals 
 of dry cod-fish sent from Newfoundland to 
 foreign markets, amounted, in the years 
 
 1764, 
 
 1784, 
 
 1765, 
 
 to 470,118 
 
 497,884 
 
 493,654 
 
 1785, 
 
 591,276. 
 
 In the year 1785, an act w'as passed for re- 
 gulating the intercourse between Newfoundland 
 and the United States of America, which 
 ■ limited the importation from the States into 
 that island, to bread, corn, and live stock. To 
 these Indian corn was afterwards added by 
 another act, and such importation was directed 
 to be made only in vessels British built and 
 owned, and navigated according to law, which 
 should have cleared out within seven months 
 before such importation, from some port of the 
 British dominions in Europe, with a license 
 
 p 2 
 
‘212 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 from the Commissioners of the Customs in 
 Great Britain, or of the Revenue in Ireland. 
 
 Early in the year 1786, the encouragement 
 of the British fisheries, both at home and 
 abroad, was amply considered by parliament. 
 In the course of the debates which took place 
 in March and April on the Newfoundland 
 fisheries in particular, it appeared that the 
 Right Honourable Mover, on the subject of tlie 
 British fisheries in general, Mr. Jenkinson, had 
 taken a principal share in preparing and con- 
 ducting through the House, with the assistance 
 of Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, the Newfound- 
 land Bill passed in the year 1775. The Right 
 Honourable Gentleman manifested, on this 
 occasion, the same sense of the importance, 
 and a perfect knowledge of the nature and 
 management, of the Newfoundland fishery, as 
 well as of the pernicious tendency of the system 
 on which it had hitherto been carried on, with 
 respect to tlie discouragements given to adven- 
 turers from British Europe. It then appeared, 
 from the accounts of the preceding year, that 
 the gain upon that trade to this countn 
 amounted annually, at least, to five hundred 
 thousand pounds sterling ; and that Ireland also 
 was a considerable gainer by this trade, as she 
 supplied Newfoundland with all her salted 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 21.3 
 
 i 
 
 ^ provisions. Having stated these facts, in order 
 to manifest the great importance of the object, 
 ^ he then proceeded to the principles on which 
 ^ he thought it advisable to regulate that fishery, 
 ^ the most essential of which was to preserve it 
 ^ entirely a Hritis/i fishery ; for, no sooner was 
 ^ New England colonized, than the colonists 
 took the fisheries on their coasts into their own 
 hands, and Old England lost them. 
 
 It was also stated, that France had thought 
 = it necessary to encourage her fishing trade 
 by a bounty of ten livres per quintal, on all 
 " fish caught by her fishermen and brought into 
 her islands and provinces; and that she 
 had laid a duty of only five livres per quintal, 
 f on all fish brought either into her colonies or 
 her provinces by foreign vessels ; this w as con- 
 i* sidered as a proof of the debility of the state 
 I of the French fisheries, by evincing that the 
 [J« fish which they supplied was insufficient for 
 iili‘ their own consumption; for otherwise, it was 
 if said, France would, like Great Britain, have 
 [jj laid an actual prohibition on the importation 
 Hi I of all fish into her colonies in foreign vessels. 
 
 (til A writer of those times observes, that there 
 Idi never was a ministry who so effectually manh 
 fested their sense of the importance of keeping 
 constantly in view the interests of the British 
 navy, than the then servants of the crown. 
 
HISTORY OF 
 
 ‘il4 
 
 They not only kept in pay about four thousand 
 seamen more than were retained after the 
 treaty of 1763; but they exerted themselves to 
 enlarge trade, and to give encouragement to 
 those iiiclinBd to advonturc in any of the seas in 
 which the English had a right to fish; and, 
 consequently, they took the most effectual of 
 all steps to promote navigation, and to pave 
 the way to success and victory in future naval 
 operations. 
 
 A new act was then passed, the 26th Geo.Ill. 
 cap. 26, which continued for a further period 
 of ten years, the bounties granted to the fishery 
 carried on on the banks of Newfoundland, by 
 the 15th Geo. III. cap. 31, with considerable 
 improvements on the provisions of the latter 
 act. The hitherto unbounded jurisdiction of 
 the Court of Vice-Admiralty was now abrid- 
 ged, by reserving exclusively to the Courts of 
 Session the power of inquiring and determining 
 all disputes between masters and servants; 
 and hence arose a most formidable opposition 
 to the new regulations, from the person who 
 then held the office of Commissary and Judge 
 of the Vice-Admiralty Court in Saint Johns, 
 and from his deputies in the out-harbours. 
 
 The difficulties which Rear-Admiral Elliot, 
 at this time Governor of Newfoundland, had 
 to encounter in his endeavours to establish 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 21.5 
 
 order and justice, were such as must have dis- 
 couraged and disgusted a man of less judg- 
 ment, prudence, and perseverance, than he 
 fortunately possessed. The records of the 
 courts there, particularly of those of Saint 
 John’s and of Harbour-Grace, during the years 
 1786, 1787, and 1788, develope a system of 
 audacious and persevering resistance to the 
 arrangements introduced by the new act, which 
 almost exceeds credibility. But, although 
 Governor Elliot was very far from completely 
 succeeding in this important work, he, however, 
 materially contributed to facilitate the more 
 ^flectual improvements which were afterwards 
 made by Chief- Justice Reeves. He was ably 
 supported in this arduous task by his secretary, 
 Mr. Aaron Graham, and by Captains Edward 
 Packenham and Robert Carthew Reynolds, 
 who were employed as his Surrogates in the 
 principal out-harbours. 
 
 Much of the confusion which prevailed at 
 that time in the island arose from the want of 
 a distinct court for the trial of civil actions, 
 and from the consequent unlimited extension of 
 the authority of the Courts of Session. In 
 order to remedy this deficiency. Admiral Mark 
 Milbanke, appointed Governor in the year 1789, 
 established, on his arrival at Newfoundland, 
 a Court of Common Pleas. This wise in- 
 
‘216 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 stitution, however, far from allaying, on the 
 contrary, increased the spirit of opposition 
 which had hitherto been directed against the 
 other courts of justice. An important advan- 
 tage had been gained by the removal of the 
 former Judge of the Court of Vice- Admiralty; 
 and now the great and decisive blow was 
 struck, by the removal of the Registrar, or 
 Clerk, of that Court. Thus Mr. Aaron Gra- 
 ham, the Governor’s Secretary, had, at last, 
 completely cut the Gordian knot. But his 
 spirited exertions excited considerable alarm 
 among the determined friends of the “ good 
 old customs.” Representations, petitions, and 
 complaints, poured in copious streams into the 
 office of the Board of Trade, who, after a 
 patient and minute investigation, made a report 
 to his Majesty, which was afterw ards printed 
 by order of the House of Commons. They 
 recommended that his Majesty would appoint, 
 or expressly authorize the Governor to appoint, 
 a Court of Civil Jurisdiction in Newfoundland, 
 which was accordingly done in the year 1790 . 
 This Court was directed to proceed in a sum- 
 mary way, in consideration of the complaints 
 which had been made to the Lords of the 
 Council of “ the frequent holding of courts, 
 and of the people being continually called from 
 their business to attend on juries.” 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 217 
 
 'Phis subject being again taken up by tlie 
 floard of Trade, a bill was presented to par- 
 liament, under their direction, in 1791, for in- 
 stituting there a Court of Civil Jurisdiction, 
 
 ' consisting of a Chief- Justice, appointed by his 
 Majesty, and two Assessors named by the 
 ^ Governor of the island. Being intended as an 
 ® experiment, this act was made to continue for 
 ® one year only. The result of this experiment 
 occasioned another act to pass, in the year 
 ^ 1792, for instituting a Court of Criminal and 
 
 111' Civil Jurisdiction, under the name of the “ Su- 
 preme Court of Judicature of the Island of 
 ii Newfoundland.” This also was only for one 
 isi year. A gentleman, eminently qualified in 
 H; every respect for the important office, was then 
 dh appointed Chief-Justice of Newfoundland, with 
 dii directions from government to observe the state 
 IS of the fisheries, to inquire into the customs 
 and usages of the several courts there, and to 
 mi make, on his return, at the close of that season, 
 ^ a report of the result of his observations, 
 
 Chief-Justice Reeves, on his arrival at Saint 
 jji .John’s, found that Mr. Aaron Graham, under 
 ^ the auspices of Admirals Elliot and Milbanke, 
 ^1 had, in a great measure, cleared the way before 
 him. His prudent, polite, and, at the same time, 
 ^ firm and precise manner, soon silenced all im- 
 f)ertinence, and shamed all attempts at opposi- 
 
218 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 
 Uon, 
 
 After having established order and con- 
 
 fidence there, he proceeded to Conception-Bay, 
 
 a part of the island which he clearly saw had 
 not been visited by Mr. Aaron Graham, or in 
 the least benefited by his exertions. The spirit 
 and practices of the former Court of Vice-Ad- 
 miralty ; the unbouiided voracity of the Court 
 of Session, which still took in every description 
 of causes, not even excepting such as had 
 already been determined by some of the Hoat- 
 ing Surrogates; the perpetual and disgracefol 
 squabbles between the four magistrates of that 
 district, who agreed only on one point, namely, 
 universal uncontroled empire; all these struck 
 him at once on the day of his arrival there. 
 
 He remained a few days in this district, during 
 
 which his time was fully employed; and his 
 
 . presence being required at Saint John’s, Cap- 
 tain Graham Moore was sent as Surrogate, and 
 continued in Conception-Bay, where he held 
 Court from the 18th to the 27th of September, 
 
 1792. 
 
 The Chief-Justice, whose knowledge, activity, 
 and penetration, Avere fully adequate to the 
 arduous and complicated task which he had 
 undertaken, collected a mass of information 
 from the records of the several courts there, 
 which, with his own observations and the 
 Newfoundland entries and bundles among tho 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 21.0 
 
 h 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 il 
 
 [i 
 
 k 
 
 <t 
 
 k 
 
 in 
 
 i 
 
 lb 
 
 m 
 
 !llt 
 
 iti: 
 
 lib 
 
 ffl! 
 
 Il# 
 
 fi! 
 
 jdf 
 
 ft 
 
 ikii 
 
 n 
 
 f0 
 
 0 
 
 (!< 
 
 records of tlie late Board of Trade, and of the 
 Committees of Council for Trade and Planta- 
 tions, he digested the following winter into 
 “ A History of the Government of Newfound- 
 land,’ which he published in the spring of the 
 year 1 7.0.3. This same year, in the month of 
 .Tune, was passed the memorable act of the 
 .33d Geo. III. cap. 76, by which the adminis- 
 tration of justice in Newfoundland was esta- 
 blished upon a sure and permanent ground, 
 and the wisest and most equitable regulations. 
 
 • This act, which may justly be considered as 
 forming, with Sir Hugh Palliser’s act, a com- 
 plete system of jurisprudence for that island, 
 though made, like those of 1791 and 1792, for 
 one year only, was by experience found so 
 very beneficial to the trade and fisheries of 
 the island, as to be continued, from time to 
 time,* until the year 1809, when, by the 49th 
 Geo. HI. cap. 27, the Courts of Judicature, 
 which had been instituted under that act, were 
 made perpetual. 
 
 The clause in the act of 1793, relating to 
 cases of insolvency and the manner in which 
 the ancient custom of the island, mentioned in 
 a preceding chapter,! is there explained and 
 
 • Viz. by acts passed in 1794, 1795, 1796, 1799, 1803, 
 and 1806. 
 
 t Page 152, 
 
history of 
 
 220 
 
 confirmed, have very justly been pointed out 
 as deserving peculiar notice. In order to pre- 
 vent the British, as well as the Newfoundland 
 creditors, from being injured by Jraudident 
 bankruptcies, the act of 1809 extended, in such 
 cases, the jurisdiction of the Supreme and Sur- 
 rogate Courts of New foundland, and the effects 
 of certificates granted there to debts con- 
 tracted in Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 221 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1793 — 1818 . 
 
 The government of England appears, from a 
 very early period, to have entertained a just 
 sense of the importance of the fisheries and 
 trade of Newfoundland. But many causes 
 conspired to prevent them from obtaining the 
 degree of information which was requisite to 
 enable them to derive from them all the na- 
 tional advantages of which they might have 
 been the source. The insulated situation of 
 Newfoundland, its vast distance from the mo- 
 ther-country, the character under which it was 
 industriously represented, of a mere barren 
 contemptible rockly island, where, during the 
 greatest part of the year. 
 
 Sad Winter reigns, with all his gloomy train. 
 Vapours, and fogs, and storms. 
 
 All these circumstances furnished to a few 
 individuals an opportunity of engrossing in 
 their own hands the trade and the government 
 of that island. 
 
•222 
 
 history ot 
 
 As soon as a new Governor arrived, he was 
 immediately surrounded by a number of indi- 
 viduals. who had preconcerted the impressions 
 with which they hastened to prepossess his 
 mind ; w hile those who were capable of giving 
 useful information were studiously kept at a 
 distance from him by every art that ingenuity 
 could devise. If he was disposed to be flat- 
 tered by an appearance of popularity, all he 
 had to do was to remain quiet, let things go 
 in their usual course, and refer any petition 
 that might be presented to him to the court 
 which w as most in favour with those around 
 him. 
 
 But, if a Governor came there with his mind 
 prepared by previous information, and deter- 
 mined to do his duty, then he must have been 
 well aware of the necessity of being on his 
 guard against the insinuations and artifices ot 
 those who might think it their interest to im- 
 pose upon his feelings, or his credulity, on his 
 arrival there. He would persevere in doing 
 what he judged to be right, in spite of all dis- 
 couragements, of all opposition, and of all 
 attempts to lead him astray ; and he certainly 
 would do essential good. Such had been Sir 
 Hugh Palliser, Admiral Elliot, and Admiral 
 Milbanke. These were eminently usefiil in 
 •aflbrding to government more correct infonna- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 223 
 
 ^ tion on the state of things in Newfoundland 
 than they had before been able to obtain, and 
 i* by that means, in essentially contributing to 
 
 * those important improvements in the adminis- 
 tration of justice in that island, which have 
 
 ^ been adopted by the legislature since the time 
 
 * of Governor Palliser. It is, hou ever, proper 
 **' to observe, that these excellent Governors 
 *! were fortunate in having in their secretaries 
 
 men well-informed, active, and persevering. 
 ® Sir Hugh Palliser had a most valuable assistant 
 in Mr. John Horsenaile; and Admirals Elliot 
 « and Milbanke, in Mr. Aaron Graham, who, 
 happily for Newfoundland, was continued in 
 ill that office under both Governors, as was after- 
 ,11 wards Mr. Joseph Trounsell, a gentleman of 
 equal worth and ability, under Admirals Gam- 
 )9i bier and Sir Erasmus Gower. 
 il< Let us, nevertheless, acknowledge that Chief- 
 lUj Justice Reeves most justly holds the first place 
 among these benefactors of the island of New- 
 foundland. The very great importance of the 
 lljj improvements in the administration of justice 
 j there introduced, on the recommendation of 
 that gentleman, by the act of the 33d Geo. III. , 
 cap. 76, will appear evident, when we consider, 
 in addition to the advantages which the whole 
 .1(1 population in general has derived from them in 
 
224 
 
 history of 
 
 the more complete and more distinct distribu- 
 tion of judicial authority among the several 
 courts, and in the more effectual preservation of 
 public’ order and peace,— that the Newfound- 
 land fishery is, of itself, a very simple concern, 
 requiring only a judicious and impartial admi- 
 nistration of justice, calculated to inspire general 
 confidence, and to secure to every one his just 
 rights : but this is of the highest importance to its 
 prosperity. From the vast amount of theproperty 
 which is annually engaged by the merchants and 
 planters in that fishery, on the mere probability of 
 a successfiil season, —the many uncertainties to 
 which it is liable from a variety of unavoidable 
 accidents,— and the great fatigue, labour, care, 
 and perseverance which it requires, it is obvi- 
 ously of the first consequence that the mer- 
 chants, the planters, and the servants, should 
 be equally and effectually protected against 
 any loss or discouragement which might arise 
 from unfair dealings, dishonesty, or wilful 
 neglects, in any of the parties with whom they 
 ai*e thus connected. 
 
 The importance of those improvements was 
 soon manifested by the unprecedented increase 
 in the fisheries and trade of Newfoundland, 
 which is most satisfactorily proved by a state- 
 ment published in the year 1796, when some 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 225 
 
 serious apprehensions were entertained in 
 England respecting the safety of that island. 
 
 “ To give,” says the writer, “ a proper idea of 
 the trade of the island of Newfoundland and 
 its consequence to this kingdom, the following 
 is a statement of its produce and of the pro- 
 perty employed therein, during the last year, 
 viz. 1795: 
 
 400 sail of shipping; 38,000 tons, at per 
 ton, £l . 
 
 500,000 quintals of dry fish, at per quintal, 
 18«. 
 
 3700 frails of salmon, at per frail, 40s. 
 
 1000 barrels of herrings, at 10s. 
 
 3300 tons of oil, at £'25 per ton. 
 
 4900 seal-skins, at £4. 
 
 2000 shallops and boats, valued, large 
 and small, with their fishing-craft, upon an 
 average, each at £30. 
 
 “ Sundry merchandize, at that time in store, 
 amounting in value to about three hundred 
 thousand pounds. 
 
 “ Making an aggregate of nearly one million 
 two hundred thousand pounds.” 
 
 It is very remarkable that, at one of the most 
 awful periods of the history of Europe, when 
 France, every where victorious, was spreading 
 all around the terrors of invasion and of revo- 
 lution; when .sedition was disturbing the tran- 
 
226 
 
 HISTOKY OF 
 
 quillity and threatening the very existence of 
 the British Emph'e; when Ireland was torn by 
 rebellion; and Prussia and Spam had been 
 driven to seek their safety in a separate peace; 
 still the dangers to which Newfoundland was 
 understood to be exposed, at that time, en- 
 grossed a considerable portion of the public 
 attention and anxiety in England. 
 
 This alarm was occasioned by the informa- 
 tion that a French squadron, commanded by 
 Admiral Ricliery, had escaped the vigilance of 
 A dmiral Mann out of Cadiz, and had proceeded 
 to the coast of N ewfoundland. Captain Taylor, 
 in the Andromeda, of thirty-two guns, had 
 parted from Sir James Wallace, the 17th of 
 August, on the banks, with orders to cruise 
 • tliere for the protection of the trade. On the 
 3d of September he spoke with a schooner, 
 the master of which informed him that he had 
 seen on the coast an enemy’s fleet, consisting 
 of nine sail of line-of-battle ships and several 
 frigates. The master of an American ship 
 soon after confirmed this report, stating, that 
 he had seen that fleet on the 29th of August, 
 about forty leagues to the eastward of New- 
 foundland, steering north-west. Several other 
 accounts were received by Captain Taylor, 
 from which it appeared that that fleet, on the 
 1st of September, was standing between Cape 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 227 
 
 Spear and the Sugar-loaf, and, on the 5th, liad 
 been seen olf the stream of Ferryland-Harbour. 
 Captain Taylor hastened to ^England with this 
 intelligence, and arrived on the last day of 
 September. The alarm was still farther in- 
 creased by information received at Lloyd’s ' 
 Coffee-house, that the French had actually 
 landed fifteen hundred men at Bay-Buils, and 
 two thousand at Portugal-Cove, in Conception- 
 Bay, from which they were on their march 
 against Saint John’s. 
 
 The public anxiety was, however, completely 
 relieved by an account brought to Poole, on 
 the 17th of October, that the French sfjuadron 
 had left the coast on the 29th of September, 
 without doing any other damage than the de- 
 struction of the houses, stores, and shipping, at 
 Bay-Bulls; whilst the Patriots of France were, 
 at the same time, amused with the authentic 
 information that Admiral Richery “ had sum- 
 moned Saint John’s, the capital of Newfound- 
 land, to surrender, had captured a considera- 
 ble number of ships and fishing vessels, and 
 above one thousand sailors, whom he had sent 
 to Saint Domingo.” 
 
 In the year 1797, Sir James Wallace was 
 succeeded in the government of Newfoundland 
 by Vice- Admiral Wald egrave, afterwards Lord 
 Radstock, who went there in the Agincourt. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 C7 
 
 ■1 
 
 His principles and manners were perfectly 
 suited to the dignity to which he was raised 
 cnnn after : but his attention to the interests of 
 
 religion, and to the due administration of jus- 
 tice, was an insurmountable obstacle to his 
 acejuiring any popularity in Saint Johns, ivhere 
 Paine’s Age of Reason and Rights of Man 
 had poisoned the public mind, and had more 
 weight than either the Bible or the acts of par- 
 liament. The distribution of two hundred and 
 fifty copies of the popular Refutation of that 
 man’s impious sophistry by the Bishop of Lan- 
 daff, the biiihling of a new church in Saint 
 John’s, in lieu of the old one which had long 
 been in a very bad state, an increase of the 
 annual salary of the clergyman of that place, 
 and two large stoves for the use of the new 
 church given afterwards by Lord Radstock, 
 are some of the obligations for which the 
 friends of religion in Newfoundland are in- 
 debted to his Lordship. 
 
 In the fall of the year 1798, a plan was 
 formed in Saint John’s to institute there an 
 establishment of education for the children of 
 both sexes on a liberal scale. Certain resolu- 
 tions were entered into and signed by about 
 twenty-five of the principal merchants and in- 
 habitants of that town, who annexed to their 
 names the respective sums which each agreed 
 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 22.9 
 
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 to contribute, so as to make up an annual 
 salary of three hundred pounds for three years 
 certain. These resolutions specified distinctly 
 the various branches of education which were 
 to be taught in both schools ; the description 
 and duties of the person under whose superin- 
 tendence the establishment was to be placed, 
 namely, a clergyman of the Church of Eng- 
 land, who was to provide a proper person to 
 direct the female department, and an assistant 
 for the boys’ school ; and the description of the 
 children whom he should admit, namely, such 
 only as should be sent to him by the sub- 
 scribers. The then Chief-Justice of New- 
 foundland was authorized to engage and agree 
 with such a person in England. 
 
 Anxious to promote an object which pro- 
 mised to be so highly beneficial to the rising 
 population of Newfoundland, considering him- 
 self, as he expressly declared, as acting for 
 gentlemen of nice honour and integrity, and 
 concluding, from the nature of the proposed 
 institution, that much greater advantages would 
 accrue to the person who should undertake 
 the office, than those which were stipulated in 
 the resolutions. Chief- Justice Routh, himself a 
 gentleman of integrity and nice honour, on his 
 arrival in England, applied to, and at last pre- 
 vailed on, a clergyman to accept the situation. 
 
230 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 An agreement, grounded on the resolutions of 
 the subscribers, was accordingly made in June, 
 1799, which, some days afterwards, was, at 
 the express desire of the late very Reverend 
 Doctor Vincent and of Admiral Waldegrave, 
 drawn up by an attorney on stamped paper. 
 
 After a long and boisterous navigation, the 
 clergyman and his family arrived at Saint 
 John’s, on the 13th of October, 1799. They 
 were received with very great kindness by the 
 Governor, the officers of the squadron, and the 
 principal gentlemen belonging to the garrison, 
 for which they expressed a just sense of grati- 
 tude. This was, however, as it proved after- 
 wards, a most unfortunate beginning; for it 
 had been expected that the stranger should 
 attach himself exclusively to the other jmty. 
 The Governor, who was to sail from New- 
 foundland on the 25th of the same month, sig- 
 nified to the clergyman of the place his wish to 
 hear the stranger on the Sunday following. 
 This vvas complied with, and, from that day, 
 the clergyman of Saint John’s, a clever man, 
 but as artful as he was apparently indolent, 
 conceived a most inveterate hatred for the 
 poor stranger, which continued to his death, in 
 1810. 
 
 Admiral Waldegrave took his final leave of 
 Saint John’s, and of Newfoundland, on the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 231 
 
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 25th of October. Soon after, a meeting of tlte 
 subscribers took place, in which a material 
 alteration was made in the original plan, by 
 resolving, that each subscriber should contri- 
 bute towards the new establishment according 
 to the number of children that he had engaged 
 to send for instruction. The parson and seve- 
 ral others, who had large families, finding that 
 their proportion of the expense would amount 
 to much more tlian they had originally agreed 
 to contribute, became as hostile to the institu- 
 tion as they had before been anxious to see its 
 formation. From this time, the great object in 
 view w'as to cancel the legal instrument, to 
 which the stranger would not consent. Every 
 measure, that the deepest and most exercised 
 cunning could contrive, was employed to 
 harass, frighten, and discourage the stranger ; 
 such as, on the most frivolous pretences, with- 
 drawing the children, and threatening those 
 who did not do the same with being compelled 
 to pay the whole amount of the expenses ; so 
 that, for several weeks, no children were sent 
 to either school. The stranger, and those 
 under him, continued, nevertheless, at their 
 post, during the usual times : he still kept his 
 ground with a resolution and constancy which 
 could hardly be expected from a young man 
 insulated as he was, with a family under his 
 
•232 
 
 history of 
 
 charge, at the distance of two thousand miles 
 from his nearest friends, unused to siich treat- 
 ment, and so cruelly disappointed in the ex- 
 pectations, on the faith of which he had been 
 prevailed upon to engage in this undertaking. 
 One person only in Saint John’s could have 
 afforded him some assistance. This was a 
 gentleman who had for several years practised 
 there as an attorney, or notary public, and 
 who, soon after, was made magistrate, and 
 afterwards Chief-Justice of Newfoundland. An 
 attempt was made by the subscribers to pur- 
 chase his co-operation, which he rejected with 
 indignation ; all that they could obtain of him, 
 and the nature of his situation could hardly 
 allow him to do otherwise, was to remain neutrd. 
 
 At last it was openly confessed, that the 
 great cause of these divisions was the legd 
 imlrument; the stranger, who had now repeat- 
 edly, but in vain, solicited to be enabled to 
 return to his friends in England, was told that, 
 if he consented to give up that instrument, another 
 agreement, much more favourable to his interests, 
 would be made, and thus harmony would be 
 completely restored. He would not believe it. 
 An examination of the assistant was then in- 
 sisted u])on; it was readily granted, and the 
 verdict of the examiners went to pi’ove that he 
 was unfit to be head-master; but, on the ques^ 
 
NEAVFOUNDLANI). 
 
 233 
 
 tion being asked by the stranger, whether the 
 
 (|» ^07 
 
 young man was properly qualified to assist the 
 ** reply was in the affirmative. On the 24th of 
 October, 1800, the stranger was congratulated 
 by the Chief-Justice on the complete termina- 
 tion of all misunderstandings, with an assu- 
 ^ ranee that, as soon as the Governor had left 
 the island, which was to take place the next 
 day, the establishment should be allowed to 
 proceed without any farther interruption. After 
 • the Governors departure, the private meetings 
 of the committee resumed their former activity, 
 
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 when, at last, it w as agreed, that some of the 
 subscribers should refuse to pay their part of 
 the contributions towards the first year’s salary ; 
 writs .would in consequence be taken out 
 against them; the stranger should then be 
 paid, and they might, in their turn, use the 
 same weapon against him. This was accord- 
 ingly done; three of them were sued and cast 
 before the Supreme Court; and, on the evening 
 of the 15th of December, 1800, the High-Sheriff 
 of Newfoundland waited upon the stranger 
 with a writ for fifty pounds damages, returna- 
 ble the next day at twelve o’clock, at the suit 
 of one of them whom they justly considered as 
 the fittest person for such a proceeding; for he 
 certainly was eminent for self-importance and 
 conceit, as well as for a wonderful facility and 
 
234 
 
 HISTORY OK 
 
 plausibility of expressions. It is to be remem- 
 bered, that by the .Judicature- Act an appeal 
 lies at home, from the Supreme Court, only on 
 judgments for any sum exceeding om hundred 
 pounds. 
 
 The following morning, the stranger attended 
 at the school as usual, resolved to appear 
 before the court at the time appointed. About 
 a quarter of an hour before twelve o’clock, he 
 was waited upon by the principal officer of the 
 Court, with a request from the Chief-Justicefor 
 his immediate attendance. He accordingly 
 went, with a full confidence in the justice of his 
 cause, and with still more elevated and satisfac- 
 tory feelings. He found a considerable as- 
 semblage of people, among whom he observed 
 with pleasure the captains of the Pluto, Con- 
 cord, and Camilla ships of war, and several 
 officers of the garrison. 
 
 His opponents, strong in number, and inso- 
 lently confident in looks, opened all their bat- 
 teries with a most tremendous and continued 
 fire, relieving one another in succession, pour- 
 ing in affidavits, which are very cheap in that 
 country, and exhausting all their joint stock of 
 malignity and eloquence. 
 
 When they had done, and were already 
 enjoying the satisfactions of their expected 
 triumph, the stranger was called upon for hia 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 235 
 
 toll 
 
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 defence. He had .sat up the whole night with 
 his assistant to look over his note.s; he had, 
 during six years’ residence in England, made a 
 particular study of Blackstone’s Commentaries, 
 and frequently attended the Courts in West- 
 minster, and at the assizes in the country. He 
 was prepared. The sight of his folio brief, 
 which he then deliberately drew out of his 
 inside pocket, operated upon his opponents 
 like a thunderbolt. Surprise and confusion 
 were conspicuous in the countenance of every 
 one of them. He began, and twice an attempt 
 was made to interrupt and disconcert him ; till, 
 at last, he appealed to the court for protection, 
 and was then permitted to proceed without 
 any farther inteiruption. He gave a detailed, 
 and rather amusing history of the several 
 transactions that had taken place from the time 
 of his aiTival to that very day ; as he went on, 
 spontaneous marks of approbation and disgust 
 burst out from various parts of the room, the 
 crowd gradually withdrawing on his side, until, 
 at last, the party were left by themselves on 
 the opposite side of the bench. After he had 
 concluded, not a word of what he had advanced 
 was contradicted, and judgment was given in 
 his favour in terms most honourable and most 
 gratifying to his filings. — “ Well,” said the 
 eloquent orator, at whose suit the writ had 
 
236 
 
 HISTOUY OF 
 
 been issued, “ well, we will pay the three 
 “ hundred a year; but, at the end of the three 
 
 “ years, Mr. ivill leave this country with 
 
 « as much disgrace" “ As he came to it,” 
 
 rejoined the stranger : and not a word more 
 was said. 
 
 “ They have treated us both in the most un- 
 handsome manner,” very justly observed the 
 Chief-Justice to the stranger, on the evening of 
 the same day. Such were the men who wanted 
 to command and legislate for the island of 
 Newfoundland, in opposition to every superior 
 authority. 
 
 From this time every thing w^ent on peace- 
 ably, and, at the expiration of the three years, 
 the stranger repaired to the vacant mission of 
 Conception-Bay, to which he had been ap- 
 pointed in the spring of the year 1802, by the 
 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
 Foreign Parts, with the additional office of a 
 magistrate of the island, conferred on him by 
 Admiral Gambier, then Governor of New- 
 foundland, from which he gradually rose to be 
 Deputy-Governor and Judge of the Civil Court 
 of Judicature, in the most populous and im- 
 portant district of the island. 
 
 The appointment of Admiral Gambier to the 
 government of New'foundland, in 1802, was 
 the epoch of a highly beneficial change in the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 237 
 
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 police and general state of the inhabitants. 
 i\l“. Joseph Tronnsell, who came out with him 
 as his secretary, was equally zealous and able 
 to second the benevolent views of the new 
 Governor for the moral improvement of the 
 people. The gentleman who has been men- 
 tioned before as acting in Saint John’s, in the 
 capacity of an attorney, or notary public, was 
 appointed a magistrate, and soon after Chief- 
 Justice of the island, for which office he was 
 well qualihed by his extensive legal acquire- 
 ments, and intimate knowledge of the trade 
 and business of that country, as well as by his 
 enlarged views, firmness of character, and 
 steadiness of conduct. 
 
 In Conception-Bay, the administration of 
 justice was in the hands of two old magistrates, 
 who had ever been at variance, so that it might 
 be said with truth, that the whole government 
 of that district was centred in one single ma- 
 gistrate of the old school. For, equally desti- 
 tute of inclination and of ability to alter his 
 old ways, and to suit his plan of conduct to 
 the regulations made by parliament, he still 
 persevered in every respect in the system of 
 the late Court of Vice-Admiralty. The Sherift' 
 of the district was his nephew, and the Clerk 
 of the Court his son-in-law, both clever men. 
 
238 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 in a certain sense, but with very little education 
 or knowledge. These three gniat men tlioii^t 
 themselves sufficiently strong to set at defiance 
 all regulations made either by the legislature 
 or by Governors. The other magistrate had 
 hardly any authority; and it must be acknow- 
 ledged, that neither his abilities nor his natural 
 dispositions were calculated to promote d cor- 
 dial co-operation and harmony between him 
 and any other magistrate. 
 
 The confusion and anarchy which resulted 
 from such a sort of government can hardly l>e 
 conceived. Not only common breaches of the 
 peace were extremely frequent, but also pitched 
 battles and alarming riots ; the wild sons of 
 Erin, who had of late arrived there in conside- 
 rable numbers from their distracted native 
 island, used to indulge themselves without any 
 molestation in their favourite pastime of light- 
 ing with bludgeons, counties against counties. 
 The Commander-in-chief, or Surrogate, secure 
 in his castle, which was situated in a retired 
 part of the harbour, near a point of land at a 
 considerable distance from all other habitationa, 
 and completely out of the way of either mis- 
 chief or noise, took very little concern in dis- 
 orders which could not reach him ; though he 
 generally carried with him a sword in a cane, 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
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 and has even been known to come from the 
 place of lus residence to the Court-House, in 
 a boat, for greater safety. 
 
 A third magistrate was put in the commis- 
 sion for that district in the fall of 1802; and 
 the consequent inlroductimi of tlie mode, usual 
 in tiiigland, ot opening and holding regular 
 quarter-sessions, and of proceeding in the trial 
 of every kind of criminal offences, within the 
 limits of the commission, with all the solemnity 
 of the forms observed at the assizes, was at- 
 tended w'ith the most beneficial effects. Every 
 breach of the peace was immediately brought 
 to trial ; and though the punishment never ex- 
 ceeded a trifling fine, and binding over to the 
 peace or the good behaviour, still the forms of 
 trial struck both those who had gone through 
 them, and those who were present, with a 
 dread that induced them to avoid being brought 
 before a court which they plainly saw it was 
 no longer safe to trifle with. Thus the public 
 tranquillity was completely established, even 
 in the most distant parts of a district where 
 there was no military force, and which includes 
 an extent of coast of twenty-eight leagues. 
 
 The next point of importance was to enforce 
 tlie regulations relating to the payment of 
 wages. This was at first attemfed with some 
 difficulty, but yet soon settled on a proper and 
 
240 
 
 history of 
 
 permanent footing. Thus was confidence re- 
 stored, industry encouraged, and, in less than 
 a twelvemonth after his arrival there, the cler- 
 gyman of the Established Church, not only 
 could go in the greatest security through any 
 part oAhe district, but his visits were received 
 with evident marks ot satisfaction, his call for 
 refreshment at any house was acknowledged 
 as an honour, and that dwelling was considered 
 as still more highly honoured, where he con- 
 descended to fix himself for the night, in the 
 course of his clerical and judicial visitations. 
 His comforts were attended to with the most 
 cordial and anxious care, even by the wildest 
 Irishman, or the most bigoted Roman Catholics. 
 
 The great advantages resulting from te 
 new order of things in the courts ot New 
 foundland were soon manifested by tlie rapid 
 increase of the trade and fisheries, which may 
 easily be ascertained by referring to the returns 
 of the Newfoundland Custom-House. 
 
 The mission in Conception-Bay had been va- 
 cant during nearly four years. The regular pub 
 lie service and ordinances of the chinch, 
 had been suspended during that time, 
 now re-established; and the new Missionary, 
 besides the immediate adoption of catechetic 
 lectures every Sunday afternoon in the church 
 of Harbour-Grace, directed his attention to 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 241 
 
 the means of instituting schools in the most 
 populous parts of that district. A society for 
 ^ _ improving the condition of the poor was 
 ll^ formed m the month of June, 1803, at a pub- 
 lie meeting ; the resolutions then agreed to 
 were afterwards transmitted to Governor Gam- 
 bier, who expressed his sense of the impor- 
 tance of the measure in very high terms. As 
 the children there are employed during the 
 week as soon as they can make themselves 
 useful in the fishery, Sunday-schools were 
 W considered as being of most immediate utility, 
 
 and one was at once established at Harbour- 
 1 W Grace. 
 
 \m In the year 1804 a similar society was in- 
 jlliii!l stituted in Saint John’s, on a scale suited to 
 COBS the superior means of the inhabitants. A con- 
 siderable supply of Bibles, Testaments, Com- 
 .ri&t mon Prayer Books, and other books, for the 
 ^lii use of the school at Harbour-Grace, was also 
 |(g this year brought from England by Admiral 
 gjyjjl Gambler, which proved the most valuable 
 ^ft that could be bestowed on this hitherto 
 jiedf neglected part of the world ; and an addition 
 was made by the Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to the salary 
 of their dilipnt schoolmaster, at Harbour- 
 
 offlil’ trouble in superintending the 
 
 Sunday-school there. 
 
 K 
 
histoky ot' 
 
 • 24*2 
 
 The public gaol and Court-House for the 
 district of Conception-Bay, which had been 
 suttered to remain for several years in a ruinous 
 state were rebuilt and enlarged ; the church 
 and parsonage-house of Harbour-Grace were 
 repaired, and a new school-house erected on 
 a larger and more commodious plan than tlie 
 old one, with the liberal assistance of the 
 Government and of the Society at home. Other 
 improvements were also made for the securitj 
 and convenience of the inhabitants, and the 
 greater facility of communicating between the 
 several settlements, as well as for the pre- 
 servation of the buildings from accidents by 
 
 fire. 
 
 The most essential clauses of the acts ol 
 parliament, relating to the trade and fisheries, 
 were notified in proclamations issued by the 
 Governor, and distributed through every dis- 
 trict in the island, so as to exclude all pre- 
 tences of ignorance on the part of the magis- 
 trates or of the persons concerned. 
 
 By the fifteenth article of the Treaty of 
 Amiens, concluded in March, 1802, it 
 stipulated, that the fisheries on the coast 
 of Newfoundland, and the adjacent islands, 
 and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, should hf 
 placed on the same footing as they were before 
 the last war, according to the stipulations o 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 24.3 
 
 I 
 
 the Treaty of 1783, It was also agi’eed that 
 imi French fishermen, and inhabitants of tlie 
 
 islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelons, should 
 ^ have the privilege of cutting such wood as 
 
 m »hey might stand in need of in the Bays of 
 
 ' Fortune and Despair, for the space of one 
 
 ^ year from the 26th day of April then last past. 
 
 It was, however, impossible that this new 
 “ order of things should be of long duration. 
 
 ' ' The clergyman, who, at that time, officiated 
 
 ”*u John’s as Missionary and chaplain to 
 
 ! » the garrison, in the absence of the resident 
 Missionary then on a visit to his friends in 
 !>» England, having, according to custom, met 
 the General on the parade, to proceed thence 
 0(41 to the church with the regiment, the following 
 
 letiii conversation took place : — “ Well, Mr 
 
 “ I suppose you will give us a thanksgiving 
 “ sermon on this occasion ?” — “ Most certain- 
 esdn “ ly, General, if you order me to do it ; but I 
 
 itdil “ do not feel very sanguine,” — “ Why so ?” 
 
 (j, “ Because this peace cannot last.” — How ?” 
 
 tl(l “ Buonaparte will not suffer it to last long.” 
 This was received by the General and the 
 jOii surrounding officers with a look of astonish- 
 iJjjii ment ; and, after a short pause : — “ Well, 
 
 “ then, ’ said the General, “ you may do as 
 » you please.” The Newfoundland regiment 
 
 leii^ R 2 
 
244 
 
 history of 
 
 was soon after disbanded; and not many 
 months elapsed before the (ieneral received 
 orders to raise another of one thousand men, 
 when the island was thrown into a state of 
 painful anxiety from the dread of an attack, 
 as it would require a considerable time before 
 a force could be raised sufficient to defend 
 the place, and as some late importations had 
 considerably increased the number of the dis- 
 affected among the lower classes. 
 
 The result of the measures taken, on the re- 
 newal of hostilities, to dispossess the French of 
 those parts of the island which they then oc- 
 • cupied, placed in the clearest light the value 
 which they set upon the privilege which they had 
 obtained by the Treaty of Amiens, and their 
 determination to make the most of it without 
 any loss of time. For the quantity of dry fish 
 captured by the English, and the number 
 of prisoners, among whom were a Commissary, 
 and several merchants, were very considera- 
 ble. The ships of war on the Newfoundland 
 station were uncommonly successful in their 
 cruises. A vast number of prizes, some of 
 value, from the French West Indian Islands, 
 w ere brought into St. John’s, together "ith 
 several passengers of respectability of both 
 
 sexes. 
 
I 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 245 
 
 3il« Another remarkable occurrence assisted 
 m likewise in giving employment to the public 
 
 Dll curiosity and attention. It was the arrival of 
 
 fa a female native Indian of Newfoundland, 
 
 (tia brought in by the master of a vessel, who had 
 
 mi, seized her by surprise in the neighbourhood 
 
 jDHn of the Bay ot Exploits. She appeared to be 
 
 jgil about fifty years of age, very docile, and 
 
 ^ evidently different from all the tribes of Indians 
 
 kai savages of which we have any knowledge, 
 itlsi ^ copper colour, with black eyes, 
 
 and hair much like the hair of an European. 
 She showed a passionate fondness for children. 
 ^ Being introduced into a large assembly by 
 liffii Gambier, never were astonishment 
 
 and pleasure more strongly depicted in a 
 human countenance than her’s exhibited. 
 After having walked through the room between 
 the Governor and the General, whose gold 
 ornaments and feathers seemed to attract her 
 attention in a particular manner, she squatted 
 on the floor, holding fast a bundle, in w hich 
 were her tur clothes, which she would not 
 suffer to be taken away from her. She was 
 ll»l* then placed in a situation from which she had 
 a full view of the whole room, and in the 
 ctilii? instant lost her usual serious or melancholy 
 deportment. She looked at the musicians as 
 
246 
 
 history of 
 
 if she wished to be near them. A gentleman 
 took her by the hand, pointing to them at the 
 same time ; she perfectly understood his mean- 
 ing, went through the crowd, sat with them 
 
 a short time, and then expressed, in her 
 way, a wish for retiring. She could not be 
 prevailed upon to dance, although she seemed 
 inclined to do so. She was every where 
 treated with the greatest kindness, and ap- 
 peared to be sensible of it. Being allowed to 
 take in the shops whatever struck her fancy, 
 she showed a decided preference for bright 
 colours, accepted what was given her, but 
 still would not for a moment leave hold of her 
 bundle, keenly resenting any attempt to take 
 it from her. She was afterwards sent back to 
 the spot from whence she had been taken, 
 with several presents ; and a handsome rfr 
 numeration was given to the master of the 
 vessel who had brought her, with a strict 
 charge to take every possible care for her 
 safety. 
 
 About the same time, a schooner, belonging 
 to Island Cove, on the northern side, and near 
 the entrance of Conception Bay, brought in 
 twenty-nine persons, whose appearance showed 
 the very last stage of human wretchedness, 
 occasioned by the dangers of the sea. The 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 247 
 
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 l.«a<ly Hobart Packet, on her voyage from 
 Halifax, in Nova Scotia, for England, had 
 struck against an island of ice, on the morn- 
 ing of the 28th of June, and foundei'ed, at 
 the distance of about three hundred and fifty 
 leagues from Newfoundland. Captain Fellowes, 
 with his passengers and crew, had just time to 
 save themselves in the cutter and jolly-boat, 
 before she w'ent down. The captain, three 
 ladies. Captain Thomas of the Royal Navy, 
 and fourteen others, were in the cutter, bringing 
 her gunwale to within six or seven inches of 
 the water; in the jolly-boat were the Master 
 of the packet, Lieutenant-Colonel Cooke of 
 the guards, and nine other persons. After 
 having undergone, during six days and five 
 nights, every kind of suffering that can be 
 inflicted by wet and extreme cold, in foggy 
 and stormy weather, the spray freezing as it 
 flew over the boats ; at last, on the morn- 
 ing of the seventh day, they saw the sun rise 
 for the second time only since they had quit- 
 ted the ship ; and, 'as the fog dispersed, they 
 discovered land, and a schooner in shore 
 standing off towards them, which took both 
 the boats in tow, and landed the whole of 
 them in the evening at Island Cove. Here 
 they were treated with every mark of atten- 
 
248 
 
 history of 
 
 tion and kindness by Mr. John Lilly and his 
 family, and other inhabitants of that place, 
 who anxiously exerted themselves to render 
 their situation as comfortable as their limited 
 means could permit. Having thus, by a Pro- 
 vidential deliverance, for which they all joined 
 with great devotion in thanks to Heaven, 
 escaped with the loss of only one person, a 
 french captain, who having, on the fifth day, 
 drank salt water, in a fit of delirium jumped 
 over-board' and sunk instantly, they were con- 
 veyed to St. John’s, whence they proceeded 
 to England. 
 
 In the year 1807, a printing-office was es- 
 tablished in Saint John’s, and a weekly paper 
 was, for the first time, published on the -27^ 
 of August in the same year, under the title of 
 “ The Royal Gazette, and Newfoundland 
 “ Advertiser.” 
 
 In the month of February, in the year 1808, 
 a meeting of the magistrates and inhabitants 
 of St. John’s was held at the Court-House, 
 for the purpose of embodying an additional 
 defensive force for the protection of the island, 
 and such was the spirit which prevailed there 
 at that time, that a respectable volunteer 
 militia was immediately formed. 
 
 The year 1809 was remarkable on account 
 
N E \V FOU N DLA N D. 
 
 
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 of the establishment of a regular post-office 
 in Saint John’s and the other principal districts, 
 under the usual regulations respecting ship- 
 letters ; an establishment which was become 
 highly necessary, in consequence of the great 
 increase of population, and of the impor- 
 tance of preventing, in the distribution of let- 
 ters, uncertainties or delays which might fre- 
 quently prove the source of considerable pre- 
 judice to persons in trade. Xhe Courts of 
 Judicature, established by the act passed in 
 the year 1793, were now made perpetual ; and 
 the Coast of Labrador with the islands ad- 
 jacent were re-annexed to the government of 
 Newfoundland. 
 
 His Majesty, by his proclamation of the 
 7th of October, 1763, had placed the Coast 
 of Labrador, from the River Saint John, the 
 north-east boundary of the Province of 
 Quebec, north-west of the island of Anticosti, 
 to Hudson’s Streights, with the islands of An- 
 ticosti and Madelaine, and all - other smaller 
 islands lying on the said coast, under the care 
 and inspection of the Governor of Newfound- 
 land. By an act, passed in the year 1774, for 
 making more effectual provision for the govern- 
 ment of the province of Quebec in North 
 America, those parts were detached from the 
 
•250 
 
 history or 
 
 government of Newfoundland, and annexed, 
 during his Majesty’s pleasure, to the province 
 of Quebec ; and when, in the year 1791, that 
 province was divided into Upper and Lower 
 Canada, those parts continued annexed to the 
 latter. And now it was enacted, that the said 
 Coast of Labrador and the adjacent islands, (ex- 
 cept the islands of Madelaine,) from the River 
 Saint John to Hudson’s Streights, the island of 
 Anticosti, and all other parts which had been so 
 annexed to the government of Newfoundland 
 in the year 1763, should be re-annexed to the 
 said government, and placed within the ju- 
 risdiction of the Supreme Court of New- 
 foundland. 
 
