^<'--5''iPieSr'C:iHc^-^'^;;S„i;:,o !^ A >*ic:r>VERY 1 \../ i w^»;i:^:^;W#^^i:EN7 » ^^i^^^^^^^^^M ■'- '^'<''4^^^^H ii i H mm THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ^ LABRADOR: ITS DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION, AND DEVELOPMENT. LABRADOR: ITS DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION, AND DEVELOPMENT. BY W. G. GOSLING. TORONTO THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY LIMITED F TO MY WIFE PREFACE THIS history of Labrador, begun at the instigation of Dr. Grenfell, has far outgrown the original design. I had long been collecting books relating to the history of Newfoundland, and fondly imagined that I had the material at hand from which I could com- pile a few chapters that would contain all that was known about Labrador. I soon found that it was a much more serious affair, and that Labrador had quite an extended history, the greater part of which had not been touched upon by any writer. By the courtesy of Sir Francis S. Hopwood, Under- Secretary for State for the Colonies, I have been ac- corded particular facilities for obtaining information from the Record Office ; the Canadian Archivist, Mr. Alfred Doughty, has kindly furnished me with copies of documents from their most valuable collection of records ; Mr. H. P. Biggar has given me the benefit of his advice as to where to search for information I required, and Mr. N. E. Dionne, of Quebec, and Dr. S. E. Dawson, Ottawa, have courteously replied to my queries. To these gentlemen I tender my sin- cere thanks. For all matters relating to the discovery and early exploration of Labrador, I must express myself greatly indebted to the works of M. Henri Harrisse, who is facile princeps in that line of study. viii PREFACE My design has been to preserve the knowledge of the incidents which took place in the past, and which are likely to have some value in the development of the country in the future. That may tend to the protection and amelioration of the native races of Indians and Eskimos, to the betterment of the comparatively few white settlers, to the development and conservation of its marvellous fisheries, the framing of proper laws for the governance of the thousands of Newfoundland, Canadian, and American fishermen who frequent its coasts, to excite an interest in this neglected country, and to assist Dr. Grenfell, who has been working for these same ends for the past sixteen years with a single- minded devotion which excludes all other interests. As was to be supposed, there is no consecutive history of Labrador, and the chapters have resolved themselves into dissertations on subjects often very slightly con- nected one with another. At other times they will be found to overlap and to contain a certain amount of repetition, which has been unavoidable in the method I have been compelled to follow, and which, I hope, may be forgiven. Although this volume far exceeds the size originally intended, a good deal of matter has been omitted. It will be found that I have included very little either of a descriptive or scientific nature, my reason being that Dr. Grenfell intends shortly to bring out a book dealing exhaustively with these subjects. But I trust, however, that the story of the past here related may prove not altogether without interest and value. W. G. GOSLING. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE The Norsemen's Visits to the Coast of Labrador. i CHAPTER II The Cabots. 1497 ...••• '9 CHAPTER III Voyages to the New Lands, i 500-1 534 . . -33 CHAPTER IV The Derivation of the name "Labrador" . . 52 CHAPTER V Cartographical Evolution of Labrador . . 56 CHAPTER VI Jacques Cartier . . . . • -73 CHAPTER VII English Voyages to America in the Sixteenth Century . . . . • . -93 CHAPTER VIII The Search for the North-west Passage and Con- sequent Visits to Labrador — The Hudson Bay Company . . . . . . .118 X CONTENTS CHAPTER IX PAGE The French on Labrador, 1700-1763 . . .131 CHAPTER X The Eskimos . . . . . . • i55 CHAPTER XI The English Occupation . . . . .171 CHAPTER XII Captain George Cartwright . . . .222 CHAPTER XIII The Moravian Brethren . . . . .251 CHAPTER XIV The Moravian Brethren {continued) . . . 278 CHAPTER XV Americans on the Labrador . . . .3^7 CHAPTER XVI The British Fisheries on Labrador . . -379 CHAPTER XVII Boundary Dispute with Canada . . .432 CHAPTER XVIII Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, C.M.G. . . . -454 Appendix . . . • • • -475 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Remarkable Iceberg, showing Corrugations caused by Continual Streams of Water flowing down it F'piece. FACING PAGE Glacial Erosion in Labrador, near the Horsechops . lo Fishing Schooners on the Labrador Coast . . 52 Cantino Map. 1502 ...... 54 King Map ....... 58 Kunstman No. II ...... 60 Kunstman No. Ill ...... 62 Carta Marina, 1516 . . . . ■ .64 Wolfenbuttel B. circa 1530 . . . . .66 Desliens Map, 1546 ...... 68 Molyneux Map, from 1598 Edition of " Hakluyt's Voyages" 96 French Map, about 1700 . . . . .132 Old Fort Ridge, near the Ancient Brest . . 166 Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser . . . . . i74 York Fort ....... 190 Captain Cook . . . . . . . 19S Battle Harbour, Labrador ..... 246 Moravian Mission House, Nain .... 266 Moravian Mission Station, Hopedale . . . 270 Moravian Mission Station, Okak . . . .274 Moravian Mission Station, Hebron .... 3'^4 Iceberg ........ 3o6 Moravian Mission Station, Killinek . . . SM A Large Berg near Indian Harbour . . . 3^2 Indian Harbour ....... 414 xi xu LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Venison Tickle . A Haul of Codfish River St. Lawrence, 1829 Dr. Wilfred Grenfkll, C.M.G. Dr. Grenfell and Secretary trying a Fishing Dispute Dr. Grenfell and Patients on Deck of "Strathcona Battle Harbour Hospital SS. "Strathcona" at Work . "Pete" Lindsay . Red Bay Co-operative . A Group of Orphan Children Orphanage Lapps Milking Deer FACING PAGE 420 424 440 454 458 458 464 464 468 468 470 472 472 LABRADOR ITS DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT TO THE COAST OF LABRADOR THE story of the Norse voyages to the American continent has received the alternate support and ridicule of students. The first ardent believer in the legend was Rafin, who published his monumental work, Antiguates Ainerica7ice in 1837. He was followed by a number of writers, who, by trying to prove too much, brought the whole story into contempt. Governor Benedict Arnold's windmill was transformed by their imagination into a Norse tower, and the Indian picture- writing found at Dighton, Mass., into a runic in- scription. Bancroft in his History of the United States, and Justin Winsor in his History of America, concur in the opinion that the Norse voyages were mere fables upon which no reliance could be placed. But lately, as a result of continual research, the pendulum of belief has swung strongly to the affirma- B 2 LABRADOR tive, and a perusal of the latest and most learned work on the subject, The Discoveries of the Norsemen in America, by Professor Joseph Fischer, 1903, must convince the most sceptical that the Norsemen did visit Labrador, Newfoundland, and perhaps some more southern coasts. In order to appreciate fully these Norse legends it is necessary to relate, as briefly as possible, the history of the early settlement of Greenland, from which place the voyagers to America set forth. About the year 986, Eric the Red, a prominent man in the Norse colony of Iceland, was banished for having slain in a feud the two sons of a powerful karl. It had been previously reported that land had been seen far to the west of Iceland, so he sailed away in search of it, and discovered Greenland. There he decided to settle, and called the place Greenland, because he said " men would be the more readily persuaded there if the land had a good name." Whether it was a result of this judicious choice of a name or not, two considerable colonies arose, one called the eastern and the other the western settlement, both, however, being on the west side of Greenland. It has been estimated, from the ruins which are still extant and from the authentic histories which remain, that probably they contained about five thousand inhabi- tants in their most flourishing days. Christianity was introduced about the year 1000, and the first bishop recorded to have visited there was Eric in the year 1 121. Of him the Annales Regii of Iceland makes the following brief mention : " A.D. 1 121, Bishop Eric of Greenland went in search of Vinland." Apparently he never returned, for the colonists soon after petitioned to have a bishop appointed who should THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT 3 reside in the colony; and accordingly in the year 1125 a Bishop's See was created at Gardar, the first occupant being Bishop Arnold, In the three hundred years which elapsed before the abandonment of the colony, the names are recorded of no less than seventeen bishops, many of whom visited Rome, notably Jon, about the year 1204, and John Ericson Scalle in 1356, and again in 1369. The colony was a dependency of the Crown of Norway, and supported itself by cattle breeding, seal hunting, and fishing. It is even said that they were able to export considerable quantities of cattle, butter, and cheese, and that they contributed a handsome sum annually to Peter's Pence. A sturdy and independent existence was maintained until about the middle of the fourteenth century, when evil days fell upon them. The Pestilence, known as the Black Death, reached even to these remote regions and greatly reduced the population. About the same time also the savage Eskimos first made their appear- ance from northern Greenland and persistently attacked them. As there was no wood for ship building, the Green- landers had become more and more dependent upon the parent land of Norway for their communication with the rest of the world. Norway was also full of trouble. Pestilence, and wars foreign and civil, occupied its attention, and the distant colony was more and more neglected and finally abandoned to its fate. It is not known when or how the final tragedy occurred. The last ship to go to Greenland was the Knor in 1406, which returned in 141 o. There seems, however, to have been later news, for in a 4 LABRADOR letter written by Pope Nicholas V, in 1448, we read: " It is not difficult to understand how our mind was filled with bitterness by the tearful lamentations which reached our ears from our beloved children the natives and other inhabitants of Greenland," but no indication is given of how the news came. Again, Pope Alexander VI, in the early days of his pontificate, 1492- 1 503, wrote: " We have learned that no vessel has touched there during the past eighty years." He ap- pointed one, Matthias, to be Bishop of Gardar, but history does not state whether he ever reached his episcopate. In the early part of the sixteenth century an attempt was made by the Archbishop of Drontheim to search for the lost colony, and in 1579, Frederick II of Norway sent out an expedition for that purpose, but it did not succeed in reaching the island. The first European to visit Greenland after this hiatus in its history was John Davis in 1585, but there was then no trace of the previous settlers. History has few more tragic stories than that of the abandoned Christian colony in Greenland. One can picture the sufferings which must have been endured, the hope of succour continually deferred, and the despair of the last survivors. Crantz, the historian of Greenland, thinks that the last of the Norse colonists were probably absorbed by the Eskimos, as some words of their language seem to have a Norse origin, especially the word " Kona," woman — a significant fact. The Eskimo themselves, however, have a clear tradition of having completely exterminated the hated Kablunaet (foreigners, sons of dogs). It is easy to understand how the deeds of the Green- landers in their early days and the memory of their THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT 5 discoveries would have gradually faded into oblivion. But the records remained. The story of the Norse voyages to America is de- rived from the following sources : Adam of Bremen, who wrote in the year 1067; Ari, the historian of Iceland, 1067-1148 ; a twelfth-century geographer, sup- posed to be Abbot Nicholas of Thingyre, who died in the year 11 59; and many Icelandic sagas, the principal of which are the saga of Eric the Red, written between the years 1310-20, and the saga known as the Flatey Book, about the year 1380. Adam of Bremen, a learned German monk, was appointed canon of the cathedral of that city about the year 1067. He became greatly interested in the work of the Church in the northern countries, and was at much pains to write its history. His book is called A History of the Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg, the fourth part of which is entitled A Description of the Islattds of the North. In order to obtain particulars of these northern countries, Adam made a visit to King Sven of Denmark, " in whose head was graven as on a tablet the whole history of the barbarians " (that is to say, the Norsemen). As there was con- tinual communication between Greenland, Iceland, and Denmark, it is quite possible that King Sven may have obtained his information from one of the voyagers themselves. Adam says : " Moreover, he (King Sven) speaks of an island in that ocean, discovered by many, which is called Vinland, for the reason that vines grow there which yield the best of wine. Moreover, that grain unsown grows there abundantly is not a fabulous fancy, but, from the accounts of the Danes, we know to be a fact." 6 LABRADOR Unfortunately Adam caused a doubt to be cast on the truth of the whole story by the following addition : " Beyond this island there is said to be no habitable land in that ocean, but all those regions beyond are filled with unsupportable ice and boundless gloom." He also thought Greenland was so called from the colour of the skin of the inhabitants. In spite of its incongruities, Adam's history is particularly valuable, being the first written mention of Vinland, derived from contemporary sources and entirely independent of the Icelandic sagas. Ari the Wise, " the earliest and most trustworthy of all the Icelandic historians," gives a detailed account of the settlement of Greenland. He is careful to give his authority, and tells how he obtained the story from an uncle who in turn received it from a companion of Eric the Red. Ari does not relate the story of the discovery of Vinland, but speaks of it as a country which was well known to all. The MS. geography of the twelfth century is valuable corroborative evidence of that period. It simply states : " Helluland lies to the South of Greenland, then comes Markland, and a little way on Vinland the Good, which is said to be joined to Africa," with some particulars of the discovery of the latter by Leif the Lucky. The above references are very slight, but they show a continual tradition and are independent one of the other, and, added to the testimony of the sagas, remove the story of the Norse voyages to America from the realms of romance to that of settled history. The value of the Icelandic sagas as history has been very much debated. They are the written form of traditions which had been handed down from father to son through generations, and are a curious compound THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT 7 of myth, history, and genealogical details of the families whose deeds are recorded. The accounts of the voyages to Vinland differ con- siderably in each saga, but all agree in the main features. The saga of Eric the Red is generally con- sidered more authentic than that of the Flat Island book, and from it the following short narrative is chiefly compiled. About the year 999, Leif the Lucky, son of Eric the Red, the discoverer of Greenland, went to Norway, where he was converted to Christianity. The following year he set out with the intention of returning to Greenland, charged by Olaf, King of Norway, with the mission of introducing Christianity into that distant island. He was driven out of his course by storms and came to a land where vines and corn grew wild. Mak- ing his way from thence in a north-easterly direction, he finally arrived at Greenland. His story naturally aroused great interest, and the next spring his brother Thorstein set out to explore the newly-found country. But " they were long tossed about upon the ocean and could not lay the course they wished. They came in sight of Iceland, and likewise saw birds from the Irish coast." They finally got back to Greenland worn out by toil and exposure. Thorstein died the following winter, under circum- stances full of miraculous detail, and his widow Gudrid, who plays a prominent part in the Vinland voyages, married Thorfinn Karlsefni, an Icelandic trader of considerable means and of well-known lineage. Vinland continued to be much talked about, and Karlsefni, urged by his wife and new relations, at length determined on a voyage of exploration. He started out from the western settlement with two 8 LABRADOR ships and i6o men, commanding one ship himself and his friend Bjorne the other. His wife Gudrid also accompanied him. They bore away to the southward, and after several days discovered land. " They launched a boat and ex- plored the land, and found there large flat stones (hellur), and many of these were twelve ells wide. There were many Arctic foxes. They gave a name to the country and called it Helluland " (the land of flat stones). Another account is as follows : " They sailed up to the land and cast anchor, and launched a boat and went ashore and saw no grass there ; great ice moun- tains lay inland back from the sea, and it was as a flat rock all the way from the sea to the mountains, and the country seemed to them entirely void of any good qualities." They set sail again with a northerly wind, and after two days came to a land, " and upon it was a great wood and many wild beasts, and the land where the wood was they called Markland" (forest-land). Setting forth once more, "they sailed by a bleak coast having long and sandy shores, and they called the strands Wonderstrands, because they were so long to sail by." Finally they reached Vinland, where they spent several winters. Karlsefni had intended to make a permanent settlement in the newly discovered country which possessed so many advantages over Greenland, but a change in his plans was caused by the appearance of the natives, whom they called Skraelings. The low stature and facial characteristics of this race, and their skin canoes, each holding one man, prove beyond reasonable doubt that they were Eskimos, a race which the Norsemen had not at that time met in THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT 9 Greenland, and who were not known there until after the time the saga of Eric the Red was written. The attacks made upon the Norsemen by this savage people caused Karlsefni to abandon his enterprise, and he returned to Greenland in 1006, with his wife Gudrid and their son Snorri, who had been born during the stay in Vinland. It is not necessary for the purposes of this history to enter upon any discussion as to the location of Vinland, but the resemblance of " Helluland " and " Markland " to Labrador and Newfoundland is too exact in its general character to leave any doubt upon the mind that they at least were visited by the Norsemen. It is naturally impossible to offer anything more than a surmise as to the actual places visited. Almost any part of the coast of Newfoundland answers to the description of Markland, but it seems particularly applicable to Notre Dame Bay. Lying open to the north-east, it would be the probable landfall of vessels coasting from that direction. There are numbers of islands in the bay clothed with woods to the water's edge, a circumstance which caused Corte Real to call it Terre Verde, has earned for it the sub-title of " Green Bay," and very likely suggested the appropriate name " Markland " to the Norsemen. Several of the physical features noted in the Norse tales are to be found in Labrador. Wonderstrands would appear to have been met with to the south of Markland, but the sagas differ somewhat on this point, and it is possible that the long stretch of sandy coast on the Labrador known as Porcupine Strand may have been the place visited. Dr. Packard, in his Labrador^ thus describes it : " The T LABRADOR exceptional area observed lies between Sandwich Bay and Hamilton Inlet, Cape Porcupine being the centre. It is protected from the northern swell of the ocean by- Indian Harbor, islands and promontory. Here large deposits of sand are seen covering many square miles in area." This stretch of coast is nearly fifty miles long. The shores of Sandwich Bay are also sandy and the water is very shallow. Several good sized rivers empty into it, which are famous for salmon. Another explanation of " Wonderstrand " may be found in the " Report of an Official Visit to the Coast of Labrador" by His Excellency Sir Wm. MacGregor, Governor of Newfoundland, in August, 1905. He says: " On looking at the coast of Labrador from some distance at sea in the neighbourhood of Chateau Bay, one vvrould think from the long greyish white line of the beach that there was a fine sandy shore all along it. But this appearance is produced only by the sea-washed foot of the worn rounded eozoic cliffs and rocks that on this coast present to the ocean a solid wall of stone, a continuous and enduring breakwater of bare rock, which in its sinuous course is thousands of miles long." It has been seen that Helluland was thus named either from the quantity of " broad flat stones " or because of the flat table-land which lay between the shore and the mountains, both of which are character- istic of Labrador. The following description is taken from Dr. Packard's Labrador, and is accompanied by the striking photograph here produced : — " The adjoining illustration brings out clearly some of the characteristic features of the scenery of the coast of Labrador. In the foreground the rocky shore of the Horsechops, as the deep fiord is called which THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT ii is situated far up on the eastern coast of Labrador, has been ground down, smoothed and polished by the great mass of land ice which formerly filled Hamilton Bay. Across the fiord, the shores of the bay rise abruptly in great rocky terraces — also a characteristic feature of Labrador," It would be hard to imagine a locality more likely to give rise to the name of " Helluland " than that here depicted ; but curiously enough, Dr. Packard, who is quite convinced that Helluland is Labrador, does not seem to have noticed how appropriately his description and photograph illustrate the name given to the country by the Norsemen. Horsechops, here mentioned, is at the southern terminus of the sandy stretch of coast already referred to, known as Porcupine Strand. We have thus close together two of the most important physical features recorded by the Norsemen. Helluland seemed to these early discoverers "to be entirely devoid of good qualities" — an opinion which found an echo five hundred years later when it was visited by Europeans. On the Spanish map drawn by Ribero in 1529, to delineate the respective portions of Spain and Portugal in the New World, we read : — " Labrador was discovered by the English ; there is nothing in it of any value." Wherever else they went, we feel sure that the Norse- men undoubtedly visited Labrador. While studying the annual reports of the Moravian Brethren, which have been published regularly since the founding of their mission on the Labrador, I found references to remains of houses on the islands border- ing the coast about Nain. It was stated that these 12 LABRADOR houses had been built of stone not after the fashion of the Eskimos. Brother Lundberg writes in 1831 as follows: — " The fact of the Greenlanders having once inhabited Labrador appears to be proved by the occasional dis- covery of the ruins of Greenland houses upon the islands which stretch along our coast. In the construc- tion of these houses stone has been used, which is contrary to the Eskimo mode of building." The writer concluded from this that the Greenland Eskimos at one time inhabited Labrador, evidently not being aware that the Eskimos migrated from Labrador to Greenland, not from Greenland to Labrador. The Brethren, Kohlmeister and Kmock, who travelled from Okak to Ungava Bay in the year 181 1, record finding ruins of Greenland houses on Amitok Island, lat. 59° 30". They say : — " The Eskimos have a tradition that the Greenlanders came originally from Canada and settled on the out- most islands of this coast, but never penetrated into the country before they were driven eastward to Green- land. This report gains some credit from the state in which the above-mentioned ruins are found. They consist of remains of walls and graves, with a low stone enclosure round the tomb, covered with a slab of the same material. They have been discovered on islands near Nain, and though sparingly, all along the eastern coast, but we saw none in Ungava Bay." Dr. Rink, in his Tales and Traditions of the Eskimos, gives the following interesting tradition as told by one of them : — " Our ancestors and the tunneks or tunnit (in Green- landish tornit, plural of tunek) in days of yore lived THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT 13 together ; but the tunneks fled from fear of our people, who used to drill holes in their foreheads while yet alive. With this view they moved from here to the north, crossing over to Killinek (Cape Chidley). While dwelling among us they had sealskins with the blubber attached for bed robes. Their clothes were made in the same way. Their weapons were formed of slate and hornstone, and their drills of crystal. They were strong and formidable, especially one of them, called by the name of Jauranat, from which is formed javianarpok (Greenlandish, navianarpok). Huge blocks of stone are still to be seen which they were able to move. Some ruins of their houses are also to be found here and there in our country, chiefly upon the islands, having been built of stones, and differing from the abodes of our people. One of our ancestors when kayaking had a tunnek for his companion, who had a bird spear, the points of which were made of walrus- tooth." Dr. Rink comments upon this tradition as follows : — " This tradition is compiled from several manuscripts in German from the missionaries in Labrador, in which the alien nation, expelled by the present inhabitants, are called partly 'Die Tunnit,' and partly 'Die Gronlaender.' Very probably these denominations have arisen from a misunderstanding, induced by enquiries put to the natives as to their knowing anything about the Green- landers. The tunnit are certainly almost identical with the tornit or inlanders of the Greenland tales. The Eskimo of Cumberland Inlet speak about the'tunud- lermiut,' which signifies people living in the inland. The present Indians of Labrador are called by the Eskimo of the same country ' aullak,' but it is possible 14 LABRADOR they distinguish between these and the traditional or fabulous inlanders. However, the most striking incon- gruity is that of the tunnit having had their abodes on the islands, which looks as if ancient settlers of Euro- pean race are hinted at. Be this as it may, the tradition of the Labradoreans should be more closely examined." In order to find out as much as possible about this matter, the historical importance of which will be at once realized, I wrote to Bishop Martin, the present head of the Moravian Missions on Labrador, asking if he could supply any further particulars about these ruins, and received the following inter- esting reply : " Several times I have heard about ruins of old dwelling places upon some islands along our coast, but have never yet seen one of them. Whether these ruins are really the ruins of old Greenland houses, as is stated in the report of Brother Lundberg, or not, will be difficult to decide. Once I showed Baron Nor- denskiold's book on Greenland to our Eskimo. When they saw the pictures of the old Norse houses there, they told me at once that some ruins on the islands here are very much the same as those given in that book. Since that time I have often thought that the Labrador ruins might be the ruins of old Norse houses also. That would not be unimaginable, for the old Norsemen are said to have travelled south to Weinland." A subject for investigation is here opened up which will hardly be exceeded in interest by any other anthro- pological problem to be found in America. The Eskimos in Greenland and other places in the far north build their houses largely with stones, but if the evidence of the Moravian Brethren is of value, these ruins are not like the stone huts of the Greenlanders. THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT 15 In addition to the fact that the Eskimos disclaim their authorship, the description of these old burial places, "with a low stone enclosure round the tomb" (evidently to protect the dead from prowling beasts), would be ample evidence that they are not Eskimos, for it was not the custom of this race to show any respect for the dead, and their mode of burial was hardly worthy of the name. What then was this vanished race, and is it possible that these ruins are of Norse origin ? In that most interesting book just published. The North-West Passage, by Captain Roald Amundsen, relating the final accomplishment of this voyage by the little Gjoa, there is a description of stone ruins at Boothia Felix, near the Magnetic Pole, about which the Eskimos of the region have a similar tradition to that current on Labrador. If the ruins are identical in these two far separated localities,^ it is evident that they cannot be ascribed to the Norsemen. For however high an opinion one may have of these hardy adventurers, one cannot attribute to them the power to navigate the Arctic seas so far to the westward as Boothia Felix. Yet it is a remarkable coincidence to find a tradition among the Labrador Eskimos confirming so extra- ordinarily the story of the Norse voyagers. The traditions of the Greenland Eskimos, relating to the Norsemen, date from the early part of the fifteenth century only, yet are very fragmentary and mingled with fabulous details. Any memories of the Norsemen lingering among the Labrador Eskimos probably date from the eleventh or twelfth centuries, ^ Upon my request for further information about these ruins, Capt. Amundsen has very kindly written to say that no photographs or drawings were made of them, and that they were mere gravel pits. 1 6 LABRADOR and it can hardly be expected therefore that anything more that the bare outline of the story would remain after such a lapse of time. Such as it is, the tradition clearly points to the fact that a foreign race, of powerful physique, having cus- toms and weapons different from those of the Eskimos, at one time lived upon the Labrador, the ruins of whose houses still remain ; that they were attacked by the Eskimos and driven away northward. It is hard to imagine why the Norsemen should have left Greenland to settle on Labrador. They did not depend for their livelihood on fishing or seal hunting, but occupied themselves principally in cattle raising. Also the Greenland waters abounded in seals and fish almost to as great an extent as did those of Labrador. But it may well be that the same adventurous spirit which carried them across the northern ocean to Iceland and Greenland impelled them farther to Labrador, and would have found them permanently occupying the American seaboard had they not en- countered the savage hordes of Eskimos and been forced to retreat. The question of the locality of Vinland seems to depend largely upon the identity of the Skraelings. In order to support the theory which has been advanced in favour of Maine and other southern situations, it has been argued that in the term Skraelings were included the Beothuks of Newfoundland and other southern Indian tribes, as well as the Eskimos. But it seems to me that every attribute of the savages en- countered by the Norsemen is characteristic of the Eskimos only. Several have been already referred to, but the following point of resemblance has not to my knowledsre been noted hitherto. THE NORSEMEN'S VISIT 17 The first encounter of the Norsemen with the Skral- ings is thus described in the saga of Eric the Red : — " They saw a great number of skin canoes, and staves were brandished from their boats with a noise Hke flails, and they were revolved in the same direction in which the sun moves." Farther on it says : — " A great multitude of Skraeling boats were dis- covered approaching from the south, and all their staves were waved in a direction contrary to the course of the sun." It is evident that this is an attempt to describe the motion of the double-bladed paddle used by the Eskimos ; and it will be seen that an Eskimo, sitting in his kajak, facing the direction towards which he is paddling, when going east or north, will appear to wave his paddle contrary to the motion of the sun in the heavens, but with it when travelling west or south. In the first instance, therefore, they made their appear- ance from the north, and in the second instance from the south. The action of an Eskimo paddling is entirely different from that of a North American Indian, who cannot in any sense be said to wave his single- bladed paddle in the air. Some writers, finding it impossible to dissociate the Skraelings from the Eskimos, have suggested that at one time the Eskimos were to be found all along the American seaboard. This theory is more untenable than the other. The whole Eskimo economy was de- pendent upon the seal. It formed not only their chief food, but also supplied them with clothes, boats, tents, etc., and we can be absolutely certain that the habitat of the Eskimos has been bounded by that of the seal for c i8 LABRADOR many ages, and therefore has not had a range farther south than the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Inasmuch as there is no mention of the Eskimos in the voyages of Jacques Cartier, and other early navi- gators through the Straits of Belle Isle, I am of opinion that they did not frequent that locality until the latter part of the sixteenth century, and that it was the desire to obtain European goods, boats, and iron implements which first drew them so far south. While it is impossible to associate the Skralings with a southern country, it is equally impossible to harmonize Labrador with the description of Vinland, and the discussion is therefore brought to an impasse. The speculation is most interesting, but one can only say with Dr. Rink that it is deserving of further in- vestigation. Note, — Dr. Grenfell informs me that he, this summer, visited some curious erections of obvious antiquity, built of flat slabs of stone, on the summit of lofty cliffs. He thought they were look-out places, but could not say by whom built. It adds considerably to the interest in this speculation that similar look-out places are to be found among the Norse ruins in Greenland, where they are thought to have been used to keep watch for attacks from the Eskimos. CHAPTER II THE CABOTS. 1497 NEARLY five hundred years elapsed after the voyages of the Norsemen before Labrador was again visited by Europeans. But the memory of Green- land had not faded away entirely, and it is probable that the tradition of the discovery of Helluland, Mark- land, and Vinland had filtered down through the ages and formed in part the basis for the many legends of fabulous islands lying far out in the Atlantic. From the early part of the fifteenth century Iceland had been visited regularly by English fishermen,^ prin- cipally from the east coast, but also from Bristol, so that the story of Greenland and other distant islands in the West was probably quite familiar to them. But it was from Italy that the bold spirits were to come who were to lead the Western European nations across the Atlantic. The first to propose the possi- bility of reaching China by sailing westward was ^ In the quaint poem entitled. The Englysh Policy to Keep the Seas, written in 1437, the English trade to Iceland is thus referred to : — " Of Iseland to write is little nede Save of Stocke Fish. Yet forsooth in deed Out of Bristowe and costes many one Men have practised by nedle and stone Thiderwardes within a little while Within twelve year, and without perill Gon and come, as men were wont of old Of Scarborough unto the costes cold." 19 20 LABRADOR Toscanelli, an Italian physician, and it is from him that Columbus is supposed to have taken his inspiration. As John Cabot was living in Venice at the same period, it is probable that he also heard the theory propounded. And when he emigrated to Bristol about 1490, and learned of the Iceland voyages continually made by English seamen, conceived the idea of himself putting the theory to the test. We are told on good authority that for seven years prior to the year of the discovery, tentative voyages into the Western Ocean had been made by Bristol men at his instigation. The success of Columbus no doubt impelled him to more deter- mined efforts, and in 1496 we find him applying to Henry VII for Letters Patent authorizing a voyage of discovery. No journal was kept of these momentous voyages, and no historian of the time realized the importance of the events, nor how hungrily the smallest evidence would be sought for by the historians of later days. Consequently, we have but the most fragmentary accounts of them, drawn principally from letters of the Ambassadors of European sovereigns at the court of England, a few entries in the Customs Roll of Bristol, the copies of the charters issued to Cabot and his sons, a few brief references in contemporary chronicles, and a legend copied from a map since lost. No certain history can be compiled from such data, and each student forms a theory for himself, according as he is swayed by some particular piece of evidence which seems to him to have the most weight. Fortunately the most important facts are not matters of dispute. The following is an attempt to state them in the simplest possible form. John Cabot was born in Genoa, became a citizen of THE CABOTS. 1497 21 Venice, married there, and emigrated to England, taking up his residence in Bristol. The first English document which has been found relating to him is the Charter granted to him " and his sonnys," by Henry VII, of March 5th, 1496. Prefixed to the Charter is the following quaint petition : — " To the Kyng our souvereigne lord : " Please it your highness of your most noble and habundant grace, to grant unto John Cabotte, Citizen of Venes, Lewes, Sebastyan and Sancto, his sonnys, your gracious letters patent vnder your grate scale in due forme to be made, according to the tenour here- after ensuying. And they shall during their lyves pray to God for the prosperous continuance of your most noble and royall astate long to enduer." These "gracious letters patentes " permitted them to fit out an expedition, " at their own proper costs and charges," to seek out, discover, and find whatsoever islands, countries, etc., of the heathens which were unknown to all Christians. The right was conceded to them to fly the British flag over any places they found, and to occupy " any such places that they were able to conquer as our vassals governors lieutenants or deputies." For this privilege the said John and his sons were bound to the King for one-fifth (Vs) part of all the proceeds. Fortified with this precious document, John Cabot left Bristol, probably on May 2nd, 1497, in a little ship called the Matthew with a crew of eighteen men. He rounded the south of Ireland, steered a northerly course for several days, and then struck boldly west- ward, " with the Pole Star on his right hand." On St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24th, he made land. 22 LABRADOR Early in August he arrived back at Bristol, and on the lOth the King gave i^io " To hym that found the New Isle." This is almost all that can be said about this memorable voyage that is not open to controversy. The following further particulars are mainly correct. The country discovered was seven hundred leagues from England. The tides were slack there, and the seas were full of fish, the value of which was immediately recognized. " And the said Englishmen, his partners, say that they can bring so many fish that this kingdom will not have any more business with Iceland, and that from that country there will be a very great trade in the fish they call stock-fish." A prophecy which was fulfilled in both particulars, for the Iceland trade gradu- ally declined, but the trade in " stock-fish from the new isle " goes bravely on to-day. One account says he coasted three hundred leagues, which is difficult to explain. Then he named an island off from the land, the Isle of St. John, which has worried commentators enormously ; and again, he is said to have seen two islands " to the right " on his way back, which has been quite inexplicable until lately, when it is said that the Italian letter which gives this informa- tion had been badly translated, and the expression used means simply " on the way back," the words " to the right" being an interpellation. White bears and " stagges farre larger than ours " were seen, and both have caused floods of controversy. Sebastian Cabot told in later years how the bears caught salmon in their claws, and was probably looked upon as a romancer even in those days. But in Cartwright's Journal of a Residence on the Labrador, to be discussed later in this history, we shall find the same incident described with full detail. THE CABOTS. 