 In the same year Lieutenant Spratt was 
 ordered by Governor Holloway to proceed in 
 an armed schooner to the Bay of Exploits 
 and neighbouring parts, in order to attempt 
 a communication with the native savages of 
 the island. He carried with him several ar- 
 ticles which were intended as presents for 
 them, and a large painting, which represented 
 an Officer of the Royal Navy in full dres$ 
 shaking hands with an Indian Chief, and 
 pointing to a party of seamen behind him, who 
 were laying some bales of goods at the feet of 
 the Chief. Behind the latter were some male 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 251 
 
 dIh 
 
 ik|i 
 
 m 
 
 t« 
 
 mti! 
 
 >lk 
 
 i'k 
 
 tom 
 
 m 
 
 M 
 
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 villi 
 
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 mtSp 
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 hkif 
 
 afj«* 
 
 liaiifli 
 
 
 and female Indians presenting furs to the 
 Officer. Further to the left were seen an 
 European and an Indian mother looking with 
 delight at their respective children of the same 
 size, who were embracing one another. In 
 the opposite corner a British Tar was courting, 
 in his way, an Indian beauty. 
 
 The importance of the attempt, and the pro- 
 mise of promotion, were sufficient inducements 
 to Mr. Spratt to use every possible exertion 
 in order to bring the enterprise to a successful 
 issue. He was, however, disappointed. Not- 
 withstanding his zeal and activity, he could 
 not meet with any of that tribe; and, after 
 having remained the appointed time on that 
 station, he returned to Saint John’s. 
 
 In consequence of a prohibition existing at 
 Halifax, Prince Edward’s Island, and Quebec, 
 against the exportation of cattle from those 
 places, and of the very limited intercourse, 
 at that time, with the United States, so great 
 a scarcity of cattle prevailed in Newfoundland, 
 that even the inhabitants of Saint John’s had, 
 for several weeks, been deprived of the use 
 of fresh meat; and the contractors for sup- 
 plying his Majesty’s ships with fresh beef were 
 unable to fulfil their engagements. A repre- 
 sentation having been made by the merchants 
 
252 
 
 histouy of 
 
 and principal inhabitants of that place to 
 Governor Holloway, he accordingly issued, 
 on the 24 th of July, a proclamation, signifying 
 his intention to grant licenses for the purpose 
 of importing cattle, corn, and liuit, fiom the 
 Azores, to any o\\ nei*s or masters of vessels 
 who might apply tor the same. 
 
 In the year 1810 , Sir John Thomas Duck- 
 worth, K.B. then Vice-Admiral of the Red, 
 came out in the Antelope as Governor of 
 Newfoundland. Soon after his arrival he 
 visited Harbour-Grace and Trinity-Bay. He 
 afterwards re- published the proclamation 
 issued by Governor Robert Dutf, in July, 
 1775 , for the protection of the native In- 
 dians of Newfoundland, and sent an armed 
 schooner to renew the attempt to open a com- 
 munication with them, which had been unsuc- 
 cessfully made the year before by Lieutenant 
 Spratt. 
 
 The schooner proceeded with a considera- 
 ble quantity of such articles as "ere sup 
 posed to be acceptable to the Indians, to the 
 Bay of Exploits, and a camp, or collection of 
 Wigwams, was actually found there scattered 
 along the banks of the river. The officer who 
 commanded the schooner gradually prevailed 
 upon some of these people to wait until he 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 •2o3 
 
 al|k 
 
 ij^i 
 
 mil 
 
 )ilki 
 
 fil 
 
 tei 
 
 Jofi 
 
 sCr 
 
 iijl 
 
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 esi*‘ 
 
 leli^^ 
 
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 to«< 
 
 fame up to them, and succeeded in in- 
 spiring them with some degree of confi- 
 dence, until, at last, there appeared to reign 
 between both parties such a good understand- 
 ing as encouraged the most sanguine hopes 
 of complete success. They advanced to- 
 gether to a certain distance into the country, 
 conversing in the best manner that could be 
 practicable under such circumstances; and then 
 proceeded on their return to the place of their 
 meeting, where the first object that presented 
 itself to their view were the lifeless corpses 
 of two marines, who had been left there to 
 wait for the return of their officer. At this 
 sight, all the Indians who were with him took 
 to flight; every endeavour to prevail upon 
 them to remain w'as vain, and from that mo- 
 ment not one of the tribe could, at any time 
 after, be met with or seen. Equally grieved 
 at the loss of those two men, in whose tried 
 courage and prudence he had great confidence, . 
 and at the unexpected check which this un- 
 fortunate event gave to his well-grounded ex- 
 pectations of merited success, the officer con- 
 tinued on that station during the time that 
 had been appointed him, and, on quitting 
 it, he ver^ judiciously left on the spot the 
 articles w hich had been intended as presents 
 
254 
 
 history of 
 
 for the natives. This measure tended to 
 convince them that, whatever might have 
 been the cause of tlie death of the two ma- 
 rines, still no feeling of resentment or revenge 
 was entertained by their visitors ; if, at least, 
 reflections like these could enter into the com- 
 prehension of wild savages, whose general 
 disposition has invariably been found, in all 
 countries of North America, even to the pre- 
 sent time, to be distinguished by cunning, per- 
 tidy, and cmelty. 
 
 In the year 1811, an act of parliament was 
 passed for instituting Surrogate Courts on the 
 coast of Labrador and islands adjacent, and 
 also for taking away the public use of certain 
 ships’ rooms in the town of Saint John’s. These 
 fishing ships’ rooms, w’hich, for a considerable 
 number of years, were become useless, and 
 rather public nuisances, as Avell as the source 
 of endless disputes and contentions among the 
 inhabitants, were, by this measure, converted 
 into a real benefit to the town. They were 
 divided into a certain number of lots, and put 
 up to public auction, on leases for thirty years, 
 renewable at the expiration of that term, upo® 
 payment, in way of a fine, of a sum equal to thnt 
 years rent of the lot so purchased, if built with 
 timber; and of a .sum equal to owe years rent, if 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND, 
 
 2 .',', 
 
 ^ built With Stone or brick. The purchaser of a 
 ^ lot might, at his option, Jake the next lot ad- 
 joining backward, at the same price as he paid 
 ««« for the first. Party-walls between adjoining 
 '.M lots were to be built of brick or stone, of twenty 
 • inches thick, to stand equally on each lot. 
 
 The buildings were to be of the height of two 
 (w stories, or not less than eighteen feet from sill 
 emii to wall-plate; and no encroachments were to 
 \m he made on the space allotted for the streets 
 by bow-windows, porches, or other erections 
 ^ On the Admiral’s ship’s room, a common-sewer 
 [eC« was to be made at the joint expense of the 
 holders of lots on that room, and a sufficient 
 iciBii dram to communicate therewith by each indi- 
 itJlii vidual; m all other situations, proper drains 
 iraM ^Iso to be provided by the lessees, 
 mew Thus an opening was made to improvements 
 ell si ""^*ch would most effectually contribute to in- 
 itioiiit cleanliness, salubrity, and even ele- 
 
 a*,» ^ town hitherto remarkable for 
 
 ^ j a confined and unwholesome atmosphere, 
 ofte slightest infection assumed at once 
 
 character of the most inveterate and ob- 
 ^^^stinate pestilence; and M'here the habitations, 
 
 ' made of timber, without any order, regularity, 
 
 , or regard to the public safety, conveyed to the 
 universal and unavoidable 
 
 •/ 
 
•256 
 
 history of 
 
 aestruction in the event of a fire. Under this 
 new regulation, grounds which no one could 
 apply to his own use, because no one was qua- 
 lified to do it in the manner prescnhed by the 
 act of King William, at the same time that, 
 being public property, they could not be ap- 
 idied to other purposes without the sanction ol 
 public authority, being now legally dispo^d 
 of, were to be used for the erection of build- 
 inU which it was intended should be arranged 
 in*’ such order as to facilitate the free circula- 
 tion of air, to allow a proper width to the 
 e;treets, and to diminish the dangers arising 
 
 from accidents by fire. 
 
 The terms of this intended sale were, clearlj 
 described in hand-bills, published and distri- 
 buted for that purpose. A sufficient time w 
 allow'ed for consideration: the public were, m 
 fact, the sole agents in this transaction ; and the 
 lots were all disposed of in a short time, an 
 
 on very favourable terms. 
 
 The attempt to open a communication with 
 the native Indians was again made this yearb) 
 the same officer who had been employed 
 this service the ye-ar before, and who reraaine 
 in the Bay of Exploits, during the montlisot 
 August and September, without seeing any 
 traces of them. A proclamation was also h 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 257 
 
 * sued, ofl’ering a reward of one hundred pounds 
 “» to any person who should effectually contri- 
 W bute to this object. 
 
 sA A spirit of infatuation appears to have seized, 
 
 at this time, a considerable portion of the 
 in principal inhabitants of the British colonies 
 tka on the other side of the Atlantic. Considered 
 at a distance, these acts of insubordination 
 tttii! appear like mere children’s play, in which 
 ik, men who are capable of becoming wiser as 
 
 Ikfe they advance in years and experience, must 
 
 lerii ^eel ashamed of having taken a part. They were, 
 Jag nevertheless, at the time, attended with very 
 serious consequences on the peace and essential 
 jjija interests of those colonies. The magistrates 
 were compelled to act with increased energy, 
 to preserve order and tranquillity against the 
 hepA attempts of that class of men, every where so 
 ^oo^erous, who are always ready to seize the 
 opportunity or pretence, to set at defiance 
 the laws which protect the peace of the com- 
 00 ' ^od the property of individuals ; whilst 
 
 the people at large, distracted by violent pas- 
 sions, and taught to be dissatisfied with the 
 existing order of things, could not be expected 
 ® ' to give a proper degree of attention to their 
 business. 
 
 In the latter end of June, 1812, papers, re- 
 iiaW' ceived in Saint John’s, from Halifax, announced 
 
 S 
 
i 
 
 •253 HISTORV OF 
 
 that every thing done at the seat of govern- 
 ment in the Uhited States wore the appearance 
 of a decided intention soon to declare war 
 against Great Britain; and, on the 6tli of July, 
 a^’government schooner arrived express from 
 the same place, with the intelligence that war 
 had actually been declared, on the 17th of 
 June. 
 
 It was soon after reported that the Ameri- 
 cans had a s<iuadron at sea ; and, on the ’iftli 
 of July, a vessel arrived in Saint John’s from 
 Trinity, and brought the information that tifteen j 
 sail of the line, supposed to be French, had 
 been seen in longitude 27° and latitude 42 . 
 
 It happened, at this time, as it had happened 
 in the year 1 790, when Admiral Richery was on 
 that coast, that the summer was uncommonly 
 hot, and an infectious disorder raged in the town 
 of Saint J ohn’s. The small-pox, as universally 
 dreaded as it was always fatal in its conse- 
 quences, on account of the deeply rooted pre- 
 judice of the inhabitants of the island against 
 any mode of inoculation, created a considera- 
 ble alarm in Conception-Bay, where the fishery 
 was then entering into its full activity. Means 
 of prevention were, therefore, employed by the 
 inhabitants, under the sanction of the magis- 
 trates, which were fortunately attended with 
 the desired success. In Saint Johns the 
 
 i 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 259 
 
 infection daily increased in malignity, and 
 
 swept oft a considerable number of persons of 
 all ages. 
 
 VV hilst the inhabitants of the whole district 
 of Conception-Bay were distracted by the 
 dread of this infection, a fire, either acci- 
 dentally or designedly kindled in the woods, 
 was, by the direction of the wind, making rapid 
 approaches towards the town of Harbour- 
 Grace, which it soon threatened with complete 
 destruction. The inhabitants, collected toge- 
 ther by the ringing of the church-bell, pro- 
 ceeded to the place, under the direction of the 
 Chief Magistrate, and, by cutting and carefully 
 clearing a semicircular space, between the town 
 and the part of the woods on fire, put a com- 
 plete stop to the ravages of that destructive 
 element, and saved the town. The awful 
 grandeur of the spectacle which this fire pre- 
 sented at a distance, during the preceding 
 night, and on the spot, during the efforts made 
 to arrest its ravages; the flames advancing 
 by sudden and rapid strides, firing at once 
 a large grove of trees, emitting into the sky 
 immense volumes of fire and ignited fire- 
 brands, with the violence and report of heavy 
 pieces of artillery; then in front, on the right, 
 and on the left, rising with a loud and hissing 
 noise, which gradually increased and decreased 
 
260 
 
 history of 
 
 as the flames reached the top of each tree; 
 here and there, excavated recesses formed 
 by the standing burning trunks and thicker 
 branches, around the blazing ruins of the con- 
 sumed smaller trees and underwood; all these 
 horrid, though awful and grand scenes, pro- 
 duced, at the time, feelings which no pen can 
 describe. The weather was extremely hot. 
 whilst in the mouth of the bay and along the 
 coast were stationed several large islands of 
 ice, which had remained aground since the 
 
 spring. 
 
 At the time of the declaration of war by 
 America, Great Britain had on the Newfound- 
 land, Halifax, and West-Indian stations, three 
 sail of the line, twenty-one frigates, nineteen 
 sloops of war, and eighteen brigs and schooners, 
 making a total of sixty-one armed vessels. 
 With such a force, little could be apprehended, 
 in those seas, from the United States. No 
 attempt was made on Newfoundland, where 
 Saint John’s was then in the most respectable 
 state of defence ; nor did its trade siifler any 
 material loss by the cruisers of America or of 
 France; while, on the other hand, it was most 
 essentially benefited by the exclusion of ah 
 competitors in the fisheries, from those seas, 
 and from the foreign markets. The increased 
 circulation produced by the enlarged naval and 
 
NKWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 261 
 
 Sfiii military establishments, the numerous captures 
 m brought in by the several ships on that station, 
 
 80(4 and the general practice of merchant vessels* 
 
 odu freighted in the out-harbours, coming round to’ 
 m Saint John’s for the purpose of joining convoy, 
 :liiio| gave to that town an unusual degree of prospe- 
 ilRft and of consequence, 
 
 aidii By the ever-memorable Treaty, signed at 
 jgei Pans, on the 30th of May, and ratified on the 
 
 mill 17th of June, 1814, the French right of fishery 
 upon the great bank of Newfoilndland, upon 
 mi' said island, and in the adja- 
 
 llieliii islands in the gulf of Saint Lawrence, was 
 
 replaced upon the footing on which it stood in 
 i^esi But the lateness of the season, 
 
 idfl Bonaparte from Elba, in the 
 
 following spring, did not permit the French to 
 liean« derive any advantage from this cession before 
 
 edl Commandant 
 
 imdliiK there, in the latter end of June, was formally 
 “ put in possession of the island of Saint Peter 
 ' and of the Miquelons, 
 
 alff on the night of 
 
 * i I ^t>nday, the 12th of February, the town of 
 »*' Saint John’s was nearly destroyed by a fire, 
 escln^ which broke out between the hours of eight 
 (toB* jind nine, whilst a tremendous gale was blow- 
 ing from the south-east. The conduct of the 
 laiji* seamen from the King’s ships, and of the 
 
•202 
 
 history of 
 
 troops from the garrisons, under their respective 
 officers, as well as of the respectable parts of 
 the inhabitants, is represented, on this critical 
 occasion, as beyond praise, while the l.ulk of 
 the lower orders stood, with their arms folded, 
 surveying this disastrous scene with an apathy 
 rlisgraceful to the human character, and ap- 
 pearing to have no object but pillage. The 
 aggregate pecuniary loss occasioned liy this 
 conflagration was estimated at upwards of one 
 hundred thousand pounds sterling; and about 
 fifteen hundred persons were driven to seek 
 new abodes in February, the most indement 
 month of a Newfoundland winter. The dis- 
 tresses of these unfortunate sufferers were con- 
 siderably aggravated by the depredations com- 
 mitted by the populace upon the property 
 snatched from the flames. 
 
 The rapidity with which the houses were 
 consumed is almost inconceivable. Many of 
 their inmates had barely time to escape without 
 any covering except blankets, standing shiver- 
 ing in the storm and snow, while all they had 
 in the world was perishing before their eyes, 
 having no where to rest their heads and to 
 shelter themselves from the rigorous inclemen- 
 cies of the weather, and happy to find a refuge 
 on board the shijiping in the harbour. ^Vhen 
 eveiy circumstance of that calamity is const- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
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 illi) 
 
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 'W 
 
 iillii 
 
 iCleu 
 
 pib 
 
 liod 
 
 pm 
 
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 in lit) 
 
 kb 
 
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 losop 
 stab 
 diikili 
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 pirb 
 
 ijoif®* 
 
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 cala®? 
 
 ‘ 2«3 
 
 dered ; — the season of the year when the inha- 
 bitants, hemmed in by vast Ijarriers of ice and 
 snow, had no interior to fly to but a frozen 
 trackless wild; — the materials of which their 
 houses were constructed, namely, w ood, no brick 
 but in their chimneys; and all irregularly built 
 and huddled together, as suited the conveniency 
 of their various owners, without any regard to 
 order or safety : — every thing tended to complete 
 the horrors of that night. And yet all this sinks 
 in the scale of comparison when we carry our 
 thoughts to the very narrow escape of the ma- 
 gazines and stores, the destruction of which 
 must have reduced a population of twelve 
 thousand souls to a comj)lete state of starva- 
 tion. It very providentially happened that 
 these stores and magazines were saved, and 
 that only one life was lost, that of a man who 
 was in bed at the time, and Avas supposed to 
 have perished in the flames. 
 
 The humane exertions of the principal officers 
 of the army, of the navy, of the public depart- 
 ments, and of the mercantile houses and other 
 respectable inhabitants of Saint John’s, were 
 not confined to their own efforts to stop the 
 progress of the flames, and to afford to the un- 
 fortunate sufferers such immediate assistance 
 as the nature of their circumstances would 
 |)ermit; but a most liberal subscription was 
 
*204 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 immediately entered upon and raised by them 
 for their relief. 
 
 On the 20th, a meeting of the magistrates 
 and principal inhabitants of Saint John's was 
 lield at the Court-House, where several resolu- 
 tions were adopted to provide against the 
 recurrence of such a calamity. Among other 
 things it was resolved, that the Chief Magis- 
 trate should be requested to prevent the erec- 
 tion of any l)uildings which might endanger the 
 public safety, until the arrival of his Excellency 
 the Governor. Thus was acknowledged the 
 utility of a regulation by which, previous to the 
 year 181 1, no building could he erected without 
 leave from the Governor ; a regulation, the sole 
 object of which had been the convenience of 
 the trade and fisheries, and the safety of the 
 settlements in Newfoundland, and which had 
 ever been complained of as an intolerable hard- 
 ship and stretch of power. 
 
 The calamitous visitation of the l*2th of 
 February was only the prelude of other severe 
 trials. The distress which was universally 
 felt by almost every class of people in the com- 
 mercial world, in consequence of the sudden 
 and violent return of general commerce to a 
 state of peace, and of the subsequent failure of 
 the harvest, fell with peculiar weight upon the 
 inhabitants of Newfoundland. Accustomed 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 265 
 
 4 \ 
 
 liugi 
 
 It 14' 
 
 Kfllll 
 
 ia» 
 
 An 
 
 cut 
 
 Haiti 
 
 temlit 
 
 Ilk Eli 
 
 preiiif 
 
 etfcidi 
 
 ilatmi 
 
 COEItffi 
 
 le sniff 
 
 aoiiik 
 
 itoWt 
 
 )ftle8 
 
 Has** 
 jpleiif 
 . ofiif* 
 
 CO#' 
 
 eqoenti^ 
 
 by lon^ possession to be the sole suppliers of 
 every market in Europe, in the West Indies, 
 and in South America, the merchants now be- 
 held the termination of the vast prolits which 
 they had annually derived from this trade, and 
 naturally reduced to a proportionable scale the 
 extent of their speculations in the amount of 
 their imports, particularly in provisions, wliich, 
 at that time, were scarce and at a high price in 
 the mother-country, as well as in the number 
 of planters whom they undertook to supply.* 
 
 * When the Newfoundland trade was first established, 
 the merciiants and their immediate servants were the only 
 classes of people engaged in it. To these a third class was 
 some time afterwards added, under the denomination of bye-^ 
 boat-keepers, who were supplied by the merchants to w'hom 
 they sold the produce of their voyage; these bye-boat- 
 keepers kept also a certain number of servants; and, in pro- 
 cess of time, became resident planters, whilst each mercan- 
 tile house kept there an agent and a certain number of clerks 
 to transact their business during the winter. A new division 
 of labour took place in consequence. The merchants at- 
 tended only to those parts of the business which w ere consi- 
 dered to be strictly commercial, whilst the planters were 
 solely occupied in carrying on the fishery. The class of 
 servants, already extremely numerous, became still more con- 
 siderable by the numbers who were annually imported from 
 Ireland and other parts, as well as by the natural increase 
 of population among the resident inhabitants of the island. 
 Strictly speaking, the great supplies could be procured 
 through the medium of the planters only. These last pur- 
 
•260 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 During the last war, the island had exported 
 in one year one million two hundred thousand 
 quintals’of fish; and, in 1817, the exportation 
 did not amount to more than half that quantity. 
 As the people depend there entirely on the 
 fruits of their labour for siq)port, and on exter- 
 nal supplies for subsistence and every article 
 of first necessity, extreme distress could not 
 fail to be the consequence of this new state of 
 things. The starving population became a 
 lawless banditti: they broke open the mer- 
 chants’ stores, carried off their property by 
 wholesale, seized the vessels which arrived 
 with provisions, and set the police altogether 
 at defiance. On some occasions, where sub- 
 sistence could not otherwise be had, tlrey even 
 proceeded with arms in their hands, demanding 
 and enforcing a supply of provisions from the 
 sitting magistrates. So early as the middle ol 
 April, the greatest possible distress existed in 
 that island, from want of the common necessa- 
 ries of life ; and how dreadful must, under such 
 circumstances, have been the prospect ot a 
 Newfoundland winter, when, the island being 
 again surrounded with an impenetrable barrier 
 
 chased the whole of their necessary supplies from their 
 respective merchants, on the credit of the produce of the 
 ensuing voyage, and kept separate accounts with each of 
 their servants. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 267 
 
 of ice, riie population would be placed beyond 
 the reach of human succour, and left to their 
 ? inevitable fate! 
 
 ' A statement of these facts was laid liefore 
 I' his Majesty’s ministers. The attention of par- 
 * liament was also directed to this subject in the 
 month of June, 1817 ; and, upon the report of a 
 Committee of the House, appointed to inquire 
 » into the situation of Newfoundland, a debate 
 ik took place on the 8th of July, in the course of 
 si which it was stated, that Newfoundland em- 
 |i ployed yearly eight hundred vessels, and pro- 
 la duced a revenue of two millions in returns of 
 W various kinds; that the population of the 
 !,r. island amounted to eighty thousand iidiabi- 
 ii; tants; and that the sufferings experienced by 
 kli the great majority of that population, which 
 ii had already involved in its consequences the 
 tlfi violation of private property, and the destruc- 
 tion ot civilized order, would, unless speedily 
 jjg provided against, amount to the cer.amty of 
 absolute famine. Mention was made of a 
 ^ mercantile house in Conception-Bay, who had 
 sixty thousand pounds in the trade, and who 
 ^ had lost twenty thousand pounds the prece- 
 ding year, having resolved diencefortli to 
 |jt send out only supplies sufficient to maiutain 
 kp their own servants, It was men siaied by 
 ministers, that government had extended re- 
 
268 
 
 history ok 
 
 lief on account of the fire at Saint John’s; 
 and, as soon as they could ascertain the 
 circumstances of that country, from local 
 informat on, they would be disposed to pursue 
 a similar course on the present occasion. A 
 discretionary power would be sent to such 
 effect to the Governor of Newfoundland. This 
 liberal and judicious mode of administering 
 relief to the distressed inhabitants of New- 
 foundland proved, as might be expected, the 
 most effectual to compose the public mind and 
 to supply the wants of the needy ; nor could 
 such a power have been placed in the hands of 
 a gentleman better qualified to give full effect 
 to the humane views of government than Vic^ 
 Admiral Pickmore, then Governor of New- 
 foundland. 
 
 Late in the fall of the year 1816 , the parish 
 church of Harbour-Grace, in Conception-Bay, 
 which had been repaired and enlarged at a 
 considerable expense, and was nearly com- 
 pleted, was seen on fire, at twelve o’clock at 
 night, and in one hour reduced to a heap of 
 ashes. The inhabitants lost no time in pre- 
 paring to erect another ; the building was nearly 
 finished, when it w'as likewise destroyed by 
 fire. As the spot on which the church was 
 originally built stands upon an eminence, in the 
 centre of the church-yard, and at some distance 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 26 y 
 
 from the town of Harbour-Grace, the fire could 
 not fortunately afiect any other building. But, 
 on the 18th of June following, between eleven 
 and twelve o’clock at noon, a most destructive 
 fire broke out at Carbonier, about three miles 
 from Harbour-Grace church. The wind blow- 
 ing a heavy gale from the westward, scattered 
 the flaming fragments like a shower over the 
 town: the Methodist chapel, though nearly 
 half a mile from the place where the fire com- 
 menced, and at a distance from other buildings, 
 was in a very short time totally consumed, 
 from some of the burning matter alighting 
 among shavings in the surrounding burying- 
 ground : from this spot the fire was carried 
 half a mile farther, as far as Crocker’s Cove, 
 w'here it was at last stopped, after having totally 
 destroyed fifteen houses, besides the above- 
 mentioned chapel. 
 
 The ill-fated town of Saint John’s was 
 doomed to experience again this year the cala- 
 mity which, the year before, had threatened it 
 w ith absolute destruction, with additidnal cir- 
 <^umstances of wretchedness and horror. 
 
 » On Friday night, the 7th of November, 1817, 
 i»* about half after ten o’clock, some flames were 
 kf discovered issuing from an uninhabited house 
 it nearly in the centre of the town, and in ten 
 0 minutes they communicated to the surrounding 
 
•270 
 
 history of 
 
 buildings, spreading in every direction with tht 
 rapidity of lightning, until about six o’clock on 
 ' the following morning, when the exertions of 
 
 the more respectable part of the community, 
 aided by the officers and men of the army and 
 navy, succeeded, at last, in arresting its pro- 
 gress westward. The flames, however, conti- 
 nued to rage in the opposite direction with 
 unabated fury until seven o’clock, vvlien they 
 j*0ached an open space, and there the tire stop- 
 ped, after having reduced to ashes all the 
 buildings that covered a space extending nearly 
 a quarter of a mile in length, and three hundred 
 yards in breadth, including the warehonse> 
 and wharfs, and with them the greater part of 
 a very large stock of provisions, which had 
 been stored in them. As soon as the direction 
 which the fire was likely to take had been 
 ascertained, every effort was made to reinove 
 the property from the stores, by rolling it into 
 the water, or shipping it off in boats and other 
 craft. On the premises of one of the principal 
 mercantile houses, when the flames reached 
 their stores, they had a considerable lot of 
 cordage sunk between their wharfs: butowin? 
 to a large quantity of pitch and tar, "hich 
 they had likewise thrown over the wharfs, ®d 
 the water being low at that time, the whok 
 became exposed to the flames and was com 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 271 
 
 pletely consumed, together with the greatest part 
 of the provisions, whicli had been attempted to 
 be preserved by that means. That part of the 
 ' harbour, on tlie margin of the north side, was in 
 I one general blaze; andNvhat increased thehor- 
 I ror of such a scene was the savage conduct of the 
 « lower orders of the community, who, instead of 
 ' assisting in arresting the ravages of the fire, 
 
 I actually retired to a short distance from it, 
 i exulting openly at the destruction of the pro- 
 k peity of the inhabitants: they obstinately re- 
 t fused their assistance, notwithstanding repeated 
 Id .remonstrances, entreaties, and offers of reward, 
 which were made to them; and extensive de- 
 g pretlations were committed, during the hoiTor 
 and confusion of that dreadful night. Most of 
 those who had suffered so severely in the fire 
 ijj of the year 1816 , were involved in the present 
 j(i distressing calamity; many respectable indivi- 
 duals had now lost all their property, and 
 ^ found themselves again reducetl to a simitar 
 situation, without covering or shelter at this 
 ^ advanced season of the year, with a long 
 ^ ilreary Newfoundland winter before them, and 
 ^ dreading a repetition of the scenes of violence 
 and outrages which they had witnessed not 
 many months before. Thirteen mercantile 
 establishments, and near one hundred and 
 
 111 
 
 I' 
 
 i 
 
272 
 
 history of 
 
 forty dwelling-houses, occupied by not less 
 than one thousand one hundred persons, had 
 been consumed, and the amount of the property 
 destroyed was estimated at from four to live 
 hundred thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 Vice-Adrniral Pickmore issued a procla- 
 mation, by which a temporary embargo was 
 laid on all the vessels and boats in the har- 
 bour of Saint John’s, in order that the extent 
 of the evil, and the quantity of provisions in 
 the town might be ascertained, so that every 
 possible measure might be taken to secure to 
 the community whatever should be yet re- 
 maining. That itself, with the addition of 
 what w'as expected from abroad, would not, 
 it was apprehended, be near sufficient to sup- 
 ply the wants of the inhabitants of Saint 
 John’s, till the opening of the navigation in the 
 spring of the following year. They, however, 
 solaced themselves, under the severe pressure 
 of their distress, with the consideration that 
 they had still one half of the town left, in 
 which they should find shelter from the incle- 
 mency of the season. A fortnight had not 
 
 elapsed before another fire threatened that re- 
 
 maining half with total destruction. 
 
 About half an hour after three o’clock, on 
 the morning of the 2 1 st of the same month of 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 273 
 
 November, a fire was observed issuing from the 
 
 premises of a mercantile house in Water-street, 
 
 which soon extended its ravages to the'west- 
 I ~ 
 
 ward and eastward, until about half-past nine 
 
 o clock, when the active and indefatigable ex- 
 
 ^ ertions of some of the inhabitants, favoured by 
 
 a calm, fortunately succeeded in stopping its 
 
 * progress. Fifty-six houses, besides the stores 
 
 and wharfs of several princi[)al mercantile esta- 
 
 ^ blishments, were laid in ashes; and the depre- 
 
 dations committed on the property of the inha- 
 
 bitants were most extensive and drea<lfiil. 
 
 It cannot appear surprising, that strong sus- 
 picions should have been generally entertained 
 that these fires w ere the work of incendiaries, 
 fa The Governor and the Magistrates adopted 
 ifll! every posvsible means that could lead to a dis- 
 njl eovery; and, upon the strictest iiK|iiiries, there 
 ^ was sufficient reason to believe that they liad 
 0 been the effects of accidents, 
 jjijfl A considerable number of the inhabitants of 
 Inf Saint John’s retired to Nova Scotia, or to the 
 out-harbours of Newfoundland; others came 
 over to Great Britain or Ireland. Every 
 ^ measure that could alleviate the distress, and 
 provide for the wants of those that remained in 
 Saint John’s, w as anxiously taken by the Go- 
 ^ vemor, the principal officers of all the public 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 departments, and the merchants^ both that fall 
 and as early in the spring as the state of the 
 weather would permit. 
 
 The beginning of the year 1818 was remark- 
 able for an intense frost, which lasted, with very 
 little intermission, during the months of January, 
 February, and March, with a severity exceed- 
 ing that of any winter within the recollection 
 of the oldest inhabitants. On the 10th of Fe- 
 bruary, the harbour of Saint Johns was frozen 
 over below Chain-Rock to a considerable 
 thickness. A great quantity of snow had 
 fallen, and the weather wore the appearance 
 of the rigid climate of Greenland. It was par- 
 ticularly fortunate, that abundant supplies of 
 provisions had arrived previous to the setting 
 in of the frost, so as to prevent a recurrence of 
 the melancholy scene with which that town 
 had been afflicted the preceding winter, when 
 every effort to relieve the w^ants of the dis- 
 tressed inhabitants was rendered abortive by 
 the extensive barrier of ice which surrounded 
 the coast. They had, how ever, to lament the 
 death of their excellent Governor, Vice-Admi- 
 ral Pickmore ; in consequence of which Captain 
 Bowker, of his Majesty’s ship Sir Francis 
 Drake, the senior officer on that station, took 
 the oaths on the 10th of March, as Governor 
 
NEW" FOUN DLA N D. 
 
 275 
 
 and Coininander-in-diief of tlie island, pro 
 tempore. On tlie evening- of the same day, the 
 remains of tlie late Oovernor were taken from 
 the vault in the church where they had been 
 deposited, and conveyed on board his Ma- 
 jesty s sloop Fly, with every mark of respect 
 from the merchants and other inhabitants that 
 feeling and gratitude could inspire. But, al- 
 though several hundred men were employed in 
 cutting a passage through tlie ice for the Fly, 
 and other vessels wiiicli were ready for sea 
 and anxious to leave the harbour, it was not 
 till after a laborious exertion of nearly three 
 weeks that this object could be effected. The 
 ice was found to be from three to five feet 
 thick, and the distance to cut tJie channel was 
 about one mile. The Fly reached England 
 after a passage of twenty-eight days, and Sir 
 Charles Hamilton was soon after appointed to 
 succeed the late (Governor. 
 
 Fhe seal and cod fisheries proved unusually 
 successful, as they have always been found to 
 be after a severe winter; the favourable change 
 which had taken place in the commercial 
 world began to be felt at Newfoundland; and 
 Saint John’s, phmnix like, rose from its ashes 
 with new and improved splendour. The in- 
 creased breadth of the streets, the solidity of 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 history of 
 
 tlie materials used for the new buildings, parti- 
 cularly the party-walls, and many other im- 
 provements of a precautionary nature, promised 
 to render fires less frequent and destmctive; 
 and it was expected, that by the ensuing fall 
 the rebuilding of that town would be com- 
 pletely effected. 
 
MEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 277 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE BANKS AND OF THE 
 ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND, AND THE 
 COAST OF LABRADOR. 
 
 Of the various theories which have been 
 formed to account for tlie manner in which 
 America was originally peopled, the theory of 
 the Abbe Clavigero, a native of that Continent, 
 has generally been considered as the most 
 plausible and the best supported. He sup- 
 poses that there was anciently, since the flood, 
 an union between the equinoctial regions of 
 America with those of Africa, and of the 
 northern parts of America with Europe on 
 the east, and with Asia on the west; so as to 
 allow a passage from the hot and cold coun- 
 tries in Europe, Africa, and Asia, to the cor- 
 responding latitudes in America. From various 
 reasons he is induced to believe, that there was 
 formei ly a tract of land uniting the easternmost 
 part of Brazil to the westernmost part of Africa, 
 which may have been sunk by some violent 
 agitation of nature, leaving only a few traces 
 
•278 
 
 history of 
 
 of it in that chain of islands, of which Cape de 
 Yerd, Fernandez, Ascension, and Saint Mat- 
 thew islands make a part: nor is it necessary I 
 to asi-ribe to a single shock this stupendous 
 revolution, which is supposed to have sunk a 
 tract of land more than fifteen hundred miles 
 in length, as it may have been effected by a 
 succession of earthquakes at various periods. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus and Plato make men- 
 tion of an island, called Atalantis, at the 
 distance of several days’ sail from the Conti- 
 nent of Africa; and some learned men have 
 considered Madeira, which was discovered in 
 the year 1419, as the poor remains of that 
 island. Diodorus Siculus, who enlarges upon 
 the ])opulation, manners, laws, fertility, and 
 remarkable things of Atalantis, says that it 
 had been discovered by some Phoenicians, who, 
 having passed the pillars of Hercules,* were 
 overtaken by a violent storm, which carried 
 them out into the main ocean, and who arrived 
 there after having experiencetl several days of 
 bad weather; and that, on their return, they 
 published an account of their voyage and dis- 
 coveries. In Plato’s Dialogue, intituled Ti 
 moeus, Critias says that Solon, when in Egypt, 
 was informed, by one of the priests, that the 
 
 * The Straits of Gibraltar. 
 
NEWFOUNOLANl). 
 
 270 
 
 Athenians had, in ancient times, subdued a for- 
 midable power, that had overrun Europe and 
 Asia by a sudden irruption of warriors issuinj? 
 from the midst of the Atlantic ocean, from a 
 region more extensive than Asia and Lyhia 
 taken together. A short time after these in- 
 vaders had been driven back to their own 
 country by the Athenian fleets, the whole 
 island sunk and disappeared in an instant. A 
 circumstance, which is considered by many 
 writers as corroborating the assertion of the 
 existence of such an island is, that the ocean, 
 which at this day bears the name of Atlantic, 
 is not of any considerable depth ; and tljat, at 
 a great distance from its shores, marine sub- 
 stances are found which indicate the existence 
 of an ancient continent. 
 
 The history of the world, for the last four 
 hundred years, affords numerous and well au- 
 thenticated instances of revolutions produced 
 on the surface of our globe by volcanoes and 
 earthquakes, those formidable instruments of 
 nature, by which she converts mountains into 
 plains and plains into mountains, changes the 
 beds of rivers, turns dry land into stagnapt 
 pools, and raises islands in the midst and from 
 the depths of the ocean. I’liese changes are 
 evidently the consequence of the tremendous 
 convulsion which was produced by the univer- 
 
•280 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 sal deluge in the structure of the earth, of 
 which an examination of its internal and exter- 
 nal state aflords ocular demonstration. As 
 tlie causes to which philosophers ascribe 
 volcanoes and eartlnpiakes have had a ten- 
 dency to produce the same effects ever since 
 the deluge, what changes may we not suppose 
 to have taken place in the course of upwards 
 of four thousand years, in countries discovered 
 only about three hundred years ago, and of 
 ■ which our know ledge is still so very imperfect! 
 
 Eai’tlupiakes have been known from time 
 immemorial to be frequent in Jamaica, Saint 
 Christopher’s, the whole extent of Peru, Cu- 
 mana, &c. Although these formidable con- 
 cussions may generally be attributed, in those 
 parts, to the agency of the numerous volcanoes 
 which are found there, it is well known that 
 earthquakes have not been confined to such 
 countries as, from the influence of climate, 
 their vicinity to volcanic mountains, or any 
 other causes of a similar tendency, have been 
 considered as particularly subject to them: 
 but they have also been felt, though not in any 
 degree so extensive and calamitous, even in 
 London,* in Oxfordshire, the counties of Dor- 
 set, Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham, and 
 
 * Particularly in the year 1750. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 2Bl 
 
 several other -parts of Great Britain. If they 
 are much more frequent and destructive in 
 ' warm countries, the northern latitudes have 
 ' not been altogether exempt from such visita- 
 tions. Not only Scotland and Norway, but 
 even Canada and the more northern regions of 
 America have been affected by earthquakes. 
 h The Abbe Clavigero informs us that in Canada, 
 ^ in the year 106 -J, an earthquake, which began 
 ? on the 5 th of February, and continued at inter- 
 II vals for the space of six months, caused the 
 most dreadful agitation in the earth, the rivers, 
 u and the coasts of the ocean, over the extent of 
 il nine hundred miles from east to west, and four 
 i hundred and fifty from south to north, and 
 ®ii actually overwhelmed a chain of mountains of 
 free-stone, more than three hundred miles 
 It) long, changing this immense tract into a plain. 
 
 It reached even as far as New England and 
 lel New York, which were violently shaken: the 
 lUu River Saint Lawrence underwent remarkable 
 iftli changes with respect to its banks and some 
 ^1 part^i of its course; so that new islands were 
 ^■1 formed, and others were considerably enlarged. 
 
 This river affords now evident marks of its 
 ^ waters having, at some period, separated at 
 ^ Cape Rouge, flowed to the eastward through 
 the level country, and re-united at the promon- 
 

 2g-2 histouy ok 
 
 tovy of Quebec, insulating the lofty ground 
 from .Cape Rouge to the latter place. 
 
 According to Doctor Moi-se, Boston, in the 
 State of Massacluisetts, was considerably da- 
 maaed by an earthquake, on the 29th of Octo- 
 ber 1727; and there are undoubted proofs of 
 the'powerful operation of such convulsions at 
 Saint Paul’s Bay, Mal-B^y, and at Caino- 
 maska, which are still subject to partial earth- 
 quakes.. It may not be unreasonable to con- 
 clude, ‘that the earth in those regions contains 
 a permanent source of convulsions of this kind, 
 which at some former period may have produ- 
 ced those changes which the external structure 
 of the island and of the banks of Ne\v found- 
 land seems to indicate. The same writer also 
 informs us^ that the peninsula known by the 
 name of Gay-Head, in Martha’s Vineyard, 
 contains ev ident marks of there having formerly 
 been volcanoes in that part of the State of Mas- 
 sachusetts. He says, that the remains of five 
 crateras are plainly to be seen. One of them, 
 now called the Devil’s Den, is at least tweuty 
 rods over at the top, fourteen and a half at the 
 bottom, and full one hundred and thirty feet « 
 the sides, except that next to the sea, which is 
 open. He farther states, that a man then 
 alive, viz. in 1797, related, that his mother 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 •283 
 
 could remember -when it was common to see a 
 ^ light upon Gay-Head in the night-time; otRers 
 ^ said, that they had been told by their fathers 
 ^ that the whale-men used, in their time, to guide 
 I themselves in the night by the lights which were 
 seen there. 
 
 If we take a survey of the island of New- 
 ‘ foundland and jvarts adjacent, as far as the 
 eastern edge of the Outer, or False Bank, we 
 * shall behold an extient of sixteen degrees of 
 » longitude, and ten degrees of latitude, where the 
 Slit depth of the sea, on an average, is from sixty to 
 fb thirty, and sometimes even only ten fathoms, in 
 mi places lying at a considerable distance from the 
 lii nearest coasts either of N ew foundland, or of the 
 ir North American Continent. We shall be in- 
 y dined to conclude, from this survey-, that these 
 jil are the remains and ruins of a vast island, 
 un which, at some former period, experienced a 
 jS# convulsion similar to that which shook Canada 
 ^ and the neighbouring parts, as far as New 
 Di York, in the year 166.3; and which, vveakeiiing 
 ^ 1 , and loosening the arches, or foundations, oq 
 which that island rested, excepting what now 
 (Ji constitutes the island of Newfoundland, preci- 
 Ijjj pitated all the other parts into the depths of the 
 ii)l and of the earth, in proportion to their ori- 
 ginal altitude, and to the various degrees of 
 solidity of the surfaces which they met in their 
 
284 
 
 history of 
 
 fall. Or, perhaps, the whole was originally a 
 part of the North American Continent; for the 
 Straits of Bell-Isle, which separate Newfound- 
 land from the coast of Labrador, are very little 
 more than four leagues in width, throughout 
 an extent of near fifteen marine leagues. 
 
 The Outer, or False Bank, extends from the 
 forty-sixth degree and ten minutes to the forty- 
 seventh degree and a half north latitude, and 
 from the forty-fourth degree and fifteen minutes 
 to the forty-fifth degree twenty-five minutes, 
 west longitude; giving soundings over its sur- 
 face at from one hundred and fifty-eight to 
 one hundred fathoms. Thence to the Great 
 Bank, over a space of two degrees and forty- 
 five minutes, the soundings vary from two hun- 
 dred and eighteen to one hundred and twenty 
 fathoms. 
 
 The Great Bank is five degrees wide in its 
 broadest part, from east to west, mcluding 
 Jaquet-Bank, the southern extremity of winch 
 forms its outer edge, and upw aids of nine de 
 grees in length from north to south. Jaquet- 
 Bank, rising with a steep edge, and gnin? 
 from eighty to seventy fathoms, is conneded 
 with Great Bank by a bottom where soundings 
 are found at seventy and at sixty fathoms, fro® 
 east to west and south-west; and from east to 
 north-west, from one hundred and tw enty to 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 285 
 
 t one hundred and twelve fathoms, until it 
 t breaks off, leaving a very stee|) edge on the 
 S* corresponding side of Great Bank. The ground 
 in many parts of the eastern edge of the latter 
 I bank is so e.xtremely steep as to fall off sud- 
 denly from twenty-five to ninety, and from 
 ft thirty-five to one hundred and sixty fathoms, 
 k, and even to no ground at that depth, close to 
 ^ a spot which gives between thirty-five and fifty 
 jg fathoms. The surface of Great Bank varies 
 fe to fifty, seldom exceeding forty-five 
 
 ^ fathoms in its southern half, and increasing 
 I towards the northern extremity generally from 
 forty-five to sixty fathoms. In the forty-sixth 
 degree and a half of latitude is an elevated 
 space giving from ten to twenty-five fathoms, 
 which is designated by the appellation of Rough 
 Fishing-ground; and farther on the western 
 ^ edge of the bank, in the same latitude, are 
 ^ rocks, called Cape Race Rocks, or the Virgins : 
 a similar rock has likewise been discovered at 
 The distance of about two degrees and twelve 
 ** minutes west from the extremity of the bank’s 
 *“tail. 
 
 From the western edge of Great Bank to the 
 ^^'coast of Newfoundland the soundings are 
 'Ij' generally from ninety to twenty fatlioms, whilst, 
 j6»around the southern parts of that island, the 
 rground is occupied by a continuation of banks 
 
280 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 and shoals as far as Cape Breton and Sable 
 Island, where soundings vary from eighty to 
 twenty-four fathoms, including Whale-Bank, 
 Green-Bank, Saint Peter’s Bank, Banquerean, 
 Middle-Bank, and Sable Island. To these 
 must be added Porpoise-Bank, which lies to 
 the south-east of Sable Island. The northera 
 extremity of Great Bank seems to have a com- 
 munication with the coast of Newfoundland, 
 at fifty degrees of north latitude, by the Funk 
 islands, and by various shallows, ledges, and 
 rocks, W’adham and other islands, as tar as 
 Cape Saint John; whilst, from the fiftieth to 
 the fifty-first degree, soundings are obtained m 
 various places at from seventy-four to one hun- 
 dred and sixty fathoms, giving muddy ground, 
 brown sand, large stones, or rocky gTOiind, and 
 fonming within that space, from the fifty-second 
 to the fifty-fourth degree of longitude, an extent 
 of ground generally of no greater depth than 
 what has been observed of the Outer, or False 
 Bank. 
 
 The Abb6 Raynal, in his description of the 
 Great Bank, says, that it is one of those moun- 
 tains that are formed under w ater by the earth, 
 which the sea is continually w ashing from the 
 Continent. Doctor Morse, the American Geo- 
 grapher, thinks that it is highly probable, that 
 the sand carried down by great rivers into baysi 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 •287 
 
 and tlie current out of these bays meeting witli 
 the gulf-stream, have formed, by their eddies, 
 Nantucket Shoals, Cape Cod, George’s Bank,* 
 the island of Sable, &c. Many reasons might 
 be adduced, which seem to ascribe to the 
 Banks of Newfoundland a more solid founda- 
 tion and permanent consistency. 
 