1497 23 Cabot, or one of his companions, was rash enough to say that " they thought Bresil wood and silke grew there," but had they known how this bare suspicion was to be fought over and made the groundwork for the wildest theories, they would doubtless have been more cautious in expressing their opinions. None of the natives of the country were seen, but Cabot found and brought to the King snares for catching game and a needle for making nets, which have also become serious controversial points. Upon his return to Bristol he was received with such adulation that he was completely carried off his feet. " The people ran after him like mad," and he was called " the great Admiral." He looked far beyond the humble codfish, which took the fancy of his English companions, and saw visions of a great trade with Cipango (Japan), " where all the spices in the world do grow and where there are also gems." Like Sir John Falstafif, " He dreamed of Africa and golden joys." Soncino wrote to the Duke of Milan that : " He gave away islands and promised bishop- ricks to poor friars," and adds with evident humour : "And I, being a friend of the Admiral, if I wished to go could have an Archbishoprick." The next year Henry VH granted new letters patent to John Cabot, this time not including his sons, to make another expedition "to the lande and isles of late founde by the said John." Four or five ships were fitted out, provisioned for a year, and " goodes and sleight merchandize " were adventured in them. They sailed in the spring ; one vessel was at once driven on the coast of Ireland, and that is all which can be said for certain regarding this voyage from which Cabot and his associates expected so much. 24 LABRADOR Only two indisputable references to it have been found. The most important is a manuscript in the British Museum entitled " Cronicon regum Angliae, etc." There the fitting out of the expedition is described " which depted from the West Country in the begynning of Somer but to the psent moneth came never know- ledge of their exployt." The month referred to is made out to be October. The other is a despatch of Pedro Ayala, the Spanish Ambassador, dated July 25th, 1498, which reads : " News has been received of the fleet of five ships. The one in which was Brother Bull put into Ireland owing to a great storm in which the ship was damaged." A very important document was found among the papers at Westminster Abbey in 1897, the four hundredth anniversary of Cabot's memorable voyage, and was appropriately exhibited for the first time at the Cabot Celebration at Bristol. It was the Customs Roll of the Port of Bristol for the years 1496-9. In it is the following entry, between the dates September 25th, 1498, and September 25th, 1499 : " In tho in una tall p Johe Calvot XX li," which, being interpreted, means that ;^2o was paid for one tally per John Cabot. This is considered fair presumptive evidence that he did return from his last voyage, but unfortunately it is not conclusive. It will be noticed that the payment was made for one tally, but by a Special Warrant, issued on February 2nd, 1498, three tallies were granted to John Cabot because "we be informed the said John Caboote is delayed of his payment." These tallies were practically promissory notes, and were negotiable, and therefore the payment might not have been made to John Cabot in person. No amount of industry has unearthed any further THE CABOTS. 1497 25 account of the voyage of 1498, or any other incident of John Cabot's history. Until quite lately the stories told by Sebastian Cabot of a voyage to the far north were applied to the voyage of 1498, but some recent authori- ties consider it probable that they refer to a later ex- pedition, probably in 1508. In explanation of John Cabot's entire disappearance from history, it has been suggested that he returned a discredited and disappointed man, his magnificent visions dispelled, and his friends put to serious losses through their trust in him. Under such circumstances it can be easily seen how quickly he would drop out of memory. The only reference to the death of John Cabot which has been found is in one of the reputed utterances of Sebastian Cabot, who is reported as saying that his father died about the time of the discoveries of Colum- bus, which is too obviously untrue even for Sebastian to have ventured on. Even the fame which should have been his seems to have been appropriated by Sebastian. Richard Eden and Peter Martyr both knew Sebastian Cabot intimately, and both wrote accounts of his voyages, but John Cabot's share in them is not mentioned. The glory of discovering the new found land was given to Sebastian only. But time has its revenges, and for this unfilial act, combined with a tendency to boast, Sebastian has received a severe castigation at the hands of recent his- torians, and John Cabot is now firmly settled in his rightful place as the first European to set foot upon the mainland of America. That is, provided he made his landfall upon some part of the Labrador, as some think, or that Newfoundland and Cape Breton shall be con- sidered as the mainland, if either of those islands were the first to receive his foot. 26 LABRADOR No attempt can be made here to give all the particu- lars of the controversy which has raged over the prob- able landfall of Cabot, but in order that some apprecia- tion of it may be arrived at by the ordinary reader, the principal controversial points are recited. As an example of the confusion which has arisen on this point, witness the contradictory statements for which "the industrious Hakluyt" is responsible. The map of Emeric Molyneux, issued with the 1599 edition of Divers' Voyages, states regarding Labrador : " This land was discovered by John and Sebastian Cabot for King Henry VII, 1497." In Hakluyt's MS., 1584, in the library of the late Sir Thos. Phillips, he says, refer- ring to Cabot's " owne mappe " : " In which mappe in the chapiter of Newfoundland there in Latin is put down — the very day and the first land which they saw." But when the so-called Cabot map was finally found it states that the landfall was at Cape Breton and not in Newfoundland. It is also clear from the evidence of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Richard Willes, who had both seen Cabot's map, that it differed in a marked degree in respect to the Arctic regions from the Sebastian Cabot map of 1544, now extant. The greatest authority of the present day on the voyages of the Cabots and the cartographical evolution of America is M. Henri Harrisse. It is not too much to say that he has spent a lifetime in the study of these and kindred subjects, his many publications spreading over a period of more than forty years. Very many important facts have been discovered and made public by him. He is especially harsh in his judgment of Sebastian Cabot, whose character he sums up in the expressive words ^^ menteur fieffel' .In his latest book THE CABOTS. 1497 27 on the subject, Decouverte de Terre Netive, Paris, 1900, M. Harrisse deals exhaustively with the early voyages to Newfoundland and the neighbouring countries, critic- ally examines all the early maps, and gives an invaluable dated nomenclature. Of Cabot's landfall he writes as follows : " The un- biased critic therefore does not know, has no means of knowing, and probably never will know, exactly where Cabot landed in 1497 and 1498." In his John and Sebastian Cabot, 1882, he pronounced in favour of a Labrador landfall. In his Discovery of America, 1892, he took an extreme view, and thought the landfall of 1497 might have been at Cape Chidley ; and in h.\s John Cabot, 1896, he thinks the south-eastern part of Labrador, near Sandwich Bay, the favoured spot. A powerful argument against the Cape Chidley theory, and one that the writer has not seen advanced hereto- fore, is that the tides are very strong there, rising and falling about thirty-five feet, whereas Cabot reported of the country he had discovered that the "tides were very slack." The principal arguments advanced in favour of a Labrador landfall are as follows : — 1. That the course taken by Cabot, first sailing northerly for some days after rounding the south of Ireland, and then westerly "with the Pole Star on the right hand," would naturally take him to Labrador. 2. Many maps of the early sixteenth century, some of them drawn under the superintendence of Sebastian Cabot, state that the Labrador region was discovered by the English.^ ^ Mr. J. p. Howley, Geological Surveyor of Newfoundland, has always held the opinion that Cabot first landed on Labrador, and has written several able articles in favour of it. 28 LABRADOR The following seem to be the principal arguments against this theory : — 1. The influence of the Arctic current and the varia- tion of the compass would have caused Cabot to make a much more southerly course than he intended. Elaborate calculations have been made by Sir Clement Markham and Dr. S. E. Dawson as to the variations of the compass at that time, and they arrive at very different conclusions. M. Harisse contends, how- ever, that there are no data available now for such calculations. 2. No mention is made of ice having been met on the first voyage, and it is unlikely that he could have reached any part of the Labrador coast on June 24th without passing great quantities of it, or that he could have failed to record it if he had seen it. But it is not impossible. On many occasions the ships of the Moravian Brethren have reached the coast v/ithout passing through ice, and on one notable occasion made land near Nain, June 24th, 1772. 3. It has been argued that fish do not strike in on the Labrador coast as early as June 24th (equal to July 3rd, new style). Which is true as a general thing, but occasionally they appear much earlier. Lieut. Chimmo reports in 1867 that fish struck in at Ice Tickle, about 54° N., on June loth, before any vessel had arrived on the coast. 4. M. Harrisse thinks the La Cosa map of 1 500 was drawn from reports of Cabot's voyage, and while quite imaginary as to coastline, the nomenclature found on it indicates that Cabot made his landfall west or south, and coasted towards the east or north. If the landfall was at Sandwich Bay, how then could he have coasted three hundred leagues north, as one account states ? THE CABOTS. 1497 29 5. As to the legend on the early maps, that Labrador was discovered by the English, it will be demonstrated in a later chapter that the name was probably derived from the fact of its being first sighted by John Fernandez in the Anglo- Azorean Expedition of 1501, and Cabot's voyage might not therefore have occa- sioned the continual repetition of the statement, al- though in some maps the discovery is specifically stated to have been made by John and Sebastian Cabot. 6. Cabot saw none of the inhabitants of the country he discovered, but found traces of them, and brought back with him "snares for game and needles for making nets." Harrisse considers this to indicate the regular occupation of the Eskimos. But this is an entirely erroneous idea. Every authority states that the Eskimos are inhabitants of the seashore, and derive their susten- ance almost entirely from seals and whales. On the Labrador the Eskimos were in the habit of making two excursions into the interior each year after reindeer, which were sometimes killed with bow and arrow, but generally were driven into the lakes or rivers and there speared. The Eskimos had no knowledge of catching salmon or trout by means of nets, and had to be instructed in the art by the Moravian missionaries in 1772. Cartwright, who made the acquaintance of the southern Eskimos after they had had some intercourse with Europeans and knew the articles which were most in demand for barter, says the Eskimos " do not trouble themselves to catch furs, not being furnished with traps, nor do they understand the use of deathfalls." He points out that the Eskimos had no stimulus to industry beyond providing the necessaries of life, which 30 LABRADOR the seal furnished almost entirely. That the catching of furred animals was so fatiguing and precarious, and the carcase so small, that, were he to give up his time to the business, his family must perish with hunger. Among the implements of the Eskimos which have been many times carefully described, snares and nets are not mentioned.^ While it is somewhat foreign to this history, the rival claims of Newfoundland and Cape Breton must also be explained in order to estimate the value of the Labrador theory. The principal arguments in favour of a landfall at Cape Breton are : — 1. The statement on the so-called Sebastian Cabot map of 1 544, that Cape Breton was the land first seen. 2. That the La Cosa map depicts the south coast of Newfoundland, "Cavodescubierto" being "Cape Breton" and " Cavo de Inglaterra," " Cape Race." 3. That the climate of Cape Breton more nearly answers to the description given by Cabot of the land he visited. Which arguments are thus rebutted : — 1. That it is almost impossible for Cabot, even if he did not make Labrador, to have missed Newfoundland, taking the course he did, and if by any chance he passed out of sight of Cape Race, he could hardly have arrived at Cape Breton, which is but forty miles south and four hundred miles west of it. If Cabot steered a westerly course by compass and passed south of Cape Race, the variation would have carried him south not only of Cape Breton, but of Nova Scotia also. 2. That the so-called Sebastian Cabot map of 1544 1 Permanent stone fox-traps, for taking the animals alive, of very ancient date, are found in many places on Labrador. THE CABOTS. 1497 31 is a most inferior production, that it was engraved at Antwerp not under Cabot's supervision, although he may have supph'ed information for it. That the nomenclature is limited and very incorrect, and the out- lines already antiquated. And that Cabot is equally responsible for the statement on other maps that Labrador was the country discovered by him and his father. 3. That Cape Breton does not differ from New- foundland in general characteristics, and neither of them, any more than Labrador, answer fully to the climatic conditions described by Cabot. The theory that Newfoundland was the country first seen by Cabot has been generally accepted for centuries, and in fact never was questioned until the finding of the so-called Cabot map in 1843. Apart from this tradition, if so it may be called, the arguments advanced for it are : — 1. Its position making it the natural landfall. 2. Its name, having been called " the new found isle," or some similar term by the English, and " Terre Neuve " by the French from the very earliest times. It must be admitted, however, that for a long time the term was used to denote the north-east coast of America generally, and only more recently became the distinctive appella- tion of our Newfoundland. 3. Many early maps also give it the name "Bacalaos," which one account says Cabot bestowed on the country he found. 4. It is Newfoundland which has always been par- ticularly celebrated for its wealth of fish. 5. On the map drawn by Mason, 1625, the statement is made that Cape Bonavista was "a Caboto primum 32 LABRADOR reperta," which also appears on a French MS. map by Du Pont of about the same date, but does not so clearly refer to Bonavista. The significance of the name " Bonavista " has also been advanced in support of this theory. The name " Bonavista " first appears on the fragment of a map by Viegas, 1534, as Boavista. On the Riccardina map, which is an exact copy of the Viegas map so far as the latter goes, but shows in addition the northern parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, the name " Boavista " also appears on the Labrador coast. But the name was probably in use long before it appeared on a map, as Jacques Cartier refers to it in the narrative of his first voyage, before the Viegas map was printed. The theory which seems most likely to be accepted is that Cabot made land on the east coast of Newfoundland, in the vicinity of Bonavista or Trinity Bay, and that he then coasted northwards until possibly he reached Hamilton Inlet on the Labrador, which he might have done in ten days, and yet have ample time to get back to Bristol early in August. Since the reign of Elizabeth, England has claimed Newfoundland and Labrador by virtue of their dis- covery by Cabot. CHAPTER III VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 THE continued increase in the knowledge of New- foundland and Labrador, as shown by the maps still extant, is satisfactory evidence that many voyages were made thither between 1500 and 1534, but history has preserved the names of very few of the voyagers or the particular localities visited. The whole of the north-east coast of America was for a long period termed the " Newlands," " Terre Neuve," or some similar designation. Even in 1534 we find Jacques Cartier writing both of Newfoundland and Labrador as " Terre Neuve," at the moment he was in the act of proving that they were two separate and distinct countries. The splendid additions which were made to the domains of Spain, as a result of the discoveries of Columbus, were viewed by King Emmanuel of Portugal with jealous eyes, and when the news of Cabot's successful voyage towards the north-west reached Portugal, he determined at once to despatch an expedition of discovery in that direction. The hope of finding a north-west passage to the East was of particular interest to him, as that portion of the globe had been kindly assigned to him by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Caspar Corte Real, son of the Governor of Terceiras, one of the Azores islands, was chosen by the King to cora- ls 33 34 LABRADOR mand the expedition. He was perso7ia grata at the Portuguese Court, a man of ability and daring, who had already made a voyage in the proposed direction. Corte Real set sail in the spring of 1500 and arrived within sight of land, but was prevented from reaching it by the quantities of ice which lay upon the coast. This land is thought by some to have been Greenland, but was undoubtedly Labrador. Nothing daunted, he started again on May 19th, 1501, with three vessels, and finally arrived at a country near the land he had seen on the preceding voyage. The country now dis- covered was Newfoundland, and his landfall was about lat. 50 N. in some part of Notre Dame Bay. There were fine rivers in this Newland, one of which they ascended in their boats, and remarked upon the magnifi- cent pines which grew upon the banks " fit for the masts of the largest vessels." They found the waters abounding in salmon, herring, and stockfish, and saw numbers of large stags and other animals. Corte Real called the country Terre Verde, a name which the locality still bears. Green Bay being the common name for Notre Dame Bay, and one of the smaller arms of the sea also being called Bay Verte. But what seemed to please the Portuguese more than the riches of the sea and forest, was that the country was thickly peopled. Visions of a profitable slave trade immediately dawned upon them, inflaming their imaginations to such an extent that they seized fifty- seven men and women and children, and bore them away to spend the rest of their lives as slaves in Portugal. The neighbourhood of the Exploits river was always the principal haunt of the Beothuks, the original inhabitants of Newfoundland. And there can be no doubt, from the description given of these unfortunate captives by eye- VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 35 witnesses of their arrival in Portugal, that they belonged to that much wronged race. No doubt this great crime committed against them on their first encounter with the white race aroused that spirit of hostility and suspicion which ever after militated against the establishment of peaceful relations with them. The country reached by Corte Real in 1501 being Newfoundland, the adjacent coast seen by him in the previous year was undoubtedly Labrador. Two of Corte Real's ships returned safely to Portugal, but the ship which he himself commanded was never again heard of This caused the King so much dis- tress, that two years later he despatched Miguel Corte Real, with three ships, to find out what had become of his brother. Arriving at Newfoundland they separated, after agreeing upon a time and place of rendezvous, to search the coast north and south for traces of Caspar. At the appointed time two ships returned, but that commanded by Miguel Corte Real never arrived, and tradition says was lost in the Straits of Belle Isle, for which reason Belle Isle was originally called the Island of Bad Fortune. The country was called by the King of Portugal "the land of the Corte Reals," and was bestowed upon that family by a Royal grant, which was continually renewed until the year 1579. That the Portuguese at once began to carry on a fishery in a commercial manner in the new prolific fishing grounds is proven by the fact that in 1506 King Emmanuel issued an edict ordering that one-tenth of the proceeds from the fishing voyages should be paid into the Royal Treasury. In 1 521, letters patent granted to Joao Alvarez Fagundez refer to many previous voyages made 36 LABRADOR from Viana, some of which apparently penetrated into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in 1527 we have John Rut's letter telling of the presence of two Portuguese ships in the harbour of St. John's. The French records tell of a voyage made in 1506 by one John Dennys, and in 1508 four vessels were fitted out in Rouen for Terre Neuve. In 15 10 the vessel Jacquette arrived at Rouen to sell fish caught in Terre Neuve, and in 1 5 1 1 letters patent were granted to Juan de Agramonte, "to discover the secret of the new land." A book called the Chronicles of Eusebius, published by Henry Estienne in Paris, in 15 12, describes seven savages who had been brought to Rouen from the country called Terre Neuve. There can be no doubt that the French fishermen, particularly from Normandy and Brittany, greatly preponderated in the fisheries of Newfoundland and Labrador during the sixteenth cen- tury. The New Inlerhide, 15 17, to be quoted fully later, laments that while the English were neglecting the countries discovered by them, " full a hundred sail," of the French loaded with fish there every year. While some allowance must be made for poetic licence, it was no doubt mainly correct. John Rut encountered eleven Norman vessels in the harbour of St. John's in August, 1527, and the St. Maloins showed by their opposition to Jacques Cartier in 1533 that they carried on a regu- lar fishery in the Straits of Belle Isle, and probably in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as well. In Edward VI's Journal of his reign, he mentions that the French Am- bassador informed him that the Emperor of Spain "had stayed certain French ships going fishing to Newfound- land." The Spanish do not appear to have given any atten- VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 37 tion to the northern parts of the American coast. In 1 501 the Spanish King gave orders to Alonso de Hojeda to take steps to frustrate the attempts of the English in the North West, but after the voyages of the Corte Reals made it plain that the greater part of the sea- board of Newfoundland and Labrador lay to the east- ward of the line of demarcation, agreed to at the Treaty of Tordesillas, and consequently outside of the Spanish sphere of influence, they took no further interest in those latitudes. It has already been stated that nothing is known for certain of John Cabot after the sailing of his second expedition in 1498, and it is generally supposed that his death took place shortly after his return. Be this as it may, after an interval of little more than two years we find that his letters patent were superseded by new letters patent, granted by Henry VII, on March 19th, 1 501. The recipients were three merchants of Bristol — Richard Ward, Thomas Ashehurst, and John Thomas, and three natives of the Azores — Joao Fernandez, Fran- cisco Fernandez, and Joao Gonzales. Privileges were granted to them similar to those previously granted to Cabot. The term was ten years, and it was signifi- cantly added, "Let none of our subjects turn them from their lands ... by virtue of any previous grant made by Us to any foreignor or foreignors, etc." No account of this expedition is preserved beyond the fact that it returned in January, 1502, for on January 7th we find that Henry VII granted "To men of BristoU that founde Thisle ^5." On September 26th, 1502, there is an entry in the Privy Purse " To the merchants of Bristoll that have been in the Newe Founde Lande £20." On December 6th, 1503, Henry VII issued a warrant 38 LABRADOR for the payment of a pension of ^lo per annum, which had already been granted in 1502, " unto our trusty and well beloved subjectts ffraunceys ffernandus and John Guidisalvus squiers in consideration of the true service which they have doon unto us to our singular pleasure as capitaignes unto the newe founde lande." The first payment made under the grant referred to was no doubt that of ^20 named above. Another item of information, which must be referred to this voyage, is contained in Stowe's Annals and in Hakluyfs Voyages. They both quote from Fabyans Chj'onicle, but differ as to the date of the occurrence. Hakluyt at first places it in the seventeenth year of Henry VII's reign, and afterwards in the fourteenth, while Stowe says it was in the eighteenth. It is more reasonable to suppose that the first named date was the correct one, which would be between August 22nd, 1501, and August 22nd, 1502. Hakluyfs account reads as follows : " Of three savage men which hee (Sebastian Cabot) brought home and presented unto the King in the 17th year of his reign. " This yeere also were brought unto the King three men, taken in the newe founde Island, that before I spake of in William Purchas time being Maior. These were clothed in beastes skinnes and ate raw flesh, and spake such speeche that no man coulde understand them, and in their demeanour like to bruite beastes, whom the King kept a time after. Of the which upon two years past I saw apparelled after the manner of Englishmen in Westminster Pallace, which at that time I could not distinguish from Englishmen, till I was learned what they were. But as for speeche, I heard none of them utter one word." VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 39 The fact of their eating raw flesh declares them to have been Eskimos, and consequently that they were almost certainly taken from Labrador, It is also certain, as will be abundantly proved later, that the name Labrador was bestowed upon the country because it was first sighted by Joao Fernandez. How it came to pass that Sebastian Cabot was chosen to present these three Eskimos at Court cannot be explained. But it seems reasonable to suppose that Warde, Ashehurst, and Thomas, John and Francis Fernandez Guidisalvus, Hugh Elliott and William Thorne, had, some or all of them, accompanied John Cabot in his voyages 1497 and 1498, that Sebastian had also accom- panied his father and afterwards formed one of the crew of the subsequent expeditions from Bristol. On December 9th, 1502, Henry VH again issued letters patent to Thomas Ashehurst, Joao Gonzales, Francisco Fernandez, and Hugh Elliott, authorizing another expedition, and granting privileges of trade for forty years. On January 7th previous, a payment of ;^20 had been made to Robert and William Thorne and Hugh Elliott, of Bristol, who having bought a French ship of 120 tons, "wit the same ship the same merchants offre to doe unto us service at all times at our commandment." The connecting link between these two records is furnished by Robert Thome's letter to Henry VH, written from Seville in 1527, in which he says : " I reason that as some sicknesses are heredi- tarious and come from father to sonne, so this inclination or desire for discoveries I inherited from my father, which with another merchant of Bristowe named Hugh Eliot were the discoverers of the New- foundlands of the which there is no doubt (as now plainly appeareth) if the mariners would then have 40 LABRADOR bene ruled and followed their pilot's mind, the landes of the West Indies (where all the gold cometh from) would have been ours, for all is one coast as by the card appeareth." How this would have been accomplished is not so plain to us as it appeared to Robert Thorne. The following entry, taken from the Public Records, no doubt refers to this voyage of 1503. November 17th, 1503, "To one that brought haukes from the Newfound island £1." And the following would indicate voyages made in 1504 and 1505: April 8th, 1504, "To a Priste going to the New Island £2." August 25th, 1505, "To Clays going to Richmond wit wyld catts and popyngays of the Newfound Isle for his costs 13s. 4d." September 25th, 1505, "To Portuzals that brought popyngays and cattes of the mountaigne with other stuff to the Kings Grace £^" It is thus apparent that the people of Bristol were at once aroused to great enthusiasm by the discoveries of Cabot, and immediately took steps to utilize them. Sebastian Cabot's history at that time cannot be accurately determined. Peter Martyr, Gomara, and many others report speeches and statements made by him, which recent commentators conclude were actually so made in the words in which they were recorded, and because of their contradictory nature his reputation has been assailed in the most uncompromising manner. All the apparently contradictory statements have been ascribed to him, and none to the inattention, forgetful- ness, or carelessness of the chroniclers themselves, whereas one of the most common frailties of human nature is the difficulty of repeating a story exactly as it has been heard. Sebastian Cabot seems to have been VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 41 of a boastful nature, and to have spoken more of his own achievements than of those of his father, but that is hardly sufficient reason for the entire discredit which has been cast upon him by many recent writers. If he was the liar and impostor which these would have us believe, he seems to have been more successful in his day and generation than such characters generally are. His services were highly valued by England in his early manhood, and were so generally known that Spain intrigued until they were secured for her benefit. For thirty-seven years he filled the highest posts in the Spanish Marine, and when he transferred his services again to England, where he also occupied high office, the strongest representations were made by Spain insisting that he should be sent back. At intervals during this period the Council of Ten at Venice also were on the alert to take him from both of them. It is hardly probable that they were all deceived, and our modern historians only able to form a just estimate of his character and ability, Sebastian Cabot several times referred to a voyage or voyages other than the original voyage of discovery, but the accounts dififer so much that it is impossible to reconcile them or to determine when they took place. They have been referred to voyages in 1498, 1508, and 1 5 17. The 1498 voyage has already been dis- cussed. In support of a voyage which took place in 1508, there are two entirely independent and circum- stantial accounts, to which some credit must be given. The first is contained in a report read by Mercantorio Contarini before the Senate at Venice in 1536, and is as follows : — " Sebastian Cabot, the son of a Venetian, who repaired to England in galleys from Venice with the notion of 42 LABRADOR going in search of countries, obtained two ships from Henry King of England, the father of the present Henry, who has become a Lutheran and even worse ; navigated with three hundred men until he found the sea frozen. He was obliged therefore to turn back without having accomplished his object, with the in- tention of renewing the attempt when the sea was not frozen. But upon his return he found the King dead, and his son caring little for such an enterprise." Henry VH died on April, 21st, 1509, and the voyage referred to must have been made in the previous year, 1 508. Contarini had undoubtedly met Sebastian Cabot in Spain and obtained his information from his own lips, but as usual did not tell the story clearly and completely. The account of the date of the voyage, however, seems quite circumstantial. The other statement regarding a voyage made by Sebastian Cabot in 1508 is found in George Best's account of Frobisher's voyage, published in 1578. He says : — " Sebastian Cabot, being an Englishman borne at Bristowe, was by commandment of King Henry VH in anno 1508 furnished with shipping munition and men, and sayled along that tract (which now is called Baccalaos) pretending to discover the passage to Cataya and went aland in many places and brought home sundry of the people, and sundry other things of that country in token of possession, being (I say) the first Christian that ever set foote on land." There seems to be no possibility that Best derived his information from Contarini's statement, and it seems quite too extraordinary a coincidence for them both to have made the same mistake ; therefore, VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 43 unless a mutual source of error can be traced, it must be assumed that each had good authority for what they stated. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, writing in 1566, quotes from Sebastian Cabot's chart " yet to be seen in the Queens Majesties Privie Gallery at Whitehall, who was sent to make this discoverie by Henry VH and entered the same fret, affirming that he sayled very farre Westward with a quarter of the North on the north side of Terre de Labrador, the eleventh day of June, until he came to the septentrional latitude of Sy^ degrees, and finding the sea still open said that he might and would have gone to Cataia if the mutiny of the masters and mariners had not been," Either the date or the latitude is incorrect in this statement, but it does not necessarily follow that the misstatement was Cabot's. Ramusio, Peter Martyr, and Gomara all tell of a voyage to the Arctic regions under Sebastian Cabot's command. But we can only notice here the account given by that "learned and painful writer" Richard Eden, in the prefatory letter to his translation of Sebas- tian Munster, in 1553. He says: — " If merely manly courrage had not been wanting at such time as our soverign lord of noble memorie King Henry VHI, about the same yeare of his reign, furnished and sent out certain ships under the govern- ance of Sebastian Cabot yet living and Sir Thos. Pert whose faint heart was the cause the voyage tooke none effect." This is the only reference that has been found to a voyage in the year 15 16-17. Hakluyt evidently gives gives credit to it, and Purchas, referring to it, writes: 44 LABRADOR " A second time Sir Thos. Pert and the said Cabota were set forth with a fleet to America by King Henry VIII in the eight yere of his reign," but he nowhere refers to a 'previous voyage conducted by them. It will be noticed that the reference to the date in Eden's letter is somewhat ambiguous, or at least very peculiarly expressed. Generally speaking, the sentence, " about the same year of his reign," would be taken to mean that it was the same year as that on which some other event had taken place, but in this instance, wanting some such explanation, it has been concluded that the adjective " same " refers to the numeral " eight," which is by no means a convincing explanation. It is much more likely that " same " is a printer's error for " first." ^ In any case the voyage could not have taken place in 1 5 17, as Cabot transferred his services to Spain in 15 12, was certainly there on November 13th, 15 15, was made Pilot Major February 9th, 1 5 f 8, and it is very improb- able that he could have accepted employment from Henry VIII in the interval. Sir Thomas Pert is also recorded as being in the Thames in July, 15 17, ballast- ing his vessel. The earliest reference to the discovery of America which has been found in English literature occurs in a little drama entitled, A newe interhide and a mery of the iiij elements declaryinge many proper points of pJiilo- sophy natural, the only copy of which is in the British Museum. It is somewhat imperfect, having lost the colophon, and it is therefore impossible to say exactly when it was printed, but a note, in the handwriting of David Garrick, states in regard to it, "First im- 1 Mr, Geo. Parker Winship, author of the very excellent Cabot Bibliography , is a strong believer in a voyage made by Sebastian Cabot in 1508. VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 45 pressions dated 25th Oct., 1 1 Henry VIII," which would be in the year 1519-20. The lines referring to the New World are as follows : — And northvvarde on this syde There iyeth Iselonde wher men do fyshe But beyonde that so cold it is No man may there abyde This see is called the great Oceyan So great it is that never man Coude tell it sith the vvorlde began Tyll nowe within this xx yere Westwarde be founde new landes That we neuer harde tell of before this By wrytynge nor other meanys Yet many nowe haue been there And that contrey is so large of rome Muche lenger than all cristendome Without fable or gyle For dyuers maryners haue it tryed And sayled streyght by the coste syde Aboue V. thousand myle But what commodytes be within No man can tell nor well imagyn But yet not longe a go Some men of this contrey went By the kynges noble consent It for to serche to that extent And coude not be brought therto But they that were the ventere (r)s Haue cause to curse their maryners Fals of promys and dissemblers That falsly them betrayed Which wolde take no pain to saile farther Than their own lyst and pleasure Wherefore that vyage and dyuers others Suche kaytyffes haue distroyed O what thynge a had be than Yf that they that be englyshe men Myght haue been the furst of all That there shulde haue take possessyon And made furst buyldynge and habytacion A memory perpetuall And also what an honorable thynge Bothe to the realme and to the kynge To haue had his domynyon extendynge 46 LABRADOR There into so farre a grounde Whiche the noble kynge of late menory The most wyse prince the vij. He(n)ry Caused furst for to be founde And what a great meritoryouse deed It were to haue the people instructed To lyue more vertuously And to lerne to knowe of men the maner And also to knowe god their maker Whiche as yet lyue all be(a)stly For they nother god or the deuell Nor neuer harde tell of heuyn nor hell Wrytynge nor other scripture But yet in the stede of god almyght They honour the sonne for his great lygght For that doth them great pleasure Buyldynge nor house they haue none at all But wodes cotes and caues small No marueyle though it be so For they vse no maner of yron Nother in toUe nor other wepon That shulde help them therto Copper they haue which is founde In dyuers places aboue the grounde Yet they dig not therfore For as I sayd they haue none yron Wherby they shuld in the yerth myne To serche for any wore Great haboundance of woddes ther be Moste parte vyr and pyne aple tre Great ryches myght come therby Bothe pytche and tarre and sope asshys As they make in the eest landes By brynnying therof only Fyshe they haue so great plente That in hauyns take and slayne they be With stauys withouten sayle Nowe frenchemen and other haue founden the trade That yerely of fyshe there they lade A boue an C. sayle. But this newe lande founde lately Ben called America by cause only Americus did first them fynde. These verses are full of suggestiveness, and display a popular knowledge of the New World in England at VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 47 that period ; but we are only concerned here with the reference to a voyage to the northern coasts of America, undertaken by the English, which was brought to nought by the mutiny of the sailors. This making the fourth reference to an incident of that kind. It does not seem probable that they all refer to the same occasion. One would be inclined to suppose that Thorne referred in his letter to one of the earlier voyages, probably that of 1 501-2. The others, how- ever, point to a later date, and it is allowable to surmise that they all three refer to the voyage of 1508-9, in which Sebastian Cabot, possibly assisted by Sir Thomas Pert, sailed along the Newfoundland and Labrador coast and penetrated some distance into Hudson Strait, but owing to Sir Thomas Pert's " want of stomacke" was prevented, as he thought, from reach- ing Cathay. Turning south, he coasted down to Florida and thence returned to England. It must be conceded, in any case, that such a voyage took place, and the duration of the voyage, recorded by Contarini, from the spring of 1508 to April 22nd, 1509, is the only account we have which would permit of such an exten- sive exploratory expedition. The probability that Sebastian Cabot entered Hudson Strait is deduced from Sir Humphrey Gilbert's account given above, and also from that of Richard Willes written about the same time. The latter is most circumstantial, describ- ing a strait depicted on Sebastian Cabot's map " which the Earl of Bedford hath at Cheines," between sixty- one and sixty-four degrees north latitude, into which Cabot penetrated for some distance : but no such strait is found on the so-called Sebastian Cabot map of 1544. After this date there is no record of an English expedition actually having taken place until 1527. 48 LABRADOR But the English marine was steadily growing, and the English Navy was making itself felt in the " narrow " seas. In 15 13, it is recorded that the merchants of Bristol owned a fleet of nine vessels of over one hundred tons each, which were bound to do a service to the Crown when called upon. Seeing the interest taken by the people of Bristol in the New Lands in the opening years of the century, it is safe to assume that some of these vessels were employed in the trade which they had discovered. In 1 521, Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey decided that an expedition " be prepared for a viage to be made to the newe founde land. . . . The Drapers Company to furnish V shippes. The King's Grace to prepare them in takyll ordinaunce and all other necessaries at his charge. And also the King to bere the adventor. The michauntts and companys to be at the charge of vitaylling and mannys wages, for one whole yere and the shippes not to be above VI score ton apeice." In reply, the Drapers Company declared that the King and his Councillors " were duely and substauncially informed in such man'' and as perfite knowledge myghte be had by credible reports of maisters and maryners naturally born within this realm of England having experiences and exercises in and about the afore said lande as wele in knowledge of the lande, the due course of the waye thith wards and homeward as in knowledge of the havens dayngers and sholds there upon that coast that then it were lesse jeopardy to adventure thither than it is now al though it be furder hens than few English maryners can tell. " And we think it were to sore advent to jeoperd V shippes with men and goodes unto the Island uppon the singular trust of one man called as we understoned VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-153i 49 Sebastyan vvhiche Sebastyan as we here say was never in that lande himself, all if he makes reporte of many things as he hath heard his father and other men speake in tymes past. "And also we say that if Sebastyan had bene there and were as conying a man in and for those parties as any man myghte be having none assistants of maisters and maryners of England exercised and labored in the same p'ties for to guyd three shippes and other charges than we knowe of but onely trusting to the said Sebastyan we suppose it were no wysdome to adventr lyves and good thither in suche manr., what for fear of syknes or dethe of the said Sebastyan." Sebastian Cabot was in England at the time this protest against him was made. We read that one John Goderyck of Foley was paid 43s. 46. " for his charge costes and labour conductying of Sebastian Cabot, master of the Pilattes, in Spain to London." So far as is known, the expedition never sailed. It is not easy to understand the exact purport of this reply of the Drapers' Company, beyond the fact that they were unwilling to furnish the ships required by Wolsey and were searching for excuses. Wolsey was chaplain to the Marquis of Dorset at the time of John Cabot's discoveries, and must have been fully acquainted with all the particulars connected with them. That he should have judged Sebastian Cabot competent to command this expedition goes far to counterbalance the unfavourable opinion of the London merchants, who after all did not seem to be very sure of their statements. Sebastian Cabot's own account of this affair is to be found in the very interesting letter of Contarini, Vene- tian Ambassador at Madrid, to the Council of Ten at Venice, dated December 31st, 1522. Cabot was intri- E 50 LABRADOR guing to transfer his services to Venice, and by way of increasing his value told how anxious England had been to employ him. He said : " Now it so happened, that when in England some three years ago (if P mis- take not) Cardinal VVolsey offered me high terms if I would sail with an armada of his on a voyage of dis- covery. The vessels were almost ready, and they had got together thirty thousand ducats for their outfit. I answered him that being in the service of the King of Spain I could not go without his leave, but if free permission were granted me from hence (Spain) I would serve him." He then told of his meeting with a Vene- tian friar, who reminded him of his duty to his native country, Venice. " In consequence of this, as by serving the King of England I could no longer benefit our country, I wrote to the Emperor not to give me leave to serve the King of England, as he would injure him- self extremely, and thus to recall me forthwith." One very important fact, however, is proven by this reply of the over-cautious Drapers' Company, and that is, that many native born masters and mariners were obtainable who had full knowledge of the way to the new-found-lands and of the havens, dangers, and shoals upon that coast. Consequently many unrecorded ex- peditions had been made thither by the mariners of England prior to 1521. The trade had reached such proportions that in 1522, when war broke out between England and France, English men-of-war were stationed in the Channel to protect the returning fishing fleet. John Rut's voyage of 1527 was possibly instigated by Robert Thome's letter. Two vessels sailed on this ex- pedition, the Sampson and the Maty Guildford of 160 tons, a King's ship, built in 1524. From the letter ^ i.e. Contarini. VOYAGES TO THE NEW LANDS, 1500-1534 51 John Rut wrote to King Henry from the harbour of St. John's " in bad English and worse writing," (which, by the bye, is the earliest letter in the English language written from America) we learn that, having sailed as far as 53° north, they encountered so much ice on July 1st that they were forced to turn south and harboured near " Cap de Bras," or " Gras," as the north-east point of Newfoundland was then called, probably in the well known harbour of " Carpunt." They had become separated from the Sampson in a storm, and after wait- ing some time for her at " Carpunt " they went south to St. John's and waited there six weeks longer, but she never put in an appearance. Apparently there were two other English ships on the coast the same year, which are referred to by Purchas as " Master Grube's two ships," sailing from Plymouth, June loth, and reaching Newfoundland July 21st, also, rather curiously, at Cap de Bras. Also Hakluyt wrote of two ships sent out by Henry VHI, sailing from London, May 9th, 1527, one of which was called the Dominus Vobiscum, and in which sailed divers cunning men and a canon of St. Paul's. One of the ships was lost in the Straits of Belle Isle, and the other returned home about the beginning of October. Hakluyt's account cannot be harmonized with what is known of either Rut's or Grube's voyages. He was disappointed that he could not find out something more, and blames the " negligence of the writers of those times who should have used more care in preserving the memories of the worthiest acts of our nation." A criticism which we devoutly echo. CHAPTER IV THE DERIVATION OF THE NAME "LABRADOR" THE preceding chapter gives in narrative form what is thought to be a commonsense view of the early voyages to the north-east coast of America, with but little attempt at argument or explanation of the statements there made. He is a brave man who undertakes to treat of a subject which has occupied the attention of so many able students, and the writer, in embarking upon it, does so with great diffidence. The problems surrounding the early exploration of Labrador and Newfoundland are, however, so curious and interesting that they necessitate an attempt at explanation. It has been enunciated in a preceding chapter that the land seen by Corte Real in 1500, but which he could not reach, was really our Labrador, and not Greenland as is generally stated. The derivation of the name Labrador is so inter- woven in the discussion, that it is first necessary to give the theory now generally accepted in regard to it. Many attempts have been made to explain it. The first and most obvious meaning, " le bras d'or " — the arm of gold — is so evidently a misnomer that it need not be seriously considered. " Le bras d'eau " has been suggested as the interpretation for the Bradore Lakes of Cape Breton, but it seems to have no significance for our Labrador. Some early writers said that it was 52 THE DERIVATION OF THE NAME 53 the name of the captain of a Basque vessel who was among the first to navigate its rugged coasts, or of the vessel itself But no evidence has been produced to substantiate this theory. Another far-fetched explana- tion is that Corte Real bestowed the name on a part of the country because he thought it fit for cultivation, which is absurd. As a matter of fact, it is probable that Corte Real did not succeed in effecting a landing on any part of Labrador on account of ice, and not intending to found a colony he could not have applied the name with intent to deceive, as did Eric the Red in the case of Greenland. Henry Biddle, in his Memoirs of Sebastimi Cabot (Philadelphia, 1831), first called attention to the letter of Pietro Pasqualigo, Venetian Ambassador at the Court of Portugal, to his brothers in Venice. It is dated October 19th, 1501, a few days after the return of Corte Real's ships. Among other particulars he gives a description of the fifty-seven natives who were brought to Portugal from the land which had been visited. " The men of this place," says he, " will make excellent workers and the best slaves one has ever seen." For this reason Biddle suggested that the name Labrador was taken from the Portuguese word "lavrador" or " labrador," meaning labourer — an ex- planation which has satisfied nearly all writers since that time. But there are flaws in the line of reasoning which completely upset that theory. On the " Cantino," " King," and other maps, drawn immediately after the return of Corte Real's ships, two countries are seen. One is undoubtedly Newfoundland, both from its description and situation ; and from there Corte Real sent his vessels with the fifty-seven savages. The other, in some maps, has the unmistakable outline of 54 LABRADOR Greenland ; in others the outline is vague, but of both it is written that Corte Real was unable to land there. This latter is the land which is called Labrador. It is certain that the geographers were fully aware of the facts of Corte Real's voyages, and if the derivation of the name had been as suggested they would have applied it to the land from which the people were taken — that is, to Newfoundland. There seems to be but little doubt that the name " Labrador " centres round the achievements of one Joao or John Fernandez. It will be remembered that he was one of the grantees of the letters patent issued by Henry VII in 1501, but his name is not included with the grantees of the letters patent in 1502, and it is to be presumed that he had returned to Portugal. M. Ernesto de Canto, in his Archivos dos Agores, 1894, points out that, in 1508, King Emmanuel of Portugal gave certain privileges to an Azorean named Pero de Barcellos for discoveries made by him in northern regions. Associated with Pero de Barcellos was Joao Fernandez, described as " lavrador," the meaning of which, according to M. de Canto, is rather " landowner " than " labourer." There can be little doubt that this was the same Joao Fernandez who sailed from Bristol in 1501. What particular voyage from Portugal it was that he and Pero de Barcellos had conducted has not been ascertained, but the guess may be hazarded that it was one of the expeditions which went to seek for Caspar Corte Real. It is stated again and again on the early maps that Labrador was discovered by the people of Bristol. One map gives us additional information and supplies the connecting link which incontestably settles the deriva- tion of the name. It is an MS. map by an unknown THE DERIVATION OF THE NAME 55 author, drawn about the year 1530, which is preserved in the library of the Duke of Wolfenbuttel. Professor Stevens, of Rutgers College, New Jersey, has only recently obtained leave to copy it, and has just pub- lished an excellent facsimile, from which the accompany- ing illustration has been made. In the outlines of the north-east coast of America and in the nomenclature, it is an exact copy of the Ribero map of 1529. But on the country named "Tierra del Labrador" it is written: " This country was discovered by the people of the town of Bristol, and because he who first sighted land was a labourer from the islands of the Azores it was named after him." It has been suggested that this was a likely thing for sailors to do, seeing themselves outdone by a reputed farmer. Taken altogether, this evidence from such diverse sources seems to be conclusive, and, unless something more definite is disclosed in the future, must be accepted as the real explanation of the name Labrador. But whatever the derivation may be, the name fits. Cabot, Corte Real, Davis, Hudson, and a long line of adventurous spirits, have toiled along its rugged coasts. And in the present day an army of fishermen from Newfoundland fight their way to its shores each suc- ceeding spring, through ice and fog and storm, there to ply their calling during the eighteen -hour- long day with a degree of severe labour unknown in other in- dustries. It is truly named the land of the labourer — not " tiller of the soil," but " toiler of the deep." CHAPTER V CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION OF LABRADOR NEITHER Cabot, Corte Real, nor any of the earlier voyagers to Newfoundland and Labrador left any written accounts of their expeditions, and we owe our knowledge of them entirely to hearsay evidence. But there is a continuous series of documentary evidence left to us, of which they were in part the authors, from which a great deal of information can be derived. The leader of every expedition furnished himself, before starting, with any maps or charts which were obtainable of the regions he proposed visiting, and cor- rected and enlarged them by his own experience. These rough drawings were acquired by skilled carto- graphers (especially in Portugal and Spain, where there were Schools of Navigation) and were embodied in maps drawn up by them, often of the most elaborate character, embellished with illustrations and resplendent with gold and colours. Some thirty or more maps and charts of the countries in which we are interested are still extant, dating before the voyage of Jacques Cartier in 1534, and it is one of the most fascinating studies to trace in them the gradual growth of knowledge of the New World to see how new discoveries were represented and also how errors arose and were perpetuated. Labrador is a particularly interesting subject of study, 56 CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 57 as there are some curious problems connected with it which are Hkely to remain subjects of controversy for many a long day. The first map which attempted to show the New- found-land discovered by Cabot, was that drawn between April and October, 1500, by Juan La Cosa, a Spanish pilot of considerable experience, who had himself crossed the Atlantic several times. A long coastline is seen running from east to west, gradually curving south until it combines with the present Florida. It bears a number of names at intervals along the coast, and the sea is labelled "the sea discovered by the EngHsh." Notwithstanding the deepest study which historians and geographers have bestowed upon it, this map remains entirely inexplicable; the coastline cannot be identified, and the names are purely fanciful.^ Only one suggestion can be made in regard to it, which seems in the slightest degree satisfactory. Pedro de Ayala, the Spanish Ambassador in London, wrote to Spain shortly after Cabot's first voyage, saying that he supposed the lands found by Cabot adjoined the dominions of Spain which had been discovered by Columbus. He also spoke of sending a map drawn by Cabot, but doubtless did not do so. La Cosa seems to have been impressed by the hint contained in Ayala's letter, and to have drawn his map solely to give ex- pression to it, and produced a fanciful coastline, dis- covered by the English, adjoining the dominions of the King of Spain. The next map of the north-east coast of America is known as the " Cantino" map, bearing the date of 1502. ^ Some writers have seen in this coastline the south coast of Newfoundland, others have thought it to be the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and some prominent writers have declared it to be the east coast of Labrador. 58 LABRADOR It was drawn at Lisbon, and is undoubtedly an en- deavour to show the results of Corte Real's voyages in 1500 and 1 501. A very curious error originated on this map which it took many years to eradicate. The designer knew that Corte Real had been unable on account of ice to reach the land he saw in 1500. He must also have been familiar with the maps and portu- lans of the latter half of the fifteenth century, which show Greenland fairly correctly outlined. Although all communication with it had been cut off for nearly a century, its reputation as an ice-bound country still continued, so the designer of the map very natur- ally jumped to the conclusion that it must have been the land which Corte Real saw in 1 500. He therefore copied it very carefully, and labelled it as follows : — " This land was discovered by the order of the most excellent Prince Dom Emmanuel, King of Portugal, and is found to be the extremity of Asia. They who discovered it were not able to land, but they examined it and saw nothing but mountains. For this reason it is believed to be the extremity of Asia." Now it is clearly impossible that Corte Real could in such a short time have become so well acquainted with the outlines of Greenland as is here shown, and the map therefore does not delineate only what he had seen, and the fact of the above label being attached to Greenland cannot be considered conclusive evidence that he had seen a part any more than the whole of it. Some writers are of opinion that it actually was Greenland which Corte Real saw in 1500, but when it is re- membered that the country arrived at in 1501 was Newfoundland, and that it was contiguous to the land seen on the previous voyage, it must be admitted that, CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 59 in all probability, our Labrador was the ice-bound coast which he could not attain. Perhaps also the geo- grapher may have been misled in some curious way by the fact that Corte Real had given the land he dis- covered the name of " Tierra Verde." It must also be remembered that the early voyagers were very erratic in their longitudes, while their latitudes were fairly correct. Even Frobisher's discoveries were misunder- stood, and until the end of the eighteenth century Frobisher's Straits were marked on the east coast of Greenland. On the Cantino map is seen, near to Greenland, an outline of the country which Corte Real visited in 1501. The label attached to it reads : — " This land was discovered by the order of the very high and most excellent Prince, Dom Emmanuel, King of Portugal, the which Gaspar Corte Real, gentleman of the King's house, discovered. He sent thence a ship with some men and women of the country, remained himself with the other ship, and never afterwards returned. Magnificent trees for masts are found there." It is carefully located to the east of the line of demarcation, by which Pope Alexander VI divided the dominions of Spain from those of Portugal, and it is called " The land of the King of Portugal." The deep bays and scattered islands are typical of the eastern seaboard of Newfoundland, and it is un- doubtedly intended for that coast. Notre Dame Bay is supposed to be the scene of his landfall. The next map to claim our interest was drawn by an unknown Portuguese cartographer, a year or so after the Cantino map, and is known as the " King" map. It is particularly interesting as being the first attempt 6o LABRADOR to delineate the Labrador coast. The cartographer had probably discovered the mistake made on the Cantino map by confusing it with Greenland, as he abandons the well-known outlines of that Peninsula and draws an irregularly shaped island to the eastward of " Terra Corte Real," as Newfoundland was then called, and labels it, for the first time time, " Terra Laboratoris." As has been already shown, this is proof positive that the name was not derived from the natives which Corte Real sent from " Terra Corte Real." And if the de- rivation of the name is as has been demonstrated in the previous chapter, it shows that the reports of the Anglo-Azorean Expedition had reached Portugal, and very likely prevented the designer from falling into the errors of the Cantino map.^ On the " King " map will be seen for the first time on the land called "Terra Corte Real" the name "Capo Raso," showing how very soon the geographical im- portance of that famous cape was recognized. Also far up in the right-hand corner will be seen the penin- sula of Greenland, with " Tile" — i.e. Thule or Iceland — beside it. The next map in point of date is known as Kunst- man II. It was probably drawn after the return of a part of Miguel Corte Real's ill-fated expedition in 1503, and differs but slightly from the King map in outline. On the island called " Terra de lauorador," however, appear no less than seven names, which may possibly be taken as an indication that some portion of the coast of Labrador had been explored in the ' It has been already suggested that Joao Fernandez left Bristol after his return in January, 1502, and went to Portugal, where he would have given correct information to the designer of this map about the land discovered by him in the previous year and have caused his "nickname" to be attached to it. KUNSTMAN NO. II. Facing p. 60 CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 6i meantime. The names themselves are now without significance. But it is a curious circumstance that names are found upon " Terra de lavrador " before they are upon New- foundland, with the sole exception of " Capo Raso." This fact is also evidence that it was in reality our Labrador which was intended and not Greenland. For the east coast of Greenland is nearly always beset with an impenetrable mass of ice, and from the time of the rediscovery of the country by John Davis until the beginning of the nineteenth century, it remained un- visited on that account. When in i8 16-17 this barrier of ice became almost if not entirely separated from the land, the event caused a great deal of comment by geographers, and parts of the east coast were then visited for the first time. While it is not impossible that a similar event may have taken place in 1500, it is yet very unlikely. An interesting effort is evidently made by the designer of the map known as Kunstman III, to recon- cile the outlines of Greenland, according to Cantino, with the outline of " Terra de lavrador " in Kunstman II, placing on the east coast of Greenland three of the names found on the latter, while at the same time giving the best outline up to that date of the whole Newfoundland and Labrador coast. The straits of Belle Isle and Belle Isle are indicated in their proper places, and the projection of land north of Hamilton Inlet is shown, considerably exaggerated, but in nearly correct latitude. Farther north the shore falls away to the north-west in a fairly accurate manner. There are ten names marked on the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland, and among them are found " Ilha de Frey Luis" at 52-50° north lat., near the present St. 62 LABRADOR Lewis Inlet, and " Cabo de San Antoine" at 51° north lat, where Cape St. Anthony is still to be found. Con- ception Bay is the only other name which remains, but is placed much too far north. The chart of Pedro Reinel (1504-5) shows the east coast of Newfoundland considerably developed and hav- ing a greatly increased nomenclature, San Johan, Y-dos aves (Bird Isles), Boaventura, appearing for the first time. A very noticeable feature is the first delineation of the south coast of Newfoundland and Cape Breton. Also, north of Newfoundland and close to it, is seen a coastline extending far to the eastward, which is the beginning of a new type of delineation of Labrador. It is the prototype of a number of maps, notably Kunstman IV, 1520, Ribero 1529, Wolfenbuttel B 1530, Ricardina 1540, Deslien 1 541, Sebastian Cabot 1544, and Descliers 1546, the peculiarities of which will be discussed later. The maps known as the Egerton Portulan 1507, Ruysch 1508, and Majiolo 15 11, are more crude in their delineation, but are all interesting, as they embody the idea that the newly found countries were the eastern portion of Asia. The Ruysch map is particularly im- portant to us as it shows the veritable Greenland, so named, and Newfoundland labelled, for the first time, " Terra Nova," but Labrador is not indicated. Two extremely important maps have recently been discovered at Wolfegg Castle, in Bavaria, by Professor Fischer, S.J. One is the long-sought-for map of Waldseemiiller, which was drawn to accompany an edition of Ptolemy's Cosmography, published in 1507 at the little town of St. Die in the Vosges mountains. The suggestion was first made in this edition that the New World should be called "America," after Americus Vespucius, and the map now found puts the KUXSTMAN XO. Ill Facing p. 62 CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 63 suggestion into practice by so designing it for the first time. The coast of Newfoundland is shown almost exactly as in the " Cantino," " Canerio," and " King" maps, and is labelled " Litus Incognitum." It no doubt indicates, as they do, the country discovered by Corte Real. Engroenlandt is seen joined to the North of Europe, as it was long supposed to be, and as it appears on several fifteenth -century maps, especially those of Donnus Nikolaus Germanus. The other map found is known as the Carta Marina of Waldseemliller, 15 16, and is the earliest map of the chart description extant. Here, again, Greenland is found correctly outlined as it was in the Cantino map, but it is now labelled " Terra Laboratoris," although, as we have seen, Waldseemiiller had placed it on the map of 1507 and correctly named it Greenland. This is the first and also the last time that Greenland, correctly drawn, is called " Terra Laboratoris." It expresses the error, in its fully developed condition, that Greenland was the country discovered in 1501 by the Anglo- Arorean Expedition. The "Cantino" map correctly depicted Greenland, but did not bestow the name ; the intervening maps gave the name to an island with a fanciful outline east of Newfoundland ; it was left to the designer of the map now under consideration to suppress this island and label Greenland " Terra Labora- toris." The " Litus Incognitum" of the 1 507 map is seen considerably developed, and now embraces the whole seaboard of Newfoundland and Labrador, from 47" N. to 59° N., the northern part called "Terra Nova," and the southern part called Coreati — i.e. Cortreali. This map, and Kunstman III, are the first to exhibit some glimmerings of the correct lie of the Newfoundland 64 LABRADOR and Labrador coasts and their relative position in regard to Greenland. Not until the end of the sixteenth century is a better idea of the trend of the Labrador coast to be found. The label attached gives more information than is found on earlier maps. It reads as follows : — " This land of Corterati was found by order of the King of Portugal by Caspar Corterati, Captain of two ships, A.D. 1 501. He was of the opinion that it was the main land because of the great stretch of coast extending over 600 miles. It has a number of great rivers and is well populated. The houses of the in- habitants are made of long sticks covered with skins. Their garments are the skins of wild beasts, which they wear with the fur outside in summer but inside in winter. They paint their faces. They have no iron and use instead instruments of stone. There are large forests of pine trees and many fish, salmon, etc." The Kunstman IV map, 1520, on the part called " do Lavrador " bears the following legend : " The Portu- guese saw this land but did not land there," and on the part corresponding to Newfoundland called " Bacalaos," this inscription : " This land was first discovered by Caspar Cortereal, Portuguese. He brought from thence savage men and white bears. Many animals, birds, and fish are found there. The following year he was shipwrecked and never returned. His brother Miguel the year after met the same fate." Which adds proof to the opinion maintained here that the name Labrador was not derived from the savages sent back by CorteReal. In support of this theory may be quoted Thome's letter to Dr. Leigh, written from Seville in 1527, in which he says, referring to the dominion of Spain in the New (geNJTiORBK fEKkEMARi^lQEF^:^ From " WaldsecinulUr Maps," by kind permission nj //. Stevens Sons and Stiles CARTA MARIXA, 1516 Facing p. 64 CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 65 World : " Which maine land or coast goeth northward and finisheth in the land that we found, which is called here Terra de Labrador, so that it appeareth the said land that we found and the Indies are all one maine land." From which it is very evident that the position of Labrador was clearly understood at the time in Seville, even if the maps were incorrect and vague. About the middle of the sixteenth century there flourished in Seville a well-known cosmographer named Alonso de Santa Cruz, who is described as " expert in all the arts and mathematics." He had accompanied Sebastian Cabot on his disastrous voyage to La Plata, and was later one of the band of scientists to whom was entrusted the correction of Le Padron General or chart on which was noted all new discoveries. There is still extant a manuscript by him which has never been published. It is entitled El Islario General, and gives a very good idea of the knowledge possessed at that time by this celebrated school of geographers. He says : — " First, we propose to treat of that land which is commonly called Labrador, the subject of much dis- cussion as to whether it is separated from the continent of Greenland and if it is a continuation of the northern parts of Europe. Zeigler {Opera omnia 1532) holds that it is entirely a continuation of Scandinavia. It is frequented by the English who go there to take fish which the natives catch in great members. It is said that the natives have the same customs as those of the Province of Poland in Scandinavia. There are many islands to the south of this land named as follows : The first is called the ' Isle of Bad Fortune,' which is situated in an arm of the sea or strait which passes between Baccalaos and the Island of Labrador. 66 LABRADOR It is called the Island of Bad Fortune because a Portuguese expedition which went in search of the Corte Reals suffered a great maritime disaster on its shores." From this it will be clearly seen that the relative positions of Greenland, Labrador, and Newfoundland were well understood, but whether Labrador was joined to Greenland and Greenland to Europe had not been ascertained. In Richard Eden's translation (1555) of Peter Martyr's Decades there are several interesting refer- ences to Labrador. " Of the landes of Labrador and Baccalaos, it is said that many had travelled to Labrador in search of a passage to Cathay, that Gaspar Corte Real had been there in the year 1500, and had sent back a number of men as slaves, and that the land of Baccalaos is a great tract lying to the south of 48 deg." Quoting Jacobus Gastaldus, a description is given of Baccalaos and the land of Labrador to the north of Baccalaos. Quoting Olanus Gothero, he says : — " Gruntland, as some say, is fyftie leagues from the north part of the firme lande of the West Indies, by the lande of Labrador. But it is not knowen whether this land be adherent with Gruntland or if there be any streyght or sea between them." In Gomara's History of the West Indies we find the following statement : — " The north part of the West Indies is in the same latitude as Iceland. The first two hundred leagues to Rio Nevado have not been explored ; from Rio Nevado •..i^.i«!»».,ll!ill. IJi.WlUiLI 4 1 .V-, i: ^^ "^iS^ %-J^ o o Q ;2 tr^ ffej'^a '•^r I '\ N CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 67 in lat. 60 the distance is two hundred leagues to Baio de Maluas ; all this coast is the same 6odeg., and is called Labrador." Baio de Maluas, which has been interpreted Bay of Evil, appears on the Riccardino map of 1534-40 in what seems to be the Straits of Belle Isle. Rio Nevado, or Snow River, would therefore be Hudson's Straits, and the intervening country correctly named Labrador. But in spite of the fact that writers of the day under- stood the position of these northern countries, the map makers continued to confuse Greenland with Labrador. In the type of map which began with that of Reinel, and of which the Descliers map, 1546, may be taken as representative, the southern portion of the coast named Labrador is undoubtedly our Labrador, but it is a matter of great question whether the long peninsula stretching to the eastward is intended for the northern part of Labrador or for Greenland, It is generally considered to be the latter, but there are grounds for supposing that it is Labrador. The variation of the compass in these latitudes no doubt greatly assisted in the confusion concerning them. On the coast of New- foundland the variation is 30°, gradually increasing until at Hudson's Straits it is 45°. A vessel sailing to the northward from Newfoundland sees the Labrador coast apparently opening continually to the eastward. The course steered until the White Bear Islands are rounded in 55° is almost N.E. by compass. After that the general trend of the coast is north-west, true, but the variation gradually increas- ing in a manner balances the change of direction of the coast. Between 57° and 58° there is a notable bend to the eastward. It may be remembered that in the narrative of 68 LABRADOR the Mantuan gentleman Sebastian Cabot is recorded to have said that, having reached the same latitude, 57°, finding the coast still to turn to the eastward, he changed his course and sailed to the south. As the entrance of Hudson's Straits is approached the land again turns to the east, and the Killinek Peninsula, of which Cape Chidley is the farther point, almost drops to the southward of east. Dr. Grenfell, in making his course to Ungava Bay through the Ikke- rasak or Channel which cuts off the Killinek Peninsula, actually has to steer a N.N.E. course by compass, while according to the maps he should have to steer almost due west. Taking the other assumption, that the long penin- sula is Greenland, and allowing for the variation of the compass at Cape Farewell, which is 52° west, it will be seen that a vessel approaching Greenland from the eastward would find that coast, by compass, to lie almost east and west, with Cape Farewell pointing to America, in the following manner : — instead of this, as will be found in the Deslien map : — A DecIitTiS Hi CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 69 If the variation of the compass, therefore, in one case would cause Labrador to stretch to the eastward, in the other case; it would cause Cape Farewell to point to the west instead of to the east as these maps show it. It may therefore be concluded that the idea of the real Labrador preponderated when these maps were drawn. On a map preserved in the Hydrographical Depart- ment in Paris of Portuguese origin, and supposed to have been drawn about the year 1550, the outline of " Terra do laurador " is shown somewhat similar to the Deslien map, but on it Greenland is also shown in its proper place. The names which appear on the quasi-Labrador coast of these maps are nearly all of Portuguese origin, and cannot now be either explained or located. The following list is taken from the Deslien map, quoting from Mr. Harrisse's Decoiiverte de Terre Neuve. The Deslien map was drawn in Dieppe, the names are therefore French or French adaptations from the Portu- guese. Such meanings are given as can be ascertained. Terre septentrionale inconnue. The unknown norther I. Playne. I. 2. B de caramello. 2. Bay of Ice. 3. C de terre firme. 3. Cape of Mainland, 4. Mer de France. 4. Sea of France. 5. Terre de Laborador. 5. Land of Labrador. 6. R de C. 6. 7. G de P. 7. 8. R Grande. 8. Grand River. 9. G de Anurado. 9. Gulf of Forests. 10. Gandra. 10. II. Redonda. II. Round (Island). 12. Ys de maio. 12. 13. Reparo. 13. Gulf of Repairs. 14. Costa. 14. (Straight) Coast. 70 LABRADOR Terre septentrionale inconnue. The unknown northern land. 15. C de terre fir me. 15. Cape of Mainland. 16. Ys de loupes marins. 16. Island of Seals. 17. Angos. 17- 18. Cirnes. 18. 19. Argillur. 19. Clay. 20. Y de barres. 20. Island of Shoals. 21. B du prassel.i 21. Bay of the Little Pig (porcupine). 22. R de pecje. 22. River of Fishes. 23. B oscura. 23. Dark Bay. 24. Terra de Johan vaz. 24. Land of Joao Vaz (Corte Real). 25. C de bassis. 25. Low Cape. 26. Manuel. 26. 27. B de Manuel. 27. 28. B de Serra. 28. Bay of Mountains. 