 E> er since the year 1500, these Banks have 
 been frecjuented by Europeans, for the purposes 
 of the cod-fishery, in the same manner as they 
 are at present. In the relation of a voyage to 
 Canada, made in the year 1006, inserted in 
 ChurchiU’s Collection of Voyages, the author 
 says: “ Before we come to the Great Bank, 
 where the fishing of green cod is made, the 
 seafaring men have warnings Avhen they come 
 near it by certain birds, the most common of 
 which are godes, foaquets, and happe-foyes, or 
 liver-catchers, because of their greediness to 
 devour the livers of the cod-fish that are cast 
 , into the sea after their bellies are opened. 
 These banks are mountains grounded in the 
 depth of the waters, which are raised up to 
 thirty, thirty-six, and forty fathoms, near to the 
 upper face of the sea. The Great Bank is 
 holden to be tw'o hundred leagues in length; 
 and eighteen, twenty, and twenty-four leagues 
 broad; which being passed, there is no more 
 bottom found until one come to the land.” 
 
.varr 
 
 
 42JJ0 HISTORY OF 
 
 This account agrees exactly with our most 
 modem charts, if we suppose the soundings to 
 have been taken about the forty-fifth degree of 
 latitude, and not beyond fifty fathoms. The 
 longitude and latitude of the imier and outer 
 edges of the Great Bank and of the False 
 Bank, observed by Chabert, in 1750, and by 
 Fleurien, in 1709, were found correct, and 
 adopted in a chart of the Banks of Newfound- 
 land published in the beginning of the year 
 1003, and stated to have been “ drawn from a 
 great number of hydrographical sunevs, and 
 from the recent observations of Francis Owen.* 
 
 Governor Pownall, in his observations on 
 the CuiTents in the Atlantic, and Doctor 
 Franklin, in his notes annexed to that work, 
 account for the variations in the direction 
 of the Gulf-Stream, by saying, that where 
 it meets with lands, islands, or rocky ground 
 that oppose and divert its course, or where it 
 runs through channels which draw it into other 
 directions, the general effect must partake of 
 the operation of these several causes. M^hen, 
 therefore, we consider that these supposed 
 masses of sand, scattered in a stormy ocean, 
 
 * Mr. Francis Owen was at Newfoundland in the year 
 1799, as Master of the Agincourt, and was afterwards offici 
 ally employed for the purpose of taking a survey of the 
 Hanks. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 289 
 
 aro at a considerable distance from any coast 
 oi land which might give them sufficient sup- 
 poi t and consistency, and that they are con- 
 stantly acted upon hy strong currents ; it is not 
 easy to conceive how these hanks, if mere 
 masses of sand, should, notwithstanding, have 
 lemained stationary; should have preserved 
 that constant uniformity of longitude, latitude, 
 and soundings; should not either have been 
 carried away, or have been increasing in 
 extent, so as to fill up the spaces whicli 
 separate them from each other, and from the 
 island of Newfoundland. The extraordinary 
 steepness of nearly the whole of the eastern 
 edge, and of a great part of the south-western 
 hordeis of the (ireat Bank, seems likewise to 
 indicate a solid mass ot rock on which the 
 violence of the northern ocean, or of the cur- 
 rents, cannot make any impression. 
 
 The lemarkahle phenomenon known by the 
 name of the Gnlf-Stream is a current in the 
 ocean, which runs along the coast, at unequal 
 distances, from Cape-l-Torida to the Isle of 
 tables and the Banks of Newfoundland, to 
 about forty-one degrees ami a half of north 
 latitude ; thence it proceeds south-easterly to- 
 wartls the coast of Africa, running along that 
 coast in a southern direction, until, falling into 
 the course of the intratropical trade-w'inds, it 
 
290 
 
 HISTOUY Of 
 
 supplies the place of the waters carried by 
 those winds from that coast to the Caiibbee 
 and Bahama Islands, runs down to the bottom 
 of the Gulf of Mexico, and being there ob- 
 structed by the main land, the waters are piled 
 up, as Governor Pownall expresses it, to a 
 very elevated level. These aggregated waters 
 run off laterally, and as if descending an in- 
 clined plane, along the coasts of Mexico, 
 Louisiana, and Florida, and thence along the 
 coast of North America, thus producing a 
 continual circulating current round the Atlan- 
 tic ocean. 
 
 Governor Pownall observes also, that this 
 Gnlf-Stream branches out into other currents, 
 according to the variations of winds and sea- 
 sons, and that, to the northward of its highest 
 boundary, another general cnrrent takes place, 
 running in an east-southerly direction across 
 the Atlantic towards the coasts of Europe, 
 and setting continually through the Straits into 
 the Mediterranean Sea. Other currents have 
 likewise been observed, according to the same 
 author, running along the Esquimaux shores 
 and the coasts of Greenland. Sir Martin Fro 
 bisher, in the year 1577, at the distance of six 
 days sail from the Orkneys, met with a great 
 quantity of drift wood which was continually 
 driven forwards with a current setting from the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 2.91 
 
 soutl.-west to the north-east. This fact, says 
 Doctor Forster, has since been frequently con- 
 firmed : for it is by this cuiTent that so many West 
 Indian woods and fruits are cast on the shores 
 of Ireland, Scotland, the Faro and Western 
 Islands, the Orkneys, the Shetlands, and Nor- 
 way : in the same manner the Icelanders are 
 furnished from North America, as well as from 
 the West Indies, with wood for firing in great 
 quantities ; the same has been found to be the 
 case in Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and Green- 
 land. He supposes that those currents which, 
 he says, are also found from the coast of Brazil 
 round the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian 
 ocean, and from the Siberian sea round the 
 North Cape into the Atlantic ocean, occasion 
 similar currents in the air; and this is assigned 
 as the reason that, in the temperate zones the 
 westerly winds predominate, whilst, in the frigid 
 zones the easterly winds occur more frequently 
 than any other winds : hence voyages from North 
 America to Furope are generally much shorter, 
 at least one-third, according to Governor Pow- 
 nall, than those from Europe to North America, it 
 having been observed that the winds are west- 
 erly for three quarters of the year. Seafaring 
 people coming from North America to Europe 
 call it going down hill, and vice versa. The 
 common course of navigators, bound to the west- 
 
 V 2 
 
292 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 ward, is to ]>ass the banks of Newfoundland in 
 about forty-four or forty-five degrees of north 
 latitude; to sail thence between the northern 
 edge of the Gulf-Stream and the shoals and 
 banks of Sable Island, George’s Bank, and 
 Nantucket, by which means they make better 
 and quicker voyages. 
 
 This precaution is so important that, accord- 
 ing to Doctor Franklin, a vessel on her voyage 
 from Europe, getting into this stream, may be 
 retarded at the rate of sixty or seventy miles a 
 day. 
 
 The breadth of the Gulf-Stream varies in its 
 course; when it comes out of the Gulf of Flo- 
 rida, it is about eight leagues broad ; and at its 
 other extremity on the coast of Africa, between 
 *27 and 20° north latitude, its breadth is about 
 a hundred and fifty leagues. It is easily dis- 
 tinguished from the other parts of the ocean by 
 its superior warmth, which is eight or ten de- 
 grees greater: it is of an indigo blue; never 
 sparkles in the night; and, in cool latitudes, it 
 produces thick fogs. It is, therefore, to the 
 superior warmth of this stream that those fogs 
 are attributed which generally cover the banks 
 of Newfoundland, and which a certain degree 
 of cold in the surrounding atmosphere converts 
 into sleet and snow. 
 
 The Great Bank is almost constantly co- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 293 
 
 veied with such fogs, extremely thick and 
 cold. A great swell marks the place where it 
 lies; the waves are always in a state of agita- 
 tion, and the winds high about this bank. The 
 cause of this is said to be, that the sea being 
 irregularly driven forward by currents bearing 
 sometimes on one side sometimes on the other, 
 strikes with impetuosity against the borders of 
 this bank, and is repelled from them with equal 
 violence : whilst, on the bank itself, at a little 
 distance from the borders, the situation is as 
 t ranquil as in a harbour, except in cases of heavy 
 gales coming from a greater distance. 
 
 The island of Newfoundland, like its banks, 
 presents features of the most eccentric character, 
 as if nature in disorder seemed pleased to ex- 
 hibit stupendous monuments of her power. It 
 bears visible marks, both along its coasts 
 and within its wide and extensive bays, of a 
 great convulsion which, at some former period, 
 changed its original form and extent. Lying 
 to the eastward of the Kiver and Gulf of Saint 
 Lawrence, it is separated from the coast of 
 Labrador by a narrow channel, about four 
 marine leagues wide, called the Strait of Bell- 
 Isle. This strait, in width, is nearly the same 
 as that which separates North America from the 
 corresponding parts of Asia, and which Doctor 
 Robertson is inclined to suppose to have been 
 opened by some violent convulsion from vol- 
 
294 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 canoes and earthquakes, which broke the 
 isthmus that formerly united America to Asia 
 in (hose parts. 
 
 Newfoundland is of a triangular form, and 
 is supposed to contain thirty-five thousand five 
 hundred square miles. Little can be said of 
 its inland parts, in consequence of the difficulty 
 of penetrating into them, and of the apparent 
 inutility of succeeding in the attempt. What 
 is known of it consists of a rocky and Ijarren 
 soil, steep hills covered with bad wood, some 
 narrow, and sandy valleys, and extensive plains 
 covered either with heath, or with rocky sur- 
 faces, more or less extensive, where not a tree 
 or shrub is to be seen, and which are from thence 
 usually called Barrens. The number of fresh 
 water lakes is very considerable, and springs of 
 most excellent water abound in every part. The 
 ground is frequently so boggy and marshy as to 
 make riding impracticable, and even travelling 
 on foot dangerous. Those places which have 
 been penetrated within the distance of thirty 
 miles from the coast, by walking over the ice 
 and snow during the winter season, abound 
 with deer and an uncommon variety of fuited 
 animals. 
 
 The coasts are in general mde and rockyi 
 either covei’ed with hanging woods sloping to 
 the water edge, or broke into short precipices. 
 The south-west coast presents some high head* 
 
N E W EOU N D L A N 1). 
 
 295 
 
 lands. The whole, however, - abounds with 
 creeks, roads, and very fine harbours; also 
 with beaches, or large spaces covered with 
 pebbles, which seem as if they had been placed 
 by design, for the purpose of drying the fish 
 caught in the neighbourhood. Vast bays, of 
 several leagues in breadth and depth, are also 
 very numerous on these coasts. Vessels lie in 
 the smaller bays and harbours in perfect secu- 
 rity, being well sheltered inside by the moun- 
 tains. Thus, round the island and in the large 
 bays, a multitude of basins are formed, of 
 from one to two leagues in length, and near 
 half a league in breadth, into which several 
 rivers and brooks of excellent water come from 
 the adjacent mountains. 
 
 The south-east part of this island is formed 
 into a peninsula of twenty-six marine leagues 
 in length, and from five to twenty in breadth, 
 by tAvo extensive bays, the heads of which are 
 separated by an isthmus, or beach, not exceed- 
 ing four miles in width, where it is not unusual 
 to see fishermen pass from one of these bays to 
 the other drawing their skiffs over it with ropes. 
 This peninsula has five bays of considerable 
 extent, and several smaller bays, excellent har- 
 bours, and capes. This is the part of New- 
 foundland which Sir George Calvert had erected 
 into a province, under the name of Avalon. 
 Trinity-Bay, on the north of Avalon, and on 
 
HISTORY or 
 
 t>y() 
 
 the eastern side of the island of Newfound- 
 land, lies between forty-seven degrees fifty- 
 three minutes and a half, and forty-eight de- 
 grees thirty-seven minutes of north latitude. It 
 has several considerable settlements, and con- 
 tributes largely to the amount of the exports 
 from the island, both from the seal and the 
 cod fisheries. Separated on the north from 
 the bay of Bonavista by a neck of land, which, 
 in some places, is little move than two miles 
 wide, it has on the north side Trinity-Harbour, 
 Ireland’s Eve, formed by a branch of the hay 
 which receives Random-River, Long-Harbour 
 to the south-west, Bulls- Bay and Bulls Islands, 
 Tickle-Harbour, and to the south Chapel-Bay. 
 Thence, turning to the eastward and north-east, 
 
 ' we find such places as Heart's Delight, Heart's 
 Content. Proceeding from hence through the 
 harbours of new Pelican and old Pel'can, we 
 find the less pleasing names of Scurvy Island 
 ' and Hreak- Heart- Point, which lead us to the 
 Point of Grates. 
 
 Round this last point of land, at the distance 
 of about three miles from the north-eastern ex- 
 tremity of Conception-Bay, lies a small island, 
 called Baccalao, the name which anciently 
 belonged to the island of Newfoundland and 
 the islands adjacent. This small island, or 
 ■ insulateil rock, is remarkable for the extra- 
 ordinary number of sea-fowls which nest and 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 2,07 
 
 lay tlieir eggs on its nigged sides and sur- 
 face,. These are generally called Baccalao 
 birds, and have ever been considered as 
 of sufficient importance to mariners, parti- 
 cularly in foggy weather, by giving them 
 notice of their approach to the coast even 
 us far as the banks, as to deserve the special 
 [irotection of government against the attempts 
 of birds and eggs hunters. Notwithstanding 
 the proclamations issued, from time to time, by 
 die Governors of Newfoundland, for that parti- 
 cular object, it has not unfrequently happened 
 that, tempted by the vast profit produced by 
 the sale of those birds, of their eggs, and of 
 their feathers, and regardless of the extreme 
 ' dangers which attended the attempt, some 
 daring individuals contrived, by means of ropes, 
 poles, and wires, to make a general sweep of 
 the eggs, as well as of the birds themselves. 
 This last operation is performed by striking the 
 birds with long poles, or by covering with nets 
 the chasms in the rock where the birds are 
 nesting; these, frightened by the firing of mus- 
 kets, or by very loud hallooing, fly up and are 
 caught in the net. 
 
 Conception-Bay is undoubtedly the first dis- 
 trict in the island of Newfoundland, on account 
 not only of the number of commodious bays, 
 harbours, and coves, which it contains, but also 
 
298 
 
 HISTOUY OF 
 
 of the general ease and independence of the 
 greatest proportion of its numerous planters, of 
 the industry and intrepidity of the masters and 
 crews which it sends yearly to the seal and 
 cod fisheries, and of the very superior degree 
 in which it contributes to the importance and 
 value of Newfoundland. It is said by some 
 French writers to have received its name from 
 Gaspar de Cortereal, in the year 1501. It 
 also appears to have been frequented, at 
 some former period, by people of various 
 nations, if we may draw such a conclusion 
 from the character of the names which many 
 of its bays and coves bear at this day. But 
 the first settlements made here were in the year 
 1610, by about forty planters, with Governor 
 John Guy, under a grant from King James the 
 First. This bay had likewise been visited, in 
 the year 1583, by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, pre- 
 vious to his discovering and taking possession 
 of Saint John’s Harbour. He was soon after 
 unfoi’tunately lost, and the settlements which 
 he intended to make in these parts were thus 
 prevented. 
 
 Conception-Bay is twenty-eight leagues deep 
 from Point of Grates to Holy Rood, about 
 eighteen from the latter place to Cape Saint 
 Francis, and between* six and seven leagues 
 wide; it nearly traverses one half of the pro- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 299 
 
 vince of Avalon, branching out on one side 
 into amis and bays, which are sheltered by 
 lofty hills and capes, presenting a scenery par- 
 ticularly striking by the bold and broken out- 
 line of mountains, promontories, bays, and 
 islands ; while its general aspect on the oppo- 
 site side is one of asperity and ruggedness. 
 Harbour-Grace is the principal town of this 
 district; it has several steep and barren rocks 
 in its entrance, a bar which renders it dangerous 
 at particular seasons to large ships, and an ex- 
 tensive beach, round which there is a capacious 
 harbour, where ships ride in the greatest safety. 
 Carbonier, formerly Carboniero, or Collier’s 
 Harbour, the next town in importance, has 
 likewise a spacious harbour, but by no means 
 so safe, on account of its greater exposure to 
 the easterly winds. Between these two places 
 is a deep and commodious cove, called Mos- 
 quitto-Cove, where it is supposed that Governor 
 Guy formed his settlement, in the vear 1610 . 
 From Carbonier to Point of Grates, the space 
 is commonly called the North Shore; it con- 
 tains a numerous population, and is the 
 seat of a considerable fishery, notwithstand- 
 ing the natural wildness of the coast in 
 this part, and the losses which the inhabi- 
 tants expei'ience at every fall by the gales of 
 wind or heavy seas injuring and sometimes 
 
300 
 
 HISTOllV OF 
 
 destroying tlieir stages and fishing-craft. This 
 circumstance obliges them to terminate their 
 fishery much earlier than is done in the otlier 
 parts of the bay. On the 1 2th of September, in 
 the year 1775, this coast was visited by a most 
 terrible gale of wind. In Harbour-Orace and 
 Cai-bonier all the vessels in the harbours were 
 driven from their anchors ; but the inhabitants of 
 the north shore suffered with still greater severity. 
 They even now, with evident signs of dread and 
 horror, show a cove where upwards of two 
 hundred fishing-boats perished, with all their 
 crews. Farther up from Harbour-Grace, as far 
 as Holy-Rood, are several considerable settle- 
 ments, formed on the borders of deep bays, which 
 are separated by high perpendicular rocksof two 
 or three leagues in length, and scarcely more 
 than a mile in breadth. The scenery here sur- 
 pasfses any thing that can be conceived of 
 wildness and confusion, through an extent of 
 several leagues. Opposite to Port-de-grave, 
 and at the southern extremity of the land, the 
 rock is pierced with two natural arches, which 
 lead to a wide circular space open to the very 
 top of the I’ock, through which the sea flows. 
 Each of these arches is sufficiently high to 
 admit a boat to pass freely to the basin, where 
 both passages form an angle from east to south. 
 
 On the eastern side of this bay lie several 
 
NEWFOUNDLANn. 
 
 301 
 
 islands of various sizes, the most remarkable 
 of which is Bell-Isle, so called from a very re- 
 markable rock, called the Bell, high, perpendi- 
 cular, and cylindrical, standing almost close to 
 its western side. This island, distant about four 
 leagues from Harbour-Grace and four miles 
 from Fortugal-Cove, is remarkable for the par- 
 ticular quality of its soil, which consists en- 
 tirely, and without any mixture of stones, 
 pebbles, or gTavel, of a loose blackish earth 
 very deep, and so extremely fertile as hardly 
 ever to require the assistance of manure. Por- 
 tugal-Cove, the only settlement of any conse- 
 quence on the eastern side of Conception-Bay, 
 and about eighteen miles by land from Saint 
 John’s Harbour, is a small open creek, or cove, 
 without roadstead or shelter even for the 
 smallest fishing-craft, lying exposed to the 
 wind from nortli by west to north-west by 
 north, which heaves in a very heavy sea; so 
 that the boat-keepers there are obliged to haul 
 up their craft not only at the fall, but also 
 whenever it blows high from those quarters. 
 
 At the distance of seven leagues and a half 
 from Portugal-Cove lies the Cape of Saint 
 Francis, the eastern boundary of Conception- 
 Bay, distant seven leagues' from the entrance 
 of Saint John’s Harbour. Four leagues lower 
 is Torbay, called in old books Thome-Bay, a 
 
302 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 \ * 
 
 wide cove fit only for the fishery ; and three 
 leagues farther is the town of Saint John’s, 
 lying on the bay of the same name. Its har- 
 bour is one of the best in the island, being 
 formed between two mountains, at a small dis- 
 tance from each other, the eastern points of 
 which leave an entrance very appropriately 
 called the Narrows. It is rather difficult of 
 access, on account of rocks and shoals. It ex- 
 tends about two miles inland, having from ten 
 to seventeen fathoms in the first mile, and in 
 the second from fourteen to four fathoms of 
 water, up to the mouth of Little Castor’s River. 
 The south side is formed by high hills almost 
 pei*pendicular ; and on the north side a steep 
 ascent leads to a long rocky space, known by 
 the name of the Barrens, which forms the com- 
 munication between Fort William and Fort 
 Townsend. To the north, behind the former, 
 or old garrison, is a very fine lake, called 
 Quidy-Vidy-Pond, communicating with the 
 sea by a cove of the same name. This cove, 
 once the seat of military operations for the 
 taking and retaking of Saint John’s, has since 
 been rendered inaccessible from the sea, and 
 is now no more than a small fishing-place. To 
 the south of Quidy-Vidy are very high hillst 
 with extensive ponds at a considerable eleva- 
 tion, which abound with very fine trout. How 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 a03 
 
 * the spawn has been conveyed thither is a pro- 
 blem difficult to solve. Saint John’s, however, 
 
 1 is not in this respect without a parallel ; for we 
 
 * are informed that, in the Orkney-Islands, 
 
 * Hoy-Head, which forms a part of Pentland- 
 ! Firth, and is a promontoiy. particularly re- 
 f markable for its extreme height, has at its 
 
 * summit a very extensive lake of fresh water, 
 i likewise abounding with trout. 
 
 On the top of a lofty hill, close and nearly 
 i perpendicular to the sea, ' is a tower, from 
 i which, by appropriate signals, the inhabitants 
 
 * of the town are informed of the approach of 
 li vessels, and of their particular description. On 
 s the vessels nearing Fort Amherst, situated on 
 ; a low ground at the eastern extremity of the 
 
 I south side, they are asked through a speaking- 
 
 II trumpet where they come from, and the answer 
 li is signified by certain signals, which are imme- 
 ^ diately repeated on the tower of Signal-Hill. 
 
 g. Saint John’s is the seat of the Government 
 j . and of the Supreme and Vice-Admiralty Courts 
 j of Newfoundland. In time of war it is a place 
 ji of considerable importance. The greatest part 
 of the property in the island is deposited there 
 ^ for greater security. All the vessels of the 
 I difterent out-harbours, except those bound for 
 ^ Liverpool, Scotland, and other parts to which 
 they may safely venture to run north about, are 
 
304 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 obliged to rendezvous in the port of Saint 
 John’s, in order to join convoy; and the naval 
 and military forces occasion an increase of cir- 
 culation, of consumption, and of amusements, 
 which add considerably to the wealth and 
 gaiety of that place. 
 
 The natural difficulty of access to this har- 
 bour, the commanding position of the hills on 
 each side of its entrance, and the numerous 
 forts and batteries which have been erected for 
 its protection on every point, make it a place 
 of such strength as to defy all attempts of an 
 enemy. Only one ship can enter the harbour 
 at a time, and the Narrows are so guarded 
 that a hostile ship cannot venture into them 
 without being instantly sunk : Saint Johns is 
 not more assailable from any other quarter. 
 
 On the south side of Signal-Hill are a few 
 scattered spots not so steep as the rest. On 
 one of these an officer of the regiment then 
 stationed in Saint John’s had erected a small 
 grotto, fitted up and ornamented with consi- 
 derable ingenuity and taste, provided with a 
 table in the centre, and seats around. Above 
 the entrance, low and narrow, was the fol- 
 lowing inscription: “ Pro amico;" and m 
 
 another place, “ Ne vile fano." A brother 
 officer complimented him on his invention and 
 taste in the following lines, which were inserted 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 305 
 
 in the NeAvfoundland Gazette, in January, 
 1812. 
 
 Near the Metropolis of that drear isle, 
 
 Where sickly nature strives in vain to smile: 
 
 Wiiilst o’er its rugged rocks and barren plains, 
 Silent and sad, fell desolation reigns : 
 
 Stupendous mass, sec Signal-Hill arise. 
 
 And brave the shock of hyperborean skies: 
 
 Its rifted side no pleasing verdure yields, 
 
 Unlike the soil of Albion’s fertile fields. 
 
 On its bleak summit to command our praise. 
 
 See forceful art its proudest trophy raise: 
 
 - A height so vast, a spot so wild and waste. 
 
 Has Court’nay chosen to display his taste. 
 
 There, whilst its beauty all aloud proclaim. 
 
 His grotto stands t’ immortalize his name: 
 
 To Friendshij) sacred, there no cares annoy 
 Our chast’ned pleasure and our temp’rate joY : 
 
 No Bacchanalians there, a frantic rout. 
 
 Their midnight orgies tell with horrid shout: 
 
 But in that happy spot we ever find 
 The social joys that elevate the mind. 
 
 Ne vile Jam"' hints to thoughtless boys. 
 
 That wit consists not in obstreperous noise ; 
 
 W hilst ‘‘ pro amico ” gives the welcome meet. 
 
 To all who visit this perspective seat.” 
 
 The south-east limit of Saint John’s Bay is 
 Cape Spear, written in some old books Cape 
 Espere, or Hope-Cape, about four miles from 
 the Narrows. Petty-Harbour is a fishing set- 
 tlement of some note. Bay-Bulls, anciently 
 
30«J 
 
 HISTOKY OF 
 
 Baboul-Bay, is about seven leagues from the 
 mouth of Saint John’s Harbour; its entrance, 
 rendered hazardous to mariners who are not 
 well acquainted with that part of the coast, by 
 two rocks, one of which has frequently less 
 than nine feet of water, is broad and spacious, 
 running up to the town of that name one mile 
 and three quarters. Here vessels ride in safety, 
 being land-locked, and having nothing to fear, 
 except a strong wind fi’om south-south-east to 
 south-east, to which the mid-channel of the 
 harbour lies open. Bay-Bulls is distant from 
 Saint John’s, by land, twenty-seven miles; the 
 path, or foot- way, which forms the communica- 
 tion between those two places, is through the 
 woods, and small, uneven,, and inegular bar- 
 rens along the sides of stupendous hills and 
 rocks bordering on the sea-coast; in many 
 places, the fordable parts of strong and rapid 
 rivers, running from the ponds of the interior 
 country into the sea, are so narrow that not 
 more than a single person can with convenience 
 pass at a time. Bay’^-Bulls, notwithstanding 
 these difficulties of communication with Saint 
 John’s for the march of a body of troops, has 
 been the point from which hostile forces have 
 directed their attacks against that place. This 
 happened in particular in the year 1762, when 
 Saint John’s was actually taken. But it should 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. .‘)()7 
 
 be remembered that the enemy’s artillery was 
 then landed at Quidy-Vidy, which has since 
 been rendered altogether inaccessible from the 
 sea. Besides, Saint John’s, at that time, was 
 by no means in a state to make any effectual 
 resistance. We have also seen that, in the 
 year 1796 , Admiral Richery landed some 
 troops at Bay-Bulls; but this attempt ended 
 merely in the destruction of the wooden houses 
 and stores near the water-side : its population 
 then did not exceed two hundred inhabitants ; 
 their number has considerably increased since 
 that period, and several respectable houses 
 carry on there a considerable business. Cape- 
 Broyle-Harbour lies in a small bay, bounded 
 to the south-east by a cape of the same name, 
 and is said to be about thirty miles from Saint 
 John’s. Ferryland, called in old books Femb 
 ham, has some respectable establishments, and 
 is remarkable for having^ been, in former times, 
 the place of residence of the Lords of Avalon 
 and of their Deputies, and the seat of the muses. 
 Near this settlement is the Isle of Boys, which, 
 in the year 1762 , was fortified and received a 
 small garrison, several inhabitants of that part 
 of the coast having retired thither for protection 
 and relief whilst the brench w'ere in possession 
 of Saint John s. Aquafort and Fermowes, 
 anciently Formose, or Formosa, a name which 
 
 X 2 
 
308 ' 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 seems to give a favourable idea of the appear- 
 ance of the land in that quarter, together witli 
 Renowes, or Reneau’s Harbour, well calcu- 
 lated for the fishery, and much frequented for 
 that jiurpose during the season, are the only 
 settlements of any consequence on this part of 
 the coast as far as Trepassey-Bay. 
 
 Cape- Race is the south-east point of New- 
 foundland, four leagues south of Cape-Ballard, 
 and in forty-six degrees forty-three minutes of 
 north latitude, and fifty-two degrees forty-nine 
 minutes of west longitude. At about twenty 
 leagues to the south-east of this Cape, on the 
 western edge of Great Bank, the Virgins, or 
 Cape- Race rocks, much dreaded by mariners, 
 seem to form a connexion between that bank 
 and the south-eastern coast of Newfoundland, 
 from Cape-Broyle to Cape-Race, by a bottom 
 wdiicli gives from ninety to thirty fathoms of 
 water, and a rock or bank of two leagues and 
 a half in length at twenty fathoms, two leagues 
 east from Cape-Race. At the same distance 
 from this cape, to the westward, are two poivls, 
 frequently mistaken for Cape- Race by mariners, 
 when they first make the land from the south- 
 ward. 
 
 From Mistaken-Points westw^ard to Cape- 
 Ray, the coast is indented into a considerable 
 number of bays, harbours, and coves, where 
 
I 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 30<) 
 
 I - tile fishery is carried on to a very great extent. 
 This coast is also lined with an incredible ' 
 number of islands and rocks of various sizes, 
 
 J the soundings never exceeding one hundred 
 fathoms at the distance of forty leagues from 
 if the shore, from Cape-Freels to the southern 
 extremity of Whale-Bank ; seldom above sixty 
 t fathoms within upwards of ninety leagues from 
 
 4 Cape-Pine to the southern extremity of Great 
 
 I Bank; and never exceeding one hundred 
 
 ® fathoms within the distance of near seventv- 
 
 1^ five leagues from Cape-Rouge, in Placentia- 
 
 t Bay, to the south-west extremity of Banque- 
 
 E reau. 
 
 I Trepassey-Bay, formerly Abram Trepasse, 
 
 It about seven leagues north-west of Cape-Race, 
 
 M is a wide bay with a harbour large, well secured, 
 li and having excellent anchorage, Biscay-Bay 
 i lying to the north-east, and Sailing-Bay to the 
 p north-west. Six miles from this last bay is 
 
 II Cape- Pine, and farther to the west and north- 
 t west Cape-Freels and Black-head, which lead 
 
 into Saint Maiy’s Bay. This bay contains 
 g some harbours and coves where a considerable 
 ^ fishery is carried on, and receives Salmon- 
 River, the use of which is sufficiently described 
 by its name. Colinet-Harbour, at the head of 
 j the bay, is separated from Conception-Bay at 
 
 I 
 
.110 
 
 history of 
 
 Holy-Rood, by a neck of land between four 
 and five leagues broad. 
 
 Placentia-Bay opens between Cape Saint 
 Mary and' Cape-Rouge on the west, fifteen 
 leagues and a half distant from one another. 
 It is very spacious, has several islands towards 
 its head, and forms a good harbour for ships. 
 The port and town of Placentia are on the 
 eastern side. The harbour is so capacious 
 that one hundred and fifty sail of ships may lie 
 in security, and can fish as quietly as in any 
 river. The entrance into it is by a narrow 
 channel, which admits but one ship at a time. 
 Sixty sail of ships can conveniently dry their 
 fish on the Great Strand, which lies behveen 
 tw^o steep hills, and is about three miles long. 
 One of these hills is separated from the strand 
 by a small brook, which runs out of the chan- 
 nel and forms a sort of lake, called the Little 
 Bay, in which are caught great quantities of 
 salmon. The French had formerly here a fort, 
 called Saint Louis, situated on a ridge of dan- 
 gerous rocks which contracts the entrance into 
 the harbour. On taking possession of that 
 place, in the year 1713, the English changed 
 the name of the fort into that of Fort-Frede- 
 rick, and erected additional fortifications on 
 Castle-Hill. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 .311 
 
 i^lacentia has the honour of having given birth 
 to one of the most extraordinary characters tl)at 
 - the last century lias produced; a man who, for 
 some years, excited the public curiosity and 
 astonishment to an amazing degree, was taken 
 notice of, nay, openly patronized, by people of 
 the first consecpience, both as to character and 
 fortune, and more particularly by one no less 
 distinguished for his talents and erudition than 
 for his holding a place among the legislators of 
 the country, whose writings in defence of this 
 man and his opinions contributed not a little to 
 give celebrity to the native of Placentia. This 
 once great and admired personage was doomed 
 to be a lamentable instance of the vanity of all 
 sublunary glory; for how few are there, at this 
 time, who think, or even perhaps recollect the 
 name of Richard Brothers, who was at last 
 confined, and ended his days, in a mad-house. 
 
 North-Harbour, at the upper extremity of 
 Placentia-Bay, is the northern boundary of 
 Avalon, being separated from Chapel-Bay, in 
 Trinity-Bay, by a neck of land, or beach, of 
 only three or four miles in width. The western 
 side contains a great variety of bays and har- 
 bours, among which are Paradise-Sound, Boat- 
 Harbour, Mortier’s Bay, and Burin; and a 
 vast number of islands and rocks of various 
 sizes, the principal of which are Merasheen 
 
31-2 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 Island, Ragged Islands, a name very appro- 
 priate not only to this part but also to the 
 Avhole of this side of the bay, and Mortier’s 
 Rocks. 
 
 May-Point terminates the peninsula which 
 separates Placentia- Bay from Fortune-Bay, 
 having to the west the island of Great Mique- 
 lon on Saint Peter’s Bank, distant about eight 
 miles. From May-Point to Cape La Hime, 
 the distance is seventeen leagues, ivhich may 
 be considered as the mouth of Fortune-Bay. 
 The latter is interspersed with several hays of 
 considerable extent and depth : on the eastern 
 sidelies Fortune-Harbour, and at the north-east- 
 ern extremity is a river running from a pond or 
 lake of fresh water distant two leagues north. 
 Farther to the w est is a long narrow bay, called 
 Long-Harbour, which receives likewise the 
 waters of another river; Bell-Bay, which well 
 deserves that name, with 6'a/?now-River, in a 
 north-east direction. From this part the ground 
 is intersected by a multitude of bays of various 
 extent, communicating by the means of their 
 respective rivers with large ponds, in a series 
 which loses itself in the imexplored parts of the 
 island, together wdth ridges of lofty hills be- 
 ginning at no great distance from the shore. 
 
 Along the south shore, from Cape La Rune, 
 there are several bays and islands, most of 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 31.3 
 
 them called by names which are descriptive of 
 some striking incident or circumstance. Thus, to 
 the eastward of that cape we find Bay of De- 
 spair, Bay of Facheux, Devil’s Bay, Bay of 
 Rencounter, where it is known that in former 
 times the native and neighbouring Indians 
 were extremely troublesome to the Europeans 
 who frequented these parts ; in the same man- 
 ner we have here Cape La Hune, or Mast’s 
 Head-Cape, signifying a good look-out; Pi- 
 geon Island ; Penguin Islands, from the mul- 
 titude of birds of that name which used for- 
 merly to nest there; White Bear-Bay and Bear 
 Island, near which are Ramea and Burgeo 
 Islands, noticed in the earliest accounts of 
 voyages to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Great 
 Burgeo Island is also called Eclipse Island, 
 and its latitude and longitude were exactly 
 ascertained by Captain James Cook, who, on 
 the 5th of August, in the year 1765, observed 
 from that island an eclipse of the sun. To the 
 north of Burgeo Islands lies Wolf-Bay: farther 
 to the westward we have Bay of Cinq-Cerfs, 
 or five-stags; Grand Bruit, great noise; La 
 Poile-Bay, from its supposed resemblance to a 
 frying-pan; Rose Blanche, or White Rose 
 Island; Burnt Island; Pointe Blanche; and 
 last of all Pointe Enrag6e, which, from its wild 
 and exposed situation on the south-west point 
 
IlISTt)RY OF 
 
 :U4 
 
 of the island directly facing the Gulf of Saint 
 Lawrence, and from the number of rocks which 
 surround it, seems fully to answer the descrip- 
 tion conveyed by this appellation, particularly 
 in a heavy gale of wind from the south or 
 south-west. 
 
 Cape-Ray fonns the entrance of the River 
 Saint Lawrence on the north-east, with the 
 North Cape of the island of Cape Breton on the 
 south-west, from which it is about twenty 
 leagues distant. It is also the southern boun- 
 dary of the western, or French shore, so called 
 on account of the exclusive privilege reserved 
 to the French by the Treaty of Versailles, in 
 the year 1783, and confirmed by the late Treaty 
 of Paris, to catch fish and to dry them on land 
 on that part of Newfoundland which stretches 
 from this cape up north and round south, as 
 far as Cape Saint John on the eastern side of 
 the island. 
 
 From Cape-Ray to Anguille, or Eel-Cape, 
 the coast is wild, and has only Petit-Port, or 
 Little-Harbour, about five miles and a half 
 from Cape-Ray, and a considerable river, called 
 Great Cod-Roy River. Round Cape- Anguille 
 the coast is even and straight as far as Saint 
 George’s Harbour. This last lies in a large 
 and deep bay of the same name, into which 
 several rivere, communicating with a variety of 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 316 
 
 ponds and lakes, empty themselves. To the 
 north-west of this harbour is a narrow isthmus, 
 which forms the southern boundary of Port-a- 
 Port, divided into East and West Bay by a 
 slip of land which lies nearly at right angles 
 upon the isthmus. The interior of Newfound- 
 land, from Saint George’s Harbour to Bonne, 
 or Good-Bay, appears to have been explored 
 to a greater distance from the coast than any 
 other part of the island, to be very mountainous, 
 and to abound in rivers, marshes, ponds, and 
 extensive lakes. 
 
 The Bay of Islands has three arms by which 
 several rivers empty themselves into it, among 
 others the Humber, the most considerable river 
 known in the island, running through an extent 
 of thirty-eight leagues from the north, where it 
 issues out of a lake of near ten leagues in 
 length. Bay of Islands > contains, as its name 
 indicates, several islands, the principal of 
 which are called Harbour, Pearl, and Tweed. 
 
 Bonne-Bay has likewise two long arms com- 
 municating with ponds or lakes at some dis- 
 tance from the coast by m^ans of their respec- 
 tive rivers. Thence to Point-Rich the coast 
 has no bay or harbour of any note, except 
 Ingomachoix-Bay, bounded by that point to 
 the north, and divided into two arms, in 
 
HISTORY OF 
 
 ;31G 
 
 wliicli are Hawke’s Harbour and Port-Saim- 
 ders. 
 
 Farther north round Point-Rich is Saint 
 John’s Bay, containing three islands, the prin- 
 cipal of which is Saint John’s Island. This 
 hay receives the waters of Castor’s River, the 
 size of which is considerable for fifteen miles 
 inland. Here is also a range of lofty hills, 
 called the High-Lands of Saint John’s. Be- 
 yond Point-Ferolle, the northern boundary of 
 Saint John’s Bay, are a few inconsiderable 
 hays, islands, and coves. Along the Straits of 
 Bell-Isle the coast is uniformly straight, and in 
 some places not much more than three leag;ues 
 distant from the eastern side of the island. 
 Cape-Norman, twenty leagues from Cape-Fe- 
 rolle, is the north-west point of Newfoundland, 
 having on the east a large hay, called Pistolet- 
 Bay, hounded by Burnt-Cape, three leagues 
 distant from Cape-Norman. Quirpon-Harbour 
 and Island, the northern point of Newfound- 
 land, Griguet-Bay, and Saint Anthony’s Har- 
 bour, were much frequented, during the war, by 
 the people of Conception-Bay in the fishing-sea- 
 son. Hare-Bay is a wide and deep gulf, which 
 reaches up more than two- thirds of the whole 
 breadth of this part of the island, branching 
 out into arms and bays which are sheltered by 
 
N E \V F O U N 1) L A \ D . 
 
 317 
 
 lofty liills. Saint Julian’s Harbour is noticed 
 in the most ancient charts. From this harbour 
 to tlie river head of White-Bay and thence to 
 Cape Saint John, the coast is indented by a 
 considerable number ol bays, harbours, and 
 coves, very commodious and much frequented. 
 Facket- Harbour is the most southerly station 
 on the eastern coast where the French are 
 allowed to catch and dry their fish. 
 
 Tile Bay of Exploits, probably so called 
 from successful rencounters with the native 
 Indians who are said to frequent it during 
 the summer season, is also remarkable for its 
 river, which extends to a considerable distance 
 towards the western coast, as far as it has been 
 traced, receiving in its course several smaller 
 streams. It contains a vast number of islands 
 and rocks of various sizes, of which the New 
 W orld Island is the largest, and Twilingatc is 
 a populous and thriving settlement. The same 
 description is applicable to Gander-Bay; its 
 river, as far as it is known, runs almost parallel 
 to the River of Exploits, and has to the north- 
 east a considerable number of islands and 
 rocks. Fogo Island is described in the old 
 maps by the name of Aves, or Birds’ Island ; 
 and, until the middle of the last centuiy, was 
 called Penguins’ Island. It w’as formerly 
 much frequented by the native Indians. Some 
 
 . t M 
 
318 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 writers assert that it was first discovered by 
 James Cartier, in the year 1534. It is a settle- 
 ment of comparatively modern origin, populous 
 and flourishing. 
 
 From Cape Saint John, distant about forty- 
 seven leagues from Funk Island, to Cape 
 Freels, the whole of this coast and sea is con- 
 nected with that island by an almost uninter- 
 rupted continuation of islands, rocks, ledges, 
 and shallows. 
 
 Bonavista Cape and Bay, so called by John 
 and Sebastian Cabot, and the first land that 
 they made on their arrival near this coast, con- 
 tains several islands, the most remarkable of 
 which are Green’s Pond Islands, in conside- 
 ration of their usefulness as a fishing station. 
 Here are also several rocks of various sizes 
 and extent, called Outer and Inner Goose- 
 berry Islands. It contains likewise Indian- 
 Bay, Loggerhead-Bay, and Bloody-Bay; also 
 Barrow-Harbour, an extensive bay divided by 
 Keel’s Head on the east from the port of Bona- 
 vista, and on the west from Bloody-Bay, by a 
 large peninsula joined to the island by a narrow 
 isthmus, which forms Newman’s Sound. 
 
 To the southward of Cape Bonavista is Cata- 
 ’ Una-Harbour, or Bay, which contains Ragged- 
 Harbour, so called from the craggy rocks 
 which lie about the entrance of it, both without 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 319 
 
 anti within. And thus are we returned to 
 Trinity-Bay, from which we first set out. 
 
 The islands of Saint Pierre, or Saint Peter’s, 
 and Miquelon, are thus described by Monsieur 
 Cassini, who, about the year 1778, visited 
 them and ascertained the latitude of the town 
 of Saint Peter’s. 
 
 “ Saint P eter is a very small island ; its ut- 
 most length may be two leagues. Miquelon is 
 somewhat larger, and may be about five leagues 
 long. Saint Peter, however, is the chief part 
 of the colony: the safety of its harbour draws 
 a great number of ships, and probably this is 
 the only reason that has induced the French 
 Governor to fix his residence there; for I am 
 told that Miquelon is a much pleasanter 
 spot. I have sometimes strolled about into 
 the interior to observe the place and its 
 productions : all I found was mountains not to 
 be ascended without danger: the little valleys 
 between them were no better; some are full of 
 water and form so many lakes; others are en- 
 cumbered with sorry fir-trees and some few 
 birch, the only trees that grow in this countiy 
 as far as I could find ; nor did 1 see one mort^ 
 than twelve feet high in all that part of the 
 island where I have been. Miquelon is a little 
 better stored with wood. The most pleasant 
 plant I met with at Saint Peters is a kind of 
 
320 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 tea, at least it is so called by the inhabitants. 
 Its leaf is woolly underneath, and it greatly 
 resembles our rosemary, both in the leaf and 
 the stalk. There is another plant which they 
 call annise : I have tasted of both infused in 
 boiling water, and think the annise the more 
 agreeable of the two. Hence, it appears, how 
 destitute the inhabitants must be of the neces- 
 saries of life in a country where no corn will 
 grow, and where even the smallest article must 
 be procured from France. They have fixed 
 their dwellings in a little plain along the sea- 
 coast, and have small gardens, where, with 
 much trouble, they grow a few lettuces that 
 never come to perfection, but which they eat 
 greedily when they are yet quite green. The 
 want of pasture will not admit of breeding 
 much cattle; fowls are the only resource as to 
 fresh meat. Their soups are commonly made 
 with cod’s heads ; but I cannot commend them. 
 Our arrival at Saint Peter’s was celebrated by 
 the death of a bvdlock, the noblest reception 
 the people could bestow. From this account 
 one would be inclined to conclude, that the 
 island of Saint Peter can be considered only as 
 a shelter for ftshermen driven thither by stiess 
 of weather: yet we have made a settlement 
 there. 
 
 “ Towards the latter end of June,” continues 
 
NEM'FOUNDLAND. 
 
 321 
 
 i, the same writer, “ the capelan flocked from the 
 main to de^josit their eggs along the coast of 
 ^ that and the adjacent islands; to which they 
 
 followed by mnltitudes of cod-fish. This 
 
 d <^>'*tical time for the fishermen of Saint 
 
 I eters. This island is adjoining to a sand- 
 hank, where the cod is very plentiful. What 
 ^ IS caught there is brought to Saint Peter’s, where 
 ^ «t IS cured and dried. This is what is sold in 
 Iwance by the name of monie sMe, or more 
 ' properly merhcche. Some ships likewise bring 
 
 the fish which they have caught at the Great 
 " liank to dry at Saint Peter’s ; but these are few : 
 
 most of the cod that is fished at the Bank is 
 » lirought home to Europe, and sold for vtorue 
 
 r verte, or barrel-cod."’ 
 
 These islands, situated on the north-east 
 ** borders of Saint Peter’s Bank, consist of Saint 
 «i Peter’s, Langley or I.ittle Micpielon, and Great 
 ® Miquelon. Saint Peter’s Island lies in forty- 
 nU SIX degrees forty-six minutes of north latitude, 
 
 S! and fifty-six degrees four minutes and a half of 
 i west longitude, south-south-west of the south- 
 Jti east point of Fortune-Bay. Great Miquelon, 
 which is separated from Langley by a stream 
 I,! called Langley-Gut, is not more than three- 
 fourths of a league in length, and is distant 
 eight miles south-west from Cape-May in New- 
 , foundland. It is sometimes called Maguelon. 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 Saint Peter’s Bank, a large fishing-groiuul 
 off the southern end of Newfoundland, has 
 from fifteen to fifty-five fathoms of water, being 
 connected with Great Bank by Green Bank 
 and Whale Bank, with soundings generally 
 , from twenty to eighty fathoms. To the south 
 and south-west of Saint Peter’s Bank are 
 Mizen-Bank, Banquereau, and Porpoise-Bank. 
 
 The island of Anticosti, the south-western 
 boundary of the territories included within the 
 government of Newfoundland, lies in the 
 mouth of the River Saint Lawrence: it is co- 
 vered with wood, and excellent cod is found 
 on its shores; but it has no harbour; and had 
 no inhabitant until the year 1810, when, in 
 consequence of a shipwreck which had hap- 
 pened there, and had reduced the crew to the 
 most dreadful distress. Admiral Sir John Tho- 
 mas Duckworth, then Governor of Newfound- 
 land, granted stated rations and other advan- 
 tages to a person who was willing to settle 
 there with his family, to enable him to afford in 
 such cases every assistance that circumstances 
 would require or admit. This island was, it is 
 said, first discovered by James Cartier, in the 
 year 1535, who gave it the name of the island 
 of Assumption. From the Indian name Natis- 
 cotee the English have made Anticosti, h 
 contains wild goats of a particular kind, which 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 323 
 
 ^ Doctor Forster believes to be of Portuguese 
 
 ^ origin. On the coast opposite to the north- 
 
 westerly point of Anticosti Island is the River 
 ^ Saint John, the north-east boundary of the pro- 
 
 _ Vince of Lower Canada, and the south-east 
 
 ^ limit of the coast of Labrador. 
 
 The coast of Labrador, although discovered 
 by Cabot, was very little known until the latter 
 end of the last century, when the progressive 
 < increase of thb Newfoundland fisheries induced 
 the British government to extend them to this 
 I*' coast, by annexing it to the government of that 
 island, in the year 1763. The native inhabi- 
 «r. tants of those parts w ere included in the regu- 
 M lations which w ere, at the same time, forwarded 
 to the (jovernors of the colonies, to prevent the 
 iff different tribes of Indians from being in any 
 rif wise molested or disturbed in the possession of 
 
 ;j) such territories as, not having been ceded to or 
 
 purchased by the crow n of England, were re- 
 Ki served to them as their hunting grounds. All 
 III settlements, formed either wilfully or inadvert- 
 1 ^ ently upon such lands, were to be immediately 
 ij, given up; nor were any such lands for the 
 ^ future to be purchased from any of the said 
 (i Indians, but in the name of his Britannic Ma- 
 pj jesty, at some public meeting or assembly of 
 ^ the said Indians, to l^e held for that purpose by 
 ^ the Governor or Commander-in-chief of such 
 
 \ 2 
 
324 
 
 HISTORY or 
 
 colony within or near which they should lie. 
 I’he trade with the said Indians was declared 
 free and open to all British subjects who should 
 take out proper licenses for that purpose. 
 
 This union of the coast of Labrador with 
 . Newfoundland, by placing the former under a 
 jurisdiction which could, from local circum- 
 stances, more eftectually than any other provide 
 for the maintenance of order and the due ad- 
 ministration of justice in those pai'ts, tended 
 materially to increase its importance as a fish- 
 ery without any injury to the fur-trade, both 
 being perfectly compatible. When this ar- 
 rangement was altered in the year 1774, and 
 the jurisdiction of the Governor of Newfound- 
 land w as reduced to its former limits, a sujier- 
 intendent of trade, appointed by the Gover- 
 nor-General of the four British provinces, and 
 responsible to him, used to reside at Labrador. 
 This measure, which appears to have had for 
 its principal object to encourage the fur-trade, 
 must have proved very prejudicial to the fishery, 
 and the source of much disorder and irregularity. 
 The re-annexation of the coast of Labrador and 
 adjacent islands to the government of New- 
 foundland, in the year 1809, was consequently 
 a measure extremely favourable to the interests 
 of the trade and fisheries. 
 
 It appears from the earliest accounts that 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 325 
 
 this coast lias always been remarkable for the 
 multitude of fish of various kinds, and particu- 
 larly cod and salmon, found on its shores and 
 in its rivers. Like Newfoundland,' it seems to 
 have been naturally intended for an extensive 
 fisheiy. It exhibits a most barren and iron- 
 bound appearance, the rocky mountains rising 
 suddenly from the sea with spots of black peat 
 earth producing .stunted plants. Rivers, brooks, 
 lakes, pools, and ponds, are abundant, rich in 
 fish, and frequented by innumerable birds. 
 The islands are covered with flocks of sea- 
 fowl, particularly eider ducks; and the larger 
 isles plentifully stocked with deer, foxes, 
 hares, beavers, and a variety of other furred 
 animals. Five kinds of seats frequent these 
 shores, namely, the common, the great, the 
 rough, the hooded, the harp, and an obscure 
 species, called by the Laplanders, fatuc vindac, 
 with a round head and a long snout bending 
 like the proboscis of an elephant. The dogs, 
 very much like those of Greenland, resemble 
 wolves in figure, size, and nature. Left to 
 themeelves, they hunt in packs the animals of 
 the country for the sake of prey. The rein- 
 deei , weasel, red-fox, l>eaver, and marten, are 
 likewise in great abundance throughout the 
 whole of these inhospitable countries. ' 
 
 In our coasting voyage round the island of 
 
3-26 
 
 IIISTOKY OK 
 
 Newfoundland we have had frequent opportu- 
 nities of observing a copious mixture of English 
 and French names, most of which may be 
 traced either to the particular day on which 
 those places were first discovered, or to some 
 other striking incident or local circumstance. 
 But now we shall find it frequently difficult to 
 indulge in such etymological speculations from 
 the want of an Indian dictionary; for it does 
 not appear probable that our researches should 
 lead us here to the same fortunate result as 
 was once the case when, at a loss to find out 
 the meaning of the word Washeltoraw, it was, 
 at last, after much study, discovered to mean 
 “ La Vache et le Taureau,” the French name 
 of some dangerous rocks near Cape Saint Mary, 
 on the south-east coast of Newfoundland, now 
 more usually called “ Cow and Bull Rocks.” 
 
 About ten leagues distant north from tlie 
 island of Anticosti are Mingun Islands; farther 
 up, Wapuwagan, alias Ouapitougan, south- 
 west of Wataguaki; and Waskemashin, alias 
 Washemisker Islands; next, in a broad bay, 
 are Saint Mary’s and Nottegamew Islands. 
 
 From Grand-Point of Mecatina to Shecatica- 
 Bay, including a space of near seventeen 
 leagues, the coast contains several small bays 
 . and a multitude of islands and rocks of various 
 sizes, the most remarkable of which are Great 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 327 
 
 •I 
 
 ik 
 
 >1 
 
 »(< 
 
 n 
 
 i 
 
 hi 
 
 (fc: 
 
 ki 
 
 \i\ 
 
 VI 
 
 ’la 
 
 k 
 
 ill 
 
 li 
 
 ?» 
 
 ifc- 
 
 Hi 
 
 )» 
 
 i» 
 
 f 
 
 \t 
 
 Mecatina Island, Haha-Bay, Goose, Fox, 
 Outer, Sandy, and Large Islands; the three 
 last being the largest of a clustre or chain of 
 islands, called Saint Augustine’s Square, lying 
 opposite to Saint John’s Bay on the western 
 coast of Newfoundland. The outermost of 
 this chain of islands is a remarkably smooth 
 rock, about twenty-five miles from Great Meca- 
 tina Island. Shecatica is a bay of very iiTegu- 
 lar shape and breadth, having an island of the 
 same name at its mouth. Esquimeaux is a 
 large bay which receives a considerable river, 
 has to the south a smaller bay called Old Fort, 
 and Esquimeaux Islands across its mouth. To 
 the westward of Esquimeaux River is another, 
 called Nasquirou. 
 
 At Grand-Point, south-east of Bradore-Har- 
 bour, the Straits of Bell-Isle begin, and run up 
 on the Labrador side along a coast more in- 
 dented than the opposite part of Newfound- 
 land, containing names of places of obvious 
 meaning, such as Wood Island, Red Cliffs, 
 Black-Bay, Red-Bay, Green-Bay, and Wreck- 
 Cove. These straits are so called from an 
 island lying on the eastern coast of New Bri- 
 tain, and forming the northern entrance of the 
 River Saint Lawrence from the sea. This 
 passage is, however, very unsafe, and conse- 
 quently seldom frequented in the usual course 
 
 r 
 
328 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 of navigation. Bell-Isle is about seven leagues 
 in circumference, and sixteen miles distant 
 from the nearest land on the coast of Labrador: 
 on the north-west side it has Lark-Harbour, 
 convenient for fishing-vessels or small craft; 
 and on the eastern point a cove which will 
 admit shallops. It lies in near fifty-two de- 
 grees north latitude, ami fifty-five and a half 
 west longitude. To the west of Bell-Isle is 
 Temple-Bay, a settlement where part of the 
 fleet of Admiral Richery, in the year 1796, did 
 considerable mischief. From this bay to Ca|)e- 
 Charles are some bays and islands, much fre- 
 quented for the purposes of the fishery. Near 
 this cape is a considerable river of the same 
 name. The Bay of Saint Lewis has many 
 islands, the largest of which is Battle Island. 
 
 From Cape-Charles to Cape-Chidley, the 
 south-east point of Hudson’s Strait, also called 
 Frobisher’s Mistaken Strait, the coast contains 
 some inlets and islands, which are remarkable 
 only for the singularity of their names, such as 
 Jorucktoke, Ockchowet, Canyketoke, Calutie- 
 weet, Ogbucktoke, Owlitchievie, Grimington, 
 Nowyockshuockshook, &c. It is a country of 
 fruitless valleys and frightful mountains which 
 have here and there a blighted shrub or a little 
 moss: the valleys are full of crooked stinted 
 pines, fir, birch, and a species of tlie juniper. 
 
XEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 329 
 
 In latitude sixty, vegetation ceases on this 
 coast, which has Greenland to the north- 
 east, from which it is separated by Davis’s 
 Strait. 
 
 On taking a general view of this part of the 
 world, the names which we find here recorded 
 naturally convey to the mind a lively feeling of 
 admiration for the courage and perseverance 
 displayed, and of some degree of participation 
 in the severe disappointments suflered by the 
 navigators who first discovered and explored 
 these dreary regions, whilst in search of a 
 north-west passage to the rich and beautiful 
 countries ot the east. Cabot was the first who 
 formed such a project and attempted its execu- 
 tion; though he failed in the original object 
 of his voyages, his labours were amply repaid 
 by the discovery of the whole of the North 
 American coast; and, more fortunate than 
 any ot those who followed him in the same 
 career, he as well as his sons lived to enjoy the 
 well-earned fame and rewards of their labours. 
 But very different are the recollections attached 
 to the names of Frobisher, of Davis, and of 
 Hud.son. 
 
 An expedition had been sent to these parts, 
 in the 'year 1527, at the instigation of a mer- 
 chant of Bristol, Robert Thorne, whose en- 
 larged ideas and enterprising spirit have been 
 
HISTOKY OF 
 
 ,‘}30 
 
 noticed iu the History of Newfoundland. One 
 of the ships employed on this expedition was 
 lost in the gulf between Newfoundland and 
 Greenland, and the other escaped with great 
 difficulty. In the year 1576, Martin Frobisher, 
 sent out by Queen Elizabeth for the same pur- 
 pose, made the coast of Labrador on the 28th 
 of July; and thence proceeded to Newfound- 
 land, where he had some communication with 
 the natives, to whom he made presents, and 
 who, in return, destroyed his ship’s boat and 
 five sailors who had gone on shore contrary to 
 his orders. The next year he again visited those 
 high latitudes, and discovered West or New 
 Greenland, which received from Queen Eliza- 
 beth the name of Meta Incognita, and to which 
 he was again sent, in the year 1578, for the 
 purpose of erecting there a fort and settling a 
 colony. He had with him one hundred men 
 for the garrison, and a considerable number of 
 gold refiners, carpenters, bakers, and other 
 persons of various trades proper for such an 
 undertaking. An immense accumulation of 
 ice prevented their reaching Frobisher’s Straits; 
 one of the ships, laden with a great part of the 
 timber intended for the new settlement, was 
 sunk on this coast by a shock from an island 
 of ice, and it was with the greatest difficulty 
 that the rest of his fleet escaped from the most 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 3.‘il 
 
 imminent dangers, brought on by a ten-ible 
 storm from the soutli-east, and by tlie repeated 
 and tremendous shocks and pressure of the 
 vast masses of ice which surrounded his sliips. 
 At length, a north-north- west wind dispersed 
 all this ice, and permitted them to approach 
 again towards the land; but the appearance of 
 the coast was so much changed by the snow 
 and thick fogs, that they could not in the least 
 distinguish whereabouts they were. And thus 
 this third voyage of Frobisher terminated like 
 the two preceding ones, without having effected 
 any thing. So many successive disappoint- 
 ments and miscarriages did not, however, dis- 
 courage other adventurers from engaging in 
 similar enterprises. 
 
 John Davis having sailed from Falmouth 
 with two ships, on the 13th of June, in the 
 year 1585, was, on the 19th of July, alarmed 
 by a tremendous noise in the sea, during a 
 thick fog, though he could not find ground 
 at three hundred fathoms. He soon after 
 observed that this noise proceeded from the 
 waves dashing against immense masses of ice, 
 through which he got off with considerable 
 diflSculty and danger; and the next day his 
 eyes were struck with the view of summits 
 of mountains in the shape of sugar-loaves 
 reaching above the clouds, and entirely covered 
 
33*2 HISTORY Ol’ 
 
 with ice and snow, to which he gave the appro- 
 priate name of the Land of Desolation. Un- 
 daunted by the rude and forbidding aspect of 
 these coasts and seas, and by the dangers of 
 this navigation, he proceeded in his course to 
 the strait which now bears his name, penetra- 
 ted into the vast sea now called Hudson’s Bay, 
 explored the eastern main within that bay; and 
 having sailed back along the northern and 
 north-eastern coast of Labrador, he thence pro- 
 ceeded on his return, and on the 30th of Sep- 
 tember, in the same year, arrived safely at 
 Dartmouth. 
 
 Henry Hudson had made, in the years 1607 
 and 1608, two voyages to these coasts, still in 
 search of a north-west passage to India, during 
 which he had penetrated to eighty degrees and 
 a half into the frozen zone. In a third voyage, 
 in the year 1610, rising superior to the extreme 
 hardships and dangers which stared him in the 
 face, he determined to pass there the winter, in 
 order to pursue his discoveries as early in the 
 ensuing spring as the season would permit. He 
 was making the necessary preparations for that 
 purpose in the beginning of 1611; when his 
 crew, grown desperate by suflferings and by the 
 dread of continuing longer in those seas, muti- 
 nied, seized upon him and seven of his most 
 faithful adherents, threw them adrift in an open 
 
N E \V FOU N dLA N D. 
 
 333 
 
 boat, and set sail for J^ng’land. Hudson and 
 bis equally unfortunate companions are sup- 
 posed to have either perished in the waves, or 
 to have been destroyed by the savages. 
 
 Doctor Morse observes, that though these 
 adventurers failed in the original purpose for 
 which they navigated these parts, yet the pro- 
 ject, even in its failure, has been of considerable 
 advantage to England. These countries abound 
 with animals whose fur and skins are excellent. 
 The Hudson’s Bay Company, established by 
 charter in the year 1670, have erected there 
 several forts, and found a very advantageous 
 trade. According to the statement of that 
 writer, in the year 1798, the exports of this 
 Company from England then amounted annu- 
 ally to the value of sixteen thousand pounds; 
 and the returns to twenty-nine thousand three 
 hundred and forty pounds; yielding to the re- 
 venue three thousand seven hundred and 
 thirty-four pounds sterling; whilst the annual 
 produce of the fishery on that part of New 
 Britain, called Labrador, amounted to upwartls 
 of forty-nine thousand pounds. 
 
334 
 
 HISTORY OP 
 
 CHAPTER XIIT. 
 
 OF THE CLIMATE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND OF 
 THE COAST OF LABRADOR. 
 
 One of the peculiarities which distinguish 
 North America from tlie other parts of the 
 world is the temperature of its climate. On 
 the general principle that the heat of this globe 
 is derived from the sun, it is natural to expect 
 that this heat should be in a ratio compounded 
 of his vicinity, the direct impulse of his rays, 
 and the time of his continuance above the 
 horizon; and that both the new' and the old 
 Continents should be equally affected under 
 similar latitudes, in the distribution and cha- 
 racter of their several seasons. So various, 
 however, are the degrees of heat in both Con- 
 tinents, under the same latitudes, near the 
 North Pole, and under the equator, that phi- 
 losophers have almost despaired of ever ap- 
 proaching towards a system that w'ould give us 
 d priori any rules for ascertaining or account- 
 ing for these varieties. 
 
 It is very remarkable that we find, at some 
 periods, a considerable degree of heat near 
 
NEWFOUNULANI), 
 
 335 
 
 tlie Nortli Pole, and perpetual frost in the 
 vicinity ot the equator. But, upon the whole, 
 cold predominates in North America. The 
 rigour of the freezing zone extends itself over 
 half those regions which, by their positions, 
 should be temperate. Even in the parts lying 
 in the same parallel as the provinces of Asia 
 and Africa, which uniformly enjoy such genial 
 warmth as is most friendly to vegetation, the 
 dominion of cold still continues to be felt, and 
 winter reigns with extreme severity, though 
 during a shorter period. It extends itself even 
 to the torrid zone, w here it mitigates the excess 
 of the ardours of the sun; so that, while the 
 negro, on the coast of Africa, is scorched with 
 um emitting heat, the inhabitant of Peiii breathes 
 an air equally mild and temperate. 
 
 Newfoundland, part of Nova Scotia, and 
 Canada, lie in the same parallel as the king- 
 dom of France; and in every part of these the 
 water of the rivers is frozen during w inter to 
 the thickness of several feet; the earth is co- 
 vered with snow equally deep; and almost all 
 the birds migrate during that season. The 
 Labrador and the countries on the south of 
 Hudson’s Bay are in the same parallel as 
 Great Britain: and yet, in all these, the cold is 
 so intense, that even the industry of Europeans 
 has not attempted cultivation. In the vicinity 
 
33G 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 of Hudson’s Bay, Fahrenheit’s thermometer 
 has been known in January to sink to forty-five 
 degrees below the freezing point; mercury fre- 
 quently congeals at forty degrees, while spirits 
 of wine will show forty-six. With lespect to 
 the southern parts of North America, several 
 of the plants and fruits peculiar to the coun- 
 tries within the tropics, which are cultivated 
 with success at the Cape of Good Hope, could 
 never be brought to thrive with equal certainty 
 in South Carolina or Florida. This defect is 
 generally imputed to the natural coldness of 
 the climate in America, as the vast number 
 and enormous size of the trees there seem to 
 indicate the extraordinary vigour of the soil in 
 its natural state. Doctor Mitchell, trom ob- 
 servations carried on during thirty years, sup- 
 poses this difterence in temperature to be equal 
 to fourteen or fifteen degrees of latitude; so 
 that a place lying in the fortieth degree of 
 north latitude in America, will have the tem- 
 perature of a place lying in about the fifty-fifth 
 degree in the old Continent. 
 
 It is farther remarkable that, as the cold of 
 winter is more severe, so likewise the heat of 
 summer is more intense in North America than 
 in most of the coiTesponding parts of the 
 ancient Continent. It has already been said, 
 that in' the vicinity of Hudson’s Bay, Fahren- 
 
NEM'^FOUNm.ANl). 
 
 337 
 
 heit’s thermometer has sunk, in the month of 
 January, to forty-five degrees below the freezing 
 point; it lias also been seen there to rise in 
 July as high as eighty-five degrees. All navi- 
 gators who have- visited those regions between 
 the seventieth and the eightieth degrees of 
 north latitude, frequently speak of a heat 
 powerful enough to melt the pitch of the 
 ships; which Doctor Forster, who accompa- 
 nied Captain Cook in his voyages of disco- 
 very, obsenes is not the case in the south 
 of America, because, he says, “ the globe con- 
 tains a much greater quantity of land elevated 
 above the surface of the sea, in the northern 
 part, than in the opposite polar regions of the 
 south, which, to those w'ho have explored 
 them, have constantly exhibited nothing but a 
 wide extensive sea; this sea absorbs the solar 
 rays, while the land, on the contrary, reflects 
 them in every direction, and thus a considera- 
 ble degree of heat is generated.” 
 
 Various causes have been assigned for this 
 diflerence of climates under the same latitudes 
 in the new and in the old Continents. Mr. 
 Kirwan, having established for first princi- 
 ples that, after the sun, the (;arth is the chief 
 source of heat in the atmosphere, and that, 
 consequently, distance from the earth is a 
 source of cold: that the vicissitudes of winds 
 
338 
 
 HISTOKY OF 
 
 are chiefly occasioned by the change of tempe- 
 rature, which they influence in their turns, and 
 both together form the state of tlie atmosphere; 
 he enumerates, among others, the following 
 circumstances as governing the temperature of 
 land : 
 
 1 . Elevation above the level of the sea. 
 
 2. Vicinity or distance of large tracts of 
 water. 
 
 3. Vicinity or distance of other tracts of 
 land which, by their elevation or the circum- 
 stances of their surface, have a temperature 
 peculiar to themselves, as stony, sandy, and 
 woody countries. 
 
 4. The bearing of neighbouring seas, moun- 
 tains, forests, deserts, &c. 
 
 America extends farther to the Pole than 
 any other part of the world, and spreads out 
 immensely to the west: its northern extremity 
 is one entire groupe of high mountains, covered 
 with ice and snow throughout the whole year. 
 These mountains rise in those parts of the 
 Continent that have been discovered in Baffin's 
 Bay, and spread all over to New England. 
 Hence the coast of Labrador is the highest of 
 any in the world, and may be descried at the 
 distance of forty leagues ; whilst, in the westeni 
 parts, discovered by the Russians, we are in- 
 formed, that the. country has terrible mpuntain.s 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 339 
 
 covered with snow in the month of July, in the 
 latitude of fifty-eight degrees. The Avind, in 
 passing over such an e.xtent of high and frozen 
 land, becomes so impregnated with cold, that 
 it acquires a piercing keenness which it retains 
 in its progress through warmer climates, and is 
 not entirely mitigated until it reaches the Gulf 
 of Mexico. It is evident, that a cold wind 
 blowing over land, will, at first, lose some part 
 of its temperature, because in its passage it 
 robs the surface of some of its heat. But, if 
 this cold wind continues to blow in the same 
 direction as it passes over a surface already 
 cooled, it A\ill, at last, suffer no farther abate- 
 ment of its own keenness; and, as it advances 
 over a large tract of land, it will bring on with 
 it all the severity of intense frost. Over all' 
 the Continent of North America, a Tiorth-west- 
 erly wind and excessive cold are synonimous 
 tei-ms: even in the mdst' sultry Aveather, the 
 moment that the wind veers to that quarter, its 
 penetrating influence is felt in a transition from 
 heat to cold no less violent than sudden. 
 These north-Avesterly Avinds are the most pre- 
 dominant there, and bloAv Avith a fury Avhich 
 rid wind exceeds. The great lakes of Canada, 
 which are inland seas extending north-Avest for 
 twelve or thirteen hundred miles, give force 
 iind direction to these Avinds AVhich bloAv from 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 the northern frozen regions, and bring the 
 climate of Hudson’s Bay to the most southern 
 parts of that Continent, whenever they blow 
 for any length of time. On the other hand, 
 when a cold wind blows over an extensive and 
 deep sea, the superficial water will be immedi- 
 ately cooled to a certain degree, and the w ind 
 will be proportionably warmed ; this superficial 
 and colder w ater, becoming specifically heavier 
 than the w'armer water below it, will descend, 
 and its place will be supplied by what is 
 warmer, and so on successively, producing a 
 proportionable abatement of coldness in the 
 air, until the whole water will be so far cooled 
 that the surface is no longer removed from the 
 action of the wind fast enough to hinder it from 
 being arrested by frost. Whenever the surface 
 fi'eezes, the wind is no longer warmed by the 
 water from below, and it blows on with undi- 
 minished cold. Let us now suppose a warm 
 wind blowing over water; it will agitate it and 
 bring up the colder water from below, and thus 
 it will be continually losing somewhat of its 
 own heat. Besides, on account of the trans- 
 parency of water, its surface cannot be heated 
 to a great degree by the sun’s rays; so that 
 during its passage over an extensive collection 
 -of water this wind is gradually cooled ; whilst 
 the same wind, blowing over land, calculated 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 ,341 
 
 by cultivation or otherwise for the absorption 
 of heat, will warm the surface of that ground, 
 and will itself acquire an increasing degree of 
 heat. It is a general observation in England, 
 and in other parts similarly situated, that the 
 greatest heat in the day is about two o’clock in 
 the afternoon, the summer warmest about the 
 middle of .July, and the winter coldest about 
 the middle of January. This is considered as 
 the effect of the continued operation of the 
 rays of the sun during the long days, and vice 
 versd. For the same reason the forests which 
 cover America hinder the sun-beams from 
 heating the ground, which, not being heated, 
 cannot heat the air ^ at the same time that they 
 are a great cause of the temperate climate in 
 the equatorial parts. Doctor Wynne, in his 
 History of America, in opposition to the opinion . 
 of those who imagine that the severity of the 
 climate of the north of America is to be attri- 
 buted to the woods, says, that they do not dis- 
 tinguish between wet and cold, or the damps 
 of wood-lands and frosts, which are very dif- 
 ferent things : that these colds are so far from 
 being occasioned by the woods, that one-half 
 of that Continent which is the coldest, and 
 from which they proceed, has not a wood in it, 
 and is so barren that it does not bear a tree or 
 a bush. He affirms that it is from this want of 
 
342 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 woods in the northern parts, and from the great 
 lakes, that these furious north-westerly winds 
 proceed, wliich, lie says, are very much abated 
 by the woods. In the open plains these cold 
 winds are insuflferable both to man and beast, 
 and that even in the southern colonies, wliilst 
 ill the woods^ they maybe endured. This- is 
 particularly applicable to the climate of New- 
 foundland. On the bari’ens the cold is intole- 
 rable ; and in the most intense winters there is 
 a considerable degree of heat in the woods, 
 even so as to produce lassitude and perspira- 
 tion in travelling. In summer, while the sun 
 is above the horizon, the heat is veiy great on 
 the barrens, and the woods are extremely cool. 
 These various effects may be accounted for on 
 the principle above laid down by Doctor 
 Wynne, as to the temperature of the barrens 
 in winter; and with respect to the difference of 
 temperature in the woods, the heat in winter 
 may be attributed to the obstructions which 
 impede the communication between the atmo- 
 sphere and the surface of the ground, which is 
 thus allowed to retain its natural heat, while, in 
 summer, the effect of the interception of the 
 rays of the sun is increased by the cooling ex- 
 halations of the earth and the continual per- 
 spiration of the plants. For it is well known, 
 that the vegetative power of a plant occasions 
 
N E W FOU N DLA N U. 
 
 343 
 
 a perspiration from the leaves in proportion to 
 the heat to which they are exposed ; and from 
 the nature of evaporation, this perspiration 
 produces a proportionable degree of cold. 
 
 In Newfoundland, in the same manner as in 
 Switzerland, and in Siberia, where the cold is 
 known to be extremely intense in winter, the 
 snow is observed to melt first at the bottom : 
 as soon as the temperature of the air has un- 
 dergone a change sufficient to produce art im- 
 pression on the surface of the frozen snow, this 
 immense solid mass, four or five feet deep, and 
 composed of several layers formed by different 
 falls of snow on so many hard frozen surfaces, 
 appears to be worked upon by two powers act- 
 ing in different directions until they meet, 
 when the mass breaks and dissolves in torrents. 
 The effects of such a sudden thaw in New- 
 foundland is almost inconceivable. The snow 
 which rests on a rocky surface, on the contrary, 
 converted into a solid mass of ice, remains 
 imtil the rays of the sun have completely 
 melted it, and in some parts of the woods con- 
 tinues in that state even until the middle of 
 summer. Immediately after the melting of the 
 snow', the earth is found unfrozen not only at the 
 surface, but also at any depth, except in those 
 places where the ground is rocky at a small 
 distance from the surface. The melting of the 
 
:344 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 snow is much more rapid in its lower parts, 
 which, in the most severe winters, are found, 
 by digging, to consist of a soft substance, called 
 in Newfoundland rotten snow. 
 
 From the principles of the effects produced 
 by a cold and a warm wind blowing over land 
 and over water, may be explained the severity 
 of winter and frosts, and the intensity of heat, 
 in extensive continents; the comparatively 
 mild climates of islands in the same latitudes, 
 as is the case with Newfoundland in compari- 
 son with Canada, which, in fact, lies more to 
 the southward ; the superior rigour of winter in 
 those parts of North America with which we 
 are best acquainted, and the superior warmth 
 in summer of large continents, situated in the 
 temperate or colder zones of the earth, when 
 compared with those of islands. This explains 
 likewise a fact, which otherwise would appear 
 unaccountable, that the same westerly winds 
 which spread the rigours of winter in America 
 as far as the equator, mitigate its severity in 
 the north-w est parts of Europe, whilst in India 
 these north-westers are welcome visitors. 
 
 - In Canada the extremes of heat and cold 
 are astonishing. In July and August the ther- 
 mometer is often as high as ninety-six degrees, 
 while mercury freezes in the depth of winter. 
 The snow begins generally in November; and. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 34.'i 
 
 *®l> • I 
 
 111 January, the frost is so intense, that it is 
 hardly possible to he long out of doors without 
 risk of serious injury to the extremities. Most 
 ^ houses have very large stoves placed in the 
 centre, whence flues pass to the other apart- 
 leq *«®nts. \arious other precautions are taken 
 
 against the weather, such as double doors and 
 ‘ double windows in the houses, and furs or 
 other very warm coverings for the body. In 
 May, the thaw generally comes suddenly, the 
 ice on the river bursting with the noise of can- 
 * non, and its passage to the sea truly terrific, 
 J especially when it crashes against a rock. The 
 heat of summer speedily succeeds the frost, 
 iMi and vegetation is instantaneous. July and 
 11 ^ August are exceedingly hot, with frequent vio- 
 lent thunder-storms. September is generally 
 fa the most pleasant month in the year, 
 dlif In Newfoundland, the seasons partake of 
 dll the general character of the climate in those 
 ill. labtudes, but in a milder degree; for although 
 
 H this island lies in a higher latitude than Canada, 
 
 ii: the winters are by no means of such intense 
 
 m and continued severity as to require the extra- 
 iii ordinary precautions which are used there 
 II' against the cold. M inter generally sets in 
 jji; about the middle of November, and terminates 
 fit , about the middle or latter end of April. The 
 jg: extreme frosts are from Christmas to the middle 
 
34 « 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 of March. Summer sets in about the begin- 
 ning of June, and the greatest heats Are gene- 
 rally from the beginning of July to the end of 
 August. Early winters are commonly severe 
 and long: a mild winter produces a wet sum- 
 mer, and a proper Newfoundland winter occa- 
 sions a dry summer. There is some variation 
 in the time when the winter sets in, but there is 
 none in its termination, on account of the re- 
 gular periodical arrival, on these coasts, of the 
 islands and fields of ice from the northern re- 
 gions, the effect of w^hich is to protract the 
 severity of vyinter, or rather to bring on a 
 second winter, which lasts until the ice has 
 been driven away by a westerly or north-west- 
 erly wind, sufficiently strong to detach and 
 move those immense masses. 
 
 The sky, towards the northern and western 
 parts of the island, is generally clear and 
 serene, whilst the eastern and southern parts, 
 on the shore and in soundings, are more subject 
 to rains and fogs, on account of their proximity 
 to the banks. These heavy wet fogs are most 
 frequent in the spring and in the fall, when they 
 render the navigation near that coast extremely 
 dangerous. To obviate, in some degree, those 
 dangers, guns are fired from one of the forts in 
 Saint John’s every half-hour, or every quarter 
 of an hour, according to circumstances, to m- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 347 
 
 tsiji the vessels which may then happen to he 
 
 ' on the coast of their proximity to the land. 
 
 ^ In winter, the cohl from the m est and north- 
 ^ ' west IS severe, but dry and bracing. The 
 
 wind from the north and north-east produces a 
 raw penetrating cold, accompanied with drifts 
 of snow or sleet, which cover the ground 
 sometimes to the depth of four or five feet, and 
 
 ' even six or seven in certain situations. Sudden 
 
 «« tempests frequently arise; the winds seem to 
 blow at once from all quarters, and drive about 
 the snow with such fury that the roads and the 
 ok ground are in a moment rendered invisible; 
 14' the whole extent is one smootli surface, inter- 
 !ir spersed with hills and valleys of snow; the 
 
 g4 lower part of the houses is buried to the dej>th 
 
 of several feet, and their entrance completely 
 as blocked up. During these storms the houses 
 llii: crack and shake, the sea water is scattered 
 
 about on the land like snow-dust, and the 
 fjt ,woods, at any other time much warmer than 
 the open ground during the winter, aftbrd no 
 |j^, shelter to the traveller, when surprised by a 
 p sudden gale of wind accompanied with drifts 
 0 of snow. Unable to see his way or to proceed, 
 ^ he is tempted to sit down or lie still under the 
 trees. Exti-eme cold, especially when joined 
 ^ with fatigue, is well known to produce a sleepi- 
 ^ ness which is almost irresistible; its torpid in- 
 
HISTORY OK 
 
 ;u« 
 
 fluence renders all motion unpleasant, and is 
 gently carrying the sleep of death from the ex- 
 tremities to the heart. To be then preserved 
 from certain destruction, the traveller must be 
 shaken and dragged by force from his fatal 
 bed of slumber; for, according to Doctor So- 
 lander’s observation, “ Whosoever, in such a 
 case, sits down, will sleep; and whoever sleeps, 
 will wake no more.” Or, if he is fortunate 
 enough to escape with his life, he runs great 
 danger of coming out with some of his extre- 
 mities bit by the frost, an accident which some- 
 times happens in Newfoundland, under various 
 circumstances, during the winter; though not 
 so common as in Russia. There, as we are 
 informed by travellers, numbers of persons 
 frequently lose their nose, ears, fingers, and 
 toes by it : it is not unusual for people, in pass- 
 ing each other, to call out to take care of their 
 nose; for those who have been bit by the frost 
 are not sensible of it themselves, whereas, it is 
 easily perceived by others, from the white ap- 
 pearance of the part aftected : a mortification 
 unavoidably ensues, unless it is prevented in 
 time by rubbing the part with snow till the 
 ^verson recovers his feeling; otherwise the part 
 affected will be completely lost; and this effect 
 may be accelerated by using warm applica- 
 tions, or by entering into a warm room. Among 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 349 
 
 the many instances of this kind which have 
 * passed under my observation, one was of 
 a remarkably stout and strong mariner, whose 
 feet happened to be bit by the frost, in conse- 
 ^ cjuence of wet from sea water, on his passage 
 «« from Saint John’s to Harbour-Grace. He un- 
 ® S happily fell into the hands of one of the experi- 
 
 mental sons of Esculapius, who attempted to 
 isi cure his feet by the application of warm water; 
 tei the consequence of this new mode of treatment 
 idi was, that the mortification gained upon his 
 
 ilifc limbs with the most alarming rapidity, and his 
 
 ,iiK: life could not have been preserved but by the 
 
 i;il amputation of both legs above the knees. 
 
 (ttJ A change of wind sometimes brings on a 
 IS I! suddfen partial thaw, which is soon succeeded 
 by a frost; and then the surface presents a 
 iqii smooth level of ice. 
 
 •10 In Europe, the dry freezing winds proceed 
 from north to east: in North America they are 
 ijj from north to west. When these prevail, the 
 ill, sky is clear and of a dark blue, and the nights 
 0 transcendently beautiful. The moon displays 
 ^ far greater radiance than in Europe; and, in 
 her absence, her function is not ill supplied by 
 the uncommon and fiery brightness of the stars. 
 The aurora borealis frequently tinges the sky 
 with coloured rays of such brilliancy, that their 
 .splendour, not cfiacod even by that of the full 
 
 
350 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 moon, is of the utmost magnificence, if the 
 moon does not shine. Sometimes it begins in 
 the form of a scarf of bright light with its extre- 
 mities resting upon the horizon, which, with a 
 motion resembling that of a fishing-net, and a 
 noise similar to the rustling of silk, glides softly 
 up the sky, when the lights frequently unite in 
 the zenith and form the top of a crown; at 
 other times, the motion is like that of a pair of 
 colours w'aving in the air, and the different 
 tints of light present the appearance of so many 
 vast streamers of changeable silk: or spreading 
 into vast columns and altering slowly; or by 
 rapid motions into an immense variety of 
 shapes, varying its colours from all the tints of 
 yellow to the most obscure russet ; and, after 
 having briskly skimmed along the heavens, or 
 majestically spread itself from the horizon to the 
 zenith, on a sudden it disappears, leaving behind 
 a uniform dusky tract : this is again illuminated, 
 and in the same manner suddenly extinguished. 
 Sometimes it begins with some insulated rays 
 from the north and the north-east, which increase 
 by degrees until they fill the whole sky, forming 
 the most splendid sight that can be conceived, 
 crackling, sparkling, hissing, and making a 
 noise similar to that of artificial fireworks. 
 
 These phenomena, which are generally con- 
 sidered as the effects of electricity, are looked 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 351 
 
 -I upon as the forerunners of storms; and wJien 
 
 “Is these arise from the nortli-east they spread the 
 
 A»i most horrid gloom over the island. Immense 
 
 W. islands and fields of ice, brought down from 
 
 ?«■ the northern regions, fill up and freeze every 
 
 ft bay and harbour, and block up the coast to the 
 
 distance of several leagues into the ocean, 
 an The wind, blowing over this immense smface, 
 ith is full of frozen fogs or frost-smoke, arising 
 iti from the ice, in the shape of an infinite number 
 tek of icy spiculae, visible to the naked eye, pene- 
 ;w tratmg into every pore and into the smallest 
 kc apertures of the wooden houses, and rendering 
 the exposure to the open air very disagreeable 
 and even painful. 
 
 The stated period for the seal-fishery, so as 
 ifjj! not to injure the cod-fishery, does not admit of 
 ,|iP any delay ; otherwise the voyage would be lost, 
 and it is this very ice that brings the seals near 
 ik these coasts. The 17th of March is generally 
 if® the time when vcsssels are ready to proceed on 
 ^ this fishery. The crews collected together, 
 with as many assistants as can be obtained 
 ’sh' from the shore, are distributed into two rows, 
 some with hatchets or large saws, and others 
 ^ j 'with strong poles in their hands. Having fixed 
 ^ upon two lines separated by a space of suffi- 
 
 ^ cient breadth to allow the ships or vessels to 
 
 passthrough freely, each party cuts along the 
 
352 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 solid mass into squares, which are afterwards 
 divided across from one line to the other, and 
 shoved with poles under the firm ice, or else 
 pushed along to the opening, if this happens to 
 be at a small distance. This operation, whicli 
 is extremely laborious, is continued until a way 
 has been worked into the open sea. Where 
 the harbour is divided by a beach, or by pro- 
 jecting rocks, the space thus cut off to those 
 points, if the wind is in the right quarter, will 
 generally shake and loosen the whole mass, 
 which is easily removed by means of poles, 
 and the harbours will be completely clearednn 
 a very short time. But when the ice is of con- 
 siderable thickness, after a long and steady 
 frost, the task is harder in proportion ; the ope- 
 ration must be continued to the mouth of the 
 harbour, and forms in the middle a beautiful 
 channel, to which the contrast of the white 
 colour of the suiTOunding ice gives a very dark 
 tint. I saw, in the spring of the year 1801, 
 that operation performed in Saint John’s Har- 
 bour, to open a passage to the Pluto sloop of 
 war, commanded by Captain Edged, a gentle- 
 man whose name will be long rennembered 
 there with pleasure. The winter had been un- 
 usually severe; the ice in the harbour, of con- 
 siderable thickness, had the consistency of a 
 rocky surface, whilst its uniform smoothness 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 ' 3r,3 
 
 gave it the appearance of an even plain. The 
 cold was intense and the day of the greatest 
 beauty. An immense concourse of people had 
 collected on the ice, where there were likewise 
 several officers and other gentlemen on horse- 
 back. The operation was long and extremelv 
 laborious, performed with very large and heavy 
 saws, the hatchets being used only to cut the 
 pieces of ice across from line to line. After 
 the passage had been completely opened 
 through the whole middle channel of the har- 
 bour, the ice still continuing firm on both sides, 
 the appearance of the Pluto, with most of her 
 sails set and filled by a gentle breeze from the 
 westward, proceeding majestically through the 
 channel, was truly grand and exceedingly 
 beautiful. 
 
 When the ice has completely left the bays 
 and harbours, which frequently happens in the 
 course of one night, the change in the tempera- 
 ture ot the Aveather is great and indescribably 
 rapid; but should the wind turn to the east- 
 ward, all that ice returns instantly and restores 
 things to the same state in which they were 
 before; winter then resumes bis empire, and 
 sometimes seems to revenge the temporary in- 
 terruption of his reign by additional severity 
 and rigour. The south-east storms are the 
 most violent, but the north-east are of the 
 
354 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 longest continuance, and attended with every 
 circumstance that can complete the asperity 
 of that dreary season. 
 
 The spring is generally attended by fogs 
 and rains. About the beginning of June the 
 change of climate is sensible, and from the 
 middle of July, and frequently sooner, to 
 the latter end of August, the heats' are so 
 considerable as to require a change to what is 
 called summer-dress. Not a cloud is to be 
 perceived, and for some hours, commonly be- 
 tween ten in the morning and four in the 
 afternoon, the wannth of the weather is fre- 
 quently such as, according to the observations 
 of competent judges, not to be exceeded in any 
 part of the West Indies. It is, however, gene- 
 rally not only tolerable but extremely pleasant. 
 The nights are transcendently beautiful; the 
 clearness of the heavens, the serenity of the afr, 
 the bright radiance of the moon, the uncommon 
 beauty of the stars, eaeh of which, particularly 
 near the horizon, strongly resembles a ship’s 
 light at a distance ; all these produce the most 
 exquisitely delightful scene that can be ima- 
 gined. 
 
 It is impossible to conceive, much more to 
 describe, the splendid appearance of Concep- 
 tion-Bay and its harbours on such a night, 
 at the time of what is there called the Cape- 
 
NJiWt’OUNDLANI). 
 
 ii4(s 
 
 Iki 
 
 iw 
 
 sod 
 
 tit 
 
 till 
 
 H 
 
 {(II 
 
 ife: 
 
 (lllf 
 
 ed(: 
 
 (TK 
 
 ek); 
 
 e* 
 
 Wi 
 
 e® 
 
 1 1® 
 
 otfi 
 
 ca> 
 
 idif 
 
 (f(i 
 
 III 
 
 
 lin-skull. Then its vast surface is completely 
 covered with myriads of fishes of various kinds 
 and sizes, all actively engaged either in pur- 
 suing or in avoiding each other; the whales 
 alternately rising and plunging, throwing into 
 the air spouts of water; the cod-fish bounding 
 above the waves, and reflecting the light of the 
 moon from their silvery surface ; the capelins hur- 
 away in iniiTi6iis6 shoals to sggIc a rofiigG 
 on the shore, where each retiring wave leaves 
 countless multitudes skipping upon the sand, an 
 easy prey to the women and children who stand 
 there with barrows and buckets ready to seize 
 upon the precious and plentiful booty; while 
 the fishermen in their skills, with nets made for 
 that purpose, are industriously employed in 
 securing a sufficient quantity of this valuable 
 bait for their fishery. 
 
 September is the most uniformly temperate 
 month. Towards the middle of October the 
 weather grows cool and variable, and, at the 
 end of that month, the rains and fogs have 
 already begun to alter the state of the atmo- 
 sphei’e, and continue, without any considerable 
 interruption, until about the middle of Decem- 
 ber, when snow, frost and cold piercing Avinds, 
 announce the approach of aa inter. The coast is 
 then beaten by a rough and heavy sea, which has 
 assumed a darker hue, roaring with incessant 
 
 A a 2 
 
350 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 noise, shaking and even tearing down the stages 
 and other wooden erections for the fishery, which 
 lie in exposcjd situations, and which have been 
 spared by the equinoctial gales. The wind 
 varies from the south-east round to the north- 
 east and north, driving before it on the shore 
 storms of snow and sleet, till, at last, the north- 
 west having acquired the superiority, the atmo- 
 sphere is cleared, the frost intense, and the 
 weather salutary, though occasionally disturbed 
 by violent storms of snow from the west and 
 north, and of cutting sleet from the north-east 
 and east. 
 
 From this state of the climate of Newfound- 
 land and the adjacent parts of North America, 
 it appears evident, that this island is not calcu- 
 lated to produce any thing sufficient for the 
 support of its inhabitants. 
 
 It has, indeed, been justly observed, that 
 most parts of Europe, particularly about the 
 central and northern regions, are now much 
 less cold than they w ere in the time of Augus- 
 tus: this change is attributed to tlie improve- 
 ment in the agricvdture of those countries, the 
 removal of siqierabundant forests, and the 
 tlraining of marshes. But let us take a view of 
 the map of Newfoundland ; let us observe those 
 deep bays which, intersecting it into peninsulas, 
 carry into its very centre the frosts and ice ofthe 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 357 
 
 arctic regions, from which proceed the winds 
 that are most prevalent in these latitudes during 
 the winter; and it will appear a very probable 
 conclusion, that no internal improvement can 
 produce a material effect on its climate; that 
 any attempt of this kind must be fruitless, and 
 lead only to a waste of labour and expense; 
 and that, consequently, Newfoundland can 
 never be truly valuable but as a fishery, unless 
 Greenland should be restored to the state from 
 
 which it is supposed to have originally derived 
 its name. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 natural productions of the island of 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND AND OF THE COAST OF 
 LABRADOR. 
 
 Although the character of the climate, and 
 the appearance of the land in the island of 
 Newfoundland, as far as it has been exploied, 
 are by no means calculated to encourage any 
 well-grounded hopes of success in agricul- 
 tural improvements, various circumstances 
 have, nevertheless, led to attempts of this 
 kind from the earliest period, even since 
 the year 1615, when Ferryland became the 
 seat of the Government of Avalon. Necessity 
 naturally induced the inhabitants to avail them- 
 selves of every advantage of their situation; at 
 full liberty to select those grounds which were 
 ■ most favourable to their views, the coasts, 
 beaches, and coves, afforded them an abundant 
 and never-failing supply of kelp and other sea- 
 weeds fit for manure ; and the ashes of bushes 
 and trees in the neighbouring woods consumed 
 by fires, the effects either of accident or of 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 35i> 
 
 design, must have made no small addition to 
 the natural fertility of the lands so cleared, if 
 they had any. These facilities were appreci- 
 ated and considerably improved by the several 
 patentees, with a view to make the most of the 
 lands allotted them; by the opulent merchants, 
 in order to increase their own comforts; and 
 by several officers of the army, who could more 
 easily devote their time and attention to such 
 pursuits, and procure labourers Avithout inter- 
 fering Avith the fishery. From the operation of 
 all these causes and facilities, it Avould be na- 
 tural to expect most extensive improvements in 
 the space of tAvo hundred years. And yet the 
 best cultivated grounds, at this day,* scarcely 
 bring even oats to perfect maturity. Potatoes, 
 and cabbage, both green and red, are the most 
 valuable productions of the island, glowing in 
 plots more or less extensive attached to most 
 houses and fishermen’s huts. 
 
 The mode of planting potatoes is the same 
 as m Ireland. The root is cut into several 
 pieces, each of which has an eye: these are 
 spread on ridges with the hand, or on the back 
 of the spade, after it has been driven to some 
 depth into the ground. These ridges, four or 
 
 • Vi*, to the year 1812. 
 
3()0 
 
 HISTORY OK 
 
 five feet wide, without any other pi*eparation 
 than a thin bed of kelp, or other manure, over 
 which the seed is laid, are then covered with 
 earth' and stones dug out from furrows, on each 
 side, of somewhat less than half the breadth of 
 the ridge. This operation is repeated at two 
 several times, as the plant is rising above the 
 surface, to give it strength, and is then called 
 trenching. Late in the fall the potatoes are 
 dug out and secured in cellars under ground. 
 This valuable root is frequently injured by 
 the early frosts before it has been housed, 
 as well as in the cellars, during the winter, 
 if the least damp or cold air reaches them. 
 Even in the most favourable seasons the 
 stock of potatoes raised in the island is so 
 far from adequate to the consumption of the 
 inhabitants, that early arrivals of vessels in the 
 spring are expected with great anxiety for 
 fresh supplies of that commodity. 
 
 Turnips, parsnips, peas, beans, radishes, 
 common small salad, lettuce of various kinds, 
 and sorrel, succeed very well in the gardens, 
 and form an important part of the “ luxuries 
 of that country. Even the common dandelion 
 is most eagerly sought after in the spring, a» a 
 substitute for the greater delicacies of the fine 
 season. Melons have been attempted with 
 
*ome success in hot-houses: cucumbers are 
 raised with less difficulty; and fine hops with 
 the greatest facility. 
 