29. Tous saints. 29. All Saints. 30. Terre ursos. 30. Land of Bears. 31. Pracell.^ 31. Porcupine 32. Mallie. 32. Evil. 33. de Mallu. 33. Bay of Misfortune. 34. Praia. 34. Meadow of Plains. 35. B du Brandon. 35. Bay of Brandon. 36. B du baudeon. 36. 37. R dulce. 37. Sweet River. 38. R Dulce. 38. Sweet River. 39. Canada. 3q. Canada. 40. G froit. 40. Cold Gulf. 41. Caramell. 41. Ice. 42. Forest. 42. Forest. 43. P de Gama. 43. Point of the Deer. 44. Chasteaux. 44. Castle Bay. 45. Blanc Sablon. 45. White Sand. 46. Brest. 46. Harbour of Brest. 47. Jacques Cartier. 47. Harbour of Jacques Cartier. The principal fact revealed by a close study of these maps is that the whole east coast of Newfoundland and ^ Numbers of porcupines are found on Labrador. CARTOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION 71 Labrador had been traversed within a very few years after their discovery by Cabot. It is not possible to attribute to each voyager the particular portion of coast explored by him, but perhaps the following may be as good a conjecture as any other which has been offered. John Cabot, in 1497, probably made land on the east coast of Newfoundland, and coasted some distance northward before setting out on his return journey. The significance of the name " Bacalieu," borne by the island at the mouth of Conception Bay, does not seem to have been properly appreciated. It was the name which Cabot is said to have bestowed on the countries found by him, and first appears on the Oliveriano map of 1503. In 1498 Cabot probably extended his explorations considerably, both north and south. Corte Real, in 1500, saw some part of the northern Labrador Coast. In 1501 he landed at Notre Dame Bay and explored the whole east coast of Newfound- land. The natives he sent to Portugal had in their possession a broken sword handle and silver rings of Venetian manufacture, which could only have been obtained from Cabot's second expedition. In this same year, 1501, the Anglo- Azorean expedi- tion visited Labrador, bestowed the name, and took three Eskimos to England. Some members of this expedition had previously sailed with Cabot. In 1503 Miguel Corte Real's expedition probably ranged the whole coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in the search for Caspar Corte Real. Joao Fernandez, the discoverer of Labrador, probably accompanied this expedition, or that of 1 504, which was despatched from Portugal for the same purpose. 72 LABRADOR In 1508 Sebastian Cabot and Sir Thomas Pert sailed along the Labrador Coast into Hudson's Straits, and possibly still farther north, then turning south they coasted down the entire North American coast. English, French and Portuguese fishermen at once began to ply their calling in the waters of the New World, the former apparently frequenting more par- ticularly the coast of Labrador. CHAPTER VI JACQUES CARTIER THE discovery of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is generally attributed to Jacques Cartier, but it would be undoubtedly more correct to say that he first explored it and made it known, as there is good evidence for the belief that he only followed up the discoveries of his own fellow countrymen the Bretons. Prior to Cartier's voyage in 1534, however, the Gulf of St. Lawrence is not shown on any map. It has always been a matter of regret to students that the letters patent or commission granted to Cartier by Francis I has been lost. Many writers think that the object of his voyage was to find a passage to China and the East, but as he makes no reference to them in his narrative it seems rather to have been intended for the exploration of the " New- lands " already found, and which are referred to in the narratives of his voyages as being the eastern parts of Asia. Some indication of the purport of his voyage can be obtained from the declaration he made before the Pro- curateur of St. Malo, on March 19th, 1533. He was at that time endeavouring to secure ships and men, " hav- ing charge to voyage and go into Newlands and pass the Strait of the Bay of Chatteaux," but found himself con- tinually balked by his fellow citizens who designed " to 73 74 LABRADOR carry away and conduct a number of ships of the town to the said parts of Newlands for their particular profit, who have concealed and cause to be concealed the said shipmasters, master mariners and seamen, that by this means the undertaking^ and will of the said lord (Francis I) are wholly frustrated." Upon this complaint the Procurateur decreed that no ships were to leave port until Cartier had selected those which he required. It will be seen from this that Cartier intended " to pass the Straits of the Bay of Chatteaux," now the " Straits of Belle Isle," and it is therefore evident that the Gulf of St. Lawrence must have been known at least in part, or else this body of water would not have been described as a Strait. As both Bretons and Basques were in the habit of resort- ing to the Straits regularly for the whale fishery, it would seem impossible that they should not have been drawn some considerable distance within the Gulf. The St. Malouins also showed, by their endeavours to block Cartier's designs, that they valued the fishery very highly, and did not wish him to intrude upon their private preserves in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This is the first extant reference to " Chateau," and it will be noticed that it is spoken of as a place well known, although it does not appear on any map until the Harleyan Map of about 1543. It is not known, there- fore, who bestowed this very appropriate name, the huge mass of basalt, which caps an island in the bay, with its perpendicular cliffs, rectangular shape and flat top hav- ing all the appearance of a Norman keep. Hitherto we have only been able to record that voyages were made to Labrador without being able to tell what places in particular were visited, but fortun- ately a contemporary, if not the original manuscript of JACQUES CARTIER 75 Cartier's first voyage, is still preserved, and we are able to trace his course from day to day with almost perfect certainty. On the lOth May, 1534, he arrived at Cape Bonavista, and as there was a good deal of ice on the coast he went into the harbour of St. Katherine, now Catalina, and remained ten days. Evidently these places were then well known by name, although no maps prior to 1534 now exist which show them. From there Cartier directed his course to the Isle of Birds (now the Funks) where two of his boats loaded with great auks, a practice which continued until the species was exter- minated in the early part of the nineteenth century. On May 27th he arrived at Chateau Bay on the Labrador coast, which was probably the port he intended to have first made, but found so much ice about that he returned to the Newfoundland shore and harboured at Rapont, or Carpont (now Quirpon). This name again bears witness to the voyages of the Bretons to the coast, as there are several small localities in Brittany named "Carpunt." Here he was ice-bound for nine days. When able to get out of the harbour he returned to Chateau, and from thence coasted westward through the Straits, touching at Hable des Buttes (Greenish Hr.), Hable de Balleine (Red Bay), and Blanc Sablon,! vvhich still bears the name, although it was apparently not bestowed by Cartier as some authors have stated. Passing I'lsle de Bouays (Woody Island) and I'lsle des Ouaiseaulx (Greenly Island), he came to Islettes (Bradore Bay) and notes that " there great fishing is done." ^ Blanc Sablon is said to be so named on account of its sandy beach, but it may be something more than a coincidence that there is a bay of the same name within a few miles of Brest in France. 76 LABRADOR On June loth he harboured at Brest, now Old Fort Bay. Leaving his vessels to take in wood and water, he went in his boats some distance to the westward, and passing by so many islands on his way he named the locality " Toutes Isles." While on this journey he met a ship from Rochelle, the captain of which asked to be directed to Brest, where he intended to do his fishing. From which incident it is clearly seen that Brest was not so called by Cartier, as has been often stated, but was known by name and frequented by the Bretons before his time. Proceeding along the coast in his boats he explored harbour after harbour, with the excellence of which he was much struck. One in particular, which he named Jacques Cartier Harbour, he considered "one of the good harbours of the world." But of the country he gave the same unflattering opinion as the Norsemen had done. He says : — "If the land was as good as the harbors there are, it would be an advantage, but it should not be named the New land but (the land) of stones and rocks, frightful and ill-shaped, for in all the said north coast I did not find a cartload of earth though I landed in many places. Except at Blanc Sablon there is noth- ing but moss and stunted wood ; in short, I deem rather than otherwise that it is the land God gave to Cain. There are people in the said land who are well enough in body, but they are wild and savage folks. They have their hair tied upon their heads in the fashion of a fistful of hay trussed up and a nail or some other thing passed through it, and therein they stick some feathers of birds. They clothe themselves with skins of beasts, both men and women, but the women are closer and tighter in the said skins and girded about JACQUES CARTIER 77 the body. They paint themselves with certain tawny colours. They have boats in which they go by the sea, which are made of the bark of the birch trees, where- with they fish a good many seals. Since having seen them I am sure this is not their abode, and that they come from warmer lands in order to take the said seals and other things for their living." Commentators have not been able to agree as to the particular race of Indians here described. The description is certainly not applicable to the Eskimos, whom Cartier was most likely to have encountered on the Labrador coast, and from its place in the narrative it seems improbable that he could have intended it for the Beothuks, the unfortunate inhabitants of Newfound- land. It therefore seems most likely that he met on this boat voyage the Montaignais Indians, who always came down to the coast at that season of the year, and he naturally described those he had last seen. On June 13th Cartier returned to Brest, sailed thence to Newfoundland, along which he coasted south, crossed over to the Cape Breton shore, and then sailed northerly until he had made the complete circuit of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and thus prepared the way for his great discovery of the river St. Lawrence on his next voyage. He left Blanc Sablon on August 15th to return to France, and, in spite of being delayed in the Strait three days by head winds, he arrived at St. Malo on September 5th — a good voyage for modern times. It is not inappropriate here to comment upon the misunderstanding as to the situation of Brest which so long obtained, and which was finally settled by Dr. Samuel E. Dawson in an able paper read by him before the Royal Society of Canada on May 24th, 1905. On all the early maps, right up to the beginning of the 78 LABRADOR nineteenth century, the ancient harbour of Brest was properly located at Old Fort Bay. On the map of Lieutenant Michael Lane, 1790, the two names are bracketed together and correctly placed, so it seems strange that any misunderstanding could have arisen. There had been published in London, in 1638, a book called the Merchants' Mappc of Commerce, which, to- gether with other erroneous information about the New World, contains a description of Terra Corterealis, the chief town of which was Brest, the residence of the Governor, Almoner, and other public officers, and from which the French exported large quantities of fish, oil, and furs. This seems to have been repeated in other publications, and finally a tradition was established that Brest had been a city of importance which fell into decay in the seventeenth century. A Mr. Samuel Robertson, who lived upon the coast about 1840, apparently misled by this tradition, was at some pains to find the remains of a city and finally located some ruins in Bradore Bay, which he estimated to have represented about two hundred houses, and concluded that he had discovered the ancient town of Brest. He wrote a paper to the Historical Society of Quebec giving this information, which was accepted without challenge, and consequently historians ever since have located Brest at Bradore, and have spoken of it as a town of importance. Dr. Samuel E. Dawson, however, points out that Brest was never anything but a harbour much frequented during the summer season in the sixteenth century ; that probably there was never any settlement there beyond, perhaps, a block- house with a few men to guard any boats or fishing material which may have been left behind each winter ; that Brest is not even mentioned by Jehan Alphonse in JACQUES CARTIER 79 1542, by Champlain in 1610, nor by Charlevoix in 1740, who described the coast minutely, nor is there any reference to it in the Jesuit Relations, nor in the Edits et Ordonnances of Quebec. This evidence may be con- sidered absolutely conclusive. The ruins found by Mr. Samuel Robertson were undoubtedly those of Fort Pontchartrain and the settlement made by Legardeur de Courtmarche, who obtained a grant of the coast in 1702. Brest seems to have been a favourite scene for mythical episodes. In the Lennox Library in New York there is a unique volume entitled Coppic dvne Lettre envoyee de la Naitvelk France ov Canada, par le Sieur des Combes. It was printed in 1609, and purports to have been written at Brest in Canada, February 13th, 1608. The following translation, as given by Dr. Samuel E. Dawson, will be found very amusing. It will be seen at once that the narrative is entirely fabulous and about on a par with Gulliver's voyage to Lilliput : — Copy of a Lelter sent fro77i New France, or Canada, by the Sieur des Combes, a Gentleman of Poitou, to a Friejid, in zvhich are Described Briefly the Marvels, Excellence, and Wealth of the Cotmtry, Together with the Appearance and Manners of the Inhabitants, the Glory of the French, and the Hope there is of Christia^iizi^ig America. Sir, — Since want of time and the condition of my fortune debar me from the means of seeing you per- sonally, and that my destiny has relegated me to foreign lands, I will try at least to visit you now by a letter, and to direct my thoughts to France in a visit to my 8o LABRADOR own country, my parents, and those with whom during my early years I contracted the ties of close friendship, and among whom you hold the first rank, for I have always especially esteemed your worth. The only thorn which troubles my rest and prevents me from settling my inclinations in the satisfaction flowing from our conquests and our triumphs, is being deprived of the conversation of my friends, and finding myself now, so to say, torn in as many parts as there are objects of affection, and that those objects are to me so dear, I would sustain with more patience this voluntary exile, and the remembrance of the charms of Europe would not so often trouble my resolution, seeing that now my circumstances are changed into an abode in these dis- agreeable, wild, and uncivilized lands ; but I am now realizing to my cost what it is to be separated from those whom one loves, and to endure the pain of such a long absence without hope of even seeing any change in my lot. But after all it is the result of my own inconsistency and youth, and, as I have thrown the die, I must alone meet the result. However that may be, I beg you to believe that I have erected an altar in my heart upon which I offer every day vows and bene- dictions in recollection of your worth, and I cherish in my memory the pleasures of our former enjoyments. I think that if I had not found this remedy to alleviate my reminiscences I could not have endured the distress that these memories threw over all my energies, but, at last, I have learned by this means to soften their pain, and these solaces are so pleasant that I gather them as roses and flowers, overspread with contentment so great that it creates for me a paradise of enjoyment and is the delight of my life. The sorrows of absence would yet be endurable if, after a certain length of time, I could secure news from you ; but since my JACQUES CARTIER 8i departure from France my ill-fortune has been such that I have been without any, and I can in no way learn how you are nor the state of your affairs, except in imagination, and I know very well that such im- aginations are deceitful. That would afford a new charm to quicken the ardour of my desires, but seeing that my unfortunate situation forbids it, I leave the whole to chance and hazard, both in giving you a description of New France and in asking you to let us know what is going on in the old one ; and if a fair wind carries my letter to you, I beg that you will recognize this mark of my affection and accept in good part what I say of events on this side, until history records, in detail, all those facts for your better in- formation. You must know that after our departure from Rochelle, which was on April 13th, 1604, under the direction of the Sieur de Bricaut, a man equally ex- perienced as a captain on sea and on land (as the facts prove) as much so as any one I have ever known either by reputation or otherwise, we pursued our way on the high sea with a fair wind until the 24th of the said month, when at two o'clock in the afternoon, when we were near Maida Islands, about the 3rd degree of longitude and the 24th of latitude, there arose a north- east wind very strong and vexatious with storm and tempest, separating our vessels and raising the sea with such fury that we thought we were lost, and that our destiny was to be wrecked on the spot ; but God, whose will was to reserve our lives for a more glorious occasion, showed that He had ordered otherwise in His Divine Justice, because after wind and tempest had frothed out their malice during two hours, at four o'clock in the afternoon they ceased and the waves calmed down. Then we commenced to examine the Islands, and we 82 LABRADOR took refuge there to recuperate and rest during three days, as well as to wait for some of our vessels which had gone astray, as to repair two of them whose sides had been opened by the great strain they had sustained. After three days at that place we raised anchor the 28th, at seven o'clock in the morning, and spreading all sails we steered away towards Isle Verde, but just as we thought to approach it there came a north wind which, after blowing furiously against us for a day and a half, drove us to the Azores, where in the immediate vicinity we met a fleet of Spanish vessels. They attempted to bar our passage, but after a few light attacks we passed along. I would describe to you in detail the nature of these Islands, their situation, and the manner of life of the people, but as I have only undertaken to tell you of New France and of what is going on there, I will pass over the rest and will say nothing more than that the climate is fairly agreeable, and that they are very fine Islands, well peopled, of which Spain holds the great part, I will not, therefore, say any more on this subject, except that after numerous encounters, fortunes and perils (not here related for the sake of brevity), we arrived at Cape Bellile the twenty-seventh of the month of August of the year 1605, about three o'clock of the afternoon : this Cape is one of the finest that exists in all the ocean, and especially in the northern sea ; and you should know that there are two large rocks a gunshot's length into the sea, and then they meet in a crescent on the south side, so that one might suppose that Nature had set herself to build a port as safe and more beautiful than any which human skill could produce. A league and a half from there is a small town named Surfe, inhabited since a long time by the French. We made acquaintances there and received JACQUES CARTIER 83 great courtesies from the inhabitants, and were made very welcome. This place is the beginning of Canada, but we did not want to prolong our sojourn there because we desired first to go and see the Sieur du Dongeon, who is governor, and resides ordinarily at Brest, the prin- cipal town of the whole country, well provisioned, large and well fortified, peopled by about fifty thousand men, and furnished with all that is necessary to enrich a good sized town ; it is distant from Surfe about fifty leagues. Our voyage so far was more favourable than the sequel, for having sailed the eleventh of December, so soon as we were in the open sea about six leagues, a north wind arose which struck us with such violence that in less than twenty-four hours we were thrown on the land of Baccalaos, partly owned by the Spaniards, partly by the inhabitants of the country ; but fortune was so favourable that we were pushed in a little strait in the corner of an island under great trees closely resembling oaks, except that their leaves are like cab- bage leaves, and they bear a fruit similar to oranges, which is very good and delicate, with a taste most delicious and agreeable. While v/e were there riding at anchor some of our men, animated b)'' curiosity to know who were the inhabitants of that island, roamed amongst the trees and walked about two miles before finding anything. Then proceeding further, they saw in the woods a few huts covered with foliage, and in the vicinity some men who seemed to cary arms and were patrolling around the huts. Our folks stopped a moment in order to ascertain what they were doing. Soon after came to them two tall men, like semi-giants, armed with scales of fishes, and each carrying a big club in his hands bristling with iron nails, and weighing about eighty pounds. At the first approach they began 84 LABRADOR to quarrel with these poor people, and in less than no time threw ten or twelve of them on the ground before they had time to put themselves on their guard ; upon which the people began to beat upon a sort of wood unknown to me, and made such a noise that the whole forest resounded. Then, joining together in defence to the number of about five hundred, and with a sort of crossbows gave chase to these monsters, who neverthe- less carried off some plunder in their flight. Our men, seeing the awkwardness at arms of these poor Barbarians, became more bold and, showing them- selves to them, fired three or four discharges of musketry, which so surprised them that they did not know where they were, and they were preparing to flee when some of our men advanced towards them and made signs to them to have no fear and that no harm would be done to any of them. On this assurance they assembled, and, after a long deliberation, they placed their king on a small chariot with four wheels and the four most good looking drew it marching in the direction of the men, making signs to drop their arms. The arms being lowered the king kissed the Sieur de Fougeres, who was the most distin- guished looking of the lot, and told him through his interpreter that if they wished to remain in the country he would furnish them with subsistence and land, and, taking a great collar of precious stones that he wore around his neck, he gave it to the Sieur de Fougeres, and afterwards that same collar was estimated at more than one hundred and fifty thousand ecus ($75,000). Then after having studied the disposition and appearance of our folks, and finding them so dexterous and gracious compared to themselves, the Barbarians remained ravished and wanted to worship them like gods, making signs that if they wished to go with them they would JACQUES CARTIER 85 be recognized as kings and emperors of all their lands which are very extensive and rich, but our people made reply that they were only human beings and no more than themselves, and that there was in heaven an im- mortal and Almighty God, and that they all ought to worship Him with devotion. Then they threw them- selves on their knees, and, stamping with joy and with eyes elevated to heaven, they commenced to sing hymns of joy in their language. Then as the wind rose they ran away in all directions, so that in less than no time our men were left alone without knowing the cause of such a sudden alarm. After that our people returned to the vessels and told all that they had seen, and we remained surprised, won- dering at the mercy of God and magnitude of His works, as well as the simplicity of those poor beings which renders them a hundred times more happy in their brutish state than we are with all our pride and pomposity. We were almost on the point of taking the risk of seizing the country, seeing the road open before us and almost inviting us to enter ; but after consultation, fore- seeing the perils that we might meet with, we refrained and postponed the attempt to another time. Still the country is beautiful, rich, productive, with an infinity of fine fruits, many precious stones and [about last half of line missing, clipped by binder] which makes it very wealthy. I believe that less than five hundred men could get possession of it, and thus make one of the best conquests possible. The French will consider this matter, and meantime I will proceed with the narrative of our voyage. After resting for a day and a half, we raised anchor, and taking the route of St. Lawrence Island we were again thwarted and had to land on a small island called 86 LABRADOR Les Chasses, where we remained a fortnight before we could sail again. We found there small grains of pure- gold mixed with the sand, so much that some of our men gathered more than thirty pounds of it, and plenty of coral and layet (jaiet) which grow there in great abundance. Following again the same route we made so swift a course that on November 5 we arrived at Brest, where we received a hearty welcome with the most magnificent entertainment we could desire, both from the Sieur de Dongeon and all the other inhabi- tants. After resting for a short time we were employed in the war they were waging against the people of Bofragara, on the other side of the river Anacal which divides their lands ; but before entering further upon an account of that war, I wish to say something of the situation of the country and the manners of these New Frenchmen. Firstly, you must know that Canada is a very beauti- ful country, large and pleasant, bounded on the north by the river Anacal, on [about first half of line missing, clipped by binder] Northern Ocean, on the sunset by the mountains of Gales, and on the south by the terri- tories of Chillaga. The principal towns are Brest, Hanguedo, Canada, Hochilago, Foquelay, Turquas, Brinon, Bonara, Forniset, Grossot, and Horsago, Poquet, Tarat, and Fongo, all large towns, and well provided. The rivers are Anacal, which is a great river, Saguenay, Bargat, Druce, and Boucorre, the least of them being larger than the Seine, besides an infinity of other streams. The Kingdom of Canada is about three hun- dred leagues in length and one hundred and fifty broad, of a fair enough temperature, except that it is a little colder than France, being placed under the 50th degree of latitude and 320th degree of longitude. It is very fertile, flat, full of all sorts of trees, except that it pro- JACQUES C ARTIER 87 duces no wine, but in compensation there are certain apples, marvellously big and full of a certain juice very delicate and which intoxicates as much as wine. There is, however, wine there, and very good and delicate, which is brought from Florida, a warmer country where they produce much of it. As for wheat of all kinds the country is as fertile as France itself, and there is a certain class of wheat named Trive which is whiter than the French species, and better, more savoury, yielding a very sweet flour with a smell nearly like the violet. It is only necessary to plough the land once and to sow, and I can assure you that from a bushel of this Trive you will get more than thirtyfold without any admixture of grass or other weeds to spoil it. I cannot describe to you the fertility of the country both in wheat, in other sorts of fruits and things necessary to manhood, as well as in other kinds of merchandise, drapery, silk, and wool. To sum up in a word, I believe it is some promised land, and that the simplicity of its inhabitants brings on it the benediction of heaven, because without excess of labour and without hard work to make a living, such as we do in Europe, they have all things in abundance. Now, to show you the nature of those who reside here, you must know that they are very fine men, white as snow ; they allow their hair to grow down to the waist, men or women, with high foreheads, the eyes burning Hke candles, tall in body and well proportioned. The women also are very beautiful and pleasing, well formed and delicate, so much that with the style of their dress, which is somewhat strange, they seem to be nymphs or goddesses. They are very tractable and gentle, but would rather be killed than consent to their own dis- honour, and they have only connection with their husbands. 88 LABRADOR As regards their manner of living in other respects they are brutish, but they are commencing to be civi- lized and to adopt our w^ays and deportment ; they are easy to teach in the Christian Faith without showing much obstinacy in their paganism, so much so, that if some teacher were to visit them I think that in a short time the whole of the country would turn to the Chris- tian Faith without much effort, and I think also by that means the road would be open all over America for the conquest of souls, which is more important than all the territories that can ever be conquered. It should be known that we hold a larg-e extent of country as Frenchmen, and that we have undertaken the conquest of the Atares, which is one of the richest por- tions of Canada, and where mines of gold and silver are in great abundance, and which are very rich. All along the riversides even are to be found something like small nuggets of fine gold, many precious stones, diamonds and other wealth. The people there are cruel and war- like and give us much trouble. We want badly some help from France, and I think Mons. du Dongeon has written to the King to that effect, and I tell you that if we receive help we shall have the upper hand of them, and will perform such deeds that the memory will go down to posterity and the glory of Frenchmen will live forever in all America. This is briefly what I can write you for the present, as I have not been long enough in the country to know all its singularities, and I beg you to be satisfied with this little until time and experience have furnished me the means to add to my information and enable me to describe to you at full length the merits of such a fine conquest. I promise and assure you that, France being excepted, Canada is one of the most beautiful and agreeable countries that you can either see or desire, JACQUES CARTIER 89 and I would even dare to prefer it to France as to riches and resources, both for gold and silver as well as for other necessaries of life, and all that without much pain and work as you have generally. Please take this meagre budget of news in good part. Sir, as coming from Your most affectionate servant, Des Combes. From Brest in Canada, this 13th February, 1608. Leon Savine, master printer, permission to print the present copy of letter, with interdiction to any others in such case required. Jacques Cartier made a second voyage in 1535; again entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence by the Straits of Belle Isle and harbouring in Blanc Sablon. On this momentous voyage he ascended the St. Lawrence as far as the present Montreal, and returned leaving the Gulf by the Cabot Straits to the south of New- foundland. It is said {Documents Aictkentiqtics de la Marine Normande, by E. Gossilin) that after 1527 there was a notable decline in the pursuit of the fisheries in the New World by the fishermen of Normandy, and that it did not revive until after the voyage of Roberval and Cartier in 1541. It seems certain, however, that Cartier's fellow-townsmen, the St. Malouins, continued to make yearly voyages, their objective point being nearly always the south coast of Labrador in the Straits of Belle Isle. On Cartier's third voyage (1541) he made the harbour of Carpunt to the north of New- foundland, and proceeded through the Straits to his destination. He wintered near the mouth of the St. 90 LABRADOR Lawrence, and after enduring great hardships, departed in the spring of 1542 to return to France. Entering the harbour of St. John's, Newfoundland, he found there, to his great surprise, Roberval with three ships, who had failed in the previous year to follow him across the Atlantic, as had been intended. Roberval wished Cartier to return with him to the St. Lawrence, but Cartier had had enough of it, and slipping away in the night, returned to France. Roberval continued his journey via the Straits of Belle Isle, and made his disastrous attempt to found a colony. The only inci- dent of his journey which need concern us is the romantic story which was related by Marguerite of Navarre in her Heptameron (1559), and by Thevet in his Cosniographic Univevselle (1586). It is also retold by Parkman {^Pioneers of France in the New World) in the following vivid and picturesque manner: — " The Viceroy's company was of mixed complexion. There were nobles, soldiers, sailors, adventurers, with women too, and children. Of the women, some were of birth and station, and among them a damsel called Marguerite, a niece of Roberval himself In the ship was a young gentleman who had embarked for love of her. His love was too well requited ; and the stern Viceroy, scandalized and enraged at a passion which scorned concealment and set shame at defiance, cast anchor by the haunted island, landed his indiscreet relative, gave her four arquebuses for defence, and with an old Norman nurse named Bastienne, who had pan- dered to the lovers, left her to her fate. Her gallant threw himself into the surf, and by desperate effort gained the shore, with two more guns and a supply of ammunition. "The ship weighed anchor, receded, vanished, and they JACQUES CARTIER 91 were left alone. Yet not so, for the demon lords of the islands beset them day and night, raging around their hut with a confused and hungry clamoring, striving to force their frail barrier. The lovers had repented of their sin, though not abandoned it, and heaven was on their side. The saints vouchsafed their aid, and the offended Virgin, relenting, held before them her pro- tecting shield. In the form of beasts or other shapes abominably and unutterably hideous, the brood of hell, howling in baffled fury, tore at the branches of the sylvan dwelling; but a celestial hand was ever inter- posed, and there was a viewless barrier which they might not pass. Marguerite became pregnant. Here was a double prize, two souls in one, mother and child. The fiends grew frantic, but all in vain. She stood undaunted amid these horrors ; but her lover, dismayed and heartbroken, sickened and died. Her child soon followed ; then the old Norman nurse found her unhal- lowed rest in that accursed soil, and Marguerite was left alone. Neither her reason nor her courage failed. When the demons assailed her she shot at them with her gun, but they answered with hellish merriment, and henceforth she placed her trust in heaven alone. There were foes around her of the upper, no less than of the nether world. Of these, the bears were the most redoubtable ; yet, being vulnerable to mortal weapons, she shot three of them, all, says the story, 'as white as an egg: " It was two years and five months from her landing on the island, when, far out at sea, the crew of a small fishing craft saw a column of smoke curling upward from the haunted shore. Was it a device of the fiends to lure them to their ruin ? They thought so, and kept aloof. But misgiving seized them. They warily drew 92 LABRADOR near, and descried a female figure in wild attire waving signals from the strand. Thus at length was Marguerite rescued and restored to her native France, v^here, a few years later, the cosmographer Thevet met her at Natron in Perigord, and heard the tale of wonder from her own lips." The scene of this strange and romantic story was one of the islands to the western end of the Straits of Belle Isle on the Labrador coast. Jehan Alphonse, Roberval's pilot, in his Routier, lays down the Isles de la Demoiselle, no doubt named from this circumstance, at about the position of Great or Little Mecatina. In February, 1541, no less than sixty vessels left ports in Normandy for the transatlantic fisheries, and until 1545 the business was continued with great vigour. After that it was discontinued until 1560, when it took another start, and thirty-eight vessels left for the " New lands." In 1564 there was apparently some intention of the French Crown to revive the project of coloniza- tion in New France, but for some reason the design was abandoned, and it was not until 1597 that it was again seriously undertaken. We, however, have the evidence of Parkhurst and Haies to the effect that the French fishermen were numerous on the south coast of Newfoundland, and in the "Grand Bay" in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. CHAPTER VII ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY WHETHER the English did or did not, at once and ever afterwards, make good the discoveries of Cabot, by use and occupation of the countries he found, has long been a matter of controversy. In Prowse's History of Newfoundland, 1896, a full and continual possession of the land is claimed from the very first. On the other hand, in Decouverte de Terre Neuve, Harrisse, 1900, it is argued that not only was Newfoundland not discovered by Cabot, but that it, as well as the neighbouring coasts, were not frequented by the English to the same extent as by other nations, and in fact were ^tine qitantite negligeable' for Englishmen until the Treaty of Utrecht, 171 3. The dispute is an old one. The industrious Hakluyt, in the Epistle Dedicatorie to his Divers Voyages says : — " When I passed the narrow seas into France, I both heard in speech and read in books, other nations miraculously extolled for their discoveries and notable enterprises by sea and land, but the English of all others, for their sluggish security and continual neglect of the like attempts, especially in so long and happy a time of peace, either ignominiously reported or exceedingly condemmed. Thus both hearing and reading the obloquie of our nation and finding few or 93 94 LABRADOR none of our own men able to reply therein . . . myself determined to undertake the burden of that worke." And it is certain that very little could be done to uphold the honour of England in this respect did we not have Hakluyt's great collection of voyages as a foundation to build upon. The controversy revived again nearly two hundred years later. By the Treaty of Utrecht, 17 13, in regard to the Newfoundland Fisheries, it was declared that Spain should enjoy such rights qnce jure tibi vindicare poterunt — " as they were to prove by law " ; but as England always denied any such rights, Spain obtained very little satisfaction from the permission. When peace was being negotiated with France in 1761, the proceedings were suddenly stopped by the intrusion of Spain, Vv^ith a renewed claim of right to fish in Newfoundland waters, which claim received the full endorsation of the French. But their demands were dismissed with scant ceremony by Pitt. In a letter to the English Ambassador at Madrid, he writes : — " As to the stale and inadmissable pretensions of Biscayans and Guipuscoans to fish at Newfoundland, you will let it be clearly understood that this is a matter held sacred, and that no concession on the part of His Majesty, so destructive to the true and capital interest of Great Britain will be yielded to Spain, however abetted and supported." The English Ambassador wrote in reply to Pitt : — " As to the second Article, containing the claim so often set up by the Biscayans and Guipuscoans to fish at Newfoundland and as often denied by England, I had in the clearest terms I could make use of, showed that the first discovery of the Island was made at ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 95 the expense and by the command of Henry VII, and I had likewise demonstrated the tininterrupted possession of it froju that time to the present date to have be- longed to the English from their being constantly settled there," The controversy ended in renewed war with Spain and France, in which England achieved instant success, and by the Treaty of Paris, 1763, the sovereignty of England was declared over Newfoundland and Canada, including Labrador ; but unhappily saddled in respect to Newfoundland, with a permission to the French to fish on certain parts of the coast. A weak-kneed concession which caused even the poet Cowper, from amongst his cats and old ladies, to exclaim, " One more such Peace and we are undone," and which was a constant source of friction until it was cancelled by purchase in 1904. The number of voyages actually made or projected by the English in the first quarter of the sixteenth century is proof that the English Sovereigns did not lose sight of the valuable discoveries made by Cabot ; but except for the disastrous voyage of Master Hore in 1536, so quaintly related by Hakluyt, there is abso- lutely no record of any English voyage there for nearly forty years. This does not prove, however, that no voyages took place, and we can be certain for many reasons, which will be amply demonstrated, that had there been records kept in England as there were in France, it would have been found that a continual stream of fishing vessels left the western parts of England for the " newe founde lands." Labrador in particular was assigned to the English by map-makers and geographers of the Continent. The Maggiolo map of 1 5 1 1 bears the legend across its most 96 LABRADOR northerly part, undoubtedly intended for Labrador : "Terra de los Ingres" — the land of the English — and is the first map to associate the English with that region. On Thome's map of 1527 we find the following legends : " Nova Terra Laboratorum dicta," and on the ocean bordering this country, " Terra haec ab Inglis primum fuit inventa." Thorne addressed a memorial to Henry VIII from Seville exhorting him to undertake voyages of exploration to the northern regions, " to his own glory and his subjects' profit . . . for that you have already taken it in hand." Hakluyt thinks this refers to the supposed voyage of 15 17 under Cabot and Pert, but it seems safer, in the light of recent research, to attribute it to the expedition projected in 1521, but which was thwarted by the Drapers' Company. The Ribero map of 1529 states that Labrador was discovered by the English, and adds the unflattering comment, " There is nothing there of much value." In the Carte de Verrazano, 1529, on the land called " Terra Laboratoris," is written, " which land was dis- covered by the English." In token of which this part of the coast is embellished by the arms of England. The map known as Wolfenbuttel B. (1534), already quoted, not only states that Labrador was discovered by the English, but gives the important information that the country was so named because a labourer of the Azores first sighted it. A Portuguese map (1553), preserved at the Depot de la Marine, Paris, shows the English flag with the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew on the land called Terra de Laurador. The Molyneux map which accom- panies the 1599 edition of Hakluyt's Voyages also states regarding Labrador : " This land was discovered by John Sebastian Cabot for King Henry VII, in 1497." ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 97 Such an array of evidence, extending over the whole of the sixteenth century, is conclusive proof of the fact that Labrador was recognized as territory particularly belonging to England. We have already quoted the unpublished manuscript of Alonzo de Santa Cruz, entitled El Islario General. This important statement will be noticed regarding Labrador : " It is frequented by the English, who go there to take fish which the natives catch in great numbers," Evidence from such a source must carry great weight, for Alonzo de Santa Cruz and his associates of the Casa de Contratacion, among whom was Sebastian Cabot, were not only possessed of all the maps and reports which were brought back by Spanish voyagers, but also obtained all possible information from foreign sources, and embodied that knowledge in " Le Padron General," or map of the world, which it was their duty to keep up to date. Notwithstanding the general concurrence of map makers in associating the English so particu- larly with Labrador, the nomenclature of the coast on the early maps is either Portuguese or French, and English names do not begin to appear until the latter half of the eighteenth century. The explanation of this, however, is obvious. The art of map-making was in a very backward condition in England as compared with Spain, Portugal, France, or Italy, and English maps were not only few in number but of the crudest description. But the lack of maps does not argue a corresponding lack of voyages nor poor seamanship. On this latter point we can feel certain that English sailors compared very favourably with the French and were vastly superior to the Spanish. Mr. Oppenheim, whose exhaustive study of naval history 98 LABRADOR constitutes him an authority, in his Administration of the Royal Navy thus writes on this subject : — " Judging from the accounts of the voyages of these years, English seamen seem to have handled their ships skilfully in all conditions and under all difficulties, and in navigation landfalls were made with accuracy. . . . The case was very different with the Spanish seamen. Since 1 508 there had been a great school of cosmography and navigation at Seville under the superintendence of the Pilot Major of Spain, but it does not appear to have succeeded in turning out competent men." A writer in 1573 says: — " How can a wise and omnipotent God have placed such a difficult and important art as navigation into such coarse and lubberly hands as those of these pilots. You should see them ask one another, ' How many degrees have you got ? ' One says ' sixteen,' another ' about twenty,' and another ' thirteen and a half.' Then they will say, ' What distance do you make it to the land ? ' One answers ' I make it forty leagues from the land,' another 'A hundred and fifty,' a third ' I reckoned it this morning to be ninety-two leagues,' and whether it be three or three hundred no one of them agrees with the other or with the actual fact." Fifteen years later the superiority of the English seamen and ships over Spanish was proved beyond all gainsaying by the defeat of the Spanish Armada. A good deal of information regarding early Eng- lish voyages can be obtained from a careful analysis of the laws passed in England during the sixteenth century for the governance of shipping and naviga- tion. The first Act of Navigation was passed in Richard II's ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 99 time, and had for its express object " the increase of the Navy of the Enghsh, which was then greatly- diminished." It is curious that this note of pessimism should have been struck thus early, when it is obvious that, prior to that date, the shipping of England could not have been very extensive or formidable. The same cause is assigned for many of the Acts which follow, and one wonders if the decline of the Navy, which was periodically bemoaned, could really have taken place. That their fears were unfounded, at least in one instance, witness the Act of 1581, for the " Increase of Mariners and for the Maintenance of Navigation," the preamble of which deplores the fact that the trade to Iceland had decayed, and the number of seamen and mariners fit for Her Majesty's service greatly decreased. But the English mariners were " Ready, aye, ready 1 " in 1 588, and it can hardly be contended that such efficiency as was then displayed could have been developed in such a short time and by virtue of the above-mentioned Act. The preamble of an Act passed in 1490 deplores the decay of the Navy and the idleness of the mariners. In 1494 the Act is re-enforced for the same reason, and in 1532 the decrease of shipping and mariners was again the occasion of statutory enactments. The first Act of Parliament to mention the Newlands was passed in 1542. The preamble states that in times past many towns and ports had enjoyed great wealth " by using and exercising the crafte and feate of fishing." That fish had been sold at a reasonable price in our market towns, " and many poure men and women had therebye their convenynt lyuing to the strength increasing and wealthe of this realm." But latterly loo LABRADOR some dishonest and lazy people had forsaken the craft of fishing and had been making it a practice to buy fish from Picardes, Flemmings, Normans, and Frenchmen, sometimes on the coast of France and sometimes " half the sea over." Such practices were promptly stopped by the imposition of a fine of ;^io for every such offence. " Provided furthermore that this Act or any- thing conteyned therein shall not extend to any person which shall buy any fisshe in any partis of Iseland, Scotlands, Orkeney, Shatlande, Ireland or Newland." This has been quoted as proof that the fisheries at that period were greatly neglected by the English seamen, but the proper deduction is undoubtedly that it was to put a stop to dishonest practices, and the mention of exceptions, viz. : the distant fisheries of Iceland and Newland, is surely ample proof that the fisheries in these parts were steadily prosecuted, as well as displaying the determination of the Crown to protect them. In 1549 an Act was passed forbidding the exaction of a toll by the Royal Navy, either in money or in kind, from any " Merchants and Fishermen as have used and practised the adventures and journeys into Iceland, Newfoundeland, Ireland and other places commodious for fishing and the getting of fish in and upon the seas or otherwise by way of merchandise in those ports." Hakluyt, who quotes this Act, says : — " By this Act it appeareth that the trade of England to Newfoundland was common and frequented about the beginning of the reign of Edward VI, namely in the year 1548, and it is much to be marvelled that by the negligence of our men the country in all this time has not been searched over." ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA loi One of the Articles in the Attainder of Sir Thomas Seymour, Lord High Admiral, January, 1549, is that he " not only exhorted and bribed great sums of money of all suche ships as should go into Iceland, but also as should go any other where in merchandize to the great discouragement and to the destruction of the Navy." The preamble of an Act passed three years later complains that the Act of 1494 was intended for the maintenance of the Navy, with the hope that the article there mentioned, (fish), would have been cheaper, but on the contrary that the article had ad- vanced in price, '• and the Navy was thereby never the better maintained." One of the earliest Acts of Elizabeth's reign (1562) was " for the better maintain- ance and increase of the Navy," and the principal means taken was the encouragement of the fisheries, by permitting free trade in the article for Her Majesty's subjects, and the promotion of the consumption of fish by ordaining that Wednesdays and Saturdays should be '• fish days." This Act does not refer specific- ally to the Newlands or any other fishery, but was in- tended to be general. In 1571, I58i,and 1585, alterations were made in the fishing regulations, all for the purpose of increasing the Navy. But in 1597 many of them were repealed, as it was found that the "condition of the Navy was not bettered nor the number of marines increased, and that the Queen's natural subjects were not able to furnish a tenth part of the realm with salted fish of their own taking." The Statute of 1581 is the only one which mentions Newfoundland particularly. The inference to be deduced from these sixteenth century Acts, in respect to the fisheries on the north- I02 LABRADOR east coast of America is, that they were undoubtedly steadily prosecuted by the English, but that the purpose of the x'\cts was the maintenance of the Navy, not the exercise of sovereignty over the new found lands. Confirmatory evidence of these early fishing voyages, from a entirely different source, is the report of the Venetian Ambassador Soranzo, who wrote in 1564: " There is great plenty of English sailors who are considered excellent for the navigation of the Atlantic." Anthony Parkhurst,^ writing to Hakluyt in December, 1578, and describing Newfoundland, makes some state- ments which seem rather contradictory. He tells that during the four years he had been going to the fisheries at Newfoundland, that the English vessels prosecuting that fishery had increased from thirty to fifty sail, " chiefly through the imagination of the Western Men who think their neighbours have had greater gains than in truth they had." Parkhurst says that it is impossible to arrive at the number of foreign vessels plying there, but estimates them at 100 Spaniards, 50 Portuguese, and 150 French and Bretons, but he adds this pertinent statement: "The English are commonly lordes of the harbours in which they fish, and do use all strangers' helpe in fishing if neede require, according to an old custom of the country." One would like very much to have further particulars of this old custom of the country. If the English were so outnumbered as it appears, it would have been difficult for them to enforce their authority. Edward Haies, the historian of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's voyage in 1583, confirms Parkhurst's statement. When Sir Humphrey put into the harbour of St. John's, and levied upon English and foreigners alike for supplies, 1 Anthony Parkhurst had accompanied Hawkins in his voyage of 1566. ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 103 commissioners were appointed to make the collection both in St. John's and neighbouring harbours. " For," he says, " our English marchants commaund all there." We have, therefore, two independent witnesses to the effect that the English at this period, in St. John's and the neighbourhood, were regarded by the fishermen of other nations as " lords of the soil," and this before any attempt had been made by the Crown of England to exercise any authority there. Discovery constituted a right at that time, and it seems to have been generally respected by all nations. Parkhurst excused the comparatively small number of English ships at Newfoundland by the statement that " the trade our nation hath to Iceland causeth that they are not there in such numbers as other nations," in flat contradiction to Act 23 Elizabeth, which deplores the decrease of the Iceland trade at this same time. In closing his letter, Parkhurst made the following recommendations : " Now to show you my fansie, what places I sup- pose meetest to inhabit in those partes discovered of late by our nation : There is neare the mouth of the grand baie an excellent harbour, called of the Frenchmen Chasteau, and one island in the very centre of the straight, called Belle Isle, which places if they could be peopled and well fortified we shall be lordes of the whole of the fishing in short time, if it doe so please the Queen's Majesty, and from thence send wood and cole with all necessaries to Labrador lately discovered ; but I am of opinion and doe most steadfastly believe that we shall find as rich mines in more temperate places and Climates." Parkhurst here refers to the discoveries made by Frobisher in his three voyages in 1576-7-8. The I04 LABRADOR purpose of the first voyage was " for the search of the straight or passage to China," but, as we shall see, other motives influenced the later voyages. Frobisher sailed from Deptford on June 8th, 1576, and passing by the Court, then at Greenwich, with his fleet of three little vessels, 25, 15, and lO tons respec- tively, "we shotte of our ordinance and made the best shewe we could ; Her Majesty beholding the same, commended it, and bade us farewell with shaking her hand at us out of the window." That such vessels should have been considered adequate for such an undertaking is almost beyond belief, and displays in a striking manner the hardihood of English mariners of the period. They sailed away to the north-west, sighting Iceland and Greenland, which they called Friesland, and on July 29th "had sight of a newe lande of marvellous great height which by the account of the course and way they judged to be the Land of Labrador." They found themselves in a strait into which they penetrated some distance, landing at several islands and having intercourse with the natives, the Eskimos. At first they seemed to be friendly, but soon manifested the change- able and treacherous character for which they were noted. Without any offence being given, they entrapped and made away with five of Frobisher's men. Frobisher got back to England on October ist, and probably would have abandoned any further attempts in that direction had it not been that a small specimen of rock, which he picked up by chance and brought back with him, was found to contain gold. This put a very different complexion on the affair. " The hope of the same golde ore to be founde kindled a greater opinion in the heartes of many to advance the voyage ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 105 again," and " some that had great hope of the matter sought secretly to have a lease of the places at Her Majesty's hands." Michael Lok, a merchant of London, at whose cost chiefly the first voyage had been under- taken, brought the matter to the notice of the Queen and Council. Frobisher also petitioned the Queen for privileges over the lands he had discovered. Many notable men took an interest in the undertaking, among whom was Dr. John Dee, who, in spite of his eccen- tricities, was a man of considerable scientific knowledge. Coming to Michael Lok to get particulars of the affair, a meeting was arranged at Lok's house at which Dr. Dee, Frobisher, Stephen Burroughs, Christopher Hall, and others were present, when Frobisher's voyage and the prospects of a passage to China were thoroughly discussed. A company was soon formed called " The Company of Kathai," of which Michael Lok was the first governor, "for the purpose of voyaging and trading to Kathai and other Newlands to the North westward." Frobisher was appointed High Admiral of all the seas in that direction, and was to receive i per cent, on all merchandise brought from the same countries. Queen Elizabeth ventured ;^iooo. Lord Burleigh, with other members of the Privy Council, Sir Thomas Gresham, Michael Lok, and many more, various amounts from £2.^^ to ;^300. The instructions given to Frobisher show that the prime object was to search for mines and to load the vessels with ore. Item 12 says : " If it shall happen that the moyenes do not yield the sub- stance that is hoped for, then you shall proceede towards the discovery of Catheya." If possible, some people were to be left to winter in the strait for the purpose of noting the climate and protecting the mines. io6 LABRADOR The expedition sailed, reached the straits, and although they could find no more ore like the piece Frobisher brought back from his first voyage, yet the vessels were loaded with ore that the miners thought promised well, and all got safely back to England. The ore was most carefully guarded, being kept under four locks, the keys of which were in the possession of different men. Several refiners were engaged to make trial of it, and estimates were furnished of the cost of refining. The value arrived at by the different experi- mentors was from £2-^ to ^53 per ton, and the cost of getting it estimated at ;^8, so that a very considerable profit was shown on this venture. Frobisher was entertained at Court and all the voyagers made much of. " And because the place and country hath never before been discovered and had no special name, her Majesty named it very properly Meta Incognita as a mark and bounds hitherto unknown." Great prepara- tions were made for a third voyage to this promising gold-field, and many new names were added to the list of " venturers," notably those of Dr. Dee and Sir Humphrey Gilbert. The following spring fifteen vessels set sail, which were expected to return at the end of the summer laden with the gold ore. A strong house of timber was taken, all ready to be set up, and one hundred men and three ships were appointed to inhabit " Meta Incognita" all the year, thus intending to put into practice the suggestion made on the previous voyage. After great dangers and hardships and the loss of one vessel, they reached their intended harbour on July 31st. The miners were immediately set to work at the ore, and others at the erection of the house. Several of the ships were sent off to search for other mines, and altogether ore seems to have been loaded ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 107 from seven different islands or mines. The author of the narrative had grave misgivings. He says, " Many symple men (I judge) toke good and bad together ; so that among the fleets lading I think much bad ore will be found." The ships were ready to sail about the end of August, but Frobisher was unwilling to leave without making some further attempt to explore the country, and went himself to search the straits, finding numbers of islands, but not discovering that his so-called strait was only a long and narrow bay. Provisions and drink had also become scarce owing to leakage, " so that not only the provisions which was layde in for the habitation was wanting and wasted, but also each shyppes several provision spent to their great griefe in their returne, for all the way homewards they dranke nothing but water. And the great cause of this leakage and wasting was, for that ye great timber and seacole, which lay so waighty upon ye barrels breke bruised and rotted ye hoopes in sunder," ^ This occurrence very probably occasioned Parkhurst's suggestion to make Chateau a depot for the supply of wood and coal." Frobisher's fleet sailed for home on August 31st, where they arrived in safety. Works had been estab- lished at Dartford to extract the precious metals, but difficulties seem to have arisen in the method of extraction, which is not to be wondered at considering the heterogeneous collection of ores with which the ships were laden. Apparently, no returns from it were ever ^ Relics of Frobisher's expedition, including quite a quantity of coal, were found by C. F. Hill in 1865 on an island in Frobisher's Straits called by the Eskimos " Kodlunarn," that is, "White Man's Island." ^ Frobisher's Straits were long supposed to have been on the east coast of Greenland, and are so placed on maps in the latter part of the eighteenth century. io8 LABRADOR received by the Company, although Michael Lok at one time offered to take over the whole twelve hundred tons at the rate of £s per ton. In the end, Frobisher and Lok quarrelled and their mutual recriminations became so bitter, that the high sounding Company of Kathai went out of existence. And nothing more is heard of the proposal to plant a colony in Meta Incognita. But Frobisher's voyages were soon to be followed by more pronounced efforts on the part of the English,, both by way of colonization and assertion of rights. Perhaps it was owing to the fact that Queen Elizabeth had ventured and lost several thousand pounds in the Frobisher expeditions, that her attention was called particularly to the New World, for we find, very shortly after, that she became desirous of knowing what the exact rights of the Crown of England were in those regions, and requested Dr. Dee to make her acquainted with the same. We have already seen that Dr. Dee took a practical interest in Frobisher's ven- tures, and his attainments as a scientist and mathe- matician made him well qualified to prepare the statement desired by Queen Elizabeth. The map and " vindication of England's rights," dated October 30th, 1580, which he presented to Queen Elizabeth, are still preserved in the Cottonian Collection. A few days after Frobisher sailed on his third voyage, Queen Elizabeth granted letters patent to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, " for the inhabiting and planting of our people in America." Seven years prior to this an Act had been passed imposing severe penalties on all who left England without licence, or who failed to return on notice being given. Emigration was dis- tinctly discouraged, and it was due to Sir Humphrey ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 109 Gilbert chiefly that a change was made in England's policy and the first colonies proposed. This may be called the dawn of the colonial idea in England. Froude says of this period : — " The springs of great actions are always difficult to analyse, and the force by which a man throws a good action out of himself is invincible and mystical like that which brings out the blossom and the fruit upon the tree. The motives which we find men urging for their enterprises seem often insufficient to have prompted them to so large a daring. They did what they did from a great unrest in them which made them do it, and what it was may be best measured by the results in the present England and America." Before all others of the period, Sir Humphrey Gilbert seems to have been possessed with this " great unrest." Dr. Dee's Diary, in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, contains several very interesting references to his pre- sentation of England's claim, and also to interviews which he had with many noted men of the day. On November 5th, 1578, he writes : — " I speake with the Queen hor^a quinta. I declared to the Queen her title to Greenland, Estotiland,^ and Friesland. "October 3rd, 1580. On Munday at 11 of the clock before noon I declared my two rolls of the Queens Majesty's title unto herself in the garden at Richmond, who appointed after dinner to have furder of the matter. Therefore between one and two afternoon, I was sent for into her Highness Privy Chamber, when the Lord Treasurer, who was also having the matter then ^ In many sixteenth century maps the name Estotiland is bestowed upon the country north of Labrador. no LABRADOR slightly in consultation, did seme to dowt much that I had or could make the argument probable for Her Highness Title so as I pretended. Whereupon I was to declare to his honour more playnely and at his leysere what I had sayd and could say therein which I did on Tuesday and Wednesday following at his chambers where he had me used very honourably on his behalf . . . " October. The Queens Majesty to my great com- fort {Jio7'a quinta) cam with her trayn from the Court and at my dore graciously calling me to her, on horsbak . . . told me that the Lord Threasover had greatly commended my doings for her title, which he had to examyn, which title in two rolls he had brought home two hours before." This has been quoted in part by Mr. Henry Harrisse in Decouverte de Terre-Neuve as evidence that Lord Burleigh did not support Queen Elizabeth's title to North America. Whereas Queen Elizabeth and Dr. Dee both infer that he was converted to a belief in its validity. On March 2nd, 1574, a petition was presented to the Queen for permission to embark on an enterprise for the discovery and colonization of rich and unknown lands, " fatally reserved for England and for the honour of Your Majesty," The petitioners were Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir George Peckham, Sir Richard Grenville, and others. This first colonization scheme did not materialize at once. In 1576 Sir Humphrey Gilbert laid before the Queen and Council his reasons for believing in a north- west passage. Among the benefits to be derived from the voyage of discovery, he suggests " we might in- habit some part of those countries and settle there such ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA iii needie people of our country which nowe trouble the commonwealthe and commit outrageous offences whereby they are daily consumed of the gallows." In 1577 he again addressed a memorial to Queen Elizabeth, proposing to fit out a fleet of ships of war under pretence of a voyage of discovery to Newfound- land, where he would destroy all the great ships of France, Spain and Portugal. He urged that the ex- pedition be undertaken at once, " for the wings of man's life are plumed with the feathers of death." Letters patent for the term of six years were granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert in June of the following year, not to devastate the fishing fleets of foreign nations in Newfoundland waters, but peaceably to discover and in- habit such unoccupied countries as he might see fit.^ On September 23rd of the same year he sailed from Dartford with a fleet of eleven ships and five hundred men, but in November he wrote to Walsingham from Plymouth complaining of the desertion of Mr. Knollys and other men of Devonshire, but nevertheless determining to continue his purpose with the seven ships remaining to him, one of which, the Faulcon, was commanded by " Captain Walter Rauley." No account has been preserved of this expedition, except that it failed of its purpose. They were con- tinually buffeted by storms and " lost a tall ship and a gallant gentleman. Miles Morgan." They got as far as the Cape Verde Islands, but returned to England early in 1579. Sir Humphrey had mortgaged his property in order to fit out this expedition, and was obliged to assign portions of his rights under his letters patent in 1 Dr. Dee's Diary, August 5th, 157S, says: "Mr. Reynolds, of Brid- well, toke his leave of me as he passed toward Dartmouth to go with Sir Humfrey Gilhert toward Hoch laga." 112 LABRADOR order to raise funds for a second attempt. Dr Dee was one of the assigners, and received a grant of Labrador. In his Diary, August 25th, 1580, he writes : — " My deal- ing with Sir Humphrey Gilbert for his grant of dis- covery" ; and on September loth : — " Sir Humphrey Gilbert graunted me my request to him, made by letter, for the royaltyes of discovery all to the North above the parallel of 50 degrees of latitude, in the presence of Storner, Sir John Gilbert his servant or retainer, and thereuppon toke me by the hand with faithful promises in his lodging of John Cookes house in Wichercross Street where we dined only us three together." Sir George Peckham and Sir Thomas Gerrard were also assignees under his letters patent, and in 1580 applied to VValsingham for permission to organize an expedition. Also the great Sir Philip Sidney received a grant of a Principality, perhaps with the idea of founding a real " Arcadia." Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed again in 1583 with a fleet of five ships, the largest of which, supplied by Captain Walter Raleigh, almost immediately returned to England, a serious distemper having broken out on board among the crew. The result of this voyage was the taking possession of St. John's, Newfoundland, in the name of Queen Elizabeth, which was thus the first land in the American Continent to be actually in the pos- session of England, although, as has been shown, Eng- land already claimed the whole seaboard on account of Cabot's discovery. Edward Haies,the historian of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's disastrous voyage, had no doubt of England's title, which, he says, "we yet do actually possess therein"; but ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 113 he laments that the English had not explored the New Lands to the same extent that the French had done. But as both the French and Spaniards had been un- successful in planting colonies north of Florida, " it seemeth probable God hath reserved the same to be reduced into Christian civilitie by the English nation." He particularly resented the action of the French in bestowing names upon the country, "as if they had been the first finders of those coasts, which injustice we offered not unto the Spaniards, but left off to discover when we approached the Spanish limits. Then seeing the English nation only hath right unto these countries of America from the Cape of Florida northward by the privilege of first discovery, unto which Cabot was authorized by royall authority of King Henry VII, which right also seemeth strongly defended on our behalf by the powerful hand of the Almightie God, withstanding the enterprises of other nations." When their own voyage met with disaster, and the great-souled Sir Humphrey himself was " swallowed up of the sea," one wonders if the complacent attitude of the narrator remained undisturbed. That such should have been the final destiny of the greater part of North America leads one to think that the prescience of Edward Haies was more than ordinary, and that he also possessed in no common decrree "that enormous force of heart and intellect" which was characteristic of so many of the contem- poraries of Shakespeare. One other remark made by Haies is noticeable in respect to the dominance of the English. When the Squirrel, Sir Humphrey Gilbert's smallest vessel, arrived first at St. John's, the English merchants, " that were and always would be Admirals by turns interchangeably 114 LABRADOR over the fleets of the fishermen," would not permit her to enter the harbour. When, however, Sir Humphrey- arrived and displayed his commission from Queen Elizabeth, they readily consented, and sent their boats to assist him off the shoal upon which he ran aground when entering the harbour. Although the scheme for the colonization of Newfound- land which cost the noble Sir Humphrey his life, was aban- doned for twenty-seven years longer, the prosecution of the fishery by the British advanced by leaps and bounds. Sir Walter Raleigh, writing on July 20th, 1594, to Sir Robert Cecil, calls attention to the report that three Spanish men-of-war were cruising in the channel. He said : — " It is likely that all our Newfoundland men will be taken up by them if they be not speedily driven from the coast, for in the beginning of August our Newland fleet are expected, which are above a hundred sayle. If thos should be lost it would be the greatest blow that ever was given to England." But one other authority will be quoted just now on this controversy. Sir William Monson, who began his career in the Navy in the days of Elizabeth and lived until the Commonwealth, left a valuable collection of memoirs which have been published under the title of Naval Tracts. A recent writer (Harrisse) has given the following quotations from Monson, in proof of his contention that England entirely neglected the lands discovered by Cabot : — " No relations of Cabot ever mentioned his posses- sion or setting his foote ashore to inhabit any of the lands betwixt the degrees aforesaid ; and therefore ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 115 we can challenge no right of inheritance wanting proof of possession, which is the law acknowledged for right of discovery." When viewed with the context it will be found that this is not an argument in favour of the contention. Monson was upholding the benefits of peace, and said that " Spain is more punished by the King's peace than by the Queen's war, for by our peace England is enlarged by several plantations in America." He supposes that some will say of our plantations that they were known to us long before, and will advance Cabot's discoveries in argument that the new plantations were not owing to the " King's peace," but he points out that possession was better than discovery as proof of title, which had been rendered possible by the long continued peace. In other parts of his writings he continually claims the northern parts of America for England by right of discovery and occupation. He says : — " Canada was first discovered by the English in the days of Henry VII, as all the world acknowledges, and none but the first discoverers can pretend title to any land newly discovered. This is the title by which the King of England holds that part of America from 58 to 38 degrees, and has held it since the discovery of it by Cabot." In another place he writes : — "It is marvellous if we consider what England is now to what it was in former ages — what increase in his majestys revenues, what an increase there is of ships in number and goodness, what dread and fear all other nations apprehend of our greatness by sea, and what rumours we spread abroad in all quarters of the world to make us famous." ii6 LABRADOR "It is admirable if we call these things to mind. And to come to the particulars of augmentation of our trades, of our plantations, and 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, but as we acknowledge the King of Spain the first light of the west and south-west parts of America, so we and all the world must confess that we were the first that took possession of the north part thereof for the crown of England, and not above two years difference between the one and the other. And as the Spaniards have from that day to this held their possessions in the west, so have we done the like in the north ; and though there is no comparison in the point of wealth, yet England may boast that the discovery from the year aforesaid to this very day hath afforded the subjects annually one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, and increases the number of many a good ship and mariners, as our western parts can witness by their fishing in Newfoundland." Again he says : — " England had some honour thereby in the discovery of Newfoundland that since proved most commodious to the commonwealth, and most especially to the western parts thereof, by their yearly employment of 200 sail of ships thither." Sir William Monson undoubtedly maintained Eng- land's right to North America from Florida to Hudson's Straits, and if he had known, as we know, that Cabot actually preceded Columbus in the discovery of the mainland of America, he would have denied Spain's right to any part of it except the West Indies. ENGLISH VOYAGES TO AMERICA 117 Such are a few (but important) items of evidence on British occupation of the new found lands in the six- teenth century. I think it must be conceded that there is sufficient warranty for the belief that England never lost sight of the valuable possessions added to the Crown by the discoveries of Cabot. At first coloniza- tion, or any form of jurisdiction over the new found lands, was as unnecessary for England as it was impossible. But what could be done was done. Pro- tection and encouragement were given to the fleet of fishing vessels, which, in steadily increasing numbers, never ceased to make their way across the Western Ocean. CHAPTER VIII THE SEARCH FOR THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE AND CONSEQUENT VISITS TO LABRADOR— THE HUD- SON BAY COMPANY. WHILE the southern shores of Labrador, border- ing the Straits of Belle Isle, were regularly visited by fishermen from Brittany and the west of England, and by whalers from the Basque provinces, the eastern and northern coasts would have remained unexplored were it not that English sailors persistently pursued that ignis fatuus — a North-West Passage. The French, Spanish, and Portuguese nations very soon abandoned their attempts in this direction, and it must be accorded to the glory of English seamen that they alone persevered in the endeavour to solve the mystery of the North-West. From the narratives of these expeditions fleeting glimpses of Labrador can be obtained. The first, after Frobisher, to seek this supposed short road to Cathay was John Davis. He was fitted out by the merchants of London, of whom Mr. William Saunder- son ^ was the chief. Strict instructions were given to him to seek for the passage, and not to be turned aside by other considerations as was Frobisher. In the summer of 1585, with his two little vessels, the ^ Wm. Saunderson married a niece of Gilbert and Raleigh, and Davis was a great friend of Adrian Gilbert, so the connection with previous voyages is clearly seen. 118 SEARCH FOR THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 119 Sunshine of fifty and the Mermaid of thirty-five tons, he succeeded in reaching the remarkably high latitude of 6f. On this journey he coasted along the shores of Green- land, thus once more restoring communication with that almost forgotten country. The Eskimos, whom he met in considerable numbers, were most friendly. " They are," he said, " very tractable people, void of craft or double- dealing, and easy to be brought to any civilite or good order." In 1586, he set out again, this time with his fleet increased by the Mermaid of 120 tons, and the North Star, a pinnace of ten tons. Again he suc- ceeded in reaching latitude 6']" , then turning south coasted the American shore to latitude 57°. On August 28th, " having a great mistrust of the weather, he arrived in a very fair harbour in the latitude of 56, and sailed ten leagues into the same, being two leagues broad with very fayre woods on both sides. I landed and went sixe miles by ghesse into the country and found that the woods were firre, pineapple, alder, yew, withy and birch ; here we saw a blacke beare ; this place yieldeth great store of birds. Of the partridge and pezunt we killed so great store with bowe and arrows ; in this place at the habourough mouth we found great store of cod. The first of September we set saile and coasted the shore with fine weather. The third day being calme at noone we stroke saile and let fall a cadge anker, to prove whether we could take any fish, being in latitude 54.30', in which place we found great abundance of cod, so that the hooke was no sooner overboard, but presently a fish was taken. It was the largest and best reset (?) fish that ever I saw, and divers fishermen that were with me sayd that they never saw a more suaule (?) or better skull of fish in theyr I20 LABRADOR lives. The fourth of September we ankered in a very good road among great store of isles, the country low- land, pleasant and very full of fayre woods. To the north of this place eight leagues, we had a perfect hope of the passage, finding a mighty great sea passing between two lands west. The south land to our judge- ment nothing but isles, we greatly desired to go into the sea, but the wind was directly against us. We ankered in four fathom fine sand. In this place is foule and fish mighty store. The sixt of September having a fayre north-west winde, having trimmed our barke, we proposed to depart, and sent five of our sailors yong men a shore to an island to fetch certain fish which we purposed to weather and therefore left it all the night covered up on the Isle : the brutish people of the country lay secretly lurking in the woods and upon the sudden assaulted our men : which when we perceived we presently let slip our cables upon the half and under our fore sailes bare into the shore, and with all expedi- tion discharged a double musket upon them twice, at the noice whereof they fled : notwithstanding to our very great grief two of our men were slaine with theyre arrows and two grievously wounded of whom at this present we stand in very great doubt ; onely one escaped by swimming, with an arrow shot through his arme. These wicked miscreants never offered parley or speech, but presently executed theyr cursed fury." The " very fayre harbor " in latitude 56° cannot be identified, as deep fiords are numerous on that part of the coast. Sandwich Bay was no doubt the locality in which he harboured, and Hamilton Inlet the " mighty great sea" in which he had a perfect hope of the passage. In the following year Davis started once more, and SEARCH FOR THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 121 at the extraordinarily early date of June 24th, reached the latitude of 6f 12' "the sea all open to the east- wards and northwards." The mariners became alarmed and insisted upon turning south, and again Davis coasted down the American shore. On the first of August he " passed a very great gulfe, the water whirling and roaring as it were a meeting of the tides." Another account of this voyage says : " To our great admiration we saw the sea falling down into the gulfe with a mighty over fall, and roaring with divers circular motions like a whirlpool in such sort as forcible streams pass through the arches of bridges." It is referred to afterwards by Davis as " the furious over- fall," and is an excellent description of the entrance to Hudson's Straits, where the tides rise and fall about forty feet. Sir William MacGregor, the Governor of New- foundland, in his report of a visit to Labrador, 1905, telling of the meeting of the tides here, says • " The clash of these two mighty streams roared like a great water- fall and produced powerful eddies and whirlpools." ^ In the account given by Herrera of the English ships which visited Hispaniola in 1527, supposed to be Rut's vessel, it says that the ship had been in a frozen sea, and coming south " they arrived in a warm sea which boiled like water in a kettle." Hudson's Straits is the only locality where there is such a commotion of the waters. Rut, however, accord- ing to his letter, was not north of the Straits of Belle Isle. The cape at the south entrance to Hudson's Straits Davis named " Chidleis Cape," after his neighbour 1 The first reference to Hudson's Straits is to be found on Ruysch's map, 1508. A note on which reads, " Here a raging sea begins, here the compasses'of ships do not, hold their properties, and vessels having iron are not able to return." 