 Red, black, and white currants, gooseberries, 
 and strawberries, grow there in the greatest 
 perfection; a smaller kind of the latter fruit 
 grows spontaneously among the rocks and in 
 the woods; raspberries grow any where. The 
 cherries are excellent, but only of one kind 
 usually know n by the name of Kentish cherries.’ 
 Damascenes, or damsons, grow in abundance 
 on handsome low trees, but seldom come to 
 complete maturity. 
 
 The plains throughout the whole island are 
 almost covered with low bushes which bear a 
 variety of wild berries. The snake-root, the 
 capilaire, or maidenhair, and the wh/ia cajmcoa, 
 well known in most parts of the north of Ame- 
 nca under the name of American, ov Indian tea, 
 aie likewise extremely common in Newfound- 
 land and the neighbouring islands. When in 
 blossom this latter plant is most beautiful: its 
 leaves green on the upper, and woolly on the 
 undersurface, of a very thick texture, are used 
 ike tea. M. Cassini, who observed this plant in 
 the island of Saint Peter, says, that it greatly 
 resembles their rosemary, both in the stalk and 
 in the leaf. The common mode of using it is 
 to boil It over night, to let it steep till the morn- 
 
362 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 ing, and then to warm the liquor. It is not 
 only a pleasant beverage, but is also consi- 
 dered by the oldest inhabitants as particularly 
 wholesome in the spring. 
 
 Another still more remarkable plant, found 
 in the woods of Newfoundland, is the Sarax:enia, 
 commonly called side-saddle flower, or pitcher- 
 plant. Its flowers, shaped like a lady’s saddle, 
 are surrounded with a vast number of pitchers 
 along with the leaves, to receive the lain-water. 
 The lids expand or shut according to the neces- 
 sities of the plants and they aie of so strong a 
 texture that, being laid on a fire, they will bear 
 for some minutes a lieat sufficient to make the 
 water in them boil. This plant is accurately 
 described in the tw entieth number of Doctor 
 Thornton’s Temple of Flora. 
 
 The swamps abound w ith a pleasing variety of 
 reeds and flowers of various sizes and colours; 
 and the woods with mosses and fenis : some of 
 them have a most beautiful and uncommon ap- 
 pearance and texture, particularly those found 
 on the bark of trees which have lain for some 
 time on the ground. On the road from Portu- 
 gal-Cove to the town of Saint John’s is an ex- 
 tensive marsh, covered with various kinds of 
 grasses, among which are seen thinly spread 
 about thick cylindrical black stalks, about tw'O 
 feet in height, surmounted at top with a thick 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 ‘563 
 
 circular tuft of fine white cotton-like filaments. 
 Wild roses, both red and white, violets, and 
 marygolds, are likewise common in the woods, 
 whilst the sun-flower, the various kinds of lilies, 
 roses, and other superior Howlers, succeed very 
 well in cultivated grounds, displaying in August 
 and September all the beauties of an European 
 spring. It is in fact, at that time of the year, that 
 nature distributes all her most valuable produc- 
 tions. the various bushes and the cherry-trees 
 then yieldtheirberries arrived atmaturity; whil.st 
 the merchant vessels bring the pine-ap|>le and 
 other delicious fruits from the West Indies, and 
 beautiful grapes, oranges, and lemons, from 
 Portugal and Spain. But this abundance and 
 variety of good things last but a very short time. 
 They all come at once, and, after a few weeks, 
 vanish all together; so true is the common saying 
 in Nevvfoundland: “ A short feast, and a long 
 famine.” Red currants may be an exception 
 to this rule, as they have been seen to remain 
 on the bushes in a perfect state until the mid- 
 dle, and sometimes even to the end of October. 
 
 With respect to the general character of the 
 woods in Newfoundland, M. Cassini, in his 
 account of the Islands ot Saint Pierre and the 
 Miquelons, describes them as consisting of 
 sorry fir-trees and some few birch, the only 
 trees that grew in that country, so far as he 
 
history or 
 
 ;5(j4 
 
 could find; adding, that he did not see a single 
 tree more than twelve feet high in all that part 
 of the island where he went. On the other 
 hand, we find that several respectable writers, 
 on the authority and in the very words of a His- 
 tory of North and South America, published in 
 the year 1776 , have held out the delusive hope, 
 that “ the island of Newfoundland, whenever the 
 Continent shall come to fail of timber convenient 
 to navigation, which, perhaps, they say, “ is 
 no very remote prospect, will afford a copious 
 supply for masts, yards, and all sorts of lumber 
 for the West India trade.” This substitution of 
 lumber in the last period, to timber in the first 
 part of this sentence, is extremely judicious, 
 taking the former word in the sense given by 
 Doctor Johnson: “ any thing useless or cum- 
 “ bersome ; any thing of more bulk than value:” 
 nay, it may be said here, that the value and bulk 
 are generally pretty nearly equal. The few at- 
 tempts that have hitherto* been made to build 
 in that island ships or brigs, intended for long 
 voyages, have ended in the production of \'es- 
 sels that might perhaps live seven years at the 
 most, and which were designated there by the 
 ominous appellation of Newfoundland coffins. 
 The inhabitants themselves, notwithstanding 
 
 * Viz. to the year 1812. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 3G5 
 
 the strong inducement of tlie great difference 
 which it would make in the price of their mate- 
 rials, will scarcely ever trust to the Newfound- 
 land growth for the principal pieces of timber 
 used m their schooners or smaller craft. In 
 all cases, where strength and durability are re- 
 ijuired, recourse is had to timber imported from 
 Miramichi, in New Brunswick, and other parts 
 of North America. The only uses to which 
 the Newfoundland lumber is generally applied, 
 are as lungers, posts, and other parts of their 
 hshmg stages; staves for oil and fish casks, 
 and even of these a considerable proportion is 
 annually imported from abroad; clapboard 
 and firewood. The severity of the Newfound- 
 land winters, the violent storms and extensive 
 floods to which this island is subject, and the 
 very small depth of the mould, which is scarcely 
 sufficient to cover the roots of the trees, must 
 necessarily prevent these from attaining to their 
 natural size, solidity, and compactedness. 
 
 T he family of firs and evergreens compo.se, 
 perhaps, the largest proportion of the trees 
 found in the forests of Newfoundland. The 
 spiuce, or true fir, grows straight and tapering; 
 its twigs with the leaves boiled, and mixed 
 with molasses, make a beverage, or beer, 
 which is esteemed particularly wholesome. 
 Here are also the white spruce-fir, which grows 
 
HISTORY OF 
 
 360 
 
 in swamps or marshes, several kinds ot pine- 
 trees, small alder, asp, ash, beech, and elm. I 
 have seen some beautiful specimens of the 
 silver-leaved fir on the late Stephen Knight’s 
 farm, near Quidy-Vidy-Pond. White and 
 black birch are very common, particularly in 
 those parts of the woods which have been 
 wasted by fire. Cherry-trees are also some- 
 times seen in those ]>arts of the woods which 
 border on the sea-coast. 
 
 Kelp and several other kinds of large sea- 
 weeds are extremely abundant in the difi'eient 
 bays and harbours, and profitably used as ma- 
 nure. Here also are found some of tliose ex- 
 traordinary productions ot nature which com- 
 pose the order of zoophyta, ^or animal flowers, 
 forming the link between the vegetable and the 
 animal kingdoms. The specimen which I had 
 an opportunity of observing, in the year 1811, 
 in Bay-Bulls, resembled a collection of long 
 thick leaves, issuing from the surface of a 
 small insvdated rock not far from the shore, 
 and aUvays under water. These seemii^ 
 leaves were of a bright straw colour, with 
 streaks and spots of green distributed in some 
 parts in a regular and in others in an irregular 
 manner. On the near approach of a stick or 
 other similar substance they immediately con- 
 tracted towards the centre, and closed toge- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 367 
 
 ther, liaving then the appearance of a plant in 
 the form of a truncated cone: but, if left undis- 
 turbed for a few minutes, they gradually ex- 
 panded, though at first very cautiously, till 
 they appeared in all their former bloom, waving 
 sometimes together and sometimes separately 
 in difterent directions. The rock itself exhi- 
 bited on its surface a thick bed of the weed 
 called water-bottles, very much resembling 
 scattered clusters of unripe grape. Every at- 
 tempt to lay hold of any of those seeming 
 leaves was fruitless. I was informed that this 
 rock had been more than once most carefully 
 bored and drilled with a sharj) iron instalment, 
 so as to destroy every vestige of vegetation on 
 Its surface, and to lay it completely bare; and 
 in the course of a few days the plant was seen 
 again on the very same spot, displaying the 
 same appearances as before, of bloom, sensa- 
 tion, and voluntary motion of its parts. 
 
 I’o the mineralogist Newfoundland may 
 probably present an interesting and abundant 
 field, treasures hitherto unexplored, if credit is 
 given to the only source of information which 
 can be had on this subject, namely, the tradi- 
 tionary reports which are repeated with confi- 
 dence by the oldest inhabitants of the island. 
 From these it would appear, 1st. that Concep- 
 tion-Bay has always been understood to con- 
 
308 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 tuin mines of several sorts ^ that, at Chapel- 
 Cove, at the head of that bay, there is a coal- 
 mine. A lime- kiln was some years ago erected 
 in that neighbourhood, and for some time 
 worked with tolerable success. 2d. That tliere 
 is an iron-mine at Back-Cove, on the northern 
 side of Bell-Isle, near Portugal-Cove ; another 
 on a high hill, called the Look-Out, on the 
 back of the town of Harbour-Grace. In this 
 latter place there are two remarkable springs, 
 which are considered as of a mineral nature ; 
 the one on the easterly boundaries of wliat is 
 called there Stretton’s farm, or plantation, and 
 the other about half way on the road from the 
 church to the river-head of Harbour-Grace. It 
 has also been positively asserted, by several 
 respectable ancient inhabitants, that Shoal- 
 Bay, lying between Petty-Harbour and Bay- 
 Bidls, to the south of the town of Saint John’s, 
 contains a mine of copper ore; that, about the 
 year 1775, some Cornish miners were brought 
 over from England, at the invitation of the then 
 Collector of the Customs in Saint John’s, for 
 the express purpose of working this supposed 
 mine ; that an attempt was actually made, but 
 soon after relinquished, on account ot the ex- 
 pense, and the tardiness of returns adequate to 
 the farther prosecution of the new underta- 
 king. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 309 
 
 Doctor FoLster aHirms that tliere are in 
 Newfoundland, as well as in Cape-Breton. 
 such rich coal-mines, that, if they were worked,’ 
 their produce would be sufficient to supply all 
 .Europe and America abundantly with' this 
 commodity; and that some even are so advan- 
 tag:eously situated, that the coals might be 
 thrown directly from the coal-Avorks themselves 
 into the ships as they lie close to the shore. 
 This piece of intelligence, he says, he had from 
 his late fi-iend Captain Cook, who, for several 
 years successively had explored the shores of 
 this island, taken their bearings and respec- 
 tive distances, and laid rhem down on charts. ‘ 
 But a less doubtful mineral production, re- 
 markable for the unfortunate mistakes which it 
 has occasioned from the earliest period since 
 the discovery of this island, is to be found near 
 Catalina-IIarbour, between Cape-Bonavista and 
 TriniU -Harbour. It is a cliff almost entirely 
 composed of gold marcasite, which goes there 
 by the name of Cutalina-stone^ a heavy, 
 shining, yellowish substance, which, like flint, 
 emits fire when struck with steel; and, when 
 exposed in an iron spoon to the action of fire, 
 yields a blue sulphureous flame, and after- 
 wards calcines into a purple powder. 
 
 Sir Martin Frobisher seems to be the first on 
 
 B b 
 
370 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 record who was deceived by the external ap- 
 pearance of this substance into a confidence 
 that he had, at last, found the precious metal 
 so ardently sought after in those times. In the 
 voyage ^vhich he perfoimed, in the year 157t), 
 to attempt a north-west passage to India, we 
 are informed, that having met with a vast quan- 
 tity of ice, he at last saw land on the 28th of 
 July, and again on the 1st of August: on the 
 11th, he entered into a strait, where he had 
 some communication w ith the natives, lost five 
 of his men, and then left that coast, carry- 
 ing with him, among other things, a shining 
 and very heavy stone which was afterwards 
 found to be gold marcasite, or pyrites aureus. 
 Tliis last circumstance seems to fix accurately 
 the place, otherwise doubtful in the relation of 
 ' the voyage, where those transactions took 
 place : for, in three difterent charts of “ Ortelio’s 
 Theatro del Orbe de la Tierra,” each of which 
 bears the date of the year 1587, Trinity-Bay is 
 represented as a strait leaving Avalon to the 
 south-east as a distinct island. 
 
 Seven years afterwards. Sir Humphrey Gil- 
 bert was deceived in the same manner, though 
 accompanied by an “ expert Saxon miner.” It 
 must appear surprising that an experienced 
 miner and assayist, as Hackluyt represents this 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 371 
 
 Daniol to 'have been, should have falleti into 
 such an error; or was it an artifice to induce 
 the Admiral to hasten his return to England? 
 
 This mineral, known by the names of mar- 
 casite, coppera-stone, and horse-gold, is fre- 
 quently found mixed with copper, iron, arsenic, 
 silver, and gold. It likewise abounds in coal- 
 pits so much that it is found necessary to sepa- 
 rate it carefully from the coal. The pieces 
 so separated and laid in heaps have been 
 known, in several instances, to take fire and to 
 bum like red-hot coals, to the great alarm and 
 annoyance of the neighbourhood, on account 
 of the sulphureous and fmtid exhalations which 
 they emitted to a considerable distance. The 
 master of a copperas-work, at Whitstable, in 
 Kent, had laid pyrites, to the quantity of about 
 three hundred tons, in a heap, and built over 
 it a shed to keep off the rain. In the space of 
 a few months, the heap was seen to emit a 
 strong sulphureous smoke, soon after took fire, 
 and continued to burn for a whole week, until 
 the inhabitants of the place and neighbourhood, 
 for their own sake, united their endeavours to 
 extinguish it. The same accident has been ob- 
 served at Whitehaven, at Halifax, and at Ealand. 
 
 It is to this property of taking fire spontaneously, 
 when affected by a certain degree of moisture, 
 as well as to that of striking fire, like flint, with 
 
 B b ‘2 
 
372 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 . steel, that this mineral owes its scientific name 
 of pyrites, from the Greek word for//e. For 
 the same reason, pyrites have been considered 
 by the Reverend Mr. Michell, and several 
 other writers in the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, as the principal cause of earthquakes, 
 which were represented as proceeding from 
 the admission of water to subterraneous fires, 
 and from the elastic vapour which was pro- 
 duced in consequence of such admission. The 
 ground of this theory was, that a little rivulet 
 passing over a bed of pyrites will first produce 
 heat, then smoke, and at last a clear flame. 
 The same eflfect has also been observed in 
 coal-pits: for though the coals, of themselves, 
 do not, strictly speaking, enter into combustion, 
 yet, when contaminated with pyrites beyond 
 the usual proportion, and moistened by rain or 
 other means, their accumulations will easily 
 take fire, as it happened above a hundred years 
 ago at Puddle-Wharf, in London. Even their 
 native strata have been known to bum for a 
 long series of years from the same cause. The 
 clifls near Charmouth, in Dorsetshire, took 
 fire, in August, 1751, in consequence of a heavy 
 fall of rain after a hot and dry season, and conti- 
 nued at intervals to emit flame for several years. 
 These cliffs are said to consist of a dark-co- 
 loured bituminous loam, in which are imbedded 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 373 
 
 large quantities of different kinds of pyrites. 
 In the same manner, and from tlie same causes, 
 the cliff’ above mentioned, near Catalina-Har- 
 bour, in Newfoundland, frequently takes fire 
 and continues to emit ffame for a longer or 
 shorter time, accoiding to circumstances of 
 wind and weather. 
 
 The only article of any interest that the 
 coast of Labrador presents to the mineralogist, 
 IS known by the name of the Lahador-stone, 
 or “ spatum rutilum versicolor.” This beauti- 
 ful stone was first discovered about the year 
 1 778 by the Moravians. Its colour is sometimes 
 of a light, sometimes of a deep, and mostly of a 
 blackish grey; but when held in certain posi- 
 tions to the light, it discovers different varieties 
 of beautiful shining colours, as lazuly-blue, 
 grass-green, apple-green, pea-green, and not 
 seldom a citron-yellow : some have an inter- 
 mediate colour between red-copper and tom- 
 back-grey, some between grey and violet; these 
 colours are seen sometimes in stripes, but 
 generally in spots, on the same piece. The 
 Labrador-stones are found in pretty large pieces 
 of an angular form: their fracture appears 
 foliated, and the broken parts are rhomboidal; 
 they are semi-transparent, and in other respects 
 agree with the felt-spar. 
 
 Of the animals to be found in Newfound- 
 
374 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 land, some are of European extraction; others 
 are natives, and, except the proper Newfound- 
 land dog, common to the northern regions of 
 British America. 
 
 Of the first class are the few horses and 
 black cattle which are kept there. These are 
 generally left, during the summer, to range in 
 the woods and valleys, where they find suffi- 
 cient pasture; and when, towards the fall, 
 this support fails them, they repair, as by in- 
 stinct, to their owners’ dwellings, sometimes 
 with the addition of a foal or a calf; but, 
 if the cow has a calf at home, she will never 
 absent hei'self for a longer time than until the 
 dusk of the evening. Goats are numerous, 
 easily kept, and very useful on account of their 
 kids, and also of their milk, which is generally 
 used in the island, and by many preferred to cow’s 
 milk. Swine are likewise extremely common, 
 to the frerjuent annoyance of the gardens and 
 potatoe-grounds: they are liable to acquire a 
 fishy taste, which they will communicate to their 
 litter, if they are not confined for some time 
 previous to their farrowing; the same precau- 
 tion is likewise necessary previous to their being 
 killed for use. Rabbits have of late years been 
 introduced into some small islands in Concep- 
 tion-Bay, where they have considerably increa- 
 sed, notwithstanding the absurd method some- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 375 
 
 times used of shooting them ; the consequence of 
 which must be that the rabbit, if only wounded, 
 will crawl into a hole and there die. Among 
 the common domestic animals, the cat is one of 
 the most useful, on account of the vast number 
 of rats and mice which infest the stores and 
 dwelling-houses. The rats there are of an 
 amazing size and uncommonly bold, having 
 frequently been seen to cross the streets in 
 the day-time in their way to the provision- 
 stores, to maintain their ground against a dog, 
 and to show little dread at the approach of 
 man. 
 
 Among the wild inhabitants of the woods, 
 the deer hold the first rank, on account of their 
 size, numbers, and utility. These multiply in 
 the interior of the island with the greater ease, 
 as they are less disturbed and more secure. 
 Bears, beavers, otters, the common or red fox, 
 hares, and martens, are likewise found there in • 
 vast numbers, and furnish an abundant and 
 very profitable employment to the furriers, du- 
 ring the winter season, both in Newfoundland 
 and in the other ])arts of those latitudes. Tlie 
 w inter is the usual season for Imntinsc. At that 
 time the snow, deep and hardened by the frost, 
 presents every where a surface uniformly level, 
 dry, and convenient for those pursuits. The 
 hunters head is sheltered by a north-wester, or 
 
376 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 hood, which covers his head and shoulders, 
 and is fastened by pinovers, or pieces of flannel 
 tacked to one side of the north-wester and 
 pinned to the other, the one covering the nose, 
 and the other the chin; his hands are con- 
 cealed in w arm cuffs, m shape like those used 
 in England by hedgers ; and his feet are armed 
 with light broad rackets. Tims prepared, he 
 fearlessly ranges about, or, accortling to the 
 technical terra, rummages in search of his game. 
 Another important consideration, which makes 
 w'inter the best season tor these purposes, is 
 that, at this time, the fur is in its greatest per- 
 fection; for every thing animate and inanimate 
 bears then the livery of winter. The variety of 
 colours which before decked these animals is 
 changed into one uniform white; and all, even 
 the dogs and cats which may have been hut 
 very lately carried there from a warmer climate, 
 acquire a much softer and thicker coat than 
 they had originally : this coat is covered with 
 long white glossy hairs, known there by the 
 name of king-hairs, and in the spring fall off 
 in large flocks, which the animals eagerly tear 
 oflT with their teeth, as if anxious to be free from 
 them. This remarkable change is likewise 
 observed in birds, some of which, as the par- 
 tridge, become entirely white, and all assume 
 a thicker coat of down, which they change in 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 377 
 
 the spring for their usual summer-covering. 
 TJie skins of deer in particular are, at that 
 time, uncommonly beautiful. 
 
 The usual mode of hunting for fur is with 
 traps, generally called death-falls, made of logs, 
 which may be proportioned in their construc- 
 tion to the size of any animal. These consist 
 of a bridge, or jiiece of boartl placed within, 
 one end of which is hung to a small stake by a 
 piece of twine, and the other end is supported 
 in an horizontal position by a tongue. This 
 tongue is a peg tied to the end of the line 
 which supports another piece, called the cat- 
 killer; the butt end of which is placed under a 
 folk or notch in a stake, and the point is 
 inserted in a hole in the end of the bridge. 
 
 1 he cat-laller has one end turning upon a nail 
 driven into a long stake, whilst the other is 
 supported high up by a line which passes over 
 a crutch on the top of a stake, and then comes 
 dow'n to another at the bottom, where one end 
 of the tongue is fixed. Upon the ground, 
 across the front of the death-fall, lies a third 
 2 >iece, called the ground-killer. When an 
 animal treads on the bridge, the peg is drawn 
 out; thus the caUkiller is set at liberty, and 
 falls upon the back of the animal; whilst the 
 main-killer , one end of which rests upon the 
 ground, and the other upon the elevated end of 
 
378 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 the cat-killer, falls with it and serves to keep it 
 down. Over the whole is a cat-house, or hut 
 of boughs, to defend the trap from the snow. 
 Another sort of trap or snare used chiefly for 
 catching deer, bear, or other large animals, is 
 the slij), which is composed of difterent mate- 
 rials, according to the circumstances of the 
 hunter, but mostly of iron. Here the tongue 
 is a small bar of iron, placed on one side of the 
 bed of the trap and turning upon a pin ; it passes 
 over one of the jaws, and the end is fixed under 
 the heel of the bridge which it supports until 
 pressed upon, when, being set at liberty, the 
 jaws vp, and kill the animal. The common 
 expression for fixing properly this engine of 
 destruction is, to tail a trap. Fire-arms are 
 likewise used by hunters, but seldom when 
 rummaging, as the fur might be injured by the 
 shot or ball. 
 
 This fur-liunting employs a great number of 
 persons, not only within the limits of the Hud- 
 son’s Bay Company, but also on the coast of 
 Labrador and in the northern parts of New- 
 foundland . These people live there in the midst 
 of plenty, even to satiety, of what is considered 
 a.s one of the greatest delicacies in other coun- 
 tries, where the value of a haunch of venison is 
 duly appreciated : even the flesh of the beaver 
 is esteemed very good, and said to have a 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 379 
 
 strong resemblance to mutton: the tail, shaped 
 like a soal-tish, is also represented as the best 
 and most delicate part of that animal. 
 
 The last quadruped that we shall mention un- 
 der this head, though very far from heingthe least 
 in worth, is the Newfoundland dog, a valuable 
 and faithful friend to man, and an imjilacahle 
 enemy to sheep. When born or reared from 
 an early age under the roof of man, this dog is 
 the most useful animal in the island as a do- 
 ,mestic. He answers some of the essential 
 purposes of a horse ; is docile, capable of strong- 
 attachment, and easy to please in the quality 
 of his food; he will live upon scraps of boiled 
 fish, whether salted or fresh, and on boiled 
 potatoes and cabbage; but, if hungry, he will 
 not scruple to steal a salmon, or a piece of raw 
 salt pork from the tub in which they have been 
 left to steep ; he is likewise fond of poultry of 
 the larger kind ; but, as a beverage, nothing is 
 equal in his estimation to the blood of sheep. 
 The Author had purchased a puppy of the true 
 breed, which had been brought from the north- 
 ward of the island to Harbour-Grace. This 
 puppy grew up to the size of a small donkey, 
 as strong and fit for hard work, as he was 
 tractable and gentle, even with the children of 
 the family, of Avhom he seemed to be particu- 
 larly fond ; nor was he ever known, in any one 
 
380 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 instance, to disagree with the cats of the house, 
 whom he treated rather with a kind of dignified 
 condescension. But the dog, unless closely 
 Matched, would run after sheep wherever he- 
 could trace them, even drive them from high 
 cliffs into the water, and jump in after them; 
 not, however, without first considering the ele- 
 vation of the cliff ; for, if he thought it too 
 gi-eat, he would run down and take the nearest 
 more convenient place to continue his pursuit. 
 The owner of that dog had, at one time, some 
 domesticated wild geese, one of w'hich would 
 frequently follow him in his morning w alks, side 
 by side w'ith Jowler: they seemed to live toge- 
 ther on the best terms. Unfortunately the ser- 
 vant neglected one night to confine them, ac- 
 cording to custom; the next moming the 
 feathers of the favourite goose w'ere found 
 scattered in a small field adjoining to tlie 
 grounds. The dog was soon after found con- 
 cealed in a corner of the wood-yard, and on his 
 master looking at him, exhibited evident signs of 
 conscious guilt: his master took him. to the 
 field, and pointed out to him the feathers: the 
 dog, staring at him, uttered a loud growl, and 
 ran away with all the speed of which he was 
 capable; nor could he bear his master’s sight 
 for some days afterwards. At another time, 
 the Author had three young sheep, for whom m 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 381 
 
 the (lay-tiiDe tlie dog seemed to affect the utmost 
 indifference: the servant neglected one evening 
 to take them into their shed, and to confine the 
 f^nd the next morning the sheep were 
 found stretched in the back-yard, lifeless, and 
 without any other mark of violence than a small 
 wound in the throat, from which the dog had 
 sucked their blood. It is a remarkable cir- 
 cumstance, that the Newfoundland dog, when 
 pursuing a flock of sheep, will single oxit one of 
 them, and, if not prevented, which is a matter 
 of considerable difficulty, will never leave off 
 (he pursuit until he has mastered his intended 
 victim, always aiming at the throat; and, after 
 having sucked the blood, has never been 
 known to touch the carcase. > 
 
 The natural colour of this dog was a perfect 
 black, with the exception of very few white 
 spots. As soon as winter approached, he ac- 
 quired a coat which gi ew to the depth of about 
 one inch, of close coarse wool deviating from 
 the original colour only by an inclination to 
 red; the long, thick, glossy hairs preserved the 
 same colour up to the surface of the coat, and 
 then turned genemlly to a perfect white: it is 
 [irobable that a more constant exposure to the 
 weather w’ould have made the change of colour 
 more complete. The sagacity of this animal 
 was astonishing; on many occasions he ap- 
 
382 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 peared to want only the faculty of speech to 
 make himself fully understood. 
 
 To mention another remarkable instance, 
 which also came within the Author’s observa- 
 tion: one of the magistrates of Harbour- 
 
 Grace,* had an old animal of this kind who was 
 in the habit of carrying a lantern before his 
 master at night, as steadily as the most atten- 
 tive servant could do, stopping short when his 
 master made a stop, and proceeding when he 
 saw him disposed to follow him. If his master 
 was absent from home, on the lantern being 
 fixed to his mouth, and the command given, 
 “ Go, fetch thy master,” he would immediately 
 set off and proceed directly to the town, which 
 lay at the distance of more than a mile from the 
 place of his master’s residence; he would then 
 stop at the door of every house w'hich he knew 
 that his master vyas in the habit of frequenting, 
 ami laying down his lantern, growl and strike 
 the door, making all the noise in his power 
 until it was opened; if^ his master wns not 
 there, he w'ould proceed farther, in the same 
 manner, until he had found him. If he had 
 accompanied him only once into a house, this 
 was sufficient to induce him to take that house 
 in his round. 
 
 Charles Garluiul, Esq. who died there in the year 1810. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND, 
 
 383 
 
 The principal use of this animal, in addition 
 to his quality of a good watch-dog, is to assist 
 m fetching from the woods the lumber intended 
 either for repairing the stages, or for fuel, which 
 has been tliere cut and laid up in piles ; and this 
 IS done either by dragging it oh the dead, that 
 IS, on the bare snow and ice, the ends being 
 fastened together with a rope fixed to the tack- 
 ling of tlie dog; or on sledges, or catamarans. 
 Ihese aie formed of two pieces of plank, 
 shoed underneath with hoops of iron or of hard 
 wood, joined by thick pieces from two feet to 
 two feet and a half in lengtli, and supporting 
 four sriong long knees, two at each end, fast- 
 ened in an opposite direction: to this sledge 
 the tlog is harnessed, whilst the servant who 
 accompanies him directs his motions, and, by 
 the addition of his own efforts and weight, 
 modifies, as far as he is able, the rapidity of 
 the sledge down steep hills. In the vicinity 
 of rivei-s, the u ood is thrown into them in the 
 spring, and carried <lown the stream into 
 the harbour, through which great quantities 
 generally find their way into the ocean, when; 
 the currents carry them to Greenland, Iceland, 
 the islands of Scotland, and even Norway. 
 
 The Newfoundland dog seldom barks, and 
 onlv when strongly provoked ; it then appears 
 like an unnatural and ]>ninful exertion, which 
 
384 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 produces a noise between barkinf*- and growl- 
 ing, longer and louder than a snarl, and more 
 hollow and less sharp than barking, still strictly 
 corresponding to the sounds expressed by the 
 familiar words, bow, wow^ ; and here he stops, 
 unless it ends in a howl, in which he will 
 instantaneously be joined by all the dogs 
 within hearing. This happens frequently, and, 
 in a still calm night, produces a noise particu- 
 larly hideous. The Newfoundland dog resem- 
 bles the Greenland dog in several respects; 
 but the two following facts establish some 
 essential differences betw'een them. 
 
 The first of these facts is recorded in a Gene- 
 ral History of Quadrupeds, and cited in the 
 “ Critical Review, October, 1790, p. 417;” the 
 second, in the public prints of the time, and, 
 among the rest, in “ Bell’s Weekly Messenger, 
 
 1818, p. 102.” 
 
 In December, 1784, a Greenland dog was 
 left by a smuggling vessel near Boomer, on the 
 coast of Northumberland: finding himself de- 
 serted, he began to worry sheep, and in that 
 way did so much damage, that he became the 
 terror of the country within a circuit of above 
 twenty miles. When he caught a sheep, he bit 
 a hole in its right side, and after eating the fat 
 about the kidneys, left it: several of them thus 
 lacerated were found alive by the shepherds, 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 385 
 
 and being taken proper care of, some of them 
 recovered, and afterwards had lambs. The 
 farmers frequently pursued him with hounds 
 greyhounds, &c. but when the dogs came up 
 with him, he laid down on his back 'as if sup- 
 p mating for mercy, and in that position they 
 never oflered to hurt him: when the hunters 
 approached, he made off without being fol- 
 lowed by the hounds, till these were again 
 excited to the pursuit, which always terminated 
 unsuccessfully. Having been one day thus 
 dnven from Ho wick to upwards of thirty miles 
 distance, he actually returned thither and killed 
 sheep the same evening. After many fruitless 
 ^tempts, he was at last shot, in the month of 
 March following, upon a rock on the Heugh- 
 Inll, near Howick, where he had fixed his resi- 
 dence during the day, and where he had a 
 view of four roads that approached it. 
 
 In the month of March, 1818, a dog, sup- 
 posed to be of the mastiff species, infested the 
 neighbourhood of Roehampton, and committed 
 great ravages among the sheep and lambs, of 
 which he destroyed forty-two in the course of 
 three weeks. It was observed that his attacks 
 were always made in the night, and that he 
 used to seize his victim by the throat and 
 suck the blood; but it did not appear that he 
 ever eat any part of the flesh. The farmers 
 
X 
 
 386 HISTORY OF 
 
 and labourers in the neighbourhood were inde- 
 fatigable in their endeavours to find out his 
 haunt, but without success. Whether he was 
 ultimately destroyed, or properly secured by 
 his owner, we are not informed ; but there is 
 sufficient ground to suppose that this ferocious 
 beast, as. he is called in the account of this 
 fact, was a Newfoundland dog. 
 
 The Greenland dog is said exactly to re- 
 semble the dogs of the Esquimaux of the 
 Labrador, frequently to snarl and howl, but 
 never to have been heard to bark. He is also 
 described as naturally timorous, at the same 
 time that, if not tamed when young, he be- 
 comes remarkably wild. The Authoi’s New- 
 foundland dog never manifested any sign 
 of a timorous disposition. After many hard- 
 fought battles until be had attained to his full 
 growth, he soon established his character and 
 superiority. He w'as not quarrelsome; he 
 treated the smaller species w ith a great degree 
 of patience and forbearance: but when at- 
 tacked by a dog of his size, or engaged in re- 
 storing peace among other dogs, he would set- 
 to most vigorously, and continue the struggle 
 until submission was obtained or peace com- 
 pletely re-established : he would then leave the 
 field of battle with a haughty look and a warn- 
 ing growl, and be afterwards as quiet as a 
 
 1 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 387 
 
 lamb. His master was perfectly secure in his 
 company ; for the least appearance of an attack 
 on liis person roused at once the dog’s atten- 
 tion, and produced a tremendous growl, ac- 
 companied with evident signs of being prepared 
 
 to act in his master’s defence, if the case re- 
 quired it. 
 
 Both species, however, in a wild state, agree 
 m the dispositions and habits of the wolf: they 
 Jiunt in packs the animals of the country for the 
 sake of prey; and this circumstance has led to 
 the supposition, which by others is deemed 
 groundless, of there being wolves in the island 
 of Newfoundland. 
 
 The.jvell-knowa partiality of the Newfound- 
 land dog for the water, in which, whether salt 
 or fresh, he appears as if he were in his proper 
 element, diving and keeping his head under 
 die surface for a considerable time, as well as 
 his being web-footed, seem to give him some 
 connexion with the class of amphibious animals: 
 the several instances of his superior sagacity 
 on record, and the essential services which he 
 has frequently been known to render to huma- 
 nity , give him a distinguished rank in the scale 
 of the brute creation. The beautiful species 
 generally known in England by that name is 
 only half bred. 
 
 We are assured that Newfoundland contains 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 none of those venomous animals or insects 
 which infest, more or less, other countries, 
 except the gnat, which is commonly known 
 there by its Spanish and Portuguese name of 
 mosquito. These insects, during the summer 
 months, are extremely troublesome in the woods, 
 on the banks of the rivers, lakes, and ponds, and 
 near marshy grounds. They fly about in large 
 bands, and fix themselves on the face, hands, 
 and legs of people, in spite of every effort to 
 avoid them, or to drive them away. It has been 
 observed, that some persons are more liable than 
 others to be attacked and disfigured by them, 
 and that new comers have generally the prefer- 
 ence. They are of a colour drawing towards 
 red, as of corrupted blood: their noise is remark- 
 ably loud, and their sting long and strong for 
 so small a body. This sting produces a large red 
 pimple, or small lump, w hich is attended w ith an 
 almost intolerable itching, whilst the scratching 
 of it increases the irritation to an acute pain ; 
 the face grows swelled and disfigured, and fre- 
 quently the whole surface of the head, neck, 
 hands, and legs, is uniformly affected in the 
 same manner. Some find no other mode of 
 protecting themselves against this annoyance, 
 than by smearing their face with tar or pitch; 
 this is probably one of the reasons of the prac- 
 tice prevalent among the natives of the island, 
 

 NEWFOUNDLAND. 38.Q 
 
 in common with all the other North American 
 ndians, to paint themselves with a composition 
 which there consists of grease and red ochre. 
 Common leathern gloves will hardly protect 
 the hands, and nothing but leathern boots, 
 carefully closed up round the knees, will 
 sufficiently defend the legs. Some think, that 
 crushing the insect while in the act of inflict- 
 ing the wound is an antidote to the poison 
 which the sting insinuates: bathing the part 
 aftected with vinegar, or lime-juice and water, 
 IS successfully used for that purpose: other- 
 wise these wounds, when numerous, produce 
 at first a considerable degree of fever and a 
 sleepless night; and their efiects will continue 
 to be felt for two or three days. 
 
 Ducks, geese, and common poultry are easily 
 reared; turkeys succeed likewise, but with 
 much greater trouble and expense: where the 
 supply of fresh meat is so irregular and scanty 
 as it is in most of the inhabited parts of New- 
 foundland, these afford a valuable addition to 
 the comforts of a family. When allowed a 
 warm station near the fire-place, the common 
 hen will lay eggs during the most severe 
 winters. 
 
 Land and water fowl are found there in 
 great variety and abundance, particularly bus- 
 tards, wild geese, and wild, or eider ducks; 
 
390 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 but as these birds subsist entirely upon fish, the 
 flesh acquires a very unpalatable taste. Their 
 eggs, however, though rather gross, do not 
 partake of this fishy taste, which is said to be 
 inherent in the sAin of the bird, and to dis- 
 appear with it, when carefidly taken off;* and 
 which all other animals are liable to acquire, if 
 allowed to eat miv fish, whether fresh or salted. 
 
 The wild-goose is an elegant bird, much 
 better proportioned in its conformation than the 
 common goose ; its neck and legs are longer ; it 
 is easily domesticated, mixes without difficulty 
 with flacks of the common geese, gradually ac- 
 quires the same habits, and tbe taste of its flesh 
 loses its original disagreeable nature ; but it never 
 lays in this state. Its cackle is much sharper and 
 louder, and it appears to be superior to the com- 
 mon goose in sagacity, as it is in elegance of form 
 and in quickness of motion. An instance has 
 been mentioned of one that would follow its 
 master in his walks: it was very lively, and 
 would, when pleased, expand its wings, erect 
 its head, cackle, and move around him for 
 some time with a quick motion; it would 
 answ'er to his call with a sharp quack-quack, 
 and receive food from his hand like the most 
 tame animal. 
 
 * Vide supra, p. 53. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 391 
 
 Partridges, snipes, woodcocks, heathcocks, 
 plovers, curlews, and blackbirds, are also in 
 great abundance, as well as eagles, kites, 
 hawks, and ravens. The partridges are much 
 larger than in Europe, of an excellent kind, 
 and always perfectly white in the middle of 
 
 winter. Magpies and jays are likewise very 
 numerous. 
 
 Gulls and mews, with large bodies and - 
 remarkably strong pinions, fly in flocks over 
 the surface of the water where there is a 
 scull or shoal of capelins, or other fish; some- 
 times hovering about and suddenly darting on 
 their prey; sometimes skimming or resting on 
 flie surface, watching the fish, which they leize 
 in diving with their long strong bills. 
 
 The most remarkable of the sea-birds which 
 frequent these coasts are the lord and lady, 
 of the teal kind ; the hounds, rather larger 
 than the teal, which migrate to the north in tlie 
 spring in large flocks, and as they fly, make a 
 continual noise resembling that of a pack 
 of beagles when in chase; the saddle-back, 
 called also blackback, the largest species of 
 gulls; the tinker, or razor-bill J the loon and 
 whabby, both of the diving genus; and the bull, 
 a smaller bird, also called ice-bird. 
 
 Baccalao Island, near the mouth of Concep- 
 tion-Bay, has already been mentioned as one of 
 
X 
 
 392 HISTORY OF 
 
 , the principal places where birds resort in im- 
 mense multitudes, thence called generally Bac- 
 calao birds. It has been observed by Mr. Sloane, 
 in his Natural History of Jamaica, that in sailing 
 towards the West Indian Islands, birds are 
 often seen at the distance of two hundred leagues 
 from the nearest coast; and Captain James 
 Cook, in his Voyage to the South Pole, says 
 that, no one yet knows to what distance any of 
 the oceanic birds go to sea : and that he did not 
 believe that there was one in the whole tribe 
 that could be relied on in pointing out the vicinity 
 of land. This observation, confirmed by the 
 frequent disappointments into which Columbus 
 fell, in his first voyage, in consequence of fol- 
 lowing in this respect the example of the Por- 
 tuguese, from the then common belief that 
 birds did not venture to any considerable dis- 
 tance from land, is not so strictly applicable to 
 the Baccalao and other birds in the vicinity of 
 Newfoundland. These have a specific object 
 in flying from the coast to the Great Bank ; for 
 wherever there is good fishing-ground, there they 
 find in greater abundance the fish on which they 
 feed ; and whilst there are on the bank fishing 
 vessels which are obliged, on account of their 
 distance from the land, to split their fish on 
 the spot, there will be found multitudes of 
 birds flying about to seize on the offals as they 
 
NEAVFOUNDLAND. 
 
 .393 
 
 are thrown overboard. They are, therefore, . 
 extremely useful to mariners, by warning 
 them of their approach to a coast, which is 
 frequently concealed from their view by thick 
 and dark fogs. It is besides well known that 
 the Baccalao birds very seldom extend their 
 flight beyond the Great Bank. 
 
 There was formerly on this coast a species of 
 birds of the diving genus, which, from their 
 inability to fly, were always observed within 
 the space between the land and the Great 
 Bank, and were once so abundant as to have 
 given their name to several islands on that 
 coast, but they are now utterly extinct. They 
 were known by the name of penguins, accord- 
 ing to some writers from the Welsh, in which 
 language that word signifies white-head, the 
 penguin having a remarkable white spot on 
 one side of its otherwise black head ;* whilst 
 Doctor Forster is of opinion that this bird re- 
 ceived its name from the Spaniards and Portu- 
 guese, on account of its heavy and fat body. In 
 this case, the derivation must come from the 
 Latin pinguis; but it is more natural to suppose, 
 that in this as in every other instance in which 
 they have given names to places or to animals. 
 
 This is adduced by some Welsh writers as an argument 
 in favour of their claim to Madoc’s discovery of America. 
 
394 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 the Spaniards and Portuguese would have 
 made use of their vernacular word, “ gordo," 
 wliich is common to both languages, Cai)tain 
 Cook found these birds in great numbers near 
 Terra del Fuego; his people gave them the 
 name of race-horses, on account of the great 
 swiftness with which they were observed to 
 run on the water. 
 
 It appears, from the testimony of several 
 writers, that the penguin is not the only re- 
 markable animal that has either deserted or 
 been extirpated from these latitudes. Hack- 
 luyt, in his account of an expedition to New- 
 foundland, in the year 1593, informs us, that 
 “ in his time there were on the shores of the 
 Island of Ramea, within the Straits of Saint 
 Peter, on the back of Newfoundland, chiefly 
 in April, May, and June, multitudes of amphi- 
 bious creatures, called vaccce maritia, or 
 morses, the two large teeth of which resem- 
 bling ivory, and their oil, w'ere considered as 
 valuable articles of commerce; that Captain 
 Drake found there a ship belonging to the 
 inhabitants of Saint Malo, almost full freighted 
 with morses; that he also observed several 
 whales of an enormous size, together with 
 great numbers of seals and porpoises, of which 
 they killed several.” These sea-cows, or 
 morses, are represented as having been as large 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. ,3<)5 
 
 as some oxen, with a skin similar to tliat of the 
 sea-dog, and a mouth like a cow, with two 
 projecting teeth crooked downwards, about 
 half a yard long: these tusks were found to be 
 as valuable as ivory, and were applied to the 
 same uses: the fore feet were like those of a 
 cow, the hinder feet webbed like those of a 
 goose; this animal had seldom more than one 
 or two young ones; was strong, and very 
 difficult to be taken on shore: the inhabitants 
 used to catch them by the following stratagem-: 
 — “ They tie,” says Hackluyt, “ a bull to a 
 stake in the depth of two feet water; they then 
 beat and torment him by twisting his tail until 
 they make him roar; as soon as these creatures 
 hear his cries, they crawl to the bull and are easily 
 taken.” In a description of Nova Francia, in 
 the year 1606, inserted in Churchill’s Collection 
 of Voyages, this animal is called morse, hippopo- 
 tamus, or sea-horse, and is said to be more like 
 to a cow than to a horse; of hair, like the seal, 
 that is to say, dapple gi’ey, and somewhat to- 
 wards red; the skin very hard; a small 
 head with two rows of teeth on each side,, 
 between which there are two of them hanging 
 from the upper jaw downward, of the form of 
 a young elephant’s tooth, wherewith this crea- 
 ture helpeth himself to climb on the rocks ; his 
 ears are short as well as his tail ; he loweth as 
 
' .396 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 an ox, has wings, or fins, at his feet, and the 
 female calleth her young ones on the land. 
 This appears to be the walrus, or sea-horse, 
 which is said to be sometimes found on the 
 coast of Norway, and still more frequently 
 about Iceland and Spitzbergen, where several 
 thousands are often seen together. 
 
 It appears, likewise, from Hackluyt’s account 
 of the voyage of Captain Drake, above, men- 
 tioned, and of that of Captain Rice Jones, in 
 the year 1594 , that formerly whales were found 
 in these latitudes of a much larger size, and in 
 greater abundance than they are at present. 
 The Author of the History of British America, 
 published in the year 1773 , observes, that 
 they formerly set in along shore by Cape- 
 Cod for many successive years, at which 
 time there was good whaling in boats: after 
 some years they left this ground and passed 
 farther off upon the banks at some distance 
 from the shore; and in his time, the New Eng- 
 land fishermen were obliged to go further into 
 the ocean. In Letters from an American 
 Farmer, published in the year 1782 , it is said 
 that the whale-fishery was, at that time, very 
 considerable at Nantucket, this being then the 
 greatest mart for oil, whalebone, and sperma- 
 ceti, on the Continent, and that there were no 
 less than eleven different species known in that 
 
Newfoundland. 
 
 397 
 
 part of the North American coast. Of these 
 the hump-backs, from forty to seventy feet in 
 length; the spermaceti, of various sizes from 
 sixty feet downwards; the fin-back, remarka- 
 ble for its great swiftness; the grampus, thirty 
 feet long; the killer or thrasher, about thirty 
 feet long, of surprising agility and fierceness; 
 the black-fish whale, twenty feet long; and the 
 porpoise, are now found on the coasts of New- 
 foundland, particularly during the capelin- 
 scull, when they are seen in considerable num- 
 bers playing in the bays among the fishing- 
 boats. Sometimes a thrasher makes his ap- 
 pearance among them; then a bloody contest 
 follows, which ends in the discomfiture of the 
 whale, however large or powerful, which he 
 has fixed upon, and in the sudden disappiear- 
 ance of the whole tribe. 
 
 A planter of Conception-Bay, some years 
 ago, bad fitted up a whale-boat with the inten- 
 tion of making an experiment in this species of 
 fishery, not being aware of the peculiar skill 
 and practice which it requires. It is to be 
 observed that the rope to which the harpoon 
 is tied, has its other end fastened to the 
 bottom of the boat, in the middle of which 
 it is coiled up with the utmost care. When 
 the whale is struck, sometimes she will dive 
 and disappear, or el.se swim away as if' 
 
398 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 untouched, drawing the rope with such swift- 
 ness that it will set the edge of the boat on fire 
 by the friction; and, in order to prevent this, 
 one of the men stands close to the rope with a 
 bucket of water. The whale soon reaches the 
 length of the rope, and carries along the boat 
 with amazing velocity; the harpooner, witli 
 the axe in his hands, stands ready: when he 
 observes that the bows of the boat are greatly 
 pulled down by the diving whale, and that it 
 begins to sink deep and to take much water, 
 he brings the axe almost in contact with the 
 cord, which, at the prospect of unavoidable 
 danger, is cut, and the boat rises again. If the 
 whale re-appears before she has run out the 
 whole length, she is looked upon as a sure 
 prey : the blood w hich she has lost in her fliglit 
 weakens her so much that, if she sinks again, 
 it is but for a short time; the boat follows her 
 course with an almost equal speed : the whale 
 soon re-appears ; at last she dies, and floats on 
 the surface. From this statement it is manifest 
 that the first and most common precaution 
 required in this fishery is to stand clear of the 
 coil to which the harpoon is fastened. In 
 the present instance, the neglect of this precau- 
 tion was the cause of the loss of a man named 
 Webber, whose leg coming into contact with 
 the rope, he was instantly preci[>itated over- 
 
f; 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 399 
 
 '* board, and never seen afterwards. This mis- 
 
 » fortune put an end to all attempts of this kind ; 
 
 >1 and from that time the cetaceous tribe has ever 
 been more respected than liked in that part of 
 the island. Nor has Newfoundland any rea- 
 « son to regret the loss or privation of this fishery ; 
 for the cod, seals, and salmon, which abound 
 
 * on its shores, are fully sufficient to engross 
 
 * all the attention and industry of its inhabit- 
 i* ants. 
 
 Newfoundland , seems purposely formed to 
 1 carry on \vith the greatest success an immense 
 
 1 fishery, on an inexhaustible stock which will 
 
 I always leave an incalculable overplus, whatever 
 
 li may be the number of persons engaged and 
 
 i employed in it 5 it is a constant treasure which 
 
 B can never be transferred from its actual pos- 
 
 ii sessor to rival nations by any revolution in 
 
 f commeice, and which is procured with no 
 
 (I other expense than that of labour. The cod- 
 
 ii fish is also found in the north seas of Europe, 
 
 t and the fishery is carried on there by several 
 
 jj nations to a very great extent; but this fish is 
 
 (, found in infinitely greater abundance at New- 
 
 foundland; it is also said to be there more de- 
 f licate, though not so white, and it is universally 
 
 I, preferred to any other, particularly in the south 
 
 ( of Europe, where it is still distinguished under 
 
 |i its ancient Indian and present Portuguese 
 
400 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 name of Saccalao. All the accounts which 
 have been published respecting the island and 
 banks of Newfoundland, from the earliest pe- 
 riod to the present time, agree in representing 
 the multitude of cod-fish in those parts as in- 
 conceivable and wonderful. 
 
 Before we proceed to the consideration of 
 the great staple commodities of that island, it 
 may be proper to observe, that its numerous 
 lakes and ponds abound in divers kinds of ex- 
 cellent trout, particularly the salmon species; 
 its rivers abound likewise in eels of a large size 
 and superior quality : the lobsters are imcom- 
 monly large and ^equally good, and muscles 
 are likewise larger and better flavoured than in 
 Europe. Here are no oysters; but plaice, 
 soal, lance, herrings, mackarel, haddock, halli- 
 but, tliomback, as well as salmon, are in incon- 
 ceivable abundance. The capelin, the salm 
 arcticus of Pennant, is the most delicious fish, 
 perhaps, in the whole world, and comes in 
 shoals so immense as to alter the colour of the 
 surface of the sea, and to be wafted by the 
 waves on the shore, where it is left in innume- 
 rable multitudes. It generally comes in about 
 the 20th of June: a common sized boat 
 
 will easily be filled in less than two hours, 
 by two persons. The net used for this purpose 
 is of a cylindrical form, open at botli ends. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 401 
 
 the lower being kept down and close by a row 
 of leaden balls fastened thick to that part of 
 the net, while the upper end is gathered by a 
 running rope. The catcher holding the end of 
 the rope in one hand, and the top of the net 
 M ith his teeth, spreads out the lower end with 
 both hands, and in that state throws his net 
 over a shoal of capelins; he then quicklv 
 draws it up and pulls it, with the assistance of 
 his companion, into the boat where he empties 
 It, repeating the same operation until he has 
 obtained a sufficient quantity, without scarcely 
 ever removing from the same spot. This little 
 fish, as beautiful in its appearance as it is deli- 
 cate in its taste and flavour, continues on this 
 coast for about six weeks, until it has depo- 
 sited its eggs on the sand, constantly followed 
 and harassed by an immense host of enemies. 
 Mho eagerly join in its pursuit, particularly 
 M hales and cod-fish. Then begins the heat of 
 the cod-fishery, for which the capelin is reck- 
 oned to be the most profitable bait; and, con- 
 sequently, all the fishing crafts are actively 
 employed, at this time, in laying in a sufficient 
 stock of this fish. 
 
 The salmon here is excellen.t, and in great 
 abundance from June to August; it is taken in 
 nets, placed along the sea shores in bays and 
 large harbours. There are on this coast some 
 
 D d 
 
402 
 
 HISTORY OK 
 
 stations peculiarly advantageous for this fishery, 
 and, in the historical account of the island, we 
 have had occasion to mention the salutary re- 
 gulations which were made, in the year 1775, 
 by the British government, for the encourage- 
 ment of this branch of the Newfoundland fish- 
 eries. This fish is distinguished there into 
 “ pooler,” when it has lain a long time in a 
 river, and has not yet spawned ; “ slink,” when 
 it has spawned, and has not yet recovered 
 itself by returning into the sea; and “spring 
 fish,” when it is in perfect season. 
 
 Another well-known fish, the herring, is also 
 found in vast numbers on those coasts, during 
 his periodical visits. This fish is likewise 
 caught with nets, and, being pickled and bar- 
 relled, is sent principally to the West Indies. 
 According to some French writers, the her- 
 ring, bred in the vast regions of the Arctic 
 ’ ocean, appears in the spring oft' the coast 
 of Shetland, and there divides into dift’erent 
 shoals, some taking the route of Newfound- 
 land and Labrador; others that of Norway, 
 Jutland, the Baltic, and the Gulf of Both- 
 nia; but the principal body arriving at the 
 Orcades, surrounds Scotland and England. 
 The eastern branch amves in August on the 
 coast of Yorkshire; in another month it 
 reaches the Straits, and in September fills the 
 
403 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 English Channel ; from which the herrings escape 
 in December, their numbers indeed diminished, 
 but scarcely by one from every million. It is 
 remarkable, that traces of this fishery in the 
 year 1389, have been found in a voyage pre- 
 served in the fifteenth volume of the Memoirs 
 of the French Academy of Inscriptions. Mr. 
 Gilpin, the author of “ Observations on the 
 Annual Migration of Herrings,” published in 
 the year 1786*, at Philadelphia, states, that 
 these fishes ai*e found in the north sea; and, in 
 the favourable month of June, about the islands 
 of Shetland, whence they proceed down the 
 Orkneys, and then dividing, surround the 
 British Islands, and unite again off the Land’s 
 End in September, whence they steer in a 
 south-west direction across the Atlantic: they 
 arrive in Georgia and Carolina about the latter 
 end of January, and in Virginia about February; 
 coasting thence eastward to New England, 
 they divide, and go into all the bays, rivers, 
 creeks, and even small streams of water, in 
 amazing* quantities, and continue spawning in 
 the fresh water until the latter end of April, 
 when the old fish return into the sea, and steer- 
 ing northward, arrive at Newfoundland in May, 
 whence they proceed in a north-west direction, 
 and again cross the Atlantic. The same author 
 has observed, that their coming sooner or later 
 
 D d 2 
 
 I 
 
404 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 up the American rivers, depends on the warmtli 
 or coolness of the season ; that if a few warm 
 days invite them up, and cool weather succeeds, 
 it totally checks their passage, until warmer 
 weather returns. From all these circumstances, 
 he thinks that a certain degree of warmth is 
 peculiarly agi'eeable to them, which they en- 
 deavour to enjoy by changing their latitude 
 according to the distance of the sun. Thus 
 they are found in the British Channel in Sep- 
 tember, but leave it when the sun is at too 
 great a distance, and push forward to a more- 
 agreeable climate. When the weather in Ame- 
 rica becomes too warm, in May, they steer a 
 course to the cooler northern seas, and by a 
 prudent change of place perpetually enjoy that 
 temperature of climate which is best adapted 
 to their nature. The truth of these observa- 
 tions seems to be confirmed by the fact that 
 the time of the arrival of herrings on the coast 
 of Newfoundland varies, and is calculated by 
 the inhabitants according to the state of the 
 weather. Herrings may, however, be had, 
 though in much smaller numbers, all the winter 
 and early in the spring, in Fortune-Bay and 
 other parts in the south of Newfoundland. 
 Mr. Schultes, in his valuable dissertation on 
 the Public Fisheries of Great Britain, published 
 in London, in the year 1813 , says, that the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 4or) 
 
 herrings annually migrate from the Arctic seas 
 where they reside in winter, along the shores 
 of America, as far as Carolina; along those of 
 Europe, as far as the north ofFi-ance; and on 
 the coast of Asia, along the shores of Kamt- 
 schatka. The great army that annually issues 
 trom the north separates into several divisiorts. 
 The first makes its appearance off the Shetland 
 Isles in the months of April and May; but 
 these are only the harbingers of a far more 
 numerous body that follows in June. The 
 appearance of these shoals is always announced 
 8*^hs, gannets, and other rapacious* 
 birds, that continually hover above them, 
 which indication the fishermen earnestly look 
 after: but when the great body approaches 
 about the beginning of harvest, its breadth and 
 depth alter the appearance of the ocean. They 
 are divided into different columns of five or 
 six miles in length, by three or four in breadth ; 
 and when arrived at the Shetland Islands, 
 they separate into two grand divisions; the 
 one advancing along one side of the British 
 coast, alternately filling, during a certain num- 
 ber of days, every intermediate bay and creek, 
 from the northern shores of Scotland to the 
 English Channel ; after which it gradually thins 
 till it disappears. The other great wing makes 
 a similar circuit round the other side, till it 
 
406 
 
 mSTOKY OF 
 
 reaches the north of Ireland, where it is again 
 subdivided, part entering the Irish Sea, and 
 part scattering along the west shores of Ireland, 
 till it disappears about the entrance of Saint 
 George’s Channel. In the course of their mi- 
 gration along the British seas, the shoals of 
 herrings at various places become awhile sta- 
 tionary; and Loch Broom, in Scotland, has 
 been celebrated as their principal rendezvous, 
 where they generally appear in July. They 
 are not, however, always uniform in frequenting 
 the same loch or bay annually; they resort to 
 a certain space for a number of years, and then 
 are sometimes known capriciously to desert it 
 for perhaps as many more. On the coasts of 
 Wales, Ireland, and among the Hebrides, they 
 have at different times occupied and deserted 
 their several stations without any apparent 
 cause ; yet although this wonderful gift of the 
 great Author of N ature is, at times, thus par- 
 tially distributed, it is never totally withdrawn; 
 the same instinct which impels herrings to ap- 
 proacli. these shores invariably operates; their 
 migrations are certain ; and if one part is de- 
 prived of its effects, another abounds with in- 
 creased plenty. Mr. Schultes farther states, 
 that the summer fishing for herrings begins 
 about Midsummer on the Scotch coast, and 
 ends in September on the Norfolk coast, at 
 
NbfWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 407 
 
 M'hich time they go into deep water, and con- 
 tinue there for some time. In November, they 
 return to the shallows, when a new fishery 
 commences, which continues till January. At 
 that time they become full of roe, and are unfit 
 for pickling. It has been doubted whether the 
 herrings which aj>pear in November are not 
 part of a new migration. 
 
 In Conception-Bay the shoals of herrings 
 arrive generally about the beginning of May, 
 and continue until the latter end of June: their 
 first appearance is anxiously expected, because 
 they are the first fish used there as bait in the 
 cod-fishery. The second is the lance or sand- 
 eel, a long thin fish, which appears in June; 
 the next is the capelin ; and in the beginning 
 of August, the squid or cuttle-fish makes its 
 appearance, and continues, M ith trifling varia- 
 tions, to the end of the fishery. The squid is 
 also called ink-fish, from its singular faculty of 
 throwing up, when disturbed, a black liquid 
 which suddenly darkens the water, conceals 
 him most effectually from sight, and thereby 
 secures his reti’eat. Mackarel is also a sum- 
 mer fish of passage used there for bait, and 
 when cured and pickled in the same manner 
 as herrings, is like them sent in barrels to the 
 West Indies. It is taken vith nets; but the 
 squid is generally caught with jiggers, though 
 
408 
 
 IIISTOKY Of 
 
 sometimes it comes iii such abundance as to be 
 left in immense shoals upon the shores and 
 beaches by the waves. These amazing over- 
 flowings of capelins and squids on these coasts 
 and at the river-head of harbours, are some- 
 times still greater in some places than in others, 
 and particularly so when those shoals arrive at 
 an earlier period than usual, as if their motions 
 were accelerated by the unusual number and 
 rapid pursuit of their voracious and famished 
 enemies. 
 
 The gigger or jigger, consists of a pair of 
 large hooks, fixed back to back, Avith some 
 lead run upon the shanks, in the shape and 
 colour of a fish. This lead is let down from 
 the boat into the water to a certain depth, anti 
 played by sharp jerks, until it catches or hooks 
 such fish as may happen to be in its way, or to 
 follow it allured by its deceitful appearance. 
 The jigger is also used to catch the cod on its 
 first coming in, previous to the arrival of the 
 herring. The cod thus caught is immediately 
 opened, and its entrails or any fish that may 
 be found in its stomach, are used for bait in 
 the ordinary mode of fishing. 
 
 No fish is more easily allured by the jigger 
 than the cod ; though its length does not exceed 
 three feet, and is» often less, the sea does not 
 produce any animal so voracious, and with so 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 409 
 
 ^ large a mouth in proportion to its size. Broken 
 
 ^ * pieces of earthenware, iron, and glass, are often 
 
 found in its belly. The stomach does not, in- 
 deed, as some have imagined, digest these hard 
 ^ substances; but, by a certain power of invert- 
 ing itself like a pocket, it discharges whatever 
 loads it. It is this peculiar organization that 
 is the principle of its voracious appetite, and 
 makes it indifferent with respect to the nature 
 of the substances which it swallows. Another 
 lemarkable property of this fish is its amazing 
 pi fecundity. An able naturalist, who had the 
 
 li patience to reckon the eggs of one single cod, 
 
 p found them to amount to no less than nine 
 
 II millions three hundred and forty-four thousand. 
 
 (’ Phosphorus appears to form an essential ele.- 
 
 II ment in the composition of the substance of 
 
 jc this fish ; for the light which one single cod’s 
 
 It head throws in the dark is very considerable. 
 
 It. as if proceeding from a lamp fixed in the mid- 
 
 die of it: that which arises from a number of 
 heads, or whole fishes, suspended in a dark 
 m room is so great as to enable to distinguish 
 
 ii; objects distinctly. This luminous appearance 
 
 is observable even in cold weather ; it is unne- 
 jH cessary to add that no degree whatever of heat 
 jj accompanies it. 
 
 j, Another circumstance which seems to dis- 
 jji .dnguish the cod from the other species of 
 
410 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 fishes is the conformation of his organ of liear- 
 ing and of his nervous system. According to 
 Doctor Monro, the organ of hearing in fishes is 
 situated at the lower end and posterior sides of 
 the cranium, separated from the brain by mem- 
 branes only. It consists of three semicircular 
 canals, namely, an anterior and a posterior 
 both perpendicular, and a middle horizontal 
 one; each perpendicular canal having a dilated 
 portion or bulb at one of its ends, where it joins 
 with the horizontal one. In the cod-fish, the 
 anterior canal contains a small scabrous calca- 
 reous stone: we next find a bag of a con- 
 
 siderable size, in which another similar stone 
 of a larger size is likewise lodged, surrounded, 
 like the smaller one mentioned aboi e, with a 
 viscous humour. A'hole or opening, in the fore 
 or under part of the common canal formed by 
 the junction of the small upper ends of the ante- 
 rior and posterior canals, leads into this bag in the 
 sturgeon; but Doctor Monro could discover no 
 such opening in the cod or the haddock. Very 
 large nerves are fixed to the bulbous parts of 
 the semicircular canals, and spreading out upon 
 them, become suddenly pellucid. On the bag 
 above mentioned, in the cod, a considerable 
 nerve is spread in a most elegant manner. As 
 the semicircular canals are much smaller than 
 the cavity of the bone, or cartilage which con- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND, 
 
 411 
 
 tains them, there is between their outer part 
 -and the bone or cartilage, a considerable quan- 
 tity of viscid humour. In the cod, haddock, 
 and the whole genus of gadus, a number of 
 small spheroidal bodies, which form part of 
 the nervous system, are observable within this 
 cavity, floating in the viscid humour, and sup- 
 ported by small fibres of vessels and nerves. 
 M. Depons, who travelled through several 
 
 parts of South America in the years 1801 
 
 1804, mentions a fish common in the Oroonoko, 
 called by the Spaniards curhinata, Avhich is 
 extremely valued on account of two stones 
 found in its head, exactly in the place which is 
 usually occupied by the brain. These stones 
 are of the shape of an almond, and resemble 
 in colour mother of peai‘1 ; they are considered 
 as a specific in cases of retention of urine, and 
 sell for their weight in gold. The dose is 
 three grains of this stone well pulverized, 
 mixed in a cup-full of water or wine, and is 
 said to produce an instantaneous effect. 
 
 It has been observed by Pliny, that fish 
 which have stones in their head fear winter, 
 and on its approach retire either to the deeper 
 regions of the sea, or to warmer climates. 
 Accordingly the cod-fish refuses to take the 
 bait, and is, consequently, supposed to leave 
 the coast of Newfoundland generally about 
 
412 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 the beginning of October; but yet, different in 
 this respect from the mackareJ, and most other 
 species which frequent this coast at stated 
 periods, cod is found in the southern and 
 many other parts of the island during the 
 whole year. Even in the most severe part of 
 the winter, by making a hole in the ice and 
 dropping a line with a piece of salt pork, or 
 any other kind of bait, cod is easily and 
 quickly obtained; though, at that time, but of 
 an indifferent quality, it, nevertheless, some- 
 times makes a very acceptable addition to the 
 winter stock. It may be kept long in a frozen 
 state, or else it is immediately split and put in 
 pickle, where it remains until the weather will 
 allow it to be spread on the flakes or beaches 
 for drying. Thus, in Fortune-Bay and neigh- 
 bouring parts, having herrings all the winter, 
 the people are never without bait, and catch 
 fish through the ice at a considerable depth. 
 They split it and put it in pickle, begin to 
 spread it in April, and as soon as it is com- 
 pletely dried, they send it to Saint John’s or to 
 a foreign market. 
 
Xm-FOUNDLANl). 
 
 413 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 OF THF, NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES. 
 
 The subject of the Newfoundland fisheries 
 lias been often treated of by well-informed 
 writers; it is, however, hoped that the follow- 
 ing account, drawn up from notes taken during 
 a residence of several years in the district of 
 that island, where both the seal and the cod 
 fisheries are earned on to the greatest extent, 
 will not be altogether unacceptable to the 
 British reader. 
 
 The important advantages to be derived 
 trom what is, perhaps improperly, called the 
 seal-Jishery, appear to have fixed the attention 
 of navigators in those parts from a very early 
 penod. It has already been observed that, 
 according to Hackluyt, in the year 1593 , two 
 ships sailed from Falmouth, commanded by 
 Richard Strang and George Drake, for the 
 island of Ramea, within the straits of Saint 
 Peter, on the back of Newfoundland, on the 
 shores of which were multitudes of amphibious 
 animals, particularly seals and porpoises, of 
 wliich they killed several, and whose oil was 
 
414 
 
 UISTOUY OF 
 
 considered as a valuable article of commerce: 
 and that the proper season for catching those 
 animals was in April, May, and June. But as 
 the cod-fishery became more extensive and 
 more important, the seal-fishery was in propor- 
 tion neglected on account of the interruption 
 which it occasioned in the preparations for the 
 former, with which it was found to interfere at 
 the most important period, that of the herring 
 and capelin-sculls. We accordingly learn from 
 I’Abbe Raynal, that the English fishermen, 
 before the year 1763 , used to repair to certain 
 parts of the island during the winter, for the 
 purpose of the seal-fishery, which always ter- 
 minated at the close of that season. Tlie same 
 method is still in use in some parts of the coast 
 of Newfoundland, and on that of Labrador. 
 The fishermen who repair to those places at 
 the fall of the year, place their nets between 
 the shore and the islands or rocks which lie at 
 a small distance: the seals, which generally 
 come in shoals from the east, are caught in at- 
 tempting to pass those narrow places; they are 
 then taken up and conveyed to the shore, 
 where they remain in a frozen state till the 
 proper season for extracting their oil, which is 
 generally in the latter end of April, or the be- 
 ginning of May ; or else they are sculped, that 
 is, the skin and fat are separated from the car- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 415 
 
 case, and carried to some more convenient 
 place for that purpose. This plan of a winter 
 fishery appears to have been generally pursued 
 there until the latter end of the last century, 
 when the enterprising and industrious spirit of 
 the inhabitants of Conception-Bay contrived a 
 method to conciliate the interests of both the 
 seal and cod-fisheries, without any prejudice 
 to the latter. 'Ihus a branch of industry and 
 commerce of coiusiderable importance and 
 value was introduced, which soon increased to 
 an amazing- amount the returns of that island, 
 and the wealtli of its merchants. 
 
 The seals, though entirely marine animals, 
 none ot that .species having hitherto been men- 
 tioned as inhabiting fresh waters, are the only 
 annuals among the. viviparous quadrupeds that 
 can with propriety be considered as amphihions. 
 They invariably bring forth their young on 
 land, sand-hanks, rocks, or small islands, and 
 their respiration operates immediately after the 
 birth: they can suspend it occasionally for a 
 long while together, but still they are obliged at 
 intervals to put up their noses above the surface 
 of the water, in order to reject the contami- 
 nated air from their lungs, and to take in a fresh 
 supply. They require occasional intervals of 
 repose, and sometimes even a long continuance 
 on dry land. At particular periods, therefore. 
 
416 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 and especially during the seasons of producing 
 and rearing their young, they congregate fre- 
 quently in vast multitudes on floating ice or 
 insulated rocks. Although their hind feet are 
 so constructed as to be of very little use to 
 them in walking, yet by means of their fore 
 feet they are able to lay hold on objects with 
 so much firmness as to drag themselves with 
 considerable facility up the shores, rocks, and 
 even over fields of ice, however slippery they 
 may be; for though badly wounded, and the 
 distance very considerable, it frequently hap- 
 pens that they will outrun the hunters, and 
 having gained the edge of the w'ater, precipitate 
 themselves out of their reach. They sleep 
 principally during the day; and for that purpose 
 fix themselves upon fields of ice, hence called 
 seal-meadows, where they are frequently found 
 collected in immense multitudes, either basking 
 or sleeping in the sun. It is during their sleep 
 that the seal-hunters chiefly contrive to attack 
 them with bludgeons, a very slight blow on the 
 nose immediately destroying them. When they 
 come upon them unawares, the destruction is 
 rapid: sometimes also they shoot them, each 
 vessel having one or more gunners for that 
 purpose; but this mode is not the most usual, 
 on account of the risk of injuring the skin of 
 the animal. 
 
NEWFOliNDLANl). 
 
 417 
 
 ^ To the Greenlander the seal is the source of 
 
 • » all earthly comforts: its flesh is to him the 
 most palatable and substantial food; its fat 
 »' furnishes him with oil for lamp-light, for cham- 
 her and kitchen fire : he softens his dry food in 
 the train, mIucIi he also barters for all other 
 kinds of necessaries : he can sew better with the 
 ^ fibres of the sinews of the seal than with thread 
 ' or silk: of the skins of the entrails he makes 
 windows for his hut, curtains for his tent, and 
 w shirts for himself; and of the maw, train bottles ; 
 
 while the blood boiled with ingredients is eat 
 81? as soup: with the skin of the seal he makes 
 « himself waistcoats, covers his boat and tent, 
 
 ?8 and cuts out thongs and straps. In short, to 
 m catch seals is the ultimate end to which the 
 ti Greenlander aspires from his childhood, and 
 IV the only art to which he is trained. 
 i'» To the European, the skin of the seal has 
 
 et sometimes made muffs; it covers his trunks, 
 
 Hi , and supplies him with shoes and boots. When 
 II it is well tanned, the grain is not unlike that of 
 
 bi Morocco leather: it is not quite so fine, but it 
 
 (V preserves its colour longer: even waistcoats 
 
 1,1 in the Greenland style are not iinfrequently 
 
 If! seen in the metropolis of Great Britain. As 
 
 p to the flesh of the seal, many half-starved 
 
 jii stomachs, after a long navigation and several 
 
 davs of short allowance, have pronounced it 
 
 E e 
 
418 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 to be not only tolerable, but good, delicious, 
 tender, and sweet; whilst others, under dif- 
 ferent circumstances, have saitl that, except 
 the haslets which are tolerable, the flesh is 
 too rank to be eaten. The Author was once 
 prevailed upon to try it, and on the very first 
 taste he was decidedly of the latter opinion, 
 notwithstanding all the care that had been 
 taken in curing, dressing, &c. in order to 
 make it appear to the best advantage. Some 
 affirm that the flesh of the young cubs is very 
 palatabfe; it is eaten by the seal-hunters during 
 that fishery, and tastes something like hare’s 
 flesh; but the greatest object of disgust to 
 an European palate, vvhilst to the Green- 
 lander’s it is the finest hautgout possible, is a 
 strong train-oil taste, of which it is extremely 
 difficult to divest it. This is attempted by re- 
 peatedly changing the water in which it is first 
 parboiled, in order to be afterwards dressed or 
 disguised with port wine and other ingredients 
 used in the dressing of hare. 
 
 During the months of February, March, April, 
 and part of May, the coast of Newfoundland is 
 generally surrounded with ice to the distance of 
 several leagues. The most formidable ramparts 
 erected by military art, the dreadful cannonade 
 of a besieged town, the terrors of the most skilful 
 and obstinate sea-fight, require less intrepidity 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 419 
 
 and experience to encounter, than those enor- 
 mous floating bulwark.s and the united efforts 
 of the elements which those seas, at that time, 
 oppose to the mariner. It is hardly possible 
 to convey to the imagination a correct idea of 
 the terrific grandeur which characterises this 
 scenery. Immense fields of ice of such extent 
 that the eye cannot reach their bounds, and 
 sometimes impelled by a rotatory movement 
 by which their circumference attains a velocity 
 of several miles per hour: lofty islands and 
 mountains moving along with irregular and 
 sometimes inconceivable rapidity, or when the 
 comparative shallowness of the ground arrests 
 their progress, then bedded immovable on the 
 solid rock or earth, whilst fragments of various 
 sizes are scattered about throughout the inter- 
 vening spaces, and coming in drifts so thick 
 and so quick as to whirl the ships about 
 as in a whirlpool: here and there a moun- 
 tain bursting with a tremendous explosion; 
 the fields suddenly changing their directions, 
 coming into close contact with a dreadful 
 shock, and overlaying each other with a noise 
 resembling that of complicated machinery, or 
 of distant thunder. The immense pressure 
 thus produced and the tremendous power ex- 
 erted, are such as to crush to atoms or to 
 set on fire the wood which may happen to 
 
 E e 2 
 
420 
 
 IIISTOKY OF 
 
 be in their way; the strongest sliip can no 
 more stand these shocks than a sheet of 
 paper can stop a musket-ball. Sometimes the 
 vessel is beset and immovable, and her safety 
 then depends only on the immediate coagula- 
 . tion of the surrounding ice into one uniform 
 field; as soon as a separation again takes 
 place, her danger recommences, and the motion 
 and violence of the ice are so rapid and so 
 great, the changes of direction so sudden, that 
 her destruction appears inevitable. Some are 
 lifted up and thrown upon the hard congealed 
 surface by a sudden shock; others are crushed, 
 or, at least, their hulls completely torn open ; 
 others again are buried beneath the heaped 
 fragments of a bursting mountain. A strong 
 easterly or north-easterly wind arises, and drives 
 with inconceivable I’apidity all this ice against 
 the coast, where filling up the bays, harbours, 
 and coves, it soon becomes one immense, 
 widely extended, solid mass ; until, the wind 
 setting with equal violence to the west or 
 north-west, this mass is broken and as rapidly 
 driven into the main ocean : the wind changes 
 again, the ice as quickly returns, and winter 
 resumes its sway with increased rigour. The 
 situation of the vessels which happen to be 
 entangled in that ice may be easily conceived. 
 Add to this picture a rock-bursting frost; gales 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 421 
 
 whistling- and howling in huge uproar, which, 
 while on the land they shake the houses, rock- 
 ing: them to and fro, tear up the trees from 
 their roots, and scatter them through the con- 
 vulsed forests; at sea, they drift about with 
 violence masses of snow and sleet, or else 
 thick fogs, freezing as they fall, cover every 
 thing with ice, the sides, the deck, masts, and 
 rigging of the vessels, and even the clothes of 
 the manners. The mere thought of such a si- 
 tuation, in a stormy and dark night, and on a 
 sea covered with islands, mountains, fields, and 
 fragments of ice in perpetual motion, is suffi- 
 cient to strike the mind with horror; and yet 
 such a situation the Newfoundland seal-hunters 
 court with as much ardour as vessels in other 
 cases study to avoid it. 
 
 Soon after Candlemas-day, they begin their 
 preparations for the seal-Jishery, fixing their 
 ' craft and afterwards laying in their stock of 
 provisions. They employ for that purpose 
 schooners measuring from forty to seventy-five 
 tuns, and large decked boats, from twenty-five 
 to thirty-five tuns, strongly built; poles are 
 suspended on their sides as some protection 
 for their timbers against the cuttings and 
 bruises which they would otherwise receive 
 from the ice, under the most favourable cir- 
 cumstances. T.he crews of their largest crafi- 
 
422 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 consist of from 'thirteen to eighteen men; of 
 these some are gunners, who, on finding their 
 own guns, are admitted hirtk free; the rest pay 
 generally forty shillings each for their birth, 
 that is, for their proportion of the provisions 
 during the voyage; and all are to receive each 
 half a man’s share of the seals caught, or the 
 value tliereof, dividing the amount of the whole 
 produce of the voyage into so many shares as 
 there are men on board. 
 
 About Saint Patrick’s day, or the 17th of 
 the month of March, they proceed to that 
 fishery through the most boisterous weather, 
 struggling by all possible means to get out of 
 their harbour and bay. It is impossible to 
 conceive a greater degree of perseverance and 
 intrepidity than the people of Conception-Bay 
 in particular, display on these occasions. After 
 having at last conquered these first difficulties 
 and proceeded beyond Baccalao Island, their 
 next object is to reach a seal-meadow by 
 sailing or cutting tln-ough the intermediate 
 fields of ice; they then run their vessel into it, 
 the crew disperse, and whilst the gunners fire 
 at the largest seals, the others assail the rest 
 with clubs. It is during their sleep, as was 
 before mentioned, that the hunters chiefly con- 
 trive to attack these animals, coming upon them 
 unawai'es; and, in that case, their work is at- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 4*i3 
 
 tended with little difficulty and considerable 
 success. Some of the largest will resist, and 
 prove by no means contemptible antagonists; 
 these are, therefore, generally left to the ma- 
 nagement of the gunners; whilst others, on. 
 
 , account of their superior strength and fierce- 
 ness, and of the faculty which they have, when 
 apprehensive of danger, to cover their head 
 with a hood which is proof against shot, cannot 
 easily be destroyed but when asleep. When 
 sufficient execution has been made on a seal- 
 meadow, or the extreme severity of the weather 
 interrupts the operations, the dead seals are 
 dragged on the ice to the schooner or boat ; they 
 are i\\on pelted, that is, the skin with tlie coat of ' 
 fat adhering to it is separated from the carcase, 
 and the latter is thrown overboard, excepting 
 such small portion as may be reserved for the 
 mess. 1 he voyage is continued through the ice, 
 or through the open sea if it happens to be so, 
 to other seabmeadows until the loading is com- 
 pleted, unless the state of the weather, or some 
 material damage in the vessel makes it neces- 
 sary to return sooner into port. Xhey will, in 
 general, make one trip within from four to six 
 weeks, and when the ice and seals are abun- 
 dant on the coast, they make two trips before 
 the latter end of May, each trip averaging 
 from nine to twelve pounds sterling per man. 
 
424 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 Tlie usual vnode in which -the planters dis- 
 pose of the produce of their voyage to the 
 merchants, and by which the amount of each 
 man’s share is regulated, is either according to 
 a price previously agreed upon, or settled be- 
 fore the return of the vessels from the first trip, 
 or to the highest bidder; it is either so much 
 per seal, tal. qual., or according to their size, in 
 which case they are divided into three difterent 
 sorts. 
 
 When the seals have been landed, the fat is 
 separated from the skin, and cut up into small 
 pieces, which are put into puncheons or into 
 vats, and there left to melt by the heat of the 
 sun and weather. These vats, some of which 
 are of sufficient capacity to contain from fifteen 
 to twenty tuns, are square vessels constnicted 
 of studs and thick planks dove-tailed, and 
 tarred all over on the outside. At each of the 
 corners and at the bottom are fixed chemps 
 of iron for strength ; the inside is lined round 
 with a grating composed of rods slanting 
 from the rim of the side to the bottom, and at 
 the distance of about six inches from the 
 bottom is a fauset, or hole stopped up with a 
 plug ; this is intended to let out the water which 
 is rendered (a sealers’ term) by the fat of the 
 seals, or thrown in by the rain or snow, and 
 which naturally sinks to the lowest parts. At 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 4-25 
 
 two-thiids of the height from the bottom, and 
 at equal distance from the top and the bottom, 
 are similar openings of which the lower part is 
 furnished with a piece of thick leather to let 
 out the oil which is thus rendered by the fat : 
 this is called virgin, or white oil, is considered 
 as the best, and obtains the highest price, the 
 finest being that which runs from the upper 
 opening. After all the oil that could be ex- 
 fracted by this process has been obtained, the 
 blubber, consisting of the fritters or tendinous 
 fibres which connect the cellular substance 
 where the oil is contained, and which are finest 
 next the skin, thinnest in the middle, and 
 coarsest near the flesh, together with whatever 
 other oily sediment may remain at the bottom 
 of the puncheon or vat, is boiled over a large 
 fire in copper cauldrons. This last operation 
 which, on account of the intolerable stench 
 which attends it, is generally carried on in 
 places at some distance from the towns, pro- 
 duces the blubber or common seal-oil of an 
 inferior quality. It is said to have been first 
 introduced not many years ago at Harbour- 
 Grace, and to have been productive of consi- 
 derable profits to those merchants who first 
 adopted it, by the facility of purchasing, at a 
 very low price, the blubber which before was 
 considered as of little value. 
 
426 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 The oil thus extracted is poured into hogs- 
 heads which have been duly trimmed, that is, 
 which have been kept a long time filled up 
 with water; and then it is fit to be shipped ofT. 
 It makes a most valuable cargo, with the addi- 
 tional advantage that, whilst the smallest leak 
 exposes a vessel laden with salt to considera- 
 ble danger, a vessel laden with oil cannot sink, 
 whatever water she may make: the oil will 
 ever keep her afloat. Another remarkable 
 property of such a cargo is, that, as the 
 constant motion of the vessel necessarily 
 occasions some small leakage from the casks, 
 which runs down into and mixes with the 
 bulge-water, whenever the vessel is pumped, 
 the waves, however agitated, will instantane- 
 ously become calm, and the ship will float as 
 upon a polished mirror, It is a well attested fact, 
 that the cod-fishery is scarcely begun on the 
 banks, when the sea becomes oily and perfectly 
 calm: the same eflect is produced by the oil 
 which runs from a whale when cut to pieces. 
 The fishermen of Lisbon and of the Bermudas 
 restore tranquillity, to the sea with a little oil, 
 which immediately puts a stop to the irregu- 
 larities of the rays of light, and enables them 
 to have an easy view of the fish. The divers 
 who go in search of pearls at the bottom of the 
 sea, use the very ancient practice of having 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 427 
 
 their mouth filled with oil, which they throw 
 oft, drop by drop, in proportion to the difficulty 
 which they experience in viewing the objects 
 of their pursuit. Thus, very gravely observes 
 I Abbe Kaynal, in alluding to this phenomenon, 
 “ Thus the terrible element which has sepa- 
 rated continents from each other, which deluges 
 whole countries, and frequently sets at nought 
 the strongest barriers erected by man, may be 
 appeased if a feather di[)ped in oil be passed over 
 its surface; and if a feather dipped in oil can 
 smooth the waves, what will not be the effect 
 of long wings constantly moistened with this 
 fluid, and mechanically adapted to our ships? 
 This idea,” he very properly adds, “ will, no 
 doubt, excite the ridicule of our superficial 
 minded men; but ‘ it is not for such that I 
 write !’ ” 
 
 It has been said that the seals are generally 
 sculped at sea; but sometimes, from want of 
 leisure, stress of weather, or some damage re- 
 ceived by the vessel, this operation of sculping, 
 or separating the pelt from the carcase, is per- 
 formed on land. This is also the case when 
 the seals have been killed at a small distance 
 from the shore; for it sometimes happens that 
 they come so near the land as to be easily 
 taken with nets : thus, in the spring of the year 
 1811 , a principal house in Harbour-Grace, and 
 
428 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 the inhabitants of the North Shore, in Concep- 
 tion-Bay, reaped a most plentiful harvest at 
 Lower Island-Cove, Bay de Verds, and the 
 Grates. In the same spring, an unusual num- 
 ber of schooners and boats belonging to that 
 bay w'^ere totally lost at the ice, several of the 
 mariners perished, some were carried away on 
 fields of ice in sight of their more fortunate 
 companions, without any possibility of re- 
 ceiving from them the least assistance ; whilst 
 the vessels that arrived safe made very good 
 voyages. 
 
 Whilst the operation of separating the fat 
 from the skins is perfonned, the latter stretched 
 out with care, one by one, on layers of salt, are 
 laid up in piles, and thus packed off in bulk 
 for market; part of them are disposed in bun- 
 dles of five skins each, for the greater conve- 
 nience of stowage. 
 
 It sometimes happens that the ice continues 
 so long on tiiose coasts as to afford the pro- 
 spect of prosecuting that fishery with advan- 
 tage beyond the usual period; but as this 
 would interfere with and eventually ruin the 
 cod-fishery of those who might suffer them- 
 selves to be seduced by this prospect, a com- 
 plete change of pursuits takes place in the 
 beginning of June; and about the 10th of that 
 month the cod-Jishery begins. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 4-29 
 
 I floats used for this ptirpose vary in tlieir 
 sizes and in tJie number of their crews; some 
 having only two hands, and these frequently 
 
 * boys and girls merely old and strong enough 
 to handle the line: this is often seen in Con- 
 ception and other bays when the cod-fish is 
 
 * plentiful. Most boats have four men, each 
 
 » with one line bn each side of him, and these 
 
 ' lines have two hooks; so that in these boats 
 
 * there are no less than sixteen hooks in constant 
 
 * ciiiployment. k)ach hook is furnished with 
 such bait as the season affords ; namely, first, 
 
 II the entrails of the fish caught with jiggers; 
 
 * next, herring, mackarel, lance, capelin, squids, 
 or young cotl; and in default of these, the 
 flesh of sea- fowl. 
 
 k The boat having taken her station on a 
 
 * ledge, or other shoally ground, each line 
 
 , being fastened on the inside of the boat, and 
 4; the hooks baited, the man sits at an equal dis- 
 i|| tance from the two lines which are committed 
 ii. to his care, moving them from time to time: 
 
 li as soon as the least tightness or motion is 
 
 i: observed in the line, it is drawn up with all 
 
 ^ possible speed, and the fish thrown into the 
 
 j boat, where the hook is then disengaged from 
 I its mouth ; if it is of a large size, it is seized, as 
 
 t soon as raised to the surface of the water, with 
 
 a gaff or large hook fixed to the end of a pole. 
 
 i 
 
430 
 
 HISTORY OK 
 
 in order to prevent the disappointment often ex- 
 perienced in consequence of the fish, even when 
 within the reach of the hand, either disentan- 
 gling itself from the hook by the excessive viva- 
 city of its motions and wideness of its mouth, 
 or breaking the line and disappearing at once 
 with the hook and bait in its gills. 
 
 When a sufficient quantity of fish has been 
 taken to load the boat, it is then carried to the 
 shore in order to be cured: this must be 
 done within a certain time, not exceeding eight 
 and forty hours; otherwise the fish will lose of 
 its value in proportion to the length of the time 
 it is kept without splitting. 
 
 The place where the operation of curing the 
 cod-fish is performed, is a stage or covered 
 platform erected on the shoi’e, with one end 
 projecting over the water, which is called the 
 stase-head, and which is fortified with stouters, 
 or very strong shores, to jirevent the stage from 
 receiving any damage from ships or boats; it 
 has also longers fixed horizontally at intervals, 
 like so many steps, to facilitate the ascent to 
 the stage. On the fore part of this platform 
 is a table, on one side of which is the cut-throat, 
 who takes the fish, cuts with a knife the throat 
 down to the nape, and then pushes it to the 
 header on his right hand: the latter takes it 
 in his left hand, and with the right, draws 
 
 
N E W FOU N DL/V N t>. 
 
 431 
 
 out the liver which he throws through a 
 hole into a cask under the table; next, the 
 pits, which he throws through the trunk-hole 
 in the floor of the stage into the sea: then 
 . fixing the neck of the lish to the edge of the 
 table, which before him is semicircular and 
 sharp, he presses upon the neck with his left 
 hand to which a thick piece of leather, called* 
 the palm, is fastened for that purpose, and, 
 with the right, gives the body of the fish which 
 IS uppermost a violent jerk which pushes it to 
 the splitter opposite to him, while the head 
 thus separated falls through an opening into 
 the water. This operation requires such violent 
 exertion that, besides the precaution of the 
 palm with which his left hand is armed, the 
 seat on which he is sitting has a strong round 
 back, which assists in collecting all his strength 
 lor the effort necessary to separate the head 
 from the body of the fish. 
 
 The splitter then taking the fish w ith his left 
 hand, cuts it with the right, beginning at the 
 nape down by the sound-bone to the navel; 
 and giving the knife a little turn to keep as 
 close to the bone as possible, he continues cut- 
 ting to the end of the tail; then raising the 
 bone with the knife, he pushes tlie fish so split 
 into the drudge-barrow, and the sound-bone 
 into the sea through an opening close to him 
 
432 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 in the stage-floor. When the barrow is full, it 
 is immediately cairied to the salter, and another 
 is put in its place. This process of splitting is 
 performed with considerable rapidity, though 
 with the utmost care, because the value of the 
 fish depends in a material degree upon its being 
 correctly performed: for if ruffled by frequent 
 or interrupted cuttings, the fish would be dis- 
 figured. The tongues and sounds are some- 
 times reserved either for domestic uses or for 
 sale; iu this case so many of the heads and 
 sound-bones as may be necessary for that pur- 
 pose, are thrown aside and immediately taken 
 up by some other person, so as not to give the 
 least interruption or hindrance to the work 
 performing at the table. 
 
 At the opposite end of the stage stands the 
 salter, who, as soon as the drudge-barrow is 
 brought to him, takes out the fish, one by one, 
 and placing it in layers on one side of the 
 stage, spreads on each with his hand some 
 salt, taking particular care to apportion its 
 quantity to the size of the fish and the degree 
 of thickness of its several parts ; this o))eration, 
 which is continued until the bulk is of a proper 
 size, requires particular attention, as if the bulk 
 is too high the pressure of the upper layers will 
 necessarily injure the fish in the lower layers. 
 The province of the salter demands a perfect 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 43.3 
 
 knowledjfe of his business and considerable 
 experience and judgment ; for eveiy thing now 
 
 depends upon him for the value of the whole 
 'oyage. If tliere is not a sufficient quantity of 
 salt put to the fish, it will not keep: if there 
 IS too much, the place where the excess is 
 wdl look dark and moist; when exposed to 
 the sun, it will be parched up, and when put 
 back. It Will be moist again and break in the 
 handling of it; whereas, fish properly salted, 
 when dry, will be firm and may be handled 
 without breaking: the defect occasioned by an 
 excess of salt is in Newfoundland known by 
 the name of salt-burnt. 
 
 It is generally said that ten hogsheads of 
 salt will cure one hundred quintals of fish. 
 This, however, depends upon the quality of the 
 salt, and other circumstances. The Newfound- 
 land fishermen say that there is a difference in 
 weight between the same bulk of Liverpool 
 and of Lisbon salt of four to five. Also, when 
 the fish is to be brought green from the place of 
 catching, that is, cured as f-*- as salting, but not 
 dried, more salt is used in proportion to the 
 distance, than when it undergoes all the ope- 
 rations of curing and drying without any con- 
 siderable delay, as in what is called the shore 
 fishery. In the Labrador fishery, the usual 
 proportion for every hundred quintal of fish is 
 
 F f 
 
434 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 between thirteen and fourteen hogsheads of 
 Lisbon salt, which is always preferred where 
 the strongest pickle is required. 
 
 In some parts of Newfoundland the opera- 
 tion of salting is performed in vats oi deep 
 oblong square troughs, with a spigot and fauset 
 near the bottom to draw off the foul pickle. 
 The fish is carefully spread in layers to the top 
 until the vat is filled, increasing the quantity of 
 salt in proportion as the layers first placed 
 have the benefit of the pickle descending from 
 the upper layers. This mode of salting, which 
 is said to have been introduced into the New- 
 foundland fishery at the time of the first Ame- 
 rican war, when salt was uncommonly scarce, 
 prevents, as the Author was informed hy those 
 who had adopted this practice, the pressuie 
 which weighs upon and tends to flatten the fish 
 in the other mode of salting in bulk ; the fish 
 retains its full size, actually gains seven or eight 
 quintals in w eight, upon every hundred, more 
 than what is salted in bulk, and a saving is 
 made of near three upon every ten hogsheads 
 of salt: but it was acknowledged that it will 
 not so well stand the market, as when salted 
 in the usual way. 
 
 The fish must remain four days in vats, and 
 five or six days in bulk, before it has sufficiently 
 taken the salt; and after that period, the 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 43f> 
 
 sooner it is washed tlie better. For tliis pur- 
 po.se, it is put into washing-vats, or wooden 
 vessels, generally seven or eight feet long, 
 three feet and a half wide, and three deep. 
 They first throw in two or three quintals, over 
 which they pour a quantity of sea- water; gra- 
 <lually increasing the quantity of both until the 
 vat is full. They then take up each fish sepa- 
 rately, cleaning carefully back and belly Avith 
 a woollen cloth, and next lay it in a long even 
 bulk on the stage floor to drain. They resume 
 the same process until they have washed such 
 a quantity of fish as they can manage the next 
 day. It may remain in drain-bulk no more 
 than two days; if kept beyond that time, it 
 will decay in weight, nor will it stand the 
 weather so well, on account of the salt getting 
 out of it. 
 
 The next day, or as soon after as the wea- 
 ther permits, the fish is spread out on boughs 
 in the open air to dry, head to tail, the open side 
 being exposed to the sun. This is done either 
 upon a beach, or upon the ground which is called 
 laying-room; but more generally upon standing 
 flakes. These last are of two sorts, namely, 
 hand and broad flakes. The former consist of 
 a slight wattle, supported by posts, at such an 
 elevation from the ground that a person stand- 
 ing can conveniently manage and turn the fish. 
 
 F f 2 
 
436 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 The broad flakes consist of a set of beams, 
 supported by posts and shores, or stout pieces 
 of timber standing perpendicularly under the 
 beams, to which similar pieces are likeMise 
 fixed in a reclined position. In some places 
 these broad flakes are as high as twenty or thirty 
 feet from the ground. It is said that a free 
 circulation of air is of considerable service to 
 the fish while drying; hence, high flakes are 
 preferable to low ones, or to beaches where, 
 besides the want of circulation of air, the back 
 of the fish is liable to be burnt, if spread after 
 the sun has heated the stones. But when the 
 fish is dry, and spread only to make it perfectly 
 fit to be put on-board ship, beach or flake will 
 serve equally well. 
 
 Towards the evening of the first day, two or 
 three fishes are placed one over the other with 
 their back upwards, to prevent the open side 
 from being injured by the wet or damp. The 
 next morning the fish is again spread as before, 
 and towards evening made into faggots of five 
 or six, proceeding in the same manner so as to 
 increase the faggots to eight or ten on the third 
 evening, and on the fourth to eighteen or 
 twenty, always with the back upwards, and 
 some larger ones on the top in a slanting posi- 
 tion, so as to shoot off the rain or wet that 
 may happen to fall during the night. The fifth 
 
NEVroUNDLANI). 
 
 437 
 
 evening the faggots are imich larger; tlie fish 
 is then considered as safe, and left in that 
 state for a week, or even a fortnight if there is 
 a want of flake-room for the whole voyage, or 
 the weather happens to he bad. It is next 
 spread out again until about three or four 
 o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, 
 when it is put up into large circular j)iles, in 
 the form of a round hay-stack, with the heads 
 outermost, the backs upwards, and the whole 
 covered with circular deal frames, or with mats, 
 tarpaulins, ornnds* confined by large stones, 
 in order to preserve it from the heavy dews 
 which fall during the heat of the summer. It 
 is left some time in that state, then again 
 spread out, and the same day, towards the 
 evening, lodged in stores or put on board 
 the vessels. After the fish has been fir.st 
 spread on the flake, four good days out of 
 seven, (which is considered as better than four 
 successive good days, because it then works 
 or, as the fishermen express it, sweats the 
 better,) will be sufficient to save it from any 
 material damage. As a single drop of rain 
 or fresh water may so aftect a fish as not 
 
 * These riiuls are |)iocured from the woods for that pur- 
 pose: the}^ are generally six feet long, and as wide as the 
 circumference of the trees from which they are taken. 
 
438 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 only to injure it materially, but also to com- 
 municate the infection to the whole faggot, 
 pile, and even cargo, the state of the weather 
 is watched with particular attention while the 
 fish is drying ; and on the least appearance of 
 a show'er, the fish is immediately turned 
 back uppermost. As NeM'foundland is subject 
 during the summer to sudden showers, the hurry 
 and confusion which these frequently create 
 throughout the whole place can hardly be de- 
 scribed, and are no small annoyance when this 
 happens on a Sunday, while the people are at 
 church : the flakes are then in an instant co- 
 vered with men, women, and children, busily 
 employed in turning up tbe fish or in making it 
 up into faggots ; the profits of the Avhole voy- 
 age, the means of paying the debts contracted, 
 and of procuring su[)plies for the support of the 
 family during the ensuing winter, may all de- 
 pend upon the exertions of that moment. 
 
 Such is the precarious and uncertain nature 
 of the cod-fishery, at the same time that the 
 fatigues which attend it are very great; so that 
 the preservation of the health of the people 
 who are actively engaged in it can be attributed 
 only to the extreme salubrity of the climate. 
 During the heat of the fishery, under the most 
 incessant hard labour, they have scarcely time 
 to eat their meals, and hardly four hours rest in 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 431 ) 
 
 the four and twenty. In some parts of the 
 coast, the ledges are at so great a distance that 
 much time is consumed in the passage from 
 and back again to their resj)ective liarbours; 
 and even in those which are more favourably 
 situated, the fish does not always equally 
 abound in every part. It is sometimes found 
 in the north and sometimes in the south of the 
 island, at other times in the middle of the 
 coast, according as it is driven by the winds or 
 attracted by the smaller fish; so that some 
 fishermen are nearly ruined, whilst others more 
 fortunate make excellent voyages. But even 
 after the most successful catch, if any even the 
 smallest quantity of rain or fresh water is suf- 
 fered to lodge in any part of the fish whilst 
 drying, unless some salt be immediately 
 sprinkled upon the part affected; — or, if the 
 splitter has left too many joints of the bone, so 
 that any particle of blood has remained in the 
 fish ; — or when there has been too great a quan- 
 tity of fish in the salt bulk, so that the whole 
 could not be disposed of in proper time; — or 
 when it has been exposed to bad weather on 
 the flake; — or when the weather, while the fish 
 was exposed to the sun, has happened to be 
 hot and calm, and the flies have gathered 
 about it and left fly-blows, and these have not 
 been carefully removed in time with the fingers 
 
440 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 or small sticks of wood; — in any of these cases 
 maggots will be formed in the fish, which is then 
 called maggotty; it is not only unfit for sale, 
 but, if suffered to remain in a faggot or pile, 
 it will unavoidably communicate the disease to 
 all the rest, and will be sufficient to contami- 
 nate a whole cargo. We have already men- 
 tioned the bad effects produced by more salt 
 being put on any part of the fish than the 
 requisite quantity, by which it becomes sall- 
 bumt. It is also liable to become sun-burnt, 
 when spread out on a hot calm day, whether 
 on flakes or on beaches. Again, when the fish 
 after washing has been left too long before 
 being spread out for drying, it is apt to contract 
 a kind of slime, as well as if, after it has been 
 carried out, there is a continuance of bad wea- 
 ther. This slime makes it look yellow, and 
 prevents it being completely dried. In order 
 to remedy this defect, after it has been a week 
 or ten days on the flake, it is again dry-salted, 
 washed, and put out a second time ; but even 
 then it will, at best, be received only as of the 
 second quality. To mention one defect more, 
 it may become dun, if left too long in the pile, 
 w'hich happens sometimes from w'ant of suffi- 
 cient store-room and of an opportunity to ship 
 it off in proper time : the weather beating into 
 those piles softens the fish and gives it a black. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 441 
 
 snuffy, or dun colour. Some people prefer this 
 dun fish for present use; but it will not stand 
 the voyage. 
 
 As the least damp would heat the fish when 
 thrown together and spoil it, it is customary, 
 previous to its being put on-board ship for ex- 
 portation, to spread it out again for a longer or 
 shorter number of hours, according to its actual 
 state, in order that it may be perfectly dried. 
 It frequently happens that some of the fish, 
 taken towards the close of the fishing season, 
 is not fit to be put on-board for exportation. 
 In this case, it is either put into stores, the fish- 
 ermen taking advantage of every favourable 
 opportunity to complete its drying, and to 
 keep it in a proper state of readiness for the 
 first vessels that will be able to take it in, late 
 in the fall or early in the spring; or else it„is 
 reserved for use in the island : it eats better than 
 other kimls, but cannot be kept so long. It is 
 called mud-Jish; though this appellation be- 
 longs more properly to another kind, expressly 
 prepared for the English market, where it is 
 generally preferred. This last is split not quite 
 open, but only down to the navel ; it is then 
 salted and washed in the usual manner, and 
 barrelled up in a strong pickle of salt boiled in 
 water. 
 
 Cod-fisli is also taken with nets called cod- 
 
442 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 seines. These are cast at some distance from 
 the shallop, the rope being suspended by buoys 
 made for that purpose, and placed at certain 
 intervals, about an hour before sun-set; and 
 two or three hours before sun-rise, all hands 
 turn out to heave or haul them in. Sometimes 
 the glut of fish in the nets is so great that the 
 weight sinks the buoys under water. 
 
 It may naturally be conceived that the dis- 
 tance of the place where the fish is taken from 
 that where it is cured must make a proportion- 
 able difference in the mode of proceeding, and, 
 in certain cases, in the quality and value of the 
 fish: the common distinction, in Newfound- 
 land, of the fish when completely dried, is not 
 according to its size, but according to its de- 
 gree of perfection, both in appearance and in 
 quality, into tnerchantable, Madeira, and West 
 Indian: if there is not an immediate demand 
 for the last kind, it is liable to become in a 
 short time unfit for any market. 
 
 It has already been observed, that in some 
 parts of Newfoundland the fishermen are under 
 the necessity of going to a considerable distance 
 from their stagas before they find proper fishing 
 ground. In this case, as the length of time 
 during which the fish may be kept in the boat, 
 and the heat of the weather, tend to make it soft 
 and not so easy to be cured, as welFas to taint 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 U!i 
 
 the liver, these consecjiiences are prevented by 
 splitting- the lish at once in the boat; but even 
 then it is exposed to considerable risk. In 
 Conception-Bay and other equally convenient 
 parts of the island, the boats or skiffs generally 
 , go from one quarter of a mile to four or five 
 miles distance from the coast, and bring their 
 fish home in very good order. As soon as it 
 arrives, whatever time of the day or night it 
 may happen to be, it is immediately landed, 
 split and salted, and in proper time washed 
 and spread out for drying. This mode is com- 
 monly called the shore-fishery, and is consi- 
 dered as the best and most productive of mer- 
 chantable fish. 
 
 What is called the northern-fishery, is canied 
 on on the northern coasts of the island and the 
 adjoining parts of Labrador by planters from 
 Conception- Bay, Trinity-Bay, and Saint John’s, 
 who go there early in the season in large 
 schooners carrying several skiffs, a numerous 
 crew, anti provisions for the whole fishing 
 season. The peojtle fish there in skiffs close to 
 the land; and as their.stages and other conve- 
 niences are near at hand, this does not differ as 
 to the mode of curing and drying the fish from 
 the shore-fishery. When they have a sufficient 
 quantity of dry fish to load their vessel, they 
 send it to their respective merchants with part 
 
444 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 of their crew, who, as soon as they have dis- 
 charged this their Jirst trip, return for a second, 
 and so on successively till the fall, when they 
 all come home with whatever may be remain- 
 ing. But when the size of their craft, or the 
 want of the necessary conveniences, will not 
 allow them to cure and dry their fish there, in 
 that case they confine themselves to the process 
 of splitting and salting the fish, disposing it in 
 layers as in vat-salting ; and when the boat is 
 full they bring her home, with what is com- 
 monly called green Jish. As soon as she 
 arrives, she is fixed close to an oblong square 
 low vessel of boards, so loosely joined at the 
 bottom as to let the sea water run through it. 
 This vessel, called Rams horn, probably a cor- 
 ruption of the French Ringoir, is fastened to 
 the wharf’s or stage’s head. The fish is thrown, 
 one by one, into the Ram’s horn, where there 
 are three men standing up to their knees in the 
 water, two of whom rub, shake, and clean the 
 fish with mops ; this is afterwards thrown up 
 by the third man on a kind of scaffold, half way 
 to the top of the wharf or stage, where it is re- 
 ceived by other men, and by them thrown on 
 the wharf’s or stage’s head. Here it is put into 
 wheel or hand barrow’s, and carried to a co- 
 vered part of the wharf, or a side of the stage, 
 laid in a long even bulk, and thus left to drain. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 445 
 
 The following day, if the weather is favourable, 
 the fish is spread on flakes, and the usual pro- 
 cess is used until it is completely dried. 
 
 In the Labrador fishery, the process and 
 result are exactly the same at the Camp Islands 
 and adjoining places, as in the northern fishery. 
 But in the higher parts of the coast of Labra- 
 dor, the fish is salted in very high bulks, the 
 top of which is entirely covered with salt; 
 their flakes are low, and the fish is dried chiefly 
 by the cold air. When fit to be shipped off, it 
 has a very pleasing appearance, but it is ex- 
 tremely soft and flexible, from the want of a 
 proper degree of heat in the atmosphere. The 
 inhabitants of Jersey, Marseilles, and a few 
 other ports in the Mediterranean, are said to 
 be very partial to this kind; but it will not keep 
 long in the cargo. 
 
 Cod is found in inconceivable multitudes 
 on the Great Bank, in soundings of thirty 
 and forty fathoms, and taken with lines of a 
 proportionable length carried to the bottom by 
 means of a lead fixed to their extremity. But 
 the time required to load a vessel of the usual 
 size of bankers, and the space which must 
 elapse before the fish is taken out of the bulk, 
 or rather out of the pickle, washed and dried, 
 are considerable drawbacks upon the advan- 
 tages to be obtained from this otherwise 
 
446 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 vei*y abundant fishery. The dangers of the 
 spring navigation from the ice and storms, and 
 the continual fogs with which the bank is co- 
 vered, occasioning frequently a drizzling rain 
 and showers of snow or sleet, increase its diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 On the western coast of Newfoundland the 
 fishery begins much earlier than in the other 
 parts of the island; but here they get only 
 green fish, on account of the distance of the 
 proper fishing grounds from the shore. This 
 is called the western fishery ; and in order to 
 complete this description of the cod-fishery, we 
 shall add, that tlie bulk of fish left to drain 
 after being washed and previous to its being 
 spread for drying, is called the water-horse, a 
 name which sets at defiance all the penetration 
 and learning of the deepest etymologist. 
 
 Besides the most valuable and inexhaustible 
 commodity of cod w hich this fishery sends to 
 difierent markets of Europe and of America, it 
 supplies the curriers with train-oil, so called, in 
 Newfoundland, to distinguish it from that which 
 is extracted from whales and seals, and which is 
 there designated by the appellation of fat-oil. 
 This train-oil is made from the liver of the 
 cod which, during the process of curing the fish, 
 the header throws through an opening in the 
 splitting-table into a tub placed under it. This 
 
I- 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 447 
 
 tub is afterwards emptied into a puncheon so 
 ill placed as to expose its contents to the full 
 action of the sun, during at least a week, when 
 ;■ the livers melt into oil. It is then the business * 
 of the salter to draw this oil off through an 
 opening made in one side of the puncheon, 
 
 Ifcj about half way between the top and the bottom, 
 
 4 into another puncheon which has been well 
 
 ij ' cleansed, out of which the oil is again poured 
 ii‘ with buckets into hogsheads well trimmed, 
 
 li The blubber remaining in the former puncheon, 
 
 bi| consisting of water, blood, and other dirt, is 
 
 p next let out through a hole in the bottom; it is 
 
 it boiled in copper cauldrons, and the additional 
 
 Ik oil which is obtained by this second operation 
 
 Hi| is put into casks, generally pork barrels, and 
 
 iji' sold like the former for exportation. 
 
 It 
 
 .. .. 
 
 i " -V : ■■ 
 
 ti. 
 
 it 
 
 If 
 
448 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 OF THE CHARACTER AND MANNERS OF THE 
 ABORIGINES AND OTHER INHABITANTS OF 
 THE ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 It has been said that gradual improvement is 
 a most conspicuous law of the nature of man. 
 This assertion must necessarily be admitted 
 with some limitations, at least of opportunities 
 for improvement ; for, without these, the dege- 
 neracy of man in a state of barbarism has inva- 
 riably been found to increase in proportion to 
 the distance from the sources of the blessings 
 of civilization and a cultivated state of life. An 
 eminent modern historian* has observed, that 
 “ although the elegant and refined arts may 
 decline or perish amidst the violent shocks of 
 those revolutions and disasters to which nations 
 are exposed, the necessary arts of life, when 
 once they have been introduced among any 
 people, are never lost. If ever the use of iron\. 
 had been known to the savages of America or 
 
 Doctor Robertson, in his History of America, 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 449 
 
 to their progenitoivs; if ever they had employed 
 a plough, a loom, or a forge, the utility of those 
 inventions would have preserved them; and it 
 is impossible that they should have been aban- 
 doned or forgotten.” The learned author con- 
 cludes thence, that the Americans sprung from 
 some people who were themselves in such an 
 early and unimproved state of society, as to be 
 unacquainted with all the necessary arts which 
 remained unknown among their posterity. 
 
 txcept in particular cases, as, for example, 
 of an overgrown population, where colonies 
 were compelled to emigrate, cairying with 
 them the arts and improvements of their parent 
 country, it may generally be said that those 
 who, of their own free will, forsook a state 
 enjoying the blessings of civilization and social 
 order, were not the most valuable or the most 
 industrious members of that community, and 
 had as little practical knowledge of the arts, as 
 relish for the improvements of their parent 
 country. L/ic’entiousness and plunder, or, ac- 
 cording to the phraseology of the last century, 
 liberty and equality, w ere their great objects, 
 and fishing and hunting their first resources 
 for subsistence. T,he dispositions and manners 
 of men are formed by their situation, and arise 
 from the state of society in which they live. 
 When they are obliged to shift for their subsist- 
 
 G g 
 
450 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 ence in woods and wikis, when all their 
 thoughts are employed in defending themselves 
 and in procuring the necessaries of life, it is 
 easy to sup|x>se that they will, in time, foi^et 
 the use of those faculties which they cease to 
 exert. With respect to the use of kow, the 
 complicated nature of the process requisite to 
 bring this imperfect metal to a proper state, 
 will easily account for its having been lost 
 even in countries abounding with iron-mines: 
 the use of the plough supposes, not only the 
 knowledge of the jiroper preparation of iron, 
 but also lands fit for cultivation, and such a 
 state of society as will effectually secine private 
 property and public tranquillity: the same 
 
 may be said of the loom, and of other manu- 
 factures even of the most common use. 
 
 The descriptions given by modern travellers, 
 of the various tribes of savages which are 
 found in North America, particularly in the 
 interior of that country, present no essential 
 differences from the accounts which were pub- 
 lished on the same subject soon after the dis- 
 covery of that continent.* The latest work 
 
 * Some idea may be formed of the strong disiucliiialion 
 of those savages to civilizatiou, even with the most favour- 
 able opportunities for improvement, and of the principal 
 cause of that disinclination, from the following anecdote 
 related by Doctor Franklin ; — 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 451 
 
 of this kind, is one whirli appeared in London, 
 in the year 1809 , nnder every circumstance 
 that can stamp on a literary production au- 
 thenticity and interest, intituled, “ The Travels 
 of Captains Lewis and Clarke, from Saint 
 Louis, by way of the Missouri and Columbia 
 Rivers, to the Pacific Ocean; perfr)rined in the 
 years 1804 , 1805 , and 1806 , by order of the 
 Government of the United States.” Some of 
 the tribes of the native Indians of North Ame- 
 rica are there represented as existing in a de- 
 plorable state of savage wretchedness, and to 
 have little besides the features of human 
 beings.” The general mode of declaring and 
 carrying on war among the various tribes 
 throughout the whole extent of that country, 
 and their conduct towards their prisoners, are 
 described as corresponding exactly with the 
 
 On the conclusion of a treaty between some neighbouring 
 tribes and the Council of Pennsylvania, an offer was made to 
 the former to educate some of their young men according to 
 the mode of civilized life. The Indians, after having ma- 
 turely considered the proposal, replied ; ‘‘ What can we get 
 by the exchange of education? You cannot walk* so fast nor 
 so well as we can. You cannot fight so well, nor are you 
 such good marksmen. Our wants are fewer, our liberty 
 greater than yours. But as you mean to live friendly with 
 us, we are willing to communicate these blessings to your 
 sons, by educating, from time to time, a certain number of 
 the young men of your nation." 
 
 G g 2 
 
452 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 system of warfare which was observed there at 
 the earliest period of the acquaintance of Euro- 
 peans with that continent. A similarity so 
 striking, so exact, and so universal between 
 the dispositions and manners of the savage in- 
 habitants of North America, arising from an 
 equally exact similarity of habits, pursuits, and 
 mode of living, may reasonably be supposed to 
 render the following summary of the Indian 
 character and mode of living, in the nineteenth 
 century, by the author of that work, appli- 
 cable to the native savages of Newfoundland, 
 so as to supply, in some degree, the want of 
 more certain information obtained by personal 
 intercourse. 
 
 The Indians are of a malignant, revengeful, 
 cruel, and inexorable disposition ; they will watch 
 whole days unmindful of the calls of nature, and 
 make their way through pathless woods to 
 pursue and revenge themselves of an enemy; 
 they hear unmoved the piercing cries of such as 
 unhappily fall into their hands, and receive a 
 diabolical pleasure from the tortures which they 
 inflict on their prisoners. Artful and design- 
 ing, always ready to take every advantage, 
 cool and deliberate in their counsels, steady 
 and persevering in their plans of destruction, 
 and cautious in the extreme either of discover- 
 ing their sentiments or of revealing a secret. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 453 
 
 they possess the sagacity of a hound, the pe- 
 netrating sight of a lynx, the cunning of a 
 fox, the agility of a bounding roe, and the 
 unconquerable fierceness of the tiger. 
 
 Ihe small tribes dispersed over America 
 are not only unconnecfed, but also engaged 
 m perpetual hostilities with one another, 
 ever ready to take arms in order to repel 
 or revenge any encroachment on the forests 
 or plains which they consider as their hunt*- 
 ground.s, ever actuated by that eagerness 
 to gratify the passion of vengeance which 
 rages with inconceivable violence in the breasts 
 of savages, and which may be considered as 
 the distinguishing characteristic of men in the 
 uncivilized state. As war and hunting are 
 their only occupations, so they conduct both 
 with the same spirit and the same arts, regard- 
 ing it as extreme folly to meet an enemy who 
 is on his guard, and upon equal terms. They 
 follow the track of the objects of their animo- 
 sity through the forest, lurk in some thicket 
 near to their haunts, and with the patience of a 
 sportsman lying in wait for game, they will 
 continue in their station day after day, until 
 they can rush upon their prey when most 
 secure and least able to resist them: for this 
 piu-pose they will creep on their hands and feet 
 tlirough the woods, and paint their skin ^he 
 
454 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 same colour with the withered leaves in order 
 to avoid detection. 
 
 Wliere huntinj^ is the chief source of sub- 
 sistence, a vast extent of territory is requisite 
 for supporting a small number of people. 
 Hence the numbers in each tribe have always 
 been small, though scattered over vast coun- 
 tries: a community not exceeding, perhaps, 
 three hundred warriors, would occujiy a pro- 
 vince larger than some kingdoms in Europe. 
 The higher the latitudes, the fewer and more 
 straggling were the Indians; nor could they 
 remain long in any one place, but were 
 obliged to roam about in quest of food, de- 
 pending during one part of the year on fishing, 
 and during another on hunting ; and it is evident 
 that no wandering nation can ever be numerous. 
 Famine also contributes to check their increase: 
 for, even in a country abounding in fish and game, 
 these resources failed them in some seasons; 
 and being destitute of sagacity sufficient to lay 
 part of the provisions thus obtained, in reserve 
 for the most inclement portion of the year, they 
 were frequently, with their families, reduced to 
 extreme distress. 
 
 Such is the natural indolence of man in 
 a savage state, that though the North Ame- 
 rican Indians lived in a country stocked with 
 the best timber for ship building, yet they 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 455 
 
 never made any improvement of it beyond 
 tlieir canoes wrought out of the trunks of 
 trees made liollow by lire, or formed by the 
 bark ol the birch-tree strengthened with small 
 ribs of wood somewhat like hoops, and pitched 
 with a mixture of turpentine and rosin, using- 
 paddles, and setting poles instead of oars and 
 sails. 1 heir houses, or wigwams, >vere little 
 buildings made of young trees bent down like 
 an arbour, covered on the top with bark, and 
 on the sides with thick mats made of rushes, 
 or with the skins of deer and other animals: 
 the doors were very low; at the top of the 
 wigw am was a hole to let out the smoke, and 
 on the ground were skins spread around to 
 sleep. Their usual mode of fishing was with 
 hooks made of bone, and lines made of wild 
 hemp or the sinews of deer. Their weapons 
 were clubs made of some heavy w ood hardened 
 in the fire ; lances, the heads of which were armed 
 with dint or bone; and bows and arrows, the 
 latter pointed with the same materials as the 
 lances, while the cord of the bow was made of 
 the dried gut of some animal: to these were 
 added the scalping-knife and the tomahawk, 
 or war hatchet, which, as well as the javelin 
 and the arrows, were considerably improved 
 after the arrival of the Europeans, by the sub- 
 stitution of iron for flint and bone. 
 
456 
 
 HISTORY or 
 
 Such were, in the sixteenth century, the dis- 
 positions, manners, pursuits, and mode of 
 living, of the North American Indians; and 
 such they are still in the nineteenth century, 
 among the numerous tribes scattered over the 
 immeasurable wilds between the Atlantic and 
 the Pacific Ocean, from the Missouri to the 
 northern extremity of that continent. 
 
 With respect to the Newfoundland Indians 
 in particular, separated for ages from all other 
 nations, and hunted like wild beasts by the 
 Esquimaux from the opposite coast, they ap- 
 pear to have ever viewed their civilized neigh- 
 bours settled on the coasts of the island with 
 an inveterate hatred, and an implacable spirit 
 of revenge fed by the sense or tradition of 
 encroachments and injuries transmitted from 
 generation to generation; for all writers agree 
 in asserting that, in savages, no time can obli- 
 terate the remembrance of an offence: the 
 desire of vengeance is the first and almost the 
 only principle which a savage instils into the 
 minds of his children : this grows up with them 
 as they advance in life; it resembles the in- 
 stinctive rage of an animal, rather than the pas- 
 sion of a man, and is the great motive urged 
 by the chiefs in order to excite their people to 
 take arms. It is, therefore, not unreasonable 
 to suppose that the native savages of New- 
 
457 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 \ 
 
 fmmdlantl have retained in the fullest extent all 
 the features characteristic of the savage state; 
 a supposition which the information that has’ 
 hitherto been obtained respecting them, tends 
 most strongly to confirm. 
 
 When Cabot first landed in the bay of Bona- 
 vista, he saw some people painted with ochre, 
 and clothed with deer-skins formed into a sort 
 of gowns with sleeves, that reached about 
 half way down the legs and the arms, and 
 bea\er-skins about their necks; their legs and 
 feet were bare, and their heads uncovered ; 
 they wore their hair pretty long, with a great 
 lock behind, a feather standing erect on the 
 crown, and a small lock plaited before; their 
 hair was of diflerent colours, and their clothes 
 as well as their bodies were painted red. 
 Broughton adds, that they had some know- 
 ledge of a Supreme Being; that they be- 
 lieved that men and women were originally 
 created from a certain number of arrows stuck 
 fast in the ground, and that the dead went 
 into a far country there to make merry with 
 their friends. This mode of peopling a desart 
 country is as rational as some others that have 
 since been imagined, such as, for example, ac- 
 cording to some later writers, the original 
 ancestor of the ignorant islanders found at 
 the extremity of Baffin’s Bay, having been 
 
458 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 probably some wandering vagabond lost in 
 hunting with his comrades, or some fisherman 
 and his wife cast by the winds to this remote 
 angle of the earth. 
 
 James Cartier, in the year 1534, sailed round 
 that island, and described the inhabitants as 
 being of a good size, tolerably well shaped, 
 wearing their hair tied in a bunch on the crown 
 of the head adorned with feathers. Two 
 years after, Mr. More saw likewise some of the 
 natives who came to look at his ship, but, on 
 being pursued, fled to an island where a piece 
 of roasted bear’s flesh \vas found on a wooden 
 spit. 
 
 Sir Martin Frobisher, in the year 1576, 
 having been driven by the ice on the coast 
 of Newfoundland, found some of the natives 
 to whom he made presents; he encouraged 
 them to come on board his ship: the next 
 day, having sent on shoVe one of them in the 
 ship’s boat with five sailors, neither they nor 
 the boat were ever seen again. Upon this, 
 X^robisher seized forcibly one of the natives, 
 who died soon after his arrival in England. 
 It is said by Fabian, in his Chronicle, that 
 Cabot had, in the same manner, forcibly taken 
 away three native Indians from Newfound- 
 land. 
 
 When, in the year 1610, Governor Guy had 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 459 
 
 landed in Conception-Bay, and constructed 
 some Imts for himself and his associates, it is 
 said that tlie behaviour of himself and his peo- 
 ple to the natives vras so courteous, that they 
 entirely gained their friendship, an<l were per- 
 mitted without interruption to carrv into eflect 
 those measures which were the most likely to 
 accomplish the intended object, namely, the 
 establishment of a colony. That these de- 
 monstrations of friendship on the part of the 
 Indians were only a snare, is a probable con- 
 jecture, supported by the circumstance that Guy 
 and his followers were soon after obliged to 
 .give up the undertaking and to return to Eng- 
 Ig-nd. 
 
 In Clarke’s New Description of the World, 
 published in the year 1096, we are informed, 
 that the natives who inhabited the coast of New - 
 foundland had, since the coming of Europeans, 
 betaken themselves to the woods and fastnesses. 
 In the ninth edition of a Geographical Gram- 
 mar, published by Patrick Gordon, in the year 
 1722, it is said, that the natives of this island 
 are generally of a middle stature, broad faced,* 
 colouring their faces with ochre, and for clothing 
 using skins ot wild beasts: that they live by 
 ten or twelve families together; their cabins 
 being made of poles in form of our arbours, 
 and covered with skins. These several ac- 
 
460 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 counts, together with the inferences which may 
 be drawn from the general habits of man in a 
 savage state, as applicable to the Newfound- 
 land Indians, are confirmed by the result of 
 the latest observations. 
 
 That a tribe, perpetually surrounded and 
 harassed by enemies, should have continued to 
 exist for the space of eight centuries, might 
 appear almost incredible, if the successive ac- 
 counts which have been transmitted to us re- 
 specting them from the earliest period, the pro- 
 clamations issued from time to time for their 
 protection by the Governors of the island, and 
 the report of Captain Buchan in the year 1811 , 
 did not prove its existence beyond all possibi- 
 lity of doubt. How far a hope can reasonably 
 be entertained, of any attempt to introduce 
 among them the blessings of civilization being 
 crowned with success, is very doubtful. The 
 immense range of territory which lies open 
 before them, will always enable them to elude 
 every etfort to establish an intercourse. Their 
 number is supposed to be inconsiderable in 
 comparison with the size of the island: this, 
 as w'e have already observed, has always been 
 and must ever continue to be the consequence 
 of the savage mode of life; nor will the nature 
 of the soil and of the climate leave any 
 ground for supposing that the increase of po- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 461 
 
 pulation among the European settlers, may, 
 at any future period, so surround and confine 
 those savages to a more limited extent of 
 
 ground, as to force at last an intercourse with 
 them. 
 
 With respect to the inhabitants of New- 
 foundland of European extraction, they are 
 eithei riatives, or descendants from natives, of 
 Great Britain, Ireland, or of the islands of 
 Guernsey and Jersey. The latter have gene- 
 lally retained the manners of their respective 
 ancestors, with some qualifications arising from 
 the difference of climate and of the mode of 
 living, so as to exhibit rather a compound of 
 all. 
 
 Livy has long ago asserted that the same 
 holds true of mankind as with respect to vege- 
 tables aiul to animals ; that the particular 
 nature of the seed is not so powerful in pre- 
 serving the perfection of the produce, as the 
 nature of the soil and climate is in changing it. 
 He instances this in the Macedonians, whose 
 descendants possessed Egypt, Syria, and Ba- 
 bylon, and who had all degenerated to an 
 equality with the native effeminate inhabitants 
 of those countries. In the same manner Doctor 
 Falconer observes, that even the children of 
 Europeans, bom in warmer climates, degene- 
 rate, whilst, on the contrary, in colder climates. 
 
462 
 
 HISTORY OV 
 
 they possess a greater degree of bodily strength : 
 the inhabitants of warm climates are cowardly, 
 irritable, and perfidious; those of cold climates 
 are little subject to violent passions, much less 
 vindictive, more averse to malice or cruelty of 
 disposition, and more fixed and steady in 
 their resolutions: slight impressions scarcely 
 affect them, and the motives tliat would deter 
 an inhabitant of a hot country from an enter- 
 prise, never reach the sensation of one of a 
 cold climate: their bravery, insensibility of 
 fear, and contempt of danger, are equal to 
 the rational and steady nature of their bene- 
 volence and kindness of disposition. The 
 same writer farther observes, that habits of 
 labour, exercise, and industry, contriliute to 
 the strength 'of the body ; and the strength thus 
 acquired gives them a confidence in the midst 
 of the greatest dangers, which the inhabitants 
 of hot climates do not possess. 
 
 These principles concerning the effects of a 
 cold climate on the temper and dispositions of 
 mankind, though questionable in several re- 
 spects when applied to man in the uncivilized 
 state, are perfectly applicable to the natives of 
 Newfoundland of European origin. Let me 
 add, that their intellectual capacity, the acute- 
 ness of their understanding, and aptitude to 
 improve in the arts or in learning, aie as re- 
 
NEWFOUNDLANn. 
 
 463 
 
 markable as their coairage, perseverance, and 
 indirstry. 
 
 It has also been justly observed, that the 
 character of a population is essentially influ- 
 enced by the nature of the country. Where 
 the land is banen, and the necessaries of life 
 are not acquired without toil and lalxMir, little 
 leisure is left for the indulgence of vicious pas- 
 sions, and the course of life is generally moral 
 and i*egular. This is likewise true of the 
 native inhabitants of Newfoundland, where 
 this source of morality derives considerable 
 assistance from the facility of settling in life, 
 and of bringing up a family, which encourages 
 early maniages. The instances of celibacy 
 among them are extremely rare. 
 
 A third cause, which has been said to have a 
 great influence on the temper anti dispositions 
 of mankind, is diet. It has been observed by 
 Doctor Haller, that fish hold a kind of middle 
 rank between animals and vegetables; that 
 they are, in general, less nutritive than flesh- 
 meats, and produce also less red blood and 
 strength of body. Montesquieu ascribes to a 
 fish diet other properties, with respect to which 
 Diodorus Siculus had before expressed a 
 directly contrary opinion, by asserting, that a 
 fish diet produces a remarkable apathy or un- 
 feelingness. 
 
4G4 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 It is very remarkable that no wliere can a 
 stronger and more hardy race be found than in 
 Newfoundland, not only among the natives, 
 but also among the strangers who have resided 
 some years in that island; and no where is 
 fish, either fresh or salted, in more constant 
 or general use, even during the most laborious 
 season of the fishery : they eat fish at breakfast 
 with their tea, at dinner with potatoes, and again 
 at supper with tea. Salt pork, always accompa- 
 nied with cabbage or greens, is used only on 
 particular days; indeed it is often at such a 
 price as not to be equally attainable by all and 
 at all times : when cheapest, it is still a very 
 expensive article. The comparative increase 
 in the population of Newfoundland is by no 
 means such as to make the observation of 
 Montesquieu applicable to that island; nor 
 does the assertion of Diodorus appear there to 
 stand upon better gronnds. 
 
 The advocates for the use of tea have, no 
 doubt, been struck with the remark just made, 
 that this vegetable forms a considerable article 
 in the diet of the Newfoundlanders. Wine is 
 seldom used but by the superior sort of 
 planters, and that only on some particular 
 occasions. Spirituous liquors are in more 
 general use: it is not, however, uncommon to 
 see a servant, who finds that this drink has a 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 465 
 
 violent effect on his passions, or has in one in- 
 stance brought him into a scrape, srvear against 
 hquor, that is, swear before his clergyman that he 
 will not drink any kind of spirits for one year, 
 sometimes for a longer period, or during his stay 
 onshore : this is called therecagging ovkegging; 
 and seldom any but strangers find themselves 
 under the necessity of applying to this measure. 
 Bohea tea, hot from the kettle in which it is 
 boiled, is the favourite and universal beverage, 
 CA en at dinrter, particularly during the winter 
 season, as well as at breakfast and supper 
 during the whole year. And yet it has been 
 asserted by several highly respectable writers, 
 that tea appears from the best experiments to 
 produce sedative effects upon the nerves, dimi- 
 nishing their energy and the tone of the mus- 
 cular fibres, and inducing a considerable de- 
 gree both of sensibility and irritability upon 
 the whole sptem: it has even been thought 
 that the diminutive stature and cowardly 
 disposition of the Chinese might be owing 
 m no small degree to the use of this vegetable, 
 at the same time that it is supposed not to 
 be so prejudicial in the hot climates of China 
 and India, as in the colder ones. Others have 
 attributed these eflTects, not to the tea itself, but 
 to the warm watei*. 
 
 H h 
 
466 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 Another beverage in common use there, 
 cheap, pleasant, and very wholesome, is 
 spruce-heer. A bough of black spruce, fresh 
 from the tree, is chopped into small pieces, 
 and put into an iron pot, containing about 
 six or eight gallons of water; this is hung 
 over a large fire and left to boil for several 
 hours, until the leaves come off without 
 effort; it is then taken off, and some molasses 
 are put into it, at the rate of about one gallon 
 for eighteen gallons: the whole is stirred 
 up, and when sufficiently cooled, is poured 
 into the cask where a pint of the grounds 
 left by the former brewing, and a certain 
 quantity of cold water, to prevent the grounds 
 from being scalded, have been previously put. 
 The cask being completely filled with cold 
 water, is well shaken, and left to ferment and 
 settle for twenty-four hours. Then the beer is 
 fit for use, and of a very superior quality to 
 what is made with the essence of spruce. 
 Some people of a particular taste use that beer 
 Avith spirits, instead of water, a mixture which 
 is there called callibogus, and confined to a 
 few amateurs. 
 
 The houses are generally built of wood; the 
 best are two stories high, raised on brick or 
 stone foundations, which include excellent cel- 
 
lb, 
 
 E, I i 
 
 b i. 
 
 f;i 
 
 b, f 
 b [ 
 
 I * 
 
 b . 
 isnl 
 
 lib 
 
 libel 
 
 ijb; 
 
 ib 
 
 (b 
 
 pk. 
 
 iti; 
 
 Dllllil 
 
 leb 
 
 infcE. 
 
 SflV 
 
 duib 
 
 reb 
 
 ledb 
 
 b;' 
 tuict' ' 
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND. 4fi7 
 
 lars: the boards, planks, and shingles,* are 
 imported from other parts of America. These 
 houses are continnally wanting repair, and 
 require a coat of paint every twelve months to 
 support a decent appearance. The use of 
 coal has of late years become general in par- 
 lours and even in kitchens; it is imported 
 chiefly from Sydney, furnishing a profitable 
 employment to the shipping until the fish is 
 ready to be put on-board for market; also 
 from Liverpool and Scotland in greater or 
 smaller quantities as ballast, when the cargo is 
 light, or the amount of shipping required to 
 carry off the produce of the fishery exceeds 
 that which is necessary for the importation of 
 supplies and merchandize. 
 
 The common dwellings consist only of the 
 grround-floor, or at most of one story : the mate- 
 rials, except the shingles, are the produce of the 
 Newfoundland woods; the best sorts are clap- 
 boarded on the outside; others are built of logs 
 left rough and uneven on the inside and outside, 
 the interstices being filled up with moss, and 
 the inside generally lined with boards planed 
 and tongued. This filling with moss the va- 
 cancies between the studs to keep out the 
 
 * Shingles are laths of twelve inches long and four broad, 
 which are nailed on the tops of houses like tiles. 
 
 H h 2 
 
 I 
 
468 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 weather, is there called chinsmg. The floors 
 are sometimes made of boards planed and 
 tongued, and sometimes of longers or poles 
 nailed top to but. They call tilts temporary 
 log houses, -which they erect in the woods to 
 pursue there their winter occupations. Tilt- 
 backs, or linneys, are sheds made of studs, 
 and covered either with boards or with boughs, 
 resembling the section of a root, fixed to the 
 back of their dwellings towards the wind. They 
 have only one fire-place in a very large kitchen, 
 partially enclosed w ith boards, and having within 
 a bench on each side, so as to admit eight or 
 ten persons. Under these benches they manage 
 convenient places for their poultry, by which 
 means they have fresh eggs during the most 
 severe winters: these chimneys are likewise 
 by their width extremely fit for the purpose of 
 smoking salmon and other kinds of fish or 
 eatables, as the only fuel used in them is wood, 
 which is found at no great distance. 
 
 The natives of both sexes are equally re- 
 markable for their ingenuity and industry. 
 The women, besides the very valuable assist- 
 ance which they afford during the season for 
 curing and drying the fish, generally under- 
 stand the w^hole process of preparing the woo! 
 from the fleece, and of manufacturing it by 
 knitting into stockings, caps, socks, and mit- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 469 
 
 tens: their worsted stockings are strong and 
 well calculated for the climate. The women 
 are also characterized by a steady attention to 
 their domestic duties, and correctness of con- 
 duct in every point of view. 
 
 The natives generally attain to a good old 
 age; some instances have been known of men 
 and women at fourscore attending on the flakes 
 and in the stages, to the operations of the fish- 
 ery, with as much facility and alacrity as they 
 could have done in their youth. They are 
 liable to few diseases, except such as are im- 
 ported from other countries. The scarlet and 
 putrid fevers, putrid sore throat, and the 
 small-pox, in consequence of their rooted aver- 
 sion to any kind of inoculation, produce among 
 them a very great mortality, whenever they 
 happen to make their appearance during the 
 heats of the summer season. The gout is un- 
 known among them, nor are consumptions fre- 
 quent. 
 
 It has already been observed that the natives 
 of Newfoundland have generally retained the 
 manners and customs of their respective ances- 
 tors, with some qualifications arising from the 
 difference of climate and of the mode of living, 
 so as to exhibit rather a compound of all. 
 Some customs are found there of very ancient 
 
470 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 date, and now grown obsolete in Europe. 
 Such is, for example, the custom of saluting 
 the hride. Doctor Taylor, in his Elements of 
 the Civil Law, says, that this custom was much 
 in fashion in his time over all Europe; and he 
 traces it to a similar one in use in ancient 
 Rome, where drinking wine or other strong 
 liquors was, in women, a crime punishable 
 equally to adultery, as leading to it, by a law 
 as ancient as Romulus ; and in order that tliey 
 could not expect to trangress the law with im- 
 punity, the relations of the wife and of her 
 husband, “ consohriniy' were, as often as they 
 met her, to salute her, nt spiritu judicaretur. 
 This interdict was likewise contained in the 
 “ Twelve Tables,” and for a considerable time 
 was enforced among the Romans with inexo- 
 rable severity. In all cases of this nature, the 
 relations, “ cognati,'’ generally sat with the 
 husband as assessors in the trial. 
 
 The regularity established by the nature of 
 the pursuits of the inhabitants of Newfound- 
 land impresses the same character on all the 
 principal occurrences of life. Marriages and 
 christenings usually take place either at the 
 fall, when the fishing concerns are at an end 
 and all accounts are settled, or sometimes in 
 the spring, previous to the resuming of those 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 471 
 
 occupations. They are seasons of festivity, 
 celebrated with good cheer and the firing of 
 guns. 
 
 Their funeral ceremonies are generally con- 
 ducted with some parade, and attended by a 
 large concourse of people, in proportion to the 
 regard entertained by the public for the de- 
 ceased. The clergymen of the place or district, 
 both Protestant and Roman Catholic, meet at 
 the house where the coipse is deposited, with 
 the relations and friends, and there partake 
 with them of a small collation, consisting of 
 bread and cheese, seed-cake, wine, spirits, and 
 tea. The procession, preceded by the clergy 
 who march before the corpse, proceeds to the 
 place of burial attended by the relatives two and 
 two, and followed by the friends without any 
 order. After the service has been performed 
 and the ceremony is concluded, the procession 
 returns in the same order to the house of the 
 deceased, and there separates. The funerals of 
 the military are conducted with the most impres- 
 sive solemnity. The soldiers of the company, 
 preceded by their oflicers, march two and two 
 with their arms reversed, the drums muffled 
 beating single strokes at intervals, and the fifes 
 playing a solenrn tune, until the procession has 
 reached the grave. When the ceremony is 
 
472 
 
 HISTORY Of 
 
 concluded, three volleys are fired over tlie 
 grave; the men then form themselves, the word 
 of command, “ quick march,” is given, and the 
 fifes and drums strike up a lively tune. It is said 
 that at Hatherleigh, a small town in the county 
 of Devon, after a funeral, the church-bells ring a 
 lively peal, as in other places after a wedding, 
 and that the inhabitants are perfectly reconciled 
 to this custom by the consideration that the 
 deceased is removed from a scene of trouble to 
 a state of peace. Also at High-Wycombe, in 
 Buckinghamshire, the parties, after the cere- 
 mony, meet at a public-house, sing a requiem, 
 and afterwards partake of buns and ale. As 
 to the practice above alluded to, the Author 
 has since learned, that it is customary in all 
 military funerals in England: it is evidently 
 founded in policy, though on very difl’erent 
 grounds from those on which the inhabitants 
 of Hatherleigh are said to be reconciled to the 
 lively peal. 
 
 The practice of “ waking the dead” is pretty 
 general in Newfoundland, particularly among 
 the natives of Irish extraction, who, in this re- 
 spect, most faithfully adhere to the usage of their 
 fathers in every point, as to crying most bitterly, 
 and very often with dry. eyes, howling, making 
 a variety of strange gestures and contortions 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 473 
 
 expressive of tlie violence of their grief, and 
 also as to drinking to revive their spirits, and 
 keep themselves awake. 
 
 Both Protestants and Catholics generally 
 unite in compliment to each other in observing 
 the days of their respective Saints, namely. 
 Saint George and Saint Patrick. But the de- 
 votion with which the latter is honoured by the 
 sons of Erin is by far the greater of the two. It 
 IS hardly in the power of any priest in the world 
 to hinder an Irishman from getting gloriously 
 drunk, if he is so inclined, on the whole of the . 
 17th of March, as well as the next day in 
 honour of Sheelagh, Saint Patrick’s wife. This 
 festival is always looked for in Newfound- 
 land with some apprehension, and requires the 
 most attentive exertions of the magistrates to 
 prevent the recurrence of those disturbances, 
 frequently accompanied with bloodshed, of 
 which it was the occasion not many years 
 ago. 
 
 Another practice common among the natives 
 of Newfoundland of every denomination is 
 that of fixing horseshoes, not only before 
 the doors of their houses, but also upon their 
 fishing-skiffs, boats, and schooners. Mr. John 
 Nichols, in his History of the County of 
 Leicester, published in 1800, expresses himself 
 at a loss to account for two large and ancient 
 
474 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 horse-shoes on the door of the church of Ash- 
 ton Folvile, The authors of the British Critic, 
 October, 1800 , say, that they are probably 
 relics of some jurisdiction exercised there by 
 the noble family of De Ferrers, ancient Earls of 
 Leicester and Derby, whose arms are three 
 horse-shoes, and whose name, “ Domini de 
 Ferrariis,” as they are called in old charters, 
 signifies smiths or workers in iron. They add 
 that, in the neighbouring county of Rutland, 
 the great door of the County-Hall, at Oakham, 
 exhibits the fullest display of this their armo- 
 i-ial bearing. This reasoning may apply to the 
 above-mentioned church and county-hall; but 
 how this horse-shoe came to be used, as it 
 actually is, in Ireland, as well as in various 
 parts of England, even in London, and in 
 Newfoundland, probably as a talisman against 
 evil accidents, spirits, or charms, cannot be 
 accounted for from that circumstance. 
 
 Candlemas-day is most religiously observed 
 by those of the Roman Catholic persuasion, 
 who most eagerly crowd to their respective 
 chapels to receive a few drops from the lighted 
 blessed candles on their hats and clothes, and 
 a piece likewise blessed by their priest, which 
 they carry home and preserve with the most 
 religious care and confidence, as a protection 
 against the influence of evil spirits, &c. 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 475 
 
 Ash-Wednesday is likewise observed with 
 great devotion by the same description of peo- 
 ple, with the exception of an old custom which 
 they practise on coming from mass, to parade 
 the streets, dragging after them a long heavy 
 log to which a rope is fastened, and com- 
 pelling every unmarried person, of whatever 
 sex or description, whom they happen to 
 meet, to lay hold of that rope and to accom- 
 pany the procession until the termination of 
 their march through the town. This may be 
 intended as an allusion to the renewal of the 
 licence to marry, which, in that church, is sus- 
 pended during the Lent season. 
 
 The ancient British custom of the Yule, or 
 Christmas log or block, is universally observed 
 by the inhabitants of Newfoundland. On 
 Christmas-eve, at sun-set, an immense block, 
 provided on jiurpose from the adjoining woods, 
 is laid across on the back of the fire-place, to 
 be left there till it is entirely consumed : the 
 ceremony of lighting it is announced by the 
 firing of muskets or seal guns before the door 
 of each dwelling-house. This, among them, is 
 the prelude to a season of joy and merriment, 
 nw would the wise law passed in the year 
 1658, by the Puritans of New England, ■which 
 inflicted a penalty of five shillings for “ ob- 
 serving any such day as Christmas,” stand 
 
476 
 
 HISTORY OK 
 
 there much chance of being regarded. Tliis 
 custom is said to be of very great antiquity 
 and still prevalent in the north of England, and 
 is supposed to have been borrowed from the 
 ancient Saxons. History informs us that, of 
 all the Druidical festivals, this was the most 
 joyous, with a view to atone for the inclemency 
 of the weather by great fires and mutual mer- 
 riments. The Saxons began their year, it is 
 said, on the 8th of the Kalends of January, 
 which is our Christmas-day : the festivities 
 of this season, by them called Yule, lasted 
 twelve days; the night preceding yule-day was 
 termed “ the night of mothers,” and ob- 
 served as sacred. In order to dispel the 
 drowsy influence of the dreariness of the wea- 
 ther, the summons to the approaching festival 
 was given early in the morning by music 
 going round, which was called “ the wakeths,” 
 since softened into “ waits.” Some add to the 
 Christmas-log Christmas-candles, remarkable 
 for their uncommon size. 
 
 Christmas-dinners are in general practice; 
 so are likewise Christmas-boxes, or presents, 
 not in coin, for this is not in common use 
 there, but in eatables, from a turkey or a 
 quarter of veal or mutton, or a piece of beef 
 just killed for the occasion, down to a nicely 
 smoked salmon. This custom is the less ex- 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 477 
 
 traordinary in Newfoundland, as it is said to 
 Imve originated with mariners, or rather to have 
 derived its name from a practice anciently 
 common to them. When a ship went on a 
 distant voyage, a box was fixed to the mast, 
 for the purpose of receiving the pious offerings 
 of the mariners; and we may suppose that 
 these offerings must have been frequent and 
 large, in proportion to the number and the 
 greatness of the dangers to which these people 
 might find themselves exposed during the 
 navigation. 
 
 Another custom, which is said to be still 
 observed in the north of England, prevails in 
 some parts of Newfoundland, though not with 
 general approbation; it is called mumming ^ men 
 and women exchange clothes with each other, 
 and go from house to house singing and dancing, 
 on which occasion Christmas-boxes are ex- 
 pected, and generally granted previous to the 
 performance, in order to get rid of them. The 
 Author must, in justice to the native inhabit- 
 ants of Conception-Bay, observe, that frequent 
 attempts have been made to introduce this 
 practice among them, but they have been gene- 
 rally resisted and publicly reprobated. If the 
 character of the natives of Newfoundland, in 
 general, agrees with that of those of Concep- 
 
478 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 tion-Bay, which he had greater opportunities 
 to appreciate during a residence of upwards of 
 ten years among them, no where can a race be 
 found more remarkable for indefatigable in- 
 dustry, for contempt of danger, for steadiness 
 of temper and of conduct, sincerity and con- 
 stancy of attachment, and a strong sense of 
 religious duty. 
 
 The population of Newfoundland, with re- 
 spect to religious profession, consists of mem- 
 bers of the Church of England, of Roman 
 Catholics, of Presbyterians or Independents, 
 and of Methodists. 
 
 With respect to the first, this island was one 
 of the original objects of the care of the So- 
 ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
 Foreign Parts. Their present establishment 
 there consists of four missionaries of the Esta- 
 blished Church and seven schoolmasters; 
 namely, one missionary at Saint John’s, who is 
 also acting chaplain to the garrison, and one 
 schoolmaster; one missionary and three school- 
 masters in Conception-Bay; one missionary 
 and one schoolmaster in Trinity-Bay; one 
 missionary at Placentia; one schoolmaster at 
 Burin, and another at Bonavista. Each mis- 
 sion has one or more places of worship, and 
 a dwelling-house with some land attached to 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 47.9 
 
 it. The annual salary of each missionary was 
 raised by the Society, in the year 1813 , from 
 one hundred to two hundred pounds sterling. 
 
 The lioman Catholics had long been en- 
 deavouring to obtain a footing there; but 
 their efforts were as constantly resisted, on 
 account of the disturbances and animosities 
 occasioned by the intolerant and daring con- 
 duct of the Jesuits in Canada and other parts 
 in the neighbourhood, prior to the treaty of 1 763 . 
 In the year 1784 , Doctor James O’Donell, a 
 clergyman of the Franciscan order, who had 
 been stationed in the city Of Waterford, where 
 his piety and learning soon procured his ad- 
 vancement to the head order, and where he is 
 said to have distinguished himself as a popular 
 and pathetic preacher, was sent to Newfound- 
 land with full authority from the See of Rome 
 as “ Prefect and Vicar Apostolic of New- 
 foundland.” He was afterwards raised to the 
 titular dignity of “ Bishop of Thyatira,” and 
 established missions in Harbour-Grace and 
 other parts of that island. He remained there 
 twenty-three years, during which his conduct 
 is said to have been patriotic and meritorious. 
 On his return to Ireland he received from the 
 British government a pension of fifty pounds 
 sterling, which, says his biographer, he ever 
 after looked upon with pride as a mark of his 
 
480 
 
 J 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 Majesty’s approbation. He was succeeded, in 
 the year 1806, by Doctor Lambert, the first 
 Roman Catholic missionary who appeared 
 there with the title of “ Bishop of Newfound- 
 land.” 
 
 The Presbyterians or Independents have a 
 congregation in Saint John’s, whose founder 
 was John Jones, a native of Wales, clerk to a 
 company of Royal Artillery stationed in that 
 town about the year 1777. He died at Saint 
 John’s, in March, J800, at the age of sixty-five 
 years. 
 
 Methodism was first introduced into New- 
 foundland by the Rev. Lawrence Coughlan, a 
 clergyman of the Church of England, who, about 
 the year 1764, was sent to the district of Con- 
 ception-Bay as missionary. He left it about 
 the year 1772, after having appointed classes and 
 leaders of both sexes, whilst the mission was 
 more regularly filled by the Society at home 
 with the clergyman who had some years before 
 been appointed by them to the mission of Tri- 
 nity-Bay. 
 
 W’ith respect to the Courts of Justice in 
 Newfoundland, they are,* — 
 
 I. The “ Supreme Court of Judicature,” 
 
 * By the act of tlie 33d Geo. III. cap. 76. V^idc supra, 
 p. 219. 
 
NEM FOUNDLANO. 
 
 481 
 
 held hy a Chief-Justice appointed by the Kin<^’s 
 commission under the great seal. This is* a 
 court of record, Iiaving botl. criminal and civil 
 jurisdiction. It may hold plea of “ all crimes 
 and misdenmmors" committed within the island 
 of Newfoundland, and the islands and seas to 
 « iich ships or ves.sels repair from the island of 
 JNewfoundland for carrying on the fishery, on 
 the hanks of Newfoundland, and on the coast 
 of Labrador, m the same manner as plea is 
 holden of such crimes and misdemeanors in 
 England. It may also hold plea, in a sum- 
 mary way, of all suits and complaints of a civil 
 nature, arising within the parts above-men- 
 tioned, and also in Great Britain and Ireland 
 according to the law of England, as far as the 
 same can he applied to suits and complaints 
 arising in the said islands and places. 
 
 II. The “ Surrogate Courts,” held each -by 
 a Judge appointed by the Governor of the 
 island, and having cmV jurisdiction in the same 
 manner and to the same extent as the Supreme 
 Court, to which an appeal lies from these 
 courts upon judgments for sums exceeding 
 forty pounds; as there is likewise an appeal 
 from the Supreme Court to his Majesty in 
 council upon judgments for sums exceeding 
 onejiundred pounds. *’ 
 
 The mode of proceeding in these severer 
 
482 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 coui'ts of civil jurisdiction, is by summons, 
 where the cause of action does not exceed 
 five pounds; and where it does exceed that 
 sum, or the summons is disobeyed, then by 
 writ of attachment against the goods, or by 
 arrest of tlie person. When the cause of action 
 exceeds the sum of forty shillings, and a jury 
 is prayed by either of the parties to the suit, 
 twenty-four persons are to be summoned, 
 twelve of wliom are to form the jury; but in 
 case of a sufticient number of jurors not ap- 
 pearing to be sworn, then the Governor may 
 appoint two Assessors to the Chief- Justice, 
 and each Surrogate may in like manner ap- 
 point to himself two such Assessors ; and they 
 shall respectively proceed to the trial as if no 
 jury had been prayed.* 
 
 When a writ of attachment has been issued, 
 and it is made appear to the court out of which 
 such process has issued, that the party is hml- 
 vent, the court may summon the plaintiff, the 
 defendant, and all the creditors to appear at a 
 certain day; and if, upon investigation, it is 
 found that the party is really insolvent, the 
 court is to declare him or her insolvent accord- 
 ingly, and to authorize one or more creditors, 
 chosen by the major part in value of such cre- 
 
 * Vide supra, p. 216. 
 
XF.VVFOUNnLANn. 
 
 48.3 
 
 ditors whose debts amount respectively to the 
 sum often pounds and upwards, to luoceed to 
 discovering, collecting, and selling the eflects 
 and debts of such person, and making a rate- 
 able distribution of the produce among all his 
 creditors, under the directions of such court, 
 and according to such orders as it may, from’ 
 time to time, deem proper to make. 
 
 The order in the distribution of the eflects 
 of insolvent persons is as follows; viz. 
 
 1. Wages due to tishermen and seamen for 
 the then current season, are to be paid 20.y. in 
 the pound. 
 
 2. Debts for supplies furnished in the then 
 current season, also 20^. in the pound, so far 
 as the eflects will go. And 
 
 3. ])ebts contractiul within two years. 
 
 All other creditors are to be paid out of the 
 remainder, it there is any, rateably to their 
 respective claims. 
 
 A certificate granted by the court, with the 
 consent of one-half in number and value of the 
 creditors, of such insolvent person having made 
 a true disclosure of his effects, and conformed 
 to the orders and directions of that court, is a 
 bar to all suits for debts contracted within the 
 extent of the jurisdiction of the Supreme and 
 Surrogate Courts, prior to the declaration of 
 insolvency. 
 
484 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 III. Tlie “ Probate Court,” for the probate 
 of wills and for granting administration of the 
 effects of intestates, without which the effects 
 of deceased persons cannot, by law, be legally 
 administered. This court is held by the Chief- 
 Justice, and by Surrogates appointed under 
 his hand and seal. 
 
 IV. The “ Court of Vice- Admiralty,” held 
 by a Judge-Commissary appointed by the 
 Lords of the Admiralty. This court holds 
 plea only of maritime causes and causes of the 
 revenue; but may not take cognizance of the 
 wages of seamen and fishermen. Uj)on any 
 judgment given in this court, an appeal lies to 
 the Court of Admiralty in England; and, in 
 cases of prize vessels taken in war, to certain 
 Commissioners of Appeal in England. 
 
 V. The “ Court of Session,” held by two or 
 more magistrates appointed by the Governor. 
 The jurisdiction of this court, and the oaths ol 
 office to be taken by each magistrate, are the 
 same as in England. They are specially em- 
 powered to hear and determine all disputes 
 concerning the wages of seamen and fisher- 
 men; all suits for the payment of debts not 
 exceeding forty shillings, and not contracted 
 more than one year before the commencement 
 of such suit ; and all oflences committed by the 
 masters and employers against any act relating 
 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 485 
 
 to Newfoundland and its fisheries, as well as 
 to give judgment for the recovery of every 
 penalty or forfeiture of the sum of ten pounds 
 or under, imposed by any such act. 
 
 With these exceptions, it is expressly pro- 
 vided by the Judicature-Act, that none but the 
 Supreme and Surrogate Courts may hold plea 
 of any suit or complaint of a civil nature. All 
 fines, penalties, and forfeitures, whatever, may 
 be recovered only, except as stated in the pre- 
 ceding article, in the Supreme and Surrogate 
 Courts. 
 

V 
 
 appendix. 
 
 Note 1, p. 5. 
 
 ri^ 
 
 J HE information which we have concerning the geo- 
 graphy of the middle ages is very slender and uncertain ; 
 and so inaccurate was the knowledge that the Romans 
 had of the northern parts of Europe, that Pliny, in 
 his ^Natural History, lib. vi. cap. 13, supposes that the 
 Baltic was connected with the Caspian and the Great 
 Indian Seas, representing Nerigon or Norway, Scandia 
 or Sweden, Dumna or Denmark, and Bergos, as islands 
 lying near the Icy Sea, of which Nerigon was the 
 greatest, whence, he says, they used to sail to Thule. 
 Ib. lib. iv. cap. 16. In “ King Alfred’s version of the 
 Ormesta of Orosius,” on the geography of those parts 
 in the ninth century, with many valuable additions by 
 the royal geographer himself, from information ob- 
 tained from some Northmen whom, after his signal 
 victory over tKfe Danish invaders, he had suffered to 
 remain at his court, there is a description of the 
 country of the Northmen given to Alfred by one of 
 them named Ohthere. From this account, it appears, 
 that that country was then called Northmanna-land ; 
 that it was opposite to the Ost sea, very long, broadest 
 at the south, where it was about sixty miles or more in 
 
488 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 extent, and growing narrower to the northward, until 
 it extended at last only three miles from the sea; 
 and that it was bounded to the eastward by wild 
 moors, inhabited by the Finnas, who lived there in the 
 winter by hunting, and in the summer by fishing in 
 the Ost sea. Ohthere described himself as a very 
 rich man in such goods as were valuable in those coun- 
 tries, and said that at the time he quitted North- 
 manna-land, he had six hundred tame deer, none of 
 which he had purchased, and six decoy rein-deer, 
 which were very valuable among the Finnas, because 
 they caught wild ones with them. He had, besides, 
 twenty horned cattle, twenty sheep, and twenty swine. 
 The rents or tributes in his country consisted chiefly of 
 what was paid by the Finnas, in the skins of deer, 
 bears, otters, and martens ; in • feathers, whalebone, 
 and ship-ropes, made of whales’ hides or seals’-skins. 
 Every one paying according to his substance, the 
 wealthiest paid fifteen martens’, five rein-deers’, and 
 one bear’s skin; ten hanapers full of feathers, a cloak 
 made of bears’ or otters’ skin, and two ship-ropes, 
 each sixty ells long, one of whales’ and the other of 
 seals’ skin. 
 
 The extraordinary abundance of deer, bears, birds, 
 and other animals, which the Northmen found in New- 
 foundland, of the same description as those which 
 were esteemed most valuable in their own country, may 
 be supposed to have given them a very high opinion of 
 the value of that island, and to have made them anxious 
 to form a settlement in a country which was so much 
 superior in this and other respects to Northmanna-land 
 and to Greenland. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 48y 
 
 Note 2, p. 11. 
 
 The first vessels in use among the northern nations 
 o» Europe, of which mention is made by historians, 
 were boats, either hollowed out of large trunks of trees, 
 or made of wicker cased over with the skin of deer or 
 of some other animal: the latter sort were in general 
 use m Britain in Caesar’s time; ( De Bello Civili, §259:) 
 those of the Saxon pirates were of the same construc- 
 tion. They were likewise used by the Greeks, who 
 called them perhaps in reference to their 
 
 shape, from Ka^xgof, a large kind of crab, and took 
 them on board their ships like pinnaces ; hence most 
 likely korabl, the Russian term for a ship. The coracle 
 now in use on the Dee, the Severn, and the Wye, 
 consists of a slight frame of wicker-work round the 
 edges, and of bent laths intersecting each other in the 
 body, covered with pitched canvass. It is broad at 
 one end and rounded at the other; extremely light, 
 only large enough to contain a single person, and 
 having a cross bench or seat. The Author has fre- 
 quently seen men paddling down the Wye in these 
 small boats with inconceivable rapidity and dexterity, 
 and afterwards walking up the banks of the river with 
 their coracle on their head, like a large basket with 
 provisions or other goods ; or, if empty, thrown over 
 the shoulder, or placed inverted on the head. 
 
 It appears also, from Ohthere’s account, that the 
 people of Northmanna-land and of Cwenaland were in 
 
490 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the habit of making incursions on each other; for 
 which purpose the latter used to carry their ships over 
 land into the meres or lakes amongst the moors, and 
 that, as Ohthere told King Alfred, these ships were 
 small and light. ' 
 
 Necessity, however, soon induced the northern na- 
 tions to build vessels of a larger size ; for, according to 
 the same account, the Northmen, in the ninth century, 
 had circumnavigated the extreme point of Europe, and 
 coming at last to the Cwen or White Sea, had ar- 
 rived at the Dwina, and among the Beormas who re- 
 sided on its banks. But what must have been even 
 the largest ships known in the north of Europe, 
 when we read of Edgar’s fleets, which amounted to 
 three thousand six hundred ships, and even to four 
 thousand, according to Brompton ! These larger ships 
 were navigated by rowers, and dexterity and per- 
 severance in rowing were viewed among the nations of 
 the north in so advantageous a light, that King Harold 
 Hardrade, and Earl Rognwald, Lord of the Orkneys, 
 prided themselves greatly on their superior skill in 
 handling an oar. It was also considered by them as 
 peculiarly praise-worthy to understand the structure of 
 a ship, and the best method of constructing it, so as 
 to be firm and strong, and at the same time a quick 
 sailer. 
 
 Note 3, p. 17. 
 
 Abraham Ortelio was a native of Antwerp, 
 then under the dominion of Philip the Second, King 
 
appendix. 
 
 491 
 
 of Spain, to whom he was chief geographer. He was 
 contemporary and intimate witli the celebrated Cam den, 
 who appears to have undertaken his “ Britannia” at 
 the earnest solicitation of Ortelio, from the following 
 passage in his preface to the edition of that work, 
 published in 1607, about twenty years after the first 
 edition: “ Eximius veteris geographise restaurator 
 
 Abraiiamus Ortelius ante annum tricesimum 
 mecum pluribus egit ut Britanniam nostrum antiquam 
 illam illustrarem: hoc est, ut Britanniae suam anliqua- 
 tatem, et suae antiquitati Britanniam restiluerem, ut 
 vetustis novitatem, obscuris lucem, dubiis fidem ad- 
 derem; et ut veritatem in rebus nostris, quam vel 
 sciiptoruni securitas, vel vulgi credulitas proscrip- 
 serant, quoad fieri posset, post liminio revocarem. 
 Opus sane arduum, &c.” Ortelio published, in the 
 year 1570, a work in Latin, under the title of Orbis 
 TerraB Theatrum,” which he dedicated to Philip II. ; 
 a Spanish translation, with considerable additions and 
 improvements by the same author, appeared about the 
 year 1588, a second edition in 1602, and a third in 
 1612, in one large and thick folio volume, containing 
 128 whole sheet maps. In this work the author speaks 
 in the highest terms of Camden’s Britannia, which he 
 ranks far above all other productions of the same kind: 
 sobre todos, al qual despues de averlo leydo, parascera 
 le averlo visto con los oyos.” His description of Eng- 
 land and Ireland is there said to be ad D. Guliel. 
 Camdeni Britanniam accommodata.” 
 
 In his Typus Orbis Terrarum,” or Map of the 
 World, dated in the year 1587, the regions round 
 the North Pole are described as separated from the 
 
492 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 old and new continents, between the seventieth and 
 eightieth degrees of north latitude, by a narrow sea, 
 which runs east and west from the Atlantic into the 
 Pacific Ocean. In the eastern entrance into the 
 western arm is an island called Groetland, having 
 to the east and south-east another much larger, called 
 Groenlandt. This last, in another map, is laid down 
 as containing a monastery of Saint Thomas, a town 
 named Alba, and several rivers and capes round the 
 whole island with distinct names. To the south-west 
 of Greenland is Estotilant: further down is Terra de 
 Baccalaos, divided into three islands; the first having 
 to the north-east Cape-Blanco, to the south-east, the 
 Isle of Saint Julien, and to the north Belle-Isle, in the 
 mouth of an arm of the sea which separates it from Terra 
 Corterialis : the second and largest division, separated 
 from the first by a strait which seems to correspond 
 with the Bay of Exploits and the Bay of Islands, 
 has to the east the Isle des Oiseaux, or Birds’- 
 Island, now Fogo, and contains Cape-Bonavista, near 
 which is a small island, called Baccalaos, at the entrance 
 of a strait which corresponds with the Bays of Trinity 
 and Placentia, and which runs from north to south, 
 leaving to the east the third and smallest division, 
 terminated to the south-east by Cape de Razo, now 
 Cape-Race. 
 
 Note 4, p. 19. 
 
 Newfoundland was fora long time thought to be the 
 most eastern part of the new continent to which Cabot 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 493 
 
 had given generally the name of the New-found-land, 
 a denomination by which that island is now known by 
 the Germans, namely, New-funden-land ; by the Italians, 
 Terra Novella; by the Spaniards, Tierra Nueva; and 
 by the French, Terre Neuve. From a similar mistake 
 the isle of Cape Breton derives its name. Thus also 
 the opinion of Columbus, that the countries which he 
 had discovered in his first voyage, were a part of those 
 vast regions in Asia comprehended under the general 
 appellation of India, is the origin of the name of tlie 
 West Indies.” Ferdinand and Isabella, in a ratification 
 ot their former agreement granted to Columbus upon 
 his return, designated the new countries by the name 
 of Indies and ever since, the Kings of Spain, 
 among their other titles, have had that of Kings of 
 both Indies;” the council, whose peculiar depart- 
 ment is the government of Spanish America, has always 
 been called the Council of the Indies,” whilst all 
 the nations of Europe have invariably given the. name 
 of Indians” to the native inhabitants of North and 
 South America. 
 
 Note 5, p. 20. 
 
 That a considerable change in the climate pf Green- 
 land actually took place towards the beginning of the 
 fifteenth century is admitted by Doctor Morse, in his 
 American Gazetteer, by Doctor Forster, in his History 
 of Voyages and Discoveries in the North, by Doctor 
 Robertson, and by all our best modern geographers. 
 
494 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Tliey all agree in the following account of the first 
 settlement made in Greenland by Europeans, and the 
 subsequent interruption in the communication between 
 that colony and Europe, viz. that, in the year 982, a com- 
 pany of Icelanders, headed by one Ericke Raude, having 
 been by accident driven on the coast of Greenland, 
 Ericke, on his return, represented the country in such a 
 favourable light, that some families followed him thither, 
 where they soon became a thriving colony, giving their 
 new habitation the name of Graenland or Greenland, 
 on account of its verdant appearance. The celebrated 
 Olaf, the first Norwegian chief who embraced the 
 Christian faith, soon after sent thither a missionary, 
 and this settlement continued to increase and to flou- 
 rish under his protection, so that, in the course of a 
 hundred years, the country was provided with several 
 towns, churches, and convents, together with a bishop 
 under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Drontheim. 
 A considerable commerce was carried on between that 
 colony and Norway, and a regular intercourse maintained 
 between the two countries, until the year 1406, the date 
 of the appointment of the last of seventeen bishops 
 of Greenland who have left their names on record in 
 regular succession. At this time the gradual increase 
 of the Arctic ice surrounded at last those coasts with 
 a frozen ocean, and all communication with Europe 
 was completely cut off*. In the year 1721, Egede, a 
 Norwegian clergyman, deeply impressed with the 
 thought of the melancholy situation of this colony, if 
 it should still exist, resolved to visit that country. 
 Having reached the western shore, he traced several 
 ruins of the ancient churches, the only remains of 
 
appendix. 
 
 495 
 
 Christianity which he could find there, preached the 
 gospel to the natives, and continued among them until 
 the year 1735: his example was followed by other 
 missionaries, and by the Moravians who begem a set- 
 tlement there thirty years after his return to Europe. 
 
 It is an acknowledged feict that considerable veiria- 
 tions have taken place at different periods in the Arctic 
 ice, whether they are to be attributed to earthquakes, 
 storms, uncommon swells, or other violent motions of the 
 surrounding seas, or to the continual accumulations of 
 ice, by which the equilibrium being at last destroyed, an 
 effect is, from time to time, produced similar to the phe- 
 nomena so common and so destructive in the Alpine 
 mountains, known by the name of avalanches^ which 
 frequently bury whole villages under their stupendous 
 masses. It is remarkable, that all accounts of a great 
 change in the Arctic ice make mention of a great 
 swell of the sea. These swells which, during the 
 most profound calm, impress on the waves a motion 
 frequently equal in violence and power to the agitation 
 produced by the most formidable storms, are particu- 
 larly calculated to assist in producing such changes, 
 from the powerful and long continued force with which 
 they act on the under surface of the ice, and with 
 which they separate and remove its disjoined parts. 
 
 In the year 1662,* the adventurous Baffin was able 
 to navigate the sea that now bears his name; but it 
 has since been frequently found that this sea was filled 
 with numerous islands of ice, some of which were a 
 hundred leagues in circumference, and between four 
 
 . ' * See p. 330, et seq. Frobisher, Davis, and Hudson. 
 
1 
 
 496 APPENDIX. 
 
 and five hundred feet high. The Registers of the 
 Royal Society in London, for the year 1608, make 
 mention of a Hollander who had been but half a degree 
 from the Pole, where he saw neither land nor ice, but 
 all water. Captain Middleton, in the year 1746, ob- 
 served a similar variation in the Arctic ice, and stated 
 it as his opinion, that every sixth or seventh year the 
 masses detached and carried down by the ocean are 
 infinitely more considerable than in the intervening 
 years, and the diminution of ice in those parts propor- 
 tionably greater. This periodical return would seem 
 to point to a cause similar to that which produces the 
 avalanches on the Alps. In the year 1751, Captain 
 Mac Callam, of Campbell-Town, in Pennsylvania, 
 reached as high a latitude as eighty-three degrees and 
 a half. M. Laing, in his voyage to Spitzbergen, in 
 the year 1806, states, that on the 28th of May he 
 found himself by observation in eighty-one degrees 
 fifty minutes of north latitude, the sea-shore being 
 almost clear of ice, with a great swell ; the weather 
 was serene; and, had their object been the making 
 discoveries, there was not apparently any thing to pre- 
 vent them from going a great way farther to the north. 
 But in his second voyage in 1807, he could not pene- 
 trate higher than seventy-eight degrees thirty minutes 
 north; a ridge of ice totally prevented their farther 
 progress. In the year 1817, the eastern coast of Green- 
 land which, thoug'h visible at a distance, had hitherto 
 been found bordered by a high and impenetrable bar- 
 rier of ice, was visited by a ship of Bremen and 
 several fishing-boats from Iceland. At the same time 
 the Norwegian vessels found beyond the eightieth de- 
 
appendix. 
 
 497 
 
 gree an open sea where, till then, nothing could be 
 seen but enormous frozen masses heaped up in moun- 
 tains upon mountains. A much larger quantity of ice 
 was dismissed that year from the northern sea than had 
 been noticed in any former year, and some navigators 
 could penetrate without obstrucUon as far as the 
 eighty-third degree. Hence it was supposed that a 
 material alteration was about to take place in the 
 climate of the northern regions of America, so as to > 
 restore Greenland and Newfoundland to the tempera- 
 ture which they enjoyed previous to the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. The uncommon number and size of the detached 
 masses of ice which had recently found their way into 
 the Atlantic Ocean, even so far south as within ten 
 degrees of the equator, had likewise encouraged a 
 hope that the sea would be found more navigable in 
 the highest northern latitudes than it had been before. 
 
 There is a striking correspondence between some of 
 the most conspicuous eras in the History of Greenland 
 and of Newfoundland, and the account given in 
 Pfteffer’s History of Climates, respecting the character 
 of the seasons at the same times; which also seems to 
 warrant the conclusion that our winters are more 
 severe in proportion to the increased accumulation of 
 ice in those regions, and that a material change there 
 produces a proportionable alteration in the state of our 
 climate. From the year 860 to the year 1260, in- 
 cluding a space of four hundred years, there were, 
 according to that writer, only thirteen winters of 
 unusual severity; and not one from the year 1468 
 to the year 1534, a period remarkable for the dis- 
 covery of the New World, and the voyages of the 
 
 K k 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 4i)« 
 
 Cabots aitd others to North America. But in the in- 
 termediate space, from the year 1260 to the year 1468, 
 including about two hundred years, there are not less 
 than sixteen winters of that description on record, 
 namely, those of the years 1261, 1281, 1292, 1305, 
 1316, 1323, B?39, 1344, 1392, 1408, 1423, 1432, 
 1433, 1434, 1460, and 1468. 
 
 The winter of the year 1408 in particular, is de- 
 scribed as one of the coldest ever remembered. Not 
 only the Danube was frozen over, but also the sea be- 
 tween Gothland and Oeland, and between Norway 
 and Denmark, so that wolves, driven from the forests, 
 went over the ice into Jutland; in France, the vine- 
 yards and orchards were completely destroyed. In the 
 winter of the year 1423, both the North Sea and the 
 Baltic were frozen; travellers passed on the ice from 
 Lubeck to Dantzic ; while, in France, the destruction 
 occasioned by the intensity of the frost was such that 
 men and cattle perished from want of food. 
 
 Note 6, p. 91. 
 
 King Charles’s commission for the well governing of 
 his subjects inhabiting Newfoundland, or trafficking 
 in bays, creeks, or fresh rivers there. 
 
 ‘‘ Charles, by the Grace of God, King of England, 
 Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, 
 and so forth, to all to whom these presents shall come, 
 greeting. 
 
 Whereas, the region or country,' called New- 
 foundland, hath been acquired to the dominion of our 
 
' appendix. 
 
 499 
 
 progenitors, which we hold, and our people have many 
 years resorted to those parts, where, and on the coasts 
 adjoining, they employed themselves in fishing, whereby 
 a great number of our people have been set on work, 
 and the navigation and mariners of our realm have 
 been much increased; and our subjects resorting 
 thither, one by the other, and the natives of those 
 parts, were orderly and gently entreated, until of late 
 some of our subjects of the realm of England planting 
 themselves in that country, and there residing and in- 
 habiting, have imagined that for wrongs or injuries 
 done there, either on the shore or in the sea adjoining, 
 they cannot be here impeached; and the rather for 
 that we, or our progenitors, have not hitherto given 
 laws to the inhabitants there, and, by that example, 
 our subjects resorting thither injure one another and 
 use all manaef of excess, tdlhe great hindrance of the 
 voyage and common damage of this realm: for pre- 
 venting such inconveniences hereafter, we do hereby 
 declare in what manner our people in Newfoundland 
 and upon the seas adjoining, and the bays, creeks, and 
 fresh rivers there, shall be guided and governed ; and 
 do make and ordain the laws following in the things 
 after specified, commanding that the same be obeyed 
 and put in execution. 
 
 “ 1st. If any man on the land there shall kill another, 
 or if any shall secretly or forcibly steal the goods of 
 any other in the value of forty shillings, he shall be 
 forthwith apprehended and arrested, detained, and 
 brought prisoner into England, and the crime com- 
 mitted by him shall be made known to the Earl Marshal 
 of England for the time being, to whom the delinquent 
 
 K k 2 
 
500 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 shall be delivered as prisoner; and the said Earl-Mar- 
 shal shall take cognizance of the cause; and if he shall 
 find by the testimony of two witnesses or more that the 
 party had there killed a man, (not being at that time 
 first assaulted by the party slain, or that the killing 
 were by misadventure,) or that he had stolen such 
 goods, the delinquent shall suffer death, and all the 
 company shall endeavour to apprehend such male- 
 factor, 
 
 2d. That no ballast, prestones, or any thing else 
 hurtful to the harbours, be thrown out to the prejudice 
 of the said harbours ; but that it be carried on shore, 
 and laid where it may not do annoyance. 
 
 3d. That no person whatever, either fisherman or 
 inhabitant, do destroy, deface, or any way work any 
 spoil or detriment to any stage, cook-room, flakes, 
 spikes, nails, or any thing else that belongeth to the 
 stages whatsoever, either at the end of the voyage, 
 when he hath done and is to depart the country, or to 
 any such stages as he shall fall withal at his coming into 
 the country; but that he or they content themselves 
 with such stage or stages only as shall be needful for 
 them ; and that, for the repairing of such stages as he 
 or they take, they shall fetch timber out of the woods, 
 and not do it with the ruining or tearing of other 
 stages. 
 
 4th. That, according to the ancient custom, e\ery 
 ship, or fisher that first entereth a harbour in behalf of 
 the ship, be Admiral of the said harbour, wherein, for 
 the time being, he shall receive only so much beech 
 and flakes, or both, as is needful few the number of 
 boats that he shall use, with an overplus only for one 
 
appendix. 
 
 501 
 
 boat more than he needeth, as a privilege for l.is first 
 coming;-and that every sliip coming after content 
 ln.nself with what he shall have necessary use for 
 Without keeping or detaining any more to the prejudice 
 of others next coming;_and that any that are pos- 
 ^sse of several places in several harbours shall be 
 bound to resolve upon which of them they choose, and 
 to send advice to such after-comers in those places, as 
 expect their resolution, and that within eight and forty 
 hours, if the weather so serve, in order that the said after- 
 comers may likewise choose their places, and so none 
 receive prejudice by others’ delay. 
 
 “ 5th. That no person cut out, deface, or any way 
 alter or change the marks of any boats or train-fats, 
 whereby to defraud the right owners; and that no per- 
 son convert to his own use the smd boats or train-fats 
 so belonging to others, without their consents; nor 
 remove, nor take them from the places where they be 
 left by the owners, except in case of necessity; and 
 then to give notice thereof to the Admiral and others, 
 whereby the right owners may know what is become of 
 them. 
 
 “ 6th. That no person do diminish, take away, pur- 
 loin, or steal any fish, or train, or salt, which is put in 
 casks, train-fats, or cook-room, or other house, in any 
 of the harbonrs or fishing places of the country, or any 
 other provision belonging to the fishing trade or to die 
 ships. 
 
 “ 7th. That no person set fire in any of the woods 
 of the country, or work any detriment or destruction 
 to the same, by rinding of the trees, either for the 
 sealing of ships’ holds or for rooms on shore, or for any 
 
502 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 other uses, except for the covering of the roofs for 
 cook-rooms to dress their meat in, and these rooms not 
 to extend above sixteen feet in length at the most. 
 
 ‘‘ 8th. That no man cast anchor or aught else liurt- 
 ul, which may breed annoyance, or hinder the haling 
 of seines for bait in places accustomed thereunto. 
 
 9th. That no person rob the nets of others out of 
 any drift, boat, or drover for bait, by night, nor take 
 away any bait out of their fishing-boats by their ships’ 
 sides, nor rob or steal any of their nets, or any part 
 thereof. 
 
 “ 10th. That no person do set up any tavern for 
 selling of wine, beer, or strong waters, cyder, or to- 
 bacco, to entertain the fishermen ; because it is found 
 that by such means they are debauched, neglecting 
 their labours, and poor ill-governed men not only 
 spend most part of their shares before they come 
 home, upon which the life and maintenance of their 
 wives and children depend, but are likewise hurtful in 
 divers other ways, as, by neglecting and making them- 
 selves unfit for their labour, by purloining and stealing 
 from their owners, and by making unlawful shifts to 
 supply their disorders, which disorders they frequently 
 follow since these occasions have presented them- 
 selves. 
 
 Lastly. That, upon the Sundays the company 
 assemble in meet places, and have divine service to be 
 said by some of the masters of the ships, or some 
 others ; which prayers shall be such as are in the Book 
 of Common Prayer. 
 
 “ And because that speedy punishment may be in- 
 flicted upon the offenders against these laws and con- 
 
appendix. 
 
 .)0.3 
 
 slitulions, we do ordain that every of the mayors of 
 Southampton, Weymouth, and Melcombe-Regis, Lynn, 
 Plymouth, Dartmouth, East-Low, Foye, and Barn- 
 stable, for the time being;, may take cogrnizance of all 
 complaints made against any offender against any of 
 these oidinances upon the land, and, by oath of wit- 
 nesses, examine the truth thereof, award amends to the 
 parties grieved, and punish the delinquents by fine 
 and imprisonment, or either of them, or of their goods 
 found in the parts of Newfoundland, or on the sea, 
 cause satisfactidn thereof to be made, by warrants 
 under their hands and seals. And the Vice-Admirals 
 in our counties of Southampton, Dorset, Devon, and 
 Cornwall, upon complaint made of any of the premises 
 committed upon the sea, shall speedily and effectually 
 proceed against the ofl'enders. 
 
 ‘‘ Also, we will and ordain, that these laws and or- 
 dinances shall stand in force and be put in due execu- 
 tion until we shall otherwise provide and ordain; and 
 we do require the Admirals in every harbour in this 
 next season ensuing, calling together such as shall be 
 in that harbour, publicly to proclaim these presents, 
 and that they also proclaim the same on shore. 
 
 In witness whereof, we have caused these our 
 letters to be made patent. 
 
 Witness ourself at Westminster, the 10th day of 
 February, in the ninth year of our reign. 
 
 ‘‘ God save the King. 
 
 WiLLYS.” 
 
5C4 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 Note 7, p. 95. 
 
 Ordinance of Louis XIV. concerning the marine^ 
 given at Fontainbleau, in the month of August, 1681. 
 
 The compilers of this ordinance appear to have 
 carefully consulted the naval laws of the ancient 
 Rhodians, which, having been adopted by the Romans, 
 were afterwards called the Roman law; — those of 
 Oleron, instituted by Richard I. on his return from tlie 
 Holy Land, in the end of the eleventh century, and 
 extracted with considerable improvements from the 
 Rhodian laws ; — those of Wishy, a city in Gothland, 
 in the Baltic, once eminent for its navigation and com- 
 merce, and by which all maritime controversies in the 
 northern seas were decided ; — the laws of the Hanse- 
 towns, established in the year 1614;— the preceding 
 regulations of Charles I. relating to the Newfoundland 
 trade and fisheries; — and the Navigation- Acb passed 
 in the 12th year of Charles II. soon after his restora- 
 tion in 1660.* 
 
 After the several ordinances,’^ it is said in the 
 preamble, ‘‘ which we have made for regulating by 
 good laws the administration of justice and of our 
 finances, and after the glorious peace with which it 
 has pleased God to crown our late victories, we thought 
 that the only thing yet wanting to complete the happi- 
 ness of our subjects was to procure them plenty by the 
 ease and increase of trade, which is the principal 
 
 * Vide a General Treatise of the Dominion and Laws of the Sea, 
 by Alexander .Justice, 1 vol. 4to. London, 1705. 
 
appendix. 
 
 505 
 
 source of the prosperity of nations. And the com- 
 merce of the sea being the most considerable, we have 
 taken care to enrich the coasts of our dominions with 
 a good number of harbours and ships, for the security 
 and convenience of sea-faring people who now come 
 from all places to the ports of our kingdom. But be- 
 cause It IS no less necessary to strengthen trade by 
 good laws, than to secure its freedom and conveniency 
 by the goodness of our ports and the force of our arms, 
 and as our former ordinances, and those of our prede- 
 cessors, as well as the Roman law, contain very few 
 regulations for the decision of differences arising be- 
 tween merchants and sea-faring people, we have judged 
 it right, in order that nothing should be wanting for 
 the good of trade and navigation, to settle the laws of 
 maritime contracts which have hithertojbeen uncertain, 
 to regulate^beTurisdictioifoITS^^ of the Admi- 
 ralty and the principal duties of sea-faring people, and 
 to establish a good police in the ports, coasts, and 
 roads, that are within the extent of our dominions.” 
 The ordinance consists of five books or sections, 
 occupying one hundred and fourteen quarto pages; the 
 first treats of the officers of the Admiralty, of inter- 
 preters, ship-brokers, tlie appointment and duties of 
 teachers of hydrography in the most considerable ports 
 of France, of French consuls in foreign countries, of 
 passports and declarations, of the proceedings of the 
 Courts of Admiralty, the seizure and sale of ships, and 
 the distribution of the proceeds. 
 
 The second section treats of the qualifications and 
 duties of masters of vessels, who must have served at 
 sea during five years, and after a public examination 
 
506 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 have been adjudged duly qualified by two ancient 
 masters, in the presence of the officers of the Admi- 
 ralty. It requires every vessel, even fishing-ships, on 
 long voyages, to have one or two surgeons, and directs 
 the frequent examination of the surgeons chest; it 
 provides for every offence likely to be committed by 
 mariners, and insists upon certificates of discharge 
 previous to seamen leaving their masters : it paiticu- 
 larizes the cases in which ship-owners are responsible, 
 regulates the transfer of property in ships, their ad- 
 measurement and registry, making all vessels liable 
 for the debts of the seller until one voyage has been 
 made in the name and at the risk of the buyer, except 
 where such vessels have been sold by adjudication, 
 and declares void the sale of a ship during the voyage 
 as to thencreditors of the seller. A remarkable feature 
 in this section is a clause which expressly declares, in 
 opposition to the opinion hitherto prevalent in France, 
 that all French subjects, of what quality or condition 
 soever, might cause ships to be built or bought, and 
 carry on a trade at sea by themselves, or by their agents, 
 without its being considered as derogatory to their 
 quality, provided they sold nothing by retail,'^ 
 
 The third section treats of marine contracts in all 
 their several branches, that of insurance extending to 
 seventy-four distinct articles, also averages, jettisons, 
 contributions, prizes, letters of marque, and wills of 
 seamen. 
 
 The fourth regulates the police of the ports, coasts, 
 roads, and banks of the sea. It also contains forty- 
 five regulations relating to wrecks and ships nin 
 aground, and five respecting the cutting of sea-ware 
 
or kelp, wliicli was valuable as manure in several parts 
 of France. 
 
 The fifth treats of fishing in the sea, which is 
 there declared to be free and common to all French 
 subjects, provided that those who shall go to fish for 
 cod, herring, or mackarel, on the coasts of Iceland, 
 Engiand, Scotland, and America, upon the banks of 
 Newfoundland, and generally in any other sea what- 
 soever, take a licence from the Admiral for every voy- 
 age. Numerous regulations follow concerning the dif- 
 ferent sorts of nets, and the tim^ and mode of fishing. 
 The sixth title or division of this book, which treats 
 especially of the Newfoundland fishery, contains, among 
 others, the following regulations:— 
 
 1. The first who shall arrive at, or send his boat to 
 the harbour, called Le Havre dufPetU-Mmtre, shall 
 have the chtriee;“^nd~ tal^ the space of ground neces- 
 sary for his fishery; he shall then put up at the place 
 called the Scaffold of the Grapple, a bill signed by 
 him, stating the day of his arrival, and the harbour 
 which he has chosen. 
 
 2. All other mastei-s on their arrival shall go or send 
 to the same place, and write down on the same bill 
 the day of their arrival, the number of their men, and 
 the name of the harbour and places which they have 
 cJiosen, in proportion to the burden of their ships and 
 the number of their mariners. 
 
 3. The captain that arrives first shall cause the bill 
 or placard to be guarded by one of his men, who shall 
 remain upon the place till all the masters shall have 
 made their declarations, which afterwards shall be put 
 into his hands. 
 
508 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 4. No masters or mariners may settle in any harbour 
 or station, till they have made their declarations in the 
 form aforesaid ; nor shall they disturb any other master 
 in the choice that he may have made, under the penalty 
 of 500 livres. 
 
 By the 5th and 6th articles, the same regulations 
 are extended to vessels going to fish for cod in the 
 Bay of Canada, (Saint Lawrence,) the first of which 
 that shall arrive being appointed master of the harbour, 
 and authorized to occupy the place which he shall 
 choose, and to mark out successively to those that 
 come after him their respective allotments upon the 
 shore; and the Governor or Captain of the coast, be- 
 tween Cape des Roziers and Cape of Good Hope, and 
 all other persons, are expressly forbidden, under pain 
 of disobedience, to disturb the master first arriving in 
 the bay in the choice and distribution uf the places. 
 
 By the five following articles, persons throwing 
 ballast into any harbour, or appropriating to their own 
 use the salt and oil which may have been left there ; or 
 breaking, carrying away, or burning the scaffolds, 
 flakes, or stages, either upon the coasts of Newfound- 
 land or in the Bay of Canada, are made liable to a 
 penalty of 500 livres. Na person may, without a special 
 power from the owners, take possession of the boats 
 laid up on the sands or beeches, or left in the little 
 river in the Bay of Cod, on pain of paying the value 
 of the boats and a fine of 50 livres : but they may, 
 
 when not used or otherwise disposed of by the owners, 
 make use of them for their fishing, with the permission 
 of the Captain first arrived, on condition of paying the 
 hire to the owners on their return, and also of laying 
 
appendix. 
 
 509 
 
 them up again in safety after the fishing is over of 
 which they shall procure a certificate duly attested.’ 
 
 By the 12th, the Captain first arrived is enjoined to 
 draw up a correct account of all offences committed 
 against this ordinance, which must be signed by him- 
 self and by the principal officers of his own ship; and 
 at his return, he must deliver the same to the Judo-es 
 of the Admiralty, who shall take cognizance of it.'’ ' 
 By the 13th, all masters of vessels fishing for cod 
 upon the banks of Newfoundland or in the Bay of 
 Canada, are forbidden to set sail during the night, on 
 pain of paying the damages which they may occasion, 
 and a fine of 50 livres; and likewise of corporal pu- 
 nishment, if any life be lost thereby. 
 
 By the regulations contained in the 8th division or 
 title of the 5th book or section, the Lieutenants of the 
 Admiralty are directed ToTake a list of all fishermen 
 of the age of eighteen years and upwards, living within 
 their respective jurisdictions, specifying their name, 
 age, and the particular branch of the fishery to which 
 they belong. The two oldest master-fishermen of each 
 parish are, on the first day of Lent in every year, to 
 send to the Admiralty-Office a list of all persons in 
 their parish of the same description that go to fish in 
 the sea; and the master of every fishing-boat, on 
 taking out his licence, must give into the Admiralty- 
 Office a list of his crew, with their names, ages, and 
 places of habitation. In every port or parish, contain- 
 ing more than seven master-fishermen, the fishermen 
 are, once a year, to elect one of their number to be 
 their Jure, or master of the company, who must take 
 an oath before the officers of the Admiralty, and make 
 
512 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 iron, which they can easily obtain from the stages and 
 other fishing conveniences on those parts of the coast 
 which are frequented by Europeans only during the 
 fishing season. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 MARCUANT, PRINTER, 
 XNGRAII-COURT, FENCUVRCH>STRE1T.