122 LABRADOR Mr. John Chidley, of Broad Clyst, near Exeter, county Devon. By the 15th of August he had sailed down to the Straits of Belle Isle, but failed to find the other vessels of his fleet which had separated from him early in the summer, with the intention of fishing about lat. 54° to 55°. He therefore sailed for home and reached Dartmouth on September 15th. In the curious little book written by Davis called The World's Hydro- graphicalle Description, he says, referring to his last voyage, that two ships were fitted out for fishing and one for discovery : — " Departing from Dartmouth, through Gods' merciful favour I arrived at the place of fishing, and there according to direction, I left two ships to follow that business, taking there faithful promises not to depart until my return unto them, which should be, in the fine of August, but after my departure in sixteen days the ships had finished their voyage and so presently departed for England." This is the first fishing adventure to the Labrador coast of which we have any particulars, and its won- derful success no doubt attracted much attention. Davis firmly believed that there was a practicable north-west passage, and would have made another effort to find it, "but by reason of the Spanish fleete and unfortunate time of Master Sectretary's (Walsingham) death the voyage was ommitted, and never sithens attempted." In 1602, the Muscovy and Turkey Companies de- spatched Captain George Weymouth, in an endeavour to follow up Davis's discoveries. He did not succeed in reaching so high a latitude as his predecessor, but sailed into Hudson's Straits for a considerable distance, and SEARCH FOR THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 123 as Captain Luke Fox, who fantastically styled himself " North West Fox," relates, " did, I conceive, light Hudson into his Straights." Weymouth also sailed down the northern Labrador coast and explored an inlet in latitude 56. The Worshipfull Company of Muscovy, in con- junction with the East Indian Merchants, sent out another expedition in the year 1606 under the com- mand of John Knight, who had previously sailed with a Danish expedition to Greenland. On June 13th he had sight of land in latitude 57° 25', but was caught in the ice and drifted south to 56° 48'. Finding his ship badly damaged, he decided to put into a small cove to effect repairs if possible. While exploring the neigh- bourhood, looking for a suitable place to careen his vessel, he, his brother, Edward Gorrill the mate, and another man, were set upon by the savage Eskimos and slain. The rest of the ship's company were left in a sore plight, with their ship almost in a sinking condition, short handed, and continually attacked by the Eskimos, whom they described as " little people, tawney coloured, thick-haired, little or no beard, flat nosed, and are man eaters." They contrived, however, to keep the savages at bay, and to lessen the leak by dropping a sail overboard against it. In this crippled condition they made their way south to Newfoundland, and on July 23rd "they espied a dozen shallops fishing and making toward them, found themselves at Fogo where they took harbour, repaired their ship, and refreshed themselves." Not satisfied with the indeterminate attempts of Weymouth and Knight, the merchants of London, in 1610, fitted out Henry Hudson, who was already famous as a navigator and explorer, to seek once more 124 LABRADOR the much desired passage. Boldly pushing his way through the straits, which have since borne his name, he discovered the great inland sea, Hudson's Bay. Here he wintered, and in the spring determined to explore still further west, confidently expecting to succeed in the enterprise upon which he was sent. But his crew mutinied, and turned him, his son, and the few that remained faithful to him, adrift in a little boat, doubtless to perish miserably. On the return of Hudson's ship through the straits, they fell in with a company of Eskimos, who as usual seemed at first very friendly, but waiting their opportunity treacherously attacked and killed four of the ship's company, among whom were the chief mutineers. In 1612, the year following the return of Hudson's ship, the merchants of London again fitted out an expedition, placing it under the command of Sir Thomas Button. Two of Hudson's men, Abacuck Prickett and Robert Bylot, accompanied him. Proceeding at once through Hudson's Straits, he made for "Diggess's He," where the mutineers of Hudson's ship met their well-deserved fate at the hands of the Es- kimos. Here these undaunted savages appeared again in considerable numbers, twice attacked his ship and killed five of his men. Entering Hudson's Bay he sailed southward seeking suitable quarters for the winter, and made himself as comfortable as possible ; but with all his precautions lost several of his men from the severe cold. In the spring he explored Hudson's Bay as far north as 65°, and returning through Hudson's Straits passed into the Atlantic "betwixt those islands first discovered and named Chidley's Cape by Captain Davis, and the north part of America, called by the Spaniards, who never saw the same. Cape Labrador ; SEARCH FOR THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 125 but it is meet by the north-east point of America, where there was contention among them, some main- taining that those islands were the ' Resolution ' ; but at length it proved a strait, and very straight indeed to come through, which resolved all doubts." Thus writes " North- West Fox" on the evidence of Abacuck Prickett. Commentators have thought that Button passed out of Hudson's Straits not between Resolution Island and the Button Islands, but between Button Islands and Cape Chidley. From the description, however, there can be little doubt that he passed through the narrow channel between Chidley peninsula and the mainland, which now bears the name of Grenfell Channel. Sir William McGregor thus des- cribes it : — " This is a passage which leads through from the east coast, starting south of Cape Chidley, to the Bay that lies on the east side of the Chidley peninsula, opening some two or three miles south of Port Burwell. It is aVout two or three hundred yards wide, and was sup- posed to be sufficiently deep to permit of the passage of large ships through it, thus avoiding the necessity of doubling the Chidley peninsula. The navigating lieu- tenant of H.M.S. Scylla has, however, after transversing the channel twice, reported one spot in it where the depth did not exceed five fathoms.^ It is therefore necessary that it should be more fully examined before it can be considered safe for large vessels. Strong tides pass through the Grenfell Tickle. It seems to be navigated by small icebergs with more draught than any ships would have. It runs all the way between 1 Dr. Grenfell has since again passed through this channel, sounding most carefully, and failed to find anywhere less than seventeen fathoms of water. 126 LABRADOR steep hills of bare rock. It is about eight or ten miles long, and would, if proved to be safe, be a decided gain to vessels passing between the Atlantic and Port Burwell, or Ungava and Hudson's Bays." One of Button's vessels was the Discoveiy, and was the same vessel in which Hudson and Weymouth made their voyages to the same regions. She is described as a fly-boat of sixty or seventy tons ; this term generally denoted a broad flat -bottomed vessel which would have easily passed through the channel. Nothing is known of Button's other ship, the Resolution. The Moravian missionaries Kohlmeister and Kmock navigated this channel on their way to and from Un- gava in 1811. On August 2nd they arrived at the mouth of the dreaded Ikkerasak (strait). " It is in length about ten miles ; the land on each side high and rocky and in some places pre- cipitous, but there appeared no rocks in the strait itself. The water is deep and clear. Its mouth is wide, and soon after entering a bay opens to the left, which, by an inlet only just wide enough to admit a boat, communicates with a lagoon of consider- able magnitude, in which lies an island on its western bank. Beyond this bay the passage narrows, and con- sequently the stream, always setting from north to south, grows more rapid. Here the mountains on both sides rise to a great height. Having proceeded for two miles in a narrow channel the strait opens again, but afterwards contracts to about one thousand yards across, immediately beyond which the coast turns to the south. As the tide ebbs with the current from north to south along the whole Labrador coast, the SEARCH FOR THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 127 current through the strait is most violent during its fall, and less when resisted by its influx or rising. We were taught to expect much danger in passing certain eddies or whirlpools in the narrow parts of the straits. When we passed the first narrow channel, it being low water, no whirlpool was perceptible. Having sailed on for a little more than half an hour we reached the second. Here indeed we discovered a whirlpool, round in the manner of a boiling cauldron of ten or twelve feet in diameter, with considerable noise and much foam, but we passed without the smallest inconvenience. The motions of these eddies is so great that they never freeze in the severest winter. The ice being drawn toward them with great force is carried under water and thrown up again, broken into numerous fragments. The Ikkerasak is at this season utterly impassable for boats." Sir Thomas Button was followed in the next year, 16 1 4, by Captain Gibbons, once more in the fly-boat Discovery. Gibbons was a cousin of Sir Thomas Button and had accompanied him on his voyage. Button spoke of his cousin in terms of the highest praise, and declared that " he was not short of any man that ever yet he carried to sea," but he did not justify Button's recommendation, and his voyage was utterly unfruitful. " North-West Fox " thus tersely describes it : — " Little is to be writ to any purpos for that hee was put by the mouth of Fretum Hudson and with the ice was driven into a Bay called by his Company ' Gibbons his Hole,' in latitude 58 and Vo upon the North East part of America, where he laid ten weeks fast amongst the ice, in danger to have been spoyled or never to have got 128 LABRADOR away, so ast the time being lost he was inforced to returne." The locality here indicated is probably Saglek Bay. It is a pity that such a characteristic name has not been perpetuated. Later seekers of the north-west passage proceeded at once through Hudson's Straits and did not visit Labrador. About the middle of the seventeenth century French fur traders found their way overland to Hudson's Bay. The two chief pioneers, named Grosseliers and Rodis- son, were so impressed with the importance of the trade which might be developed, that they went to France and tried to induce the French Government to send an expedition there and take possession of the country. Receiving no encouragement from their own people, they were recommended by the British Ambassador at Paris to go to London with their pro- position. By his influence they obtained an audience with King Charles II and Prince Rupert, who were both much interested in the proposed enterprise. A company was formed and an expedition sent out in 1668. Arriving at Hudson's Bay they at once built a fort, and during the ensuing winter carried on a brisk trade with the natives. In the following year they returned to London. Application was then made to King Charles for a charter, in order that the trade might be more fully developed. That easy-going monarch acceded to the request and granted a charter, the extraordinary terms of which have excited the wonder of succeeding generations. More remarkable than the charter itself is the fact that, although often challenged, its validity has been always upheld, and the Hudson Bay Company is still a virile concern, THE HUDSON BAY COMPANY 129 retaining the privileges granted by King Charles, with the exception of those it has been well paid to relin- quish. This charter claimed to give " the whole trade of all those seas, streights and bays, rivers, lakes, creeks and sounds in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the Streights commonly called Hudson's Streights." The fisheries within the straits were also expressly included. By reason of the wonder- ful system of rivers and lakes which drain into Hudson's Bay and Straits, the company became possessed of a territory estimated at nearly one-third of North America. It was recognized as a colony or plantation under the name of Rupert's Land, and had almost all the powers of a self-governing colony of the present day. The first Governor of the Company was Prince Rupert, and one of its most important members, if not the leading spirit, was Sir George Carteret, the friend and neighbour of the immortal and immoral Pepys. One is surprised not to find the great diarist himself interested in the Company, as his hand was generally stretched forth when there were any fees or perquisites to be obtained. The Hudson Bay Company was therefore the first legal possessor of any part of Labrador, its portion being all the country drained by rivers falling into Hudson's Straits or Bay. France looked with great jealousy at the advent of the British on her northern borders, and during the wars at the end of the seventeenth century captured every trading post which had been erected by the Hudson Bay Company. By the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), ^"d later by the Treaty of Utrecht (171 3), it was agreed that all "countries, islands, forts and colonies, which either France or England had possessed before the war i3o LABRADOR should be restored to their original owners," and a joint commission was to be appointed to delineate the respective borders of Canada and Rupert's Land. This boundary line was never agreed upon, although the commissioners were appointed and met on several occasions. In respect to Labrador, the English com- missioners proposed that the dividing line should be drawn from Cape Grimmington on the Labrador coast in lat. 58° 30' to Lake Mistassini, thence S.W. to the 49th parallel, and thence westward indefinitely. The Hudson Bay Company were thus prepared to abandon nearly the whole east coast of Labrador to the French, and besought the Imperial Government to forbid any intrusion by the French to the northward of the proposed boundary. While the matter was in dispute Labrador was re- garded as a no-man's land, free to be adopted by any claimant. In 1752 a petition was presented to the Lords of Trade and Plantations by some London merchants for a grant of the country called Labrador, between 52° and 60° N. lat., " not at this time possessed by any of His Majesty's subjects or the subjects of any Christian Prince." But the Hudson Bay Company were able to block this project, under the plea, first, that the country was included in their charter, and, second, that it was an entirely barren land, and the intention of any company starting there could only be to poach upon their trade. CHAPTER IX THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 THE first attempt to form a permanent establish- ment on the coast of Labrador was made by Augustin Legardeur, Seigneur de Courtemanche. On October 17th, 1702, he obtained from Sieur de Vaud- reuil, Governor of New France, a concession for ten years of the privilege of trading with the savages, and fishing for whales, seals, and cod, on all that part of the south coast of Labrador, from the Kegaskat River to the River Kessessasskiou^ between lat. 52" and 53° N. About the year 1704 he made a tour of his domain and wrote a description of it, which is still to be found in the Archive of the Marine at Paris. Beginning at the Kegaskat, now Kegashka River, he travelled from harbour to harbour, noting the peculiari- ties and excellences of each locality. The abundance of seals, salmon, cod, feathered game, caribou, and fur- bearing animals must have been simply prodigious. He was evidently charmed with his acquisition, and describes each place in glowing terms. Courtemanche established himself at Bay Phely- ^ On French maps of the early eighteenth century our Grand or Hamilton River is called Kessessasskiou, and Hamilton Inlet, " Grande Baye des Eskimaux." 131 132 LABRADOR peaux,^ now Bradore, and built there a fort which he called Fort Pontchartrain. The harbour, he tells us, was excellent, capable of containing a hundred vessels of all sizes. The general aspect of the bay was "■ fort gaiel' bordered with islands, and abounding in such quantities of game that the whole colony, both French and Indians, could easily be supported there. At the bottom of the bay there were three hills, " tres agreable a la veue." The rivers and lakes amongst these hills were full of salmon and trout, and the waters of the bay teemed with codfish, so that he felt assured of sustaining his garrison without any difficulty. He opened communication with a tribe of Indians in the neighbourhood which had not been previously known to the French. They were a gentle race, and he thought a missionary would have no difficulty in converting them to Christianity. It seems probable that he referred to the Nascopee Indians, for the Montaignais Indians had been, from the time of Champlain, on friendly terms with the French, and were among the first to be con- verted. Courtemanche induced thirty or forty families of the Montaignais to come and settle on his seignory, employ- ing them both as trappers and fishermen. He was in- formed by them that the Basques formerly had carried on a very large whale fishery in the straits, and that the remains of their establishments were still to be seen at Brasdor, Forteau, and St. Benoit's. Courtemanche found the bones of whales piled up 1 This bay, called "Les Islettes'' by Jacques Cartier, was known in 1740 as " Baie des Espagnols," and was named "Bay Phelypeaux' by Courte- manche. It did not lake its present name until late in the eif^hteenth century. On the Bellini map, 1744, it is called "Bay Phelypeaux," on the Cook and Lane map, 1790, " Labradore Bay." THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 133 like sticks of wood, one on the other, in such quantities that he estimated one place to contain the remains of two thousand to three thousand animals. He counted ninety skulls of prodigious size in one little creek. The Basques had been compelled to abandon the fishery, not from failure in the supply of whales, but because of the attacks and depredations of the Eskimos. Courte- manche met a St. Malo fisherman at Forteau, who in- formed him that his countrymen had carried on a fishery there de tous temps. But they also had been compelled by the attacks of the Eskimos greatly to lessen their operations. Nothing could be left behind them in safety, and every spring when they returned they would find their huts and stages torn down, the contents destroyed, and their boats stolen. The fishery on the Labrador shore was considered to be much better than on any part of New- foundland, but it could not be prosecuted in safety. The fishermen were in continual danger of being sur- prised and murdered by the treacherous and bloodthirsty Eskimos. Charlevoix states in his History of New France that about 1650 there were continual and desperate battles between the Eskimos and Montaignais, an historical feud which continued until the middle of the nineteenth century. Courtemanche found that the Eskimos in considerable numbers wintered at Ha- Ha Bay, and records that two families of them were massacred even as far west as Mecatina. He visited Ha-Ha Bay and examined the site of their camp, as well as he was able to do for the stench which still lingered there. He noted that they used no fire to cook their food, and gnawed the bones like dogs. From the beginning to the end of his life on the 134 LABRADOR Labrador, it was Courtemanche's chief endeavour to make peace with these intractable savages, and his principal care to defend himself and the frequenters of the coast from their attacks and depredations. In 1 7 14 Courtemanche obtained a renewal of his grant. " The King being at Marly, and being informed of the success of the establishment which the Sieur de Courtemanche had made at Phelypeaux Bay, wishing to treat him favourably in consideration of the pains and cares which his establishment had cost him, hereby concedes to him the said Bay of Phelypeaux, where he is established, and two leagues of coast either way from the said bay, and four leagues inland." He was also granted the sole right to trade with the savages and to the seal fishery, but in regard to other fish he was given a concurrent right only with any other vessels that may come there. At the same time that his grant was renewed Courtemanche was appointed Commandant of the Coast of Labrador, " His Majesty deeming it necessary that he should have an officer of the army to command on the coast of Labrador, in the country of the Eskimos, and being satisfied with the reliability of the Sieur de Courte- manche, captain of one of his companies serving in New France, His Majesty wills and requires that he command in the said coast of Labrador, and that he rule there and settle all differences that -may arise between His Majesty's subjects in regard to stations for the fishery," etc. It is surprising to find, from Courtemanche's report for 17 1 3, that there were only three French vessels THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 135 fishing in the strait — one at Forteau and two at Blanc Sablon. No doubt the war with England, just closed, had caused the fisheries to be abandoned for a time. If one were to believe the enthusiastic memorial on the Labrador which here follows, Courtemanche must have had a comfortable and flourishing establishment at Bay Phelypeaux. The writer is unknown.^ It seems probable that he was a priest who had spent a summer on the Labrador, and being greatly impressed with the abundance of wild life and the beauty of the short summers, saw in imagination the country becoming as populous and powerful as Sweden or Norway. While greatly overestimating its possibilities, many of his suggestions for the civilization of the Eskimos, and the amelioration of the lot of the fishermen who frequented the coast, are most excellent. The suggested name for a town, Labradorville, and the proposal that the caribou should be domesticated are particularly interesting touches. The suggestion that magic should not be used in taming the Caribou is a quaint sign of the times. MEMOIR CONCERNING LABRADOR, 1715-1716 Labrador is all that vast country to the east of Canada and north of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is a peninsula bounded by the River and Gulf of St. Lawrence on the south, the ocean on the east, Hudson's Straits on the north, and Hudson's Bay on the west. It joins Canada on its western border from the Isles of Mingan to Hudson's Bay. Labrador belonged entirely to France before the Treaty of Utrecht, with the exception of some small 1 From a similarity of their aims and propositions, one would be inclined to call this author a pre-incarnation of Dr. Grenfell. 136 LABRADOR forts which the English had built in the bottom of Hudson's Bay. The King had ceded to them, by that treaty, a part of Labrador — that is to say, the Strait and Bay of Hudson with all the coasts and rivers which fall into the said Strait and Bay of Hudson. This constitutes a large country, but almost uninhabitable and difficult to reach. The greater and better part of Labrador remains to the King — that is to say, from Mingan to Belle Isle and from Belle Isle to the entrance of Hudson's Straits with all the rivers and inland country. This coast is over 400 leagues in extent. It is certain that furs are more abundant and precious in Labrador than in Sweden, Norway, or Canada. But that which merits more attention is that the fishery which can be carried on of salmon, codfish, seals, walrus, whales, on this four hundred leagues of coast is able to produce greater riches than the richest gold-mine in Peru, and with less trouble and expense. It is very important and even necessary for the good of the State to make at once three or four establishments on the coast of Labrador. The abundant fishery of salmon, codfish, porpoises, seals, walrus, and whales: the walrus teeth which are finer than ivory and are used in the fine arts ; the skins of seals, seal oil, walrus oil and whale oil ; an infinity of caribous and other animals are in this vast country of Labrador, and will furnish an infinite number of skins and furs, the handsomest, the finest, and most precious in the world. It is said that the skin of the caribou takes the colour scarlet better than any other kind of skin. All this, with mines of copper and iron, that can certainly be found in Labrador, is capable of making the proposed establishments both rich and flourishing, and of such THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 137 great advantage to the State that Labrador should be regarded as its Peru. In effect, it will furnish France with fish and oils, whalebone, skins of seals and caribous, furs, ivory, and eider-down, and all in such abundance that a large trade can be established with foreign countries. Add to these feathers for beds, such as are used in Russia. The abundance of all these things will be increased in proportion as the country becomes peopled and establishments become numerous. But it is necessary to begin with three or four. The first at Bay Phelypeaux, — a very advantageous place, — a good harbour with abundance of seals and codfish, and also whales. There are a prodigious number of birds called " Moyeis," which furnish quan- tities of eider-down, and of which the eggs are good to eat. The King has given this post to M. de Courte- manche, a Canadian gentleman, during his life. He is well-established there, fortified and furnished. The seal fishery is the principal industry, and quantities of oil and skins are obtained. He has a large garden and grows all sorts of vegetables — peas, beans, roots, herbs, and salads, and has sown barley and oats, which grow well ; perhaps wheat and rye will also grow. He keeps horses, cows, sheep, and pigs. The neighbourhood of the bay has also been explored. It is a plain of about four leagues in extent, but with little woods, so that M. de Courtemanche has to send for firewood to a distance of three or four leagues with his horses and carts. He is also able to fetch it by boat from the river of the Eskimo which is at a little distance. M. de Courte- manche has engaged thirty families of Montaignais to settle near his house. They are of great use to him, 138 LABRADOR both for the fisheries in summer and for the chase in winter. He has made them very sociable. Near the house of M. de Courtemanche there is a little river containing quantities of salmon and trout. In time of war Bay Phelypeaux is not safe because it is very open, but three leagues away there is a bay and a port called St. Armour, where the fishery is not so abundant as at Bay Phelypeaux, but being easy of defence one would be in safety there from the attacks of enemies. The second establishment should be at Petit Nord, in the Strait of Belle Isle, either at St. Barbe or at Chateau. This establishment would have the advan- tage of being in the strait by which the fish and whales from the ocean enter into and return from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. At this port a lucrative trade could be carried on with the Eskimos, who come there in great numbers every summer. The third establishment should be on the east coast of Labrador, at Kessessaki, which is a large river between 52° and 53° N. lat. The fishery of all kinds— cod, seals, whales — is easy and abundant. There is a great quantity of fine woods to build stages, houses, or ships. These pinewoods and large trees are a sign that the land is fertile, and one will be able to keep animals of all sorts and to grow wheat and all kinds of grains, vegetables, and root crops. It short, it should become a considerable colony and useful to the State, because (i) it is not far distant from France, (2) it will return great profits for little outlay, (3) the fisheries will yield certain and inexhaustible profits — advantages which are not found in mines of gold or silver, that are very costly to work and soon exhausted, and cause THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 139 the death of a great many persons. A great advan- tage for this establishment will be that the river Kesses- saki is much frequented by the Eskimos, who are adroit in the chase and in the fishery, and will be able to render great service to the French and furnish them with quantities of fish oils, walrus teeth, caribou skins, and valuable furs. This immense country is filled with animals. It is said that the Eskimos number more than thirty thousand. They have no communication with any Europeans nor with other savages, from whom they differ greatly. They have no beards, are light coloured, well made and very adroit. They clothe themselves very properly in seal skins. They make canoes and boats the construction of which is admirable, and are good smiths. It is believed that they take their origin from the Icelanders or Norwegians, but perhaps instead they may have originated from the colony the Danes had in Greenland about three hundred years ago which has since disappeared. Without doubt one will find in their language words of European origin. It is easy to throw light upon them by means of Basque, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Danish languages. The Eskimos are considered extremely savage and intractable, ferocious and cruel ; they flee at the sight of Europeans, and kill them whenever they are able ; but I believe they fly from Europeans because they have been maltreated, fired on, and killed, and if they attack and kill Europeans it is only by way of reprisal. I think that in the beginning of their intercourse with Europeans on their coasts they stole some trifling articles and then fled, but this did not warrant that they should be fired at and killed. I40 LABRADOR Messieurs Jolliet and Constantin, who have visited them, have received a thousand tokens of friendship. M. Courtemanche, who has had eight or ten interviews with them, told me at Versailles in 1 7 1 3 that they are good, civil, mild, gay, and warm-hearted men and women, and that they danced to do him honour. They are very chaste, dislike war, and have a thousand good qualities. They are more timid than savage or cruel. It is very easy to see that there will be no difficulty in civilizing them if proper means are taken. They are as follows : — 1. To forbid the savage Montaignais and other savages to make war on them. If the Montaignais had with them a Jesuit missionary, he could forbid them to do evil to the Eskimo. 2. It is also necessary to forbid the French fishermen and others, under the severest pains and penalties, to fire on them or to offer them any insult. 3. To order the French fishermen to endeavour to win them over by offering friendship and even presents to those who join them. 4. In exchange of merchandise and in all commerce with them to be sure that they are not discontented, and on all occasions to treat them with kindness and good will. 5. To give them food, but neither to give nor to sell them any intoxicating liquors. 6. To engage the Jesuits to undertake this measure, to go amongst them and endeavour to civilize them, for the Jesuits have a great talent for humanizing the most ferocious savages. When commerce has been estab- lished with them, it will be easy to convert them to Christianity. Their gentle spirit, their aversion to war, and their chastity make them easily disposed to con- version. THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 141 It should also be held in view that in making these establishments on the Labrador, not only spiritual but also temporal blessings will be poured upon those who shall procure this glory to God and Religion. The Eskimos civilized, will render important services to the French by the fishery and the chase, being very adroit both in the one and the other. They will bring skins and furs, walrus tusks, fish oils, eider-down and feathers for beds, having on their coasts an infinity of birds with fine plumage. Thus the Eskimos will contribute to render commerce on the Labrador both large and lucrative. I forgot to say that it is necessary to use every means to induce the Eskimos to take up their abode near the French, the advantages of which it is unnecessary to detail. Their proximity need not be feared, as they are not warlike but lazy and timid. Those who always make difficulties and have not the courage to undertake large enterprises say: — I. That the Labrador is a place cold and sterile, where nothing that is necessary for life can be found, and con- sequently is uninhabitable, and no one should dream of endeavouring to colonize there. Sweden, Norway, Russia, Scotland, etc., are all more northern countries than Labrador, and are consequently colder. These places are also filled with lakes and mountains to a greater extent than in Labrador. The land is as sterile as Labrador, and it is only by cultivation that they have become fertile and capable of supporting their large population. Scotland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia are powerful countries, and filled with great and rich towns, all north of Kessessaki. Who shall say that one shall not make 142 LABRADOR of Labrador as fine a country as these, and build in it cities as great and populous? All that is wanted is work and patience. I claim that when the French are well led they are as capable, both of one and the other, as the Scotch, Swedes, Russians, or any other northern people. The French are capable of overcoming all difficulties when led by chiefs enterprising and steady. The work which they have done, are doing, and will do in Canada, is proof incontestable of this truth, that cold countries are more favourable to them than hot, and that in cold countries they are more robust, stronger, more enter- prising, and more courageous than they are in hot climates, or even in France itself. For this reason it will be better to have Canadians, accustomed to cold and fatigue, to conduct these establishments on Labrador. It may be said, that to start these colonies on the Labrador will be too expensive for the King, who has other more pressing claims upon his purse. I reply, that it is possible to make these establish- ments without costing the King anything. What M. de Courtemanche has done at Bay Phelypeaux has cost the King nothing. The others will not cost the King more. It is only necessary to engage two Canadians, wise and enterprising, to undertake the settlements at Petit Nord and Kassessaki as M. de Courtemanche has done at Bay Phelypeaux. In order that these men should not ruin themselves, but should even grow rich in sacrificing themselves for the State, it is necessary to grant to them all that is possible, to heap upon them honours. In order that these posts may be peopled and become important, it is necessary by bounties and THE FP.ENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 143 privileges to induce the Bayonnais and other French, and especially Canadians, to establish themselves there and develop the commerce of the country, particularly the fishery, the profits of which are immediate, certain, and inexhaustible, and do not require a great outlay. It is necessary also to give to those who shall undertake the settlements of Petit Nord and Kessessaki, (which should be named Labradorville), the title of Com- mandant or Captain, if they have it not already, as in the case of Bay Phelypeaux, and to give to each his entire company to reside at his post. Instructions must be given : — 1. Not to encroach one upon the other, to live in peace and harmony, and on no account to entice away the savages the one from the other. 2. To forbid the savages to make war on one another. 3. To live in peace with the savages, to civilize them, trade with them, and induce them by kindness to come and live near the French. Especially not to do them any violence or injustice. 4. To have the care of missionaries who shall work at the conversion of the savages and the salvation of the French. 5. To explore the country not only on the coasts, but also in the interior. To ascend all the rivers to their sources, and to engage the French as well as the Jesuits to seek the savages in their own homes, and to accompany them on their hunting trips and voyages. 6. To examine the quality of the earth, to see if there are mines of copper, iron, or other metals, if there are valuable stones, such as marble and porphyry, if there are woods fit for houses and ships, if there are medicinal plants or drugs. In short, to discover all that 144 LABRADOR the country may produce. Nearly all countries are less fertile along the sea coast than in the interior. 7. To be sure to rear cattle and sheep, pigs and goats, and even horses. If the Canadian species are not able to resist the climate, it is necessary to intro- duce cattle from the Faro Islands or Iceland, which are countries more rugged and cold than Labrador. These animals will provide food for the colony and manure for the lands, to render them capable of producing grain, vegetables, and root crops. 8. To endeavour to tame the caribou, which is the same animal as the reindeer, so greatly used by the Laplander and Russians, but it is necessary to avoid any appearance of magic. 9. To breed quantities of birds, fowls, pigeons, geese, ducks, etc. 10. To sow wheat, rye, oats, barley, and other grains. Oats and barley will grow well and afford food for the cattle and fowls. Without doubt Turkey wheat will grow with a little care. In Poland, where the lands are cold, they sow a little salt to warm them and render them fertile. The same must be done in Labrador, or grain must be brought from Canada. 11. To plant all sorts of vegetables, peas, beans, lentils, etc., and also to endeavour to cultivate fruit trees. 12. To cultivate all sorts of roots and salads, which grow very well at Bay Phelypeaux, so M. de Courte- manche tells me, and are of great benefit to the crews of the fishing vessels. 13. For the use of the fishermen, to have at each settlement one or two large inns, well built, with good beds and other conveniences for the comfort of the THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 145 seamen, but drunkenness and all other debauchery must be strictly forbidden. 14. At each settlement there must be a Cure, an honest man, with a church well and properly adorned, where service can be performed with decency. It is a means to inspire the savages with respect and an inclination for Christianity. It is fitting that these Cures should be of the St. Sulpician order or some other community, if the Jesuits will not undertake the work. 15. The commandants must be instructed to keep the Crown informed of all that is required for the good and for the increase of the settlements. 16. They should take care that solid and commodious houses be built, for which they should furnish plans. Lime can be made in the country, and it is possible to make bricks, tiles, and pottery. These means, and many others known to those who are more experienced than I, are able to render the settlements on the Labrador very considerable in a short time and without any expense to the King, and to attract there numbers of vessels which will bring all that is required, and take back fish, oils, and other produce. This will maintain a great commerce, will enrich the country and the merchants, and be very use- ful to the State. If it is possible to keep bees one can make hydromel, as in Muscov}' and Poland, where quantities of bees are kept, although they are more northern countries than Labrador. The wool from the sheep will furnish clothes. Also clothes may be made from the sheep skins, as is the custom in many places, and of seal skins like the Eskimos, who are very properly clad. The ships can bring them wine and other commodities 146 LABRADOR which the country is not able to furnish, and in exchange the inhabitants will give fish, oils, etc., which the country produces in such quantities that they will be able to buy all the commodities of France and Canada they have need of, and the colony will become a rich and powerful State. The colony of Placentia is a place more sterile than Labrador. This barrenness occasions the colonists to apply themselves entirely to the codfishery, which fur- nishes the means to supply them with all that is neces- sary and even to grow rich. It is possible, perhaps, that it will be more advan- tageous for the colonists of Labrador and for the State, that they should apply themselves entirely to the fishery which produces such immense profits. Two difficulties are still made. 1. That in Labrador the cold is of such long duration and so stormy that the colonists would not be able to stand it. To which I reply, that Norwegians and Swedes do not mind the cold at all, and that good houses, well sealed with wool or moss, are complete protection against it. Add to this that Canadian men and women, who will form these colonies, are accustomed to the severest cold. 2. It is said that there are not sufficient food and commodities there to support a large colony. I reply that beef, veal, mutton, and game are not wanting, neither are fish, fresh and salted, nor vegetables and roots. It is possible to raise excellent pigs, but they must not be allowed to eat fish, and during the fishing season must be kept at a distance from the sea. Beef and pork, and also the caribou meat, can be salted and smoked. The country abounds with game, and the birds furnish abundance of good eggs. Oats and barley will come to maturity, and with THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 147 the great commerce in the products of the country are more than sufficient to support a large and numerous colony. If the wheat and rye will not come to maturity they can be imported from Canada, which will be a good thing for Canada. It must be admitted from all I have stated in this memoir, that the reasons for establishing colonies on the Labrador are convincing, and the means thereto ample and eas}^ It remains then to carry out the proposal, to grant permission to those who have the courage to found these settlements, and to accord to them all that is suitable in order that they may not be ruined in sacrificing themselves for the honour and advantage of the State as well as for God and Religion. Six months later, the author supplements this memoir with additional information received from Labrador in three letters from M. Courtemanche and M. Lair, his chaplain, and reiterates his proposition for the establish- ment of three colonies on the Labrador. M. Lair's letter is addressed to Madame de Courtemanche, who was in Bayonne, and is of much interest. It is written from Bay Phelypeaux, October i6th, 1716: — " Madam, " This is to salute you as the most humble of your servitors. I trust that this present will find you well and happily arrived in France. " After your departure, the savage Eskimos have visited your coasts. They came first to Forteau, where the people of Sieur de la Rue had commerce with them the first Sunday after your departure. Mestay, who was out shooting, saw them first on the point between the fishing stages of Vallee and Chardot, and came after vespers to give the news 148 LABRADOR to M. Courtemanche, and hastened to send Mon- sieur, your son/ with some of your people to speak to them and occupy them while he made ready one of the boats to go himself. But the Eskimos, who apparently noticed that your [people were not afraid of them, and also being much terrified at the sight of a man on horse- back, fled during the night, and M. Courtemanche has not been able to find them, although seeking them for three days in his boat. " I assure you, Madam, that M. de Courtemanche exposes himself too much to the wind and the rain, which falls without ceasing, and caused much anxiety to Mdlle de Courtemanche and all of us until his return. He is somewhat upset by the hardships of his journey, but I trust, by the Grace of God, it will be nothing. " This journey of M. Courtemanche has not prevented these savage animals from having taken many boats from the coast. I do not know how many there were at Isle au Bois, but your people say there are but two old ones left, and one of them is wrecked. They have broken open the huts, upset the stages, and choped up the barrels in which the seines were stowed away. They have done the same at Little River, besides throwing all the grappling irons into the water, scattering the salt, and cutting the seines in pieces. " Your children. Madam, are well ; your little daughter often asks if you will return soon. There is no news in the family circle. Take care of your health, Madam, and do not be worried about Monsieur, whose indisposition will be nothing. A good look-out is always kept for the Eskimos. " I take the liberty. Madam, to sign myself, " Your very humble and obedient servant, " Lair. Prctre." ' Sr. de Brouague, by a former husband. THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 149 Courtemanche writes that this band of Eskimos numbered about eight hundred, and that they had firearms of various sorts in their possession. As they were thought to be too timid and ignorant to use them themselves, it was supposed that some Europeans had taken up their abode with them. Our enthusiastic memorialist does not seem to have been deterred by this disturbed condition of the country, but suggests that his proposed settlements should be further protected by a watch tower of thirty to seventy feet high, and an armed brigantine ready at all times to go in pursuit of any marauding bands of Eskimos. His representations, however, were unheeded, and the great and populous towns which he prophesied for Labrador are as far off as ever. The reports from the coast the following year but repeat the stories of attacks from the Eskimos, " who only put foot to ground in one harbour to steal what they require and then fly off to another." In October a band of them arrived at Bay Phelypeaux who appeared to be peaceably inclined, and came with Courtemanche to the fort, " and in no time the house was overrun with these barbarians as if they had been brought up there." They stole everything they could lay hands on, even the buttons from M. Courtemanche's coat. Leaving Bay Phelypeaux, they wintered about fifteen leagues to the westward. On the 15th May following they returned, but would not enter the fort again. When Courtemanche tried to persuade them, they apparently misunderstood his peaceful intentions and attacked him. In the fight which ensued Courte- manche took one of the boats and made prisoners of the occupants, one woman, two girls, and a little I50 LABRADOR boy. Of the latter it is laconically written, "qui receu la baptime avan sa mort." We gather from these different letters and reports that Courtemanche lived quite the life of a Grand Seigneur on the Labrador. With his French and French-Canadian trappers and fishermen, and thirty to forty families of Montaignais Indians, the settlement must have been quite large, and justified the estimate made of the ruins in 1840 that they represented about two hundred houses. Courtemanche died in 17 17, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, de Brouague. Writing on September 9th, 171 8, to the Council of the Marine, Brouague acknowledges their letter of February 9th, and thanks them for appointing him Commandant of " Bras dort," and for the grant from His Majesty that ''we should enjoy the establishment which the late M. de Courte- manche had made." It will be noticed that Brouague thanks the Council for the grant in the name of his mother and half-sisters as well as his own. His reports seem to be quite illiterate compared to those of Courtemanche. For forty-one years, almost without intermission, he wrote an annual letter to the Council of the Marine, detailing the events which took place on the Labrador. They consist prin- cipally of accounts of the depredations of the Eskimos, and his efforts to warn and protect the fishermen. It soon became a practice to make Bay Phely- peaux the headquarters for the coast, and at the end of each season the fishermen brought their boats and gear for him to take care of, knowing that anything left unguarded would be stolen or destroyed. On several occasions small sealing posts, where three or four men only were employed, were attacked and THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 151 the fishermen slain. Reprisals were naturally of frequent occurrence, and the Eskimos were shot with little compunction by the enraged fishermen. Brou- ague's post was by no means a sinecure. One of his duties was the settlement of disputes among the fisher- men themselves. As in our own day, the favourite '• berths," i.e. fishing stations, were much sought after, and excited great competition, fair and otherwise. The cus- tom seemed to be for each vessel arrivin;^ on the coast to go or send to Bay Phelypeaux and procure a licence to fish in the locality each had selected in turn of arrival. Some of the fishermen did not conform to this regulation, those from the Province of Quebec particularly refusing to recognize Brouague's authority, often occasioning broils which he was powerless to put down. Each year he made a list of the vessels fishing on the coast, with the name of the captain, the number of men employed, and the quantity of oil and codfish secured (see Appendix). Isle au Bois and Blanc Sablon seem to have been the favourite fishing places ; a preference which has been displayed from Cartier's time to the present date. The methods pursued in the fishery at that time are not recorded, but Brouague writes to the Council of the Marine saying that some of the captains had protested against the use of "faux" — that is, "jiggers." They stated that many more fish were wounded than were taken, that the wounded fish fled away and were followed by the rest, and that they were of opinion that if the practice was continued the codfish would abandon the coast as they had that of Petit Nord, Newfoundland. A memorandum is made on the margin of this report to call the attention of the western 152 LABRADOR towns to the protest. Happily their misgivings were not realized.^ Brouague set himself to learn the Eskimo language from the woman taken captive in Courtemanche's time, and was afterwards able to converse with them. He solemnly records some astonishing tales about the Eskimos, learned from this woman. One tribe, she said, were mere dwarfs, two or three feet high, but remarkably fierce and active ; another tribe had white hair from the time of their birth, while a third bore a remarkable resemblance to the " Uniped " seen by the Norsemen, having one leg, one arm, and one eye. A curious persistence or repetition of a myth. On several occasions, if not every autumn, Brouague sent a party of Montaignais Indians, under the command of some of his French-Canadian trappers, to New- foundland to spend the winter hunting and trapping, game being more plentiful on that island than on the Labrador coast. He instructed them to keep a look- out for the Red Indians of Newfoundland, and to endeavour to make friends with them. They wintered at Bell Bay, which appears on the Chaviteau map, 1698, and Bellini map, 1741, and is undoubtedly Bonne Bay. They found that the Beothuks had been there quite recently, but had left and could not be found afterwards. The Montaignais said they were quite a numerous race. There is a tradition that the Mon- taignais and Beothuks were always good friends, and that the remnants of the latter unhappy race left Newfoundland and joined their friends on the Labrador, a tradition which one would be glad to find true. In 1729 a Boston vessel was driven by a south-west ^ The use of jiggers is prohibited on the Canadian Labrador in the present day. THE FRENCH ON LABRADOR, 1700-1763 153 gale into Isle au Bois, and was pronmptly confiscated by the admiral of the port, but afterwards released. A few days later, four Boston vessels put into the same port, but left the next morning. These were no doubt the forerunners of that numerous fleet which in later years monopolized the fisheries on that coast. The last report from Brouague which I have been able to procure was written in 1743 ; but he continued at his post for at least sixteen years longer, for in 1759 a letter was written by the President of the Navy Board in Paris to the Governors of Quebec, comment- ing on the depredations of the Eskimos, and suggesting that another commandant be appointed on the coast of Labrador in place of Brouague, " who was old and worn out"! Finally, in 1762, the President of the Navy Board declined to grant to an applicant the con- cession lately held by the Sieur Brouague, " which goes to Sieur de Courtemanche, if the English offer no objection!^ Therefore Brouague's death must have occurred between 1759 and 1762, possibly before the conquering English sent to dispossess him of the post which he had so honourably filled for forty-one years. The settlement at Bradore must soon have been abandoned and fallen into ruins, which eighty years later were mistaken for the remains of the mythical town of Brest. 154 LABRADOR APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IX Year. No. OF Ships. Qtls. Fish. Men. 1720 20 36,000 1721 17 40,000 1722 28 1726 15 37,000 1729 18 33,000 1275 1731 18 34,900 1406 1732 15 1733 15 46,900 1243 1735 16 50,600 1465 1736 15 56,000 1141 1739 17 48,500 1173 1742 17 5S>7"o 1231 1743 14 53>6oo 1000 The fishery was carried on principally at Isle aux Bois, but also at Bradore, Blanc Sablon, Forteau, and St. Modeste. A vessel went into Chateau in 1742, for the seal fishery, and traded peaceably with the Eskimos, evi- dently a notable occurrence, showing that the harbour had not been frequented previously. During this period the Basques sent three to six vessels annually to Port- au-Choix on the north-west coast of Newfoundland, but are not reported on the Labrador coast. CHAPTER X THE ESKIMOS A WITTY writer once described the Eskimos as : " Singular composite beings, — a link between savages and seals, — putting the seals' bodies into their own, and encasing themselves in the skins of the seals, thus walking to and fro a compound formation. A transverse section would discover them to be stratified like a roly-poly pudding — first of all seal, then biped, seal in the centre with biped, and seal at the bottom. Yet, singularly enough, these savages are cheerful and really seem to enjoy life. Though in the coldest and most comfortless dens of the earth, they are ever on the grin whatever happens, — they grin when they rub their noses with snow, when they blow their fingers when they lubricate themselves inside and out with the fat of the seal. ' Truly, then,' as Sterne says, ' Provi- dence, thou art merciful ! ' " When one considersthe extraordinary life theEskimos lead, in regions where no other human beings could long subsist, much less flourish, it must be conceded that the writer, quoted above, has stated a natural fact, and that evolution and environment have produced a type of human being which has actually some points of resemblance to the animals upon which it principally subsists. One striking point of resemblance is the abundant adipose tissue with which beneficent nature IS5 156 LABRADOR has covered both man and animal to enable them to live in such intense cold ; also the Eskimo, in his kayak, on the water, is so wonderfully expert, that he, as well as the seal, may be said to be amphibious. John Davis, one of the earliest English observers to write of them, said : " They are never out of the water, but live in the nature of fishes." " Eskimos " is the name bestowed upon the race in contempt by the Indians, and means in the Algonquin language, " eaters of raw flesh." It was first used, in the form of " Esquimawes," by Hakluyt in his Discourse of Western Planting, 1584. They speak of themselves as " Innuit," that is " men," in distinction to the rest of the world, whom they call " Kablunaet," meaning " sons of dogs." The common national appellation, in both Greenland and Labrador, is " Karalit," the meaning of which is not clear, but is probably derived from " Kalla," the Adam of their traditions.^ The origin and history of the Eskimos is one of the most interesting ethnographical studies. It is one of the most widely spread of human families, scattered bands of them occupying the whole northern part of America, from Greenland to Behring Straits, a distance of over five thousand miles. Throughout this enormous region the same language is spoken, the same customs prevail, and the same weapons are used. When some of these families were first encountered by white men, they had been so long separated from the rest of their race that all knowledge and remembrance of them had been lost. Dr. Kane found one tribe who were greatly surprised to learn that they were not the sole inhabitants of the * Another explanation is that it is derived from Skraeling, the name given to them by the Norsemen. THE ESKIMOS 157 earth, which, however, in their case, was somewhat circumscribed. The Greenlanders had some knowledge of having come from the far west, where others of their race lived, but the Labrador branch knew nothing of the Greenlanders, and it is thought probable that a thousand years might have elapsed since any communication had taken place between the Labrador Eskimos and the inhabitants of Behring Straits. It is surprising, there- fore, to find that the language had remained almost identical with these long-separated tribes. - The first Moravian missionaries, who had learned the language in Greenland, were able to converse with the Labrador Eskimos on their first encounter with perfect under- standing ; and Brother Meirtsching, a Moravian Mis- sionary from the Labrador, who accompanied the McLure expedition to the Arctic regions north of Behring Straits, reported that the language, spoken by the Eskimos there, was identical with that of Labrador. Quite recently (1901) one of the Moravian Brethren went from Labrador to Alaska, and was able to con- verse with the Eskimos there quite freely. Captain C. F. Hall, who lived familiarly with the Eskimos in Frobisher's Straits for several years, gives evidence which somewhat qualifies the above. He says : — " The pronunciations of the same words by Eskimos living a considerable distance apart and having little intercourse, is so different that they can hardly under- stand each other on coming together. It was with the greatest difficulty that the Innuits who came to Field Bay from the northern shores of Hudson's Straits could make themselves understood by the Innuits residing north of them. Sometimes Innuits arrive from North- umberland Inlet, and it takes a long time for the two 158 LABRADOR parties to understand each other. Still more difficult is it for a Greenlander to be understood by those on the west side of Davis Strait." Hall seems to speak of pronunciation rather than any actual difference of words or construction, which seem to be the same practically throughout this enormous region. This indicates that through all these hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, no development or change has taken place in their manner of life, and no necessity has arisen for new words or expressions. It also be- tokens a remarkable aloofness from other nations, as any intercourse would certainly have left some trace upon the languaga\ Brother Miertsching did, however, discover one tribe of Eskimos in North-West America whose dialect had been considerably changed by associa- tion with the neighbouring Indian tribes. From some similarity of physique it was long sup- posed that the Eskimos had sprung from the Mongolian race and had gradually spread from Asia to America. Crantz, the historian of Greenland, supports this theory, but later writers have demonstrated that the contrary is the case, and that the Asiatic Eskimos are, in fact, a contribution from the New World to the Old, and that this migration took place in comparatively modern times. No resemblance can be traced between the Mongolian and Eskimo languages, but the Eskimo language has the polysynthetical construction which characterizes American-Indian languages, and has no counterpart among the languages of the Old World ex- cept, in a very moderate degree, the Basque. A recent visitor to the Basque Provinces remarks that the facial characteristics of the people are strikingly Mongolian. Dr. Rink, who is considered the greatest authority on the Eskimos, made a very close analytical study of the THE ESKIMOS 159 different dialects spoken by them, and deduced from his studies the theory that they once inhabited a narrower original home. That they were probably, in some far off age, an inland people who had followed one of the great rivers down to the Arctic Ocean, and from thence spread east and west to the regions in which they were found at the dawn of modern history. It is probable that the antecedents of the Eskimo, as well as of the American tribes, became separated from the rest of mankind at a very early period of the world's history, and that environment and evolution have pro- duced the remarkable characteristics for which they are noted. _i>. It has been noted that the Eskimo, in physique, in the ''shape of his skull and also in his weapons and implements, bears a striking resemblance to the Cave men. This would lead one to imagine that the Eskimo is therefore a case of arrested development, and that they had been left be- hind in the general development of the human race. But when the surroundings in which they were forced to live are considered, it must be concluded that the Eskimos had ascended as far in the scale of human life as it was possible for them to reach. Their dress, their food, their habitations, their weapons, and habits were all the best possible that could be evolved for their circumstances. In theirprimitivecondition,asahumanfamily, they increased and flourished ; under civilization with civilized food, dress, etc., they have become rapidly decadent, and must soon disappear from those northern confines of the earth which they have made their own, and where no other branch of the human family can or will succeed them.* Franz Boas, in his interesting studies of the Eskimos, calls attention to the curious fact that their name for " whitemen," — Kablunaet or Kodlunet, is the same from i6o LABRADOR Greenland to Behring Straits, and so far as history is able to tell us, the first encounter between Eskimos and Europeans took place about nine hundred years ago in Labrador, and the next three hundred years later in Green- land. As there had certainly been no communication with the Western Eskimos for hundreds of years, how did the latter learn the name? A possible explanation is that the name at first implied all foreigners not Eskimos, and only lately came to mean white men in particular. Boas believes that the original home of the Eskimo is the lake region west of Hudson's Bay, for the reason that the Western Eskimos point eastward as the scene of the exploits of their traditional heroes, the Labra- doreans and Greenlanders point westward, and the Eskimos of the far north point to the south. All authorities are agreed that the tide of emigration spread from the western side of Davis Straits to Greenland. The theory has been advanced that, historically speaking, the Eskimos inhabit a diminishing area, being gradually forced to more and more northern regions by the enmity of the Indian tribes. But no evidence has been produced to show that they ever occupied any por- tion of the eastern seaboard of America south of the Straits of Belle Isle, except that they were in the habit of making summer excursions to the North of New- foundland. When, however, one considers what enor- mous distances of place, and consequently of time, separate Eskimo tribes having precisely similar customs and language, it is evident that long aeons of time were requisite for them to have developed their well-known characteristics, and for them to have accommodated themselves to the Arctic regions which have become their natural habitat. It can therefore be asserted con- fidently that, during historic times, their range has been THE ESKIMOS i6i co-extant with that of the seal on which they mainly subsist, and consequently has never been farther south than the north shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The first encounter between Europeans and Eskimos occurred when the Norsemen visited Labrador and Newfoundland about the years 1000-1003. There is no record in the Icelandic sagas of their race being known prior to that time, and, in fact, all Icelandic historians state definitely that no human beings were found in Green- land when they first went there, although broken oars and other debris showing men's handiwork were oc- casionally seen upon the seashore. It was not until the middle of the fourteenth century that the Eskimos suddenly made their appearance at the Norse settle- ments in Greenland, and therefore the accounts of the " Skraelings," encountered in Vinland as told in the saga of Eric the Red, were not derived from knowledge obtained in Greenland. It has already been related how the attacks of the " Skraelings " caused the Norsemen to abandon their project to settle in Vinland, and how they completely extirpated the Norse settlers in Greenland, so that for nearly two hundred years Greenland itself was wellnigh forgotten. The first knowledge of the Eskimos obtained by Englishmen was when three savages, " clothed in beastes skinnes, who eat raw flesh," were presented to King Henry VII by Sebastian Cabot. It is a very curious circumstance that Jacques Cartier does not mention seeing the Eskimos during the several voyages which he made along the southern Labrador coast. The Indians whom he describes were undoubtedly the Montaignais, and one is inclined to decide that there were no Eskimos on that coast at that time, as he went M i62 LABRADOR on shore in many places, and would certainly have described them had he encountered them. Neither are they mentioned in the accounts of the voyage of Roberval, who next followed Cartier through the straits, nor in the Routier of Jehan Alphonse. The Routier Rime oi ]&\\2Xi Mallart, 1546-7, says: — " The people inhabiting Labrador are dressed in furs. Their houses are in the ground. The land is cold and covered with ice ; here and there are found pine trees, but no others. The coast is dangerous by reason of ice and islands." A legend on the Mattioli map of 1547, describing the inhabitants of Baccalaos (Newfoundland), says they ate raw flesh, which the Beothuks did not do ; further on it says of the inhabitants of Labrador that they were idolatrous and warlike, and clothed themselves in skins as did the inhabitants of Baccalaos. Thus indicating a hazy notion of the Eskimos, but not specifying that they occupied the Straits of Belle Isle. Gomara's history of the West Indies, 1 5 5 1, gives a long account of the inhabitants of Labrador, which does not describe the Eskimos in any particular. The demons which are so quaintly pictured with wings and long tails on the map of Gastaldi-Ramusio, and the Island of Demons which is found on so many maps off the Labrador coast, indicate some vague knowledge of the Eskimos. But, except in the sagas, no description of them can be found until the voyage of Frobisher in 1576. According to Geo. Best's Narrative of this voyage, great friendliness was displayed by the Eskimos when first encountered. They came aboard the ship, bringing salmon and other flesh, which they bartered for " bells. THE ESKIMOS 163 looking-glasses and other toys." " After great courtesy and many meetings," the mariners relaxed their vigi- lance, and five of them going on shore one day were entrapped, and neither they nor the boat were seen again. This attack seems to have been entirely un- provoked ; but we know only one side of the story. Later on, Frobisher succeeded in decoying one of the men to his kayak alongside the ship, and seizing hold of him " pluckt him and his boat into the ship." This man was taken to England and made much of; his portrait, painted by Jan Van Heere, is still preserved in the public library at Antwerp. On the next voyage Frobisher captured a man and a woman, hoping to find out from them what had become of his lost sailors. The woman had a little infant with her, which was unfortunately wounded in the arm. The surgeon of the ship bound it up with some healing salve, " but she, not acquainted with such kinde of surgerie, plucked the salves away, and by continued licking with her own tongue, not much unlike our dogges, healed up the child's arm." Preserved among the State Papers at the Record Office is a long account of the illness and death of the man and a description of the woman, written in Latin by Dr. Edward Doddinge. It is an interesting docu- ment, but lack of space precludes its reproduction. The man, whose name was " Calighoughe," died of pulmonary disease, brought on by having two ribs broken at some previous period which had not reunited. When called to see him at the last, Doddinge applied some restorative, which caused him to rouse himself and to recognize his friends. He uttered a few words of English that he had been able to learn, " then sang aloud the same chant with which his companions and i64 LABRADOR countrymen, standing on the sea-shore, had lamented his own departure. Just as swans, foreseeing all the good in death, utter a song of joy as they die. Scarcely had I left when he passed from life to death with these words on his lips, ' God be with you ! ' " Doddinge was deeply grieved not only by his death, but by the thought that Her Gracious Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, who had expressed a great desire to see him, would be disappointed. The woman was very un- willingly persuaded to attend his burial, and Doddinge notes that " she either surpasses all our countrymen in wisdom and patience, or falls far short even of the brute creation in feeling, for she displayed absolutely no emotion at his death and no sorrow for it, making clear, by this last attitude, what we had long suspected, that she regarded him with complete contempt, and in fact had shrunk from his embraces." John Davis, when he re-discovered Greenland, found the Eskimos there in great numbers, and by " curtesee " endeavoured to allure them. " When they came unto us, we caused our musicians to play, ourselves dancing and making many signs of friendship." By means of this gentle and genial behaviour they got on very good terms. " Many times," he relates, " they waved us on shore to play at the football, and some of our company went on shore to play with them, and our men did cast them down as soon as they came to strike the ball." He declared them to be " very tractable people, void of craft or double dealing, and easily to be brought to any civiltie or good order." But when he encountered them on the Labrador on his second voyage, they treach- erously attacked and killed some of his crew, " without having offered parley or speech." After Davis, the next information obtained of the THE ESKIMOS 165 Eskimos is from the early seekers of the North-West Passage, — Hall, Hudson, Button, Gibbons, Knight, etc., who met them in Hudson's Straits or northern Labrador. They all had the same story to tell : friendliness and good-humour at first, suddenly changed into treacherous enmity and fierce attacks, without any apparent cause. It hardly seems possible that all these voyagers were to blame in this respect, and we know, on the contrary, that it was the general policy of all English voyagers to cultivate friendly relations with the Indian tribes, even to the extent of taking " musicians, hobby-horses, and such-like conceits," for their amusement. It must be concluded, therefore, that the Labrador Eskimos were a particularly fierce and truculent race. It is pro- bable that their desire for and appropriation of the boats, the wonderful new weapons and implements which the white people possessed, caused the first breaches of the peace. In their savage state they were also a most arrogant race, esteeming themselves the lords of creation and despising the " Kablunaet." At the end of the eighteenth century, after they had had considerable in- tercourse with Europeans, Cartwright relates that this feeling of superiority still generally prevailed, and it was to give them a more correct idea of their relative im- portance that he took a family of them to England with such sad results, as will be told later. The Eskimos seem to have been the Ishmaels of North America, — their hand was against every man, and every man's hand was against them. Their feuds with the North American Indians were continual and bloodthirsty to a terrible degree. I have given reasons for my belief that the Eskimos did not frequent south- ern Labrador and the Straits of Belle Isle at the time of the discovery. I am of opinion that they did x66 LABRADOR not move south until some time after the coast began to be frequented by Basque, French, and English fisher- men, and that it was the desire of obtaining iron tools and weapons and other European articles which in- duced them to do so. This period I place at the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. It has been already noted that Hakluyt, 1584, was the first European to make use of the name Eskimo given by the Indians to the race. Charlevoix says {History of Nczu France) that the Indian tribes nearest the Gulf were continually at war with the Eskimos, and often took them prisoners ; one such event took place in 1659, when a woman was captured who was possessed of a devil, but who became quiet and docile after being sprinkled with holy water. The French, when they began their settlements along the coast about 1702, found the Eskimos in considerable numbers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, even as far west as Anticosti. Tradition tells of a series of battles between the Montagnais, assisted by the French, and the Eskimos, in which the Eskimos were continually defeated and driven back to the Atlantic coast. Pointe des Monts is said to have been the theatre of one of these fights, and Old Fort Bridge another. Quite recently evidences of battle have been found at the latter locality, in the shape of broken weapons and bullets of antique mould. The best authenicated tradition is that about the year 1640 the Montaignais, armed by the French, attacked the Eskimos, who were encamped at Eskimo Island in St. Paul's Bay, and slew about a thousand of them. The remnant, estimated at two thousand, fled to the east- ward, but waged incessant warfare with the Indians and early French settlers on the coast. The last fight THE ESKIMOS 167 of importance is said to have taken place at Battle Harbour a few years before the English conquest of Canada, and a certain spot there is still pointed out as the burying-ground of those who fell in the encounter.^ The numbers reported to have been slain in these encounters are no doubt greatly exaggerated, and it seems improbable that anything in the way of a pitched battle could have taken place at all, as such a direct method of warfare was entirely contrary to the practice of either the Indians or Eskimos. While such are the traditions of continual battles, I have been unable to find authentic support for them in any accounts of Labrador. Charlevoix tells of the enmity between the Indian and Eskimo races, and in a previous chapter, "The French Occupation of Labrador," may be found further tales of general hostilities, but nowhere is there an account of anything which can be termed a battle. This racial enmity was not confined to the eastern seaboard. When Hearn made his famous journey to the Coppermine River he was accompanied by Indian guides, who, as they approached the mouth of the river, were continually on the look-out for Eskimos, and having unfortunately discovered a small family, attacked and killed them in a most ferocious manner, in spite of all Hearn could do to prevent them. No serious disturbance is known to have taken place after the arrival of the Moravians on the coast. In 1855-60 the Indians suffered terribly from hunger, and ^ It has been supposed that Battle Harbour obtained its name from this occurrence, but in reality the name is found on many maps as "Batal" two hundred years before the fight is said to have taken place. The meaning of the word is quite clear, being the Portuguese word for a boat or canoe. On the Viegas map, 1534, a Golf du Batel is marked in the neighbourhood of Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. i68 LABRADOR many parties of them were found and brought by the Eskimos to the Mission Stations, and there supported on the best they could supply. On another occa- sion the Indians were able to reciprocate by rescuing a band of Eskimos who had gone into the interior to the salmon and trout pools, but being unsuccessful, were dying of starvation when found by the Indians. Modern travellers, who have met the Eskimos in their primitive state, unite in attributing to them the most amiable and good-natured dispositions. But occa- sionally tribes have been met with who displayed as much fierceness and truculency as did those of Labra- dor in the earlier days. The reason given for the exceptional character of these tribes was that they had been subject to continual attacks from the Indians, and therefore viewed all outsiders with suspicion and hatred. This excuse can possibly be offered for the Labrador Eskimos with equal force. The latest traveller to meet them in their unsophisticated condition is Capt. Roald Amundsen, during the first famous voyage through the North-West Passage, just accomplished. He expressed his firm conviction that the Eskimos, living absolutely isolated from civilization of any kind, were undoubtedly the happiest, healthiest, most honourable, and most contented, and concludes his account of the primitive Nechili tribe by sincerely wishing that civilization might never reach them. Capt. W. Coats, who made many voyages to Hudson's Bay between the years 1727 and 175 1, is a strong apologist for the Eskimos. He says : — " I do assert that these people are not near so savage as is represented by our earlier voyagers, and that their confidence is in their innocence, not in numbers . . . a docile, inoffensive, good-natured, humane people." THE ESKIMOS 169 He considered it unpardonable for the Hudson Bay Company not to have attempted their conversion and civih'zation. He said they were bold, hardy, and un- daunted, living in affluence and plenty, " and would not change their fat dabbs for all the luxuries of the East . . . they look on us with more compassion than we do them ... in these is such a serenity and camposedness on every occasion {jiot but they are very fond of iron), that I have often beheld them with great admira- tion." The veiled allusion to their thievish habits, in parenthesis, is very quaint. It is difficult, therefore, to theorize upon this matter, and it seems safer to conclude that their conduct de- pended largely upon the treatment they received. One thing only seems certain, that up to the time of the English occupation, the Eskimos were the terror of the Straits of Belle Isle and southern Labrador, and largely interfered with the prosecution of the fishery on that coast. The story of their civilization and con- version to Christianity will be told later. No trustworthy evidence is obtainable as to the number of Eskimos in Labrador when it was taken possession of by the English. The Moravian Mission- aries estimated their numbers at 3000 when they began their work in 1763. Lieut. Curtis, who visited the Moravian settlements in 1773, says he had been at some pains to obtain information on the point. His estimate was as follows : — From Straits of Belle Isle going north, the first tribe was known as that of Ogbuctoke 270 persons The Nonyoki 100 „ ,, Keewedloke .... 360 ,, „ Nepawktoot . . . . 70 „ 170 LABRADOR The Cannuklookthuock 345 persons ,, Chuckbuck .... 140 ,, ,, Chuckbelwut .... 40 „ Noolaktucktoke 30 „ Nuckvak 60 From Nuckbak north into Ungava Bay 210 ,, 1625 No doubt the estimate of the Moravian Brethren is more likely to be correct. CHAPTER XI THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION AFTER the taking of Quebec and conquest of ^ Canada, Labrador naturally fell into the hands of the English. At that time, it is said the Eskimos so infested the Straits of Belle Isle that it was not safe for a fishing vessel to go there alone. An organized band of Eskimos came each summer from the north, ostensibly for the purpose of trading, but they generally contrived to obtain very much more of the coveted European goods by stratagem and force than they did by fair means. Their plan was to creep along the coast endeavouring to find some unsuspecting fishermen, and at night or in foggy weather to make a sudden descent upon them, uttering the most frightful yells, in the hope that the fishermen would abandon their property and flee. Such was the terror in which they were held that this often had the desired effect. If, however, the Europeans stood firm, the Eskimos at once came for- ward in the most friendly way and began a barter trade ; but if the fishermen relaxed their vigilance for a moment they were attacked and murdered in the most barbarous fashion. One of the earliest acts of Sir Hugh Palliser after the transfer of Labrador to Newfoundland was to issue the following " Order for Establishing Communication with the Eskimo Savages " : — 171 172 LABRADOR Order for Establishing Couimunication and Trade zuith the Esquimaux Savages oft the Coast of Labrador, ^7^5- BY HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH PALLISER, ETC. Whereas many and great advantages would arise to His Majesty by establishing a friendly intercourse with the Indians on the Coast of Labrador, and as all attempts hitherto made for that purpose have proved ineffectual, especially with the Esquimaux in the Northern Ports without the Straits of Belle Isle, owing in a great measure to the imprudent, treacherous or cruel conduct of some people who have resorted to that Coast, by plundering and killing several of them, from which they have entertained an opinion of our dispositions and intentions being the same towards them as theirs is towards us, that is to circumvent and kill them. And whereas such wicked practices are most contrary to His Majesty's senti- ments of humanity, to his endeavours to induce them to trade with his subjects in conformity to these His Majesty's senti- ments and Commands. I hereby strictly forbid such wicked practices for the future and declare that all such as are found offending herein shall be punished with the utmost severity of the law. And Whereas I am endeavouring to establish a friendly communication between His Majesty's subjects and the said natives on the Coast of Labrador, and to remove these pre- judices that have hitherto proved obstacles to it. I have invited Interpreters and Missionaries to go amongst them to instruct them in the principles of religion, to improve their minds, and remove their prejudices against us. I hereby strictly enjoin and require all His Majesty's subjects who meet with any of the said Indians to treat them in a most civil and friendly manner and in all their dealings with them not to take any effects from them without satisfying them for the same, not to impose on their ignorance or necessities, not to foment or encourage quarrels, discord or animosities amongst them. THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 173 And above all things not to supply them with strong liquor, which at present the Northern Esquimaux have an aversion to, but by all fair, just and gentle means, to encourage and invite them to come with their commodities to trade with His Majesty's subjects and to be particular kind to such of them as may produce copy of this which is to serve as a certificate of His Majesty having taken them under his pro- tection. And that I have in His Majesty's name assured them that they may safely trade with all his subjects without danger of being hurt or illtreated. And I hereby require and direct all His Majesty's subjects to pay the strictest regard thereto, at the same time recommending it to both parties to act with the utmost caution for their own security, till by frequent communication perfect confidence may be established between them. Given under my hand, 8th April, 1765, Hugh Palliser. By Command of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. Sir Hugh went to Chateau Bay himself in his ship, the Guernsey, in order to open the friendly relations with the natives, which he advocated. As an example of " the state of nerves " which the Eskimos had con- trived to produce in all who visited Labrador at that time, witness the following anecdote. It is related by Sir Joseph Banks, the great traveller and naturalist, in the manuscript journal of his visit to Newfoundland and Labrador in 1766, which has never yet been pub- lished. It is an amusing commentary on Sir Hugh's proclamation published above : — "In August, 1765, as Commodore Palliser in the Guernsey, a 50-gun ship, lay in this harbour (Chateau) expecting the Indians, one dark night in a thick fog. 174 LABRADOR the ship's company were alarmed by a noise they had never heard before. Everyone awake conjectured what it could possibly be. It came nearer and nearer, grew louder and louder ; the First Lieutenant was called up. He was the only man in the ship who had ever seen an Eskimo. Immediately he heard the noise he declared he remembered it well. It was the war-whoop of the Eskimo, who were certainly coming in their canoes to board the ship and cut all their throats. The com- modore was acquainted ; up he bundled upon deck, ordered the ship to be cleared for action, all hands to the great guns, arms in the tops, everything in as good order as if a French man-of-war of equal force was within half a mile bearing down upon them. The Niger, which lay at some distance from them, was hailed, and told the Indians were coming, — when the enemy appeared in the shape of a flock of Whobbies or Loons, (a species of goose), swimming and flying about the harbour, which from the darkness of the night they had not before seen. All hands were then sent down to sleep again, and no more thought of the Indians till the Niger's people came on board next day, who will probably never forget that their companions cleared ship and turned up all hands to a flock of ' Whobbies.' " Palliser succeeded nevertheless in getting upon very friendly terms with four or five hundred Eskimos, and in his Regulations for the Labrador Fishery, issued on August 25th, 1765, he gives particular directions for the conduct of the fishermen towards them. The Fishing Admirals were enjoined "to prevent anything being done to break the peace I have made with the Carolit or Eskimo savages on the 21st inst, who have promised to live in friendship with us by night and by day so Refioduced by kind J>en!2ission of the Lords Cciniiiissiotiers pJ the Admiralty ADMIRAL SIR HIGH PALLISER Facing p. 174 THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 175 long as we forebare to do them any harm." The privilege of trafficking with the savages, in carefully prescribed manner, was one of the perquisites of the Fishing Admirals. But his endeavours were at once frustrated by the barbarous actions of the crews of some New England vessels, of whom he complains in the following letter to Sir Francis Bernard, the Governor of Boston : — "St. John's, '■'August \st, 1766. " Sir, "The great trouble and difficulty I met with in keeping good order amongst the fishers in a port of this Government, occasioned chiefly by a number of disorderly people from your Province, will, I hope, excuse me giving you the trouble to beg you will permit the enclosed advertisements to be put up in the towns under your Government, where the vessels employed in the whole fishery mostly belong, which I apprehend will greatly facilitate my proceedings in the execution of the King's orders for the benefit of His Majesty's subjects carrying on the fisheries within this Government. The last year while a tribe of four or five hundred Eskimo savages were with me at Pitts Harbour, and by means of interpreters I made a peace with them, and sent them away extremely well satisfied and without the least offensive thing happening to them, I am well informed some New England vessels, contrary to the orders, went to the northward, robbed, plundered, and murdered some of their old men and women and children who they left at home, so that I expect some mischief will happen this year, revenge being their principle. " Hugh Palliser." 176 LABRADOR This, by the way, is the earliest record of the New England vessels frequenting the coast in any numbers. In a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty in 1766, Palliser complains that the small sloops which he had under his command were not fit for the work which they had to do, and which he thus describes : " To keep the French within the limits prescribed by treaties, and thereby prevent their rivalling us in our valu- able fish trade. To prevent this country becoming a mart for all kinds of clandestine trade between the French and our own colonies. To enforce the fishing laws and preserve peace and some degree of order amongst the fisheries, especially amongst the mixed multitudes now resorting to the new northern banks about the Straits of Belle Isle, composed of about 5000 of the very scum of the most disorderly people from the different colonies, disturbing each other, and conspiring to ruin and exclude all British adventurers from that new and valuable fishery. The whole number of men and ships employed in these parts this year amounts to about 3500 vessels and 15000 men employed on board of them, which adds to the confusion, and this upon a coast inhabited by the most savage people in the world — the Eskimo. " All these circumstances have required the whole number of King's ships on the station and my utmost endeavours to preserve peace and prevent bloodshed, and to prevent the greatest mischief" This is a very confused letter, and it seems impossible that there could have been anything like that number of fishermen frequenting the Labrador coast at that period. It was with the greatest difficulty that Palliser could THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 177 keep the French from poaching upon the Labrador and Belle Isle. In spite of warnings they continued to offend, even to the extent of trying to bribe the officers of His Majesty's ships for permission to remain. Palliser therefore posted up notices at Croque in 1765, saying that any French vessels thereafter caught poaching would be confiscated. In the eyes of Sir Hugh Palliser, the sole value of Newfoundland and Labrador was that they should be kept as a nursery for the British Navy. Granting that this was the end chiefly to be desired, his regulations were admirable. On April 13th, 1766, he addressed the following letter to the Admiralty, giving his views in full :— [Copy.] April IT,, 1^66. Proposals for Encouraging the Fisheries o?i the Coast of Labradore, and for Improving that at Newfoundland} The following Proposals are founded on a Knowledge of The Valuable Fisheries, That may be carried on upon the Coast of Labradore ; and suggested, by taking a View of, and reflecting upon, a compared State of our's and the French Fisheries in Newfoundland, and The great Disproportion of the Advantages arising therefrom to each Nation respectively ; Also on a Con- clusion that Fisheries (Abstracted from Pecuniary Advantages) are of the utmost Importance to all Maritime Nations ; and more particularly to this, They being the greatest and most certain Nurseries for Seamen : Yet observing, That by Neg- lects, Abuses, and the want of proper Regulations, The Advantages, That are absolutely Necessary for the Safety of The State may be lost ; As is verified by the present State and Management of our Newfoundland Fishery, which instead of being a Nursery for, is the true Cause of the often experienced ^ Additional MSS., 33,030, f. 220-225 (Brit. Mus.) N 178 LABRADOR Scarcity of Seamen, for Manning our Fleets on sudden | and Dangerous Occasions ; and is an Effectual Bar to all such Increase of Seamen as is provided for by the Laws of This and all Nations, relating to Fisheries. My Poor and Humble Opinion here offer'd for Establishing a JVeiv British Fishery ajid towards recovering the most i77iportant Adva7itages of an Old One, is most Humbly submitted to Consideration. I. First, as to The New One. If Regulations are made for the Coast of Labradore, calcu- lated to encourage Adventurers, from His Majesty's Dominions in Europe, It will, in a short Time, prove a great Source of Wealth and Naval Strength to This Kingdom ; But, in Order To secure These Advantages to the State, The Regulations, That may be made, should, in my Humble Opinion above all Things, First, Provide against The Existe?ice of a?iy Pretensions what- ever to property, or Exclusive Right or Possessions, or Monopolies, on that Coast ; which should be declared Publick, and Free to all the King's Subjects, with all proper Preferences and Advan- tages to Those from His Majesty's Dominions in Europe. And next, In Order To put a Stop to The Horrid Massacres, and Many Other Mischiefs committed on the poor Natives of that Country by Numbers of Lawless People from all Parts, resorting Thither ; No Residents whatever, (as yet) should be permitted, duriftg The Winter, and The Absence of The King's Ships ; except ivhat may be particularly me7itioned in the Regic- lations, 'Till a farther Knowledge can be obtained concerning the Nature of the Country, The Indian Inhabitants, &c., &c. ; in Order to make such farther Regulations, as may hereafter be judged best for The Benefit of The Fisheries, and The Trade of His Majesty's Subjects. That, To encourage Adventurers To begin The Fishery in a proper way, a Boimty be Lnmediately offer'd to British Ships resorting Thither, directly from His Majestfs Do?ninions in Europe, properly Equipt for both The Whale and Cod Fishery ; THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 179 Such a Bounty to depend on the Number of Mefi actually going out frotn, and returning directly to His Majesty's Dominions in Europe, zvith a Proportion of Nezv Men, (viz.) Every Fifth Man to be a New or Green Man, (That is to \ say ) Not a Seaman, or having ever been at Sea before; with such other Restrictions, and Conditions, as may Effectually guard against Abuses, and fully answer The Main Objects of bringing Home and Increasing Seamen. If Part of This Bounty was paid, on The Ship's Sailing, y^ri"/ givifig proper Security for perfo7-ming The Conditions prescribed for the Voyage, as is The Practice in France, It would send out great Numbers of New Adventurers and Industrious Fishermen, Independent of Rich Merchants ; and This will prevent The Fishery being a Monopoly to a Few. Such a Bounty would produce to the Nation, all the Advan- tages proposed, by That now given to The Greenland Ships, but in a far greater Degree, both as to The Number of The Men to be employ'd, and thereby secured in constant Readiness for Defence of The State, as by The great Profits That will arise from the Labour of such Increased Number of Men ; For the Bounty now paid, on an Average of The Three last Years to The Greenland Ships, is not less than ;^'26,oco p"" An., for not more than 1800 Men, employ'd | Therein; which amounts to 1411. 8s. od. p"^ Man. If a Bounty is given, as before proposed, at ^3 a Head, which, I think, would be proper To begin with; when It amounts to That Sum, It will provide 8666 Men in Constant Readiness for Manning our Fleets, besides a Yearly Increase of 1,733 such Men. Whatever Bounty is at first given to This Fishery, in a few Years, may be lessen'd, after It is once set a Foot; and That The Block-Houses, hereafter proposed, are finish' d upon That Coast, It must be observed. That the two Principal Branches of this Fishery, are for Whales and Cod, The others for Seals and Salmon ; Also the Indian Truck are very Inconsiderable Objects, compared with the two first; Therefore 27ie Regulatiojts with i8o LABRADOR Respect to Them should cotisider them only as Articles to be bestowed as Retvards to the most Advenitirous and Industrious in the other two. This seems proper for raising a Useful Spirit of Emulation, and is what I studied to do by My Regulations for That Coast, the last year, by granting certain Priviledges respecting those Articles to \ the V, 2'' and j'^ arriving Ships in each port from Europe ; For It must also be observed. That the Ports that admit of proper Situations for Sealing, or Rivers for Salmon, or Places resorted to by Lidiatis, are but few. As a farther Encouragement, and Security, to British Adventurers upon That Coast as well during the Fishing Season, as for such Winters Crews, as by the Regulations to be made, They may be permitted to leave, I would propose ; That the Coast be divided into Three Districts, viz. The North, The South, and The West, Each containing about lOO Leagues of Sea Coast ; That a Kin^s Ship be stationed on Each, duri?ig t/ie Fishing Season, as tvell for Protection of The Fishery, as for regulating Disputes and Disorders amongst the Fishers ; That at some of the Principal Ports, in each District, be erected a Strong Block-House, for the Security of sjich Winters Crews, and of the Boats, ^c^, left on the Coast by the Fishers ; such Block-Houses to be in such Situations, as may be found best for These Purposes. This will also be Estab- lishing the Possessory Right to the whole Country. The Block-Houses here proposed are of a New Construction, far stronger than any other hitherto used ; affording double the Defence and Conveniencies of any other hitherto constructed of the same Dimensions, yet not more Expensive. Besides, the Bounty above proposed, for setting on Foot the New Whale and Cod Fishery on the Labradore Coast, If a Bounty was to be given for a few Years only to all Ships bring- ing Home not less than 21 Alen, directly from the Fisheries of Newfoundland, at the Rate of 30 shillings a Head, That being the present Price of a Man's Passage Home, It would prove a great Encouragement to the Trade, greatly contribute to restore the Ships Fishery there, prevent our men running to THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION i8i America, lessen the Number of Residents in Newfoundland, draw from thence many thousands of Men who remain there only for Want of the Means of returning ; And this, together with what may be expected from The Labradore Fishery, will soon provide such a Number of Men always at Hand in This Country for Manning our Fleets, as would be in effect a Register'd Marine Guard for | Security of the Nation against all sudden Dangers, without distressing other Branches of Trade, and prove a Real Nursery for Seamen. Scheme for Executing what is here proposed — For Estab- lishing the Block-Houses. The Commanders of the King's Ships on that Coast to be directed, this Year to look out for and make Report of Places within their Districts fit for such Posts ; Each of the Stationed Ships, the next Year, to carry out all Materials, That can't be had There, with proper Workmen for Erecting one of These Block-Houses in Their Respective Districts, and this Method to be Observed Yearly, till as many are Erected, as may be thought necessary. I have visited and examined York or Chateaux Bay, with all its contaified Harbours ; And as This will always be the principal Port on that Coast, If I ain empower" d, I will under- take myself to see One of these Useful Block-Houses finish! d at that Place this Year ; This will be an Pmnediate Encourage- meftt to The Adventurers, and Establish the Possessory Right to the Country at a Place in the Center of the whole Coast. I would propose to leave in these Block-Houses, either a Sea Officer with a Party of Seajnefi, or a Marine Officer tvith the like Number of Afarines, belonging to the Stationed Ship, (or a Detachment from the Garrison at St. John's) such Officers and Meti to be relieved Every Year. 6 or 7 Men in each or at the Most lo Men, Officer included, fully sufficient. The Officer during this Temporary Residence vested with the Power of a Justice of Peace. Such Part of These Block-Houses, as are to be of Wood, may either be framed and prepared here, carried out, and i82 LABRADOR Immediately set up there, or a proper Number of Workmen may be sent out in Each Frigate, and Build them with the Timber there, carrying such other Materials as may be wanted ; Either of these ways I apprehend the Expence will not be great, may be exactly Estimated, and the Precise Time of their Execution ascertained. If They are to be wholly of Stone, The Expence, I appre- hend, will be considerable ; Besides the Uncertainty of meet- ing proper Stone there. But This may be better Judged of hereafter, I would therefore recommend that One Block- House on the afore-mentioned Plan, this Year, he first erected of Wood, at York Bay, in case of a Disappointment of Stone. Annex'd is a Sketch of the Block-Houses here proposed with the Engineers Estimates. It will greatly facilitate the Establishment of the Fisheries, and procure a safe and Peaceable Access for His Majesty's Subjects to the Coast of Labradore, If the Brethren of The Unitas Fratrum are encouraged to settle amongst the Indians, as Missionaries, (which they are very Solicitous to do) I would therefore propose to grant them any Priviledges, That may not be inconsistent with the Prosperity, and Freedom of the Fisheries ; and to give them one of the afore-ine7itioned Block- Houses to themselves to live in, at any Place they might pitch Up07l. The French now give a great Bounty to Their Newfound- land Fishery ; Their particular Regulations I have not been able to get : But the Object thereof is. To secure the Return of Their Men to France, with a certain Yearly Increase of such Men ; From the best Account I have been able to get. The Bounty which their Merchants actually received, the last year, amounted to between j and 4. Founds p'' man upon 13,362 Men, which they had employ' d the last Year. Now, If the Court of France finds Her Account in Paying 40 or 50 Thousand Pounds p' An. for the Return of 13,362 Men from Her Fisheries, | with a Yearly Increase of One in THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 1S3 Every Five on that Number, It becomes a Matter of Considera- tion, Whether an Equal Sum would not be well laid out by Britain, for providing Double that Number, To give us the Superiority over France in that Important Article of Men, fit for, and always ready to man our Fleet, which we are now absolutely robb'd of by the present Method of the Fisheries being carried on, The men remaining There ; Therefore never to be had for that Service ; Nor have we such Yearly Increase as France has ; But on the Contrary, a Loss of great Numbers That yearly run to America. Hugh Palliser. April 13. 1766. [Endorsed :] Proposals for Encouraging The Fisheries on the Coast of Labrador, and for Improv- ing That at Newfoundland. R. from Comm" Palliser on his Attendance at the Adm'^ Board, The 14 April 1766. Sir Hugh energetically endeavoured to carry out these propositions, and w^as particularly harsh in his treatment of would-be settlers. In his evidence before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1794, he boasted there w^ere three thousand men less in the colony of Newfoundland at the end of his term of office than there were at the beginning. Thus carrying out in full Lord North's elegant dictum "that whatever the would-be colonists wished raw was to be given to them roasted, and whatever they wished roasted was to be given to them raw." But in spite of all hindrances the settlement of the country continued. While discouraging any permanent settlement in the 1 84 LABRADOR colonies, Palliser was full of consideration for the fishermen, especially for those employed in that branch of the fishery carried on by vessels sailing every year from Great Britain known as the "Ship Fishery." When he returned to England he became a member of the House of Commons, and introduced and pushed through the House a Bill known commonly as Palliser's Act (15 George HI), for the encouragement of the Ship Fishery by bounties, and the betterment of the fisher- men. This Act was very unpopular with the merchants interested in the fishery, and is said nearly to have ruined the industry it was intended to encourage. One of its clauses enacted that advances made by the merchants to the fishermen were only good to the extent of one-half of the men's wages. The position of the unfortunate servants had up to that time been pitiable. They were kept almost in a state of slavery, poorly paid, badly treated, and encouraged to spend their hardly earned wages in drink and unnecessaries. In the same House of Commons Report which is quoted above, one witness states that " rum is a material neces- sary of life in Newfoundland." The duty was three- pence per gallon only, so that it could be freely indulged in, with what results may be easily imagined. The following is a characteristic servant's account which was submitted at this enquiry : — THOS. LEAMAN, Debtor to WILLIAM COLLINS. 1787. £ s. d. 15th Oct. To I quart of rum I 3 „ 10 lbs. tobacco . I 17th „ ,, 2 cotton shirts 18 ,, I fjuart rum I 3 30th „ ,, I „ brandy 1 3 1 2th Nov. „ I „ rum . I 3 THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 185 1787. £ s. d. 1 2th Nov. To I pair shoes . . . .09 )) ^ gallon rum . 2 6 )) I quart rum I 3 20th „ )j I „ » I 3 25th „ >j I „ ,, I lb. s oap 2 3 29th „ >> I ,. » I 3 2nd Dec. >) I „ „ T 3 7th „ )) I „ „ I 8th „ )) I „ n I 3 9th „ )> I >, „ I 3 17th „ )> I lb. tea . 5 )! I quart rum C I 3 18th „ >J I )) )) I 3 2 1 St „ )> ^ )) )) I 3 24th „ ;> 2 quarts ,, 2 6 26th „ )) I lb. sugar I 1788. 4th Jan. J) I quart rum I 3 )) I )) )j I 3 7th „ )) •^ )) )) • I 3 )) I lb. pepper . 5 8th May )) I yard half ribbon I loth „ J) I quart molasses I nth „ )> I ,, brandy I 3 i8th „ ?) I ,, molasses I 24th „ J) I ,, brandy I 3 2nd June )> ^ gallon gin 2 6 )) I quart molasses I loth „ )) 2 quarts brandy 2 6 i6th „ )) I quart „ I 3 >) I quart molasses I 3 30th „ >> ^ )! )) I 3 )) your washing . I )) your doctoring 8 )) your hospital . 2 6 »> neglect of duty and upholding and encouraging of two men who ran away in my debt 20 8 £27 3 i86 LABRADOR CONTRA, Cr. By his summer's wages Balance due William Collins . Account as settled by Judgement of the Court. Wages agreed for . . . . • • ^26 By the 14 Sec. 31st Cap. 15, George III, No em- ployer is to advance to his servant in money liquor or goods more than half the amount of his wages 13 Due Thomas Leaman . . j[^\'i^ £ s. d. 26 I 3 ::27 3 which William Collins is to pay immediately or he will be prosecuted for it, and for the penalty of the Act, in the Court of Session. There can be no doubt that Palliser did much to mitigate the hard lot of the fishermen, however harsh he may have been to the settlers.^ It will be seen later that the endeavours of Palliser and his successors to carry out on the Labrador the Fishery regulations of Newfoundland occasioned such opposition from certain grantees of fishing posts on the coast, that the whole Labrador was transferred to the jurisdiction of Quebec. Governor Carleton of Quebec addressed two letters to him in 1766 and 1767, requesting that certain Canadians be permitted to retain fishing posts occu- pied by them. 1 Palliser's Act did not carry out in full the intentions expressed in his "Memorandum." No bounty was offered for codfish caught on the Labrador coast. To be entitled to the bounty it was provided that codfish must be caught on the banks and cured on the Newfoundland coast. But by another clause bounties were offered to the first five ships arriving from the whale fishery, with at least one whale, taken in the Gulf of St. Lawrence or on the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland. THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 187 Sir Hugh replied refusing this request, and saying that it was the intention of the King to reserve the Labrador fishery for the adventurers from Great Britain. He, however, naturally received the hearty support of the Ship Fishers from England, who in 1767 addressed the following memorial to him : — Memorial from the Merchants Adventurers in Labrador, i'j6'j TO HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH PALLISER, Etc., Etc. We the undersigned being Adventurers in the Fishery from Britain to the Coast of Labrador, beg leave to represent to Your Excellency that We and a great many others are deter- mined to pursue the Ship Fishery with spirit to this Coast, since by your measures it is made manifest that we may depend on being supported therein under the Rules and Regulations prescribed by the Statute of the loth and nth of William III and that the Government will provide a sufficient security for the Persons, Ships, Effects and Shipping Works of the Adventurers, as well from the several nations of Savages of the country, as from the depredations, outrages and encroachments which we have been exposed to, from the many lawless crews resorting hither from the different planta- tions and elsewhere. And as We are satisfied your measures are proper for pre- serving good order and for the public benefit, without giving undue preference to Individuals, We beg leave to offer to your consideration our Opinion that it will be a great en- couragement to the Ship Fishery, if such fishing ships as may first make a new place and fishing conveniences thereon can be only allowed to enjoy the same to their own use and benefit, so long as they continue to occupy and use the same with British fishing ships yearly, but no longer ; a Declaration of your sentiments upon this head, and that you think such a custom will be conformable to the intention of the said i88 LABRADOR Statute for extending and improving the fishery, will, we know, determine great numbers immediately to become ship adven- turers to this Coast from Britain. On this occasion We also beg leave to return our thanks for the advantages We have already experienced from the pains the King's Officers upon this Coast under Your Excellency's directions, have taken for putting a stop to the great disorders that have of late years been committed on this Coast by lawless crews from the Colonies, by which great advantages to the nation have been lost, the Coast kept in a state of War, and the utmost confusion reigned amongst the many different people from the different Colonies, all disputing, contending and obstructing each other, and ye whole conspiring to exclude and ruin Adventurers from Britain. We beg the continuance of your measures for supporting us in our rights and privileges as Ship Fishers from Britain, arriving yearly Equipped and Manned as the aforementioned Statute directs, against all obstructions and interlopers, and particularly that care may be taken for preserving the woods for the uses of the Fishery, which is already very scarce, many tracts of many leagues each having been already fired and destroyed by the aforementioned disorderly crews, and above all. We hope that you will not allow of any Patents or Grants from the Governors of any of the Plantations, for any persons whatever to hold exclusively any particular districts or Harbours on this Coast, or any branches of the Fishery thereon, such as we have been informed the Governor of Quebec has made, since such a practice would prove not only the immediate ruin of us, but of ye whole Fishery in general. Signed by all the Adventurers Ship Masters AND Agents upon the Coast this year. From a marked similarity in portions of the language of the memorial to the letter written by Sir Hugh to the Admiralty previously quoted, the suspicion naturally THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 189 arises that the memorial was, in part at least, inspired. Sir Hugh replied to this memorial as follows : — Extract frouL Governor's Reply to Merchants' Memorial, 1767. All inhabitants, settlements and possessions upon this Coast of Labrador between the limits of the Government of Quebec and the limits of the Hudson Bay Companies Charter are forbid by His Majesty's Proclamation of the 7th October, 1763 and all persons who had then made any settlements here under pretended grants from any of the Governors of the Colonies, or any other pretence are by the said Proclamation warned to withdraw and quit the same, therefore; and for better securing the Ship Fishers' Works from being destroyed in their absence, no person can be permitted to stay on this Coast in the winter till His Majesty's farther pleasure shall be known, except ye masters of three of the first arriving fishing ships at or within the limits of each principal Harbour here- after named, may choose to leave each a crew of twelve men (who agree to stay) and no more for the winter sealing voyage, etc., the foreman or shippers of such privileged crews to be proven trusty men, and to be furnished with a certificate from the Master of the fishing ship to which they belong, who is to be answerable for the conduct of his crew so left, and to make good any damages they may commit to the fishing works. The Masters of the three first arriving ships who intend to use this privilege must in future declare it in writing to the fishing Admiral at each principal port on or before the first day of August each year ; this is allowing full as many crews as there are Posts within the Umits of each Port fit for the Seal Fishery, and this reference thereof given to the first arrivers is intended as a reasonable and useful reward and encouragement to the most adventurous and industrious Ship Fishers, besides this limitation of the number of winterers, is absolutely necessary for preventing constant quarrels about these sealing Posts, and igo LABRADOR likewise many other quarrels, outrages, disorders and even frequent shocking murthers, that yearly happen amongst numbers of such people staying in this desert country, like- wise to prevent quarrels, murthers and acts of violence against ye natives of ye country by which they will be provoked to be always our enemies and to obstruct ye fishery. And as a further encouragement to ye ship adventurers on this Coast, a strong blockhouse is erected in Pitt's Harbour, with an officer and a guard established there under ye pro- tection of which they may leave any number of boats, craft, and fishing utensils in perfect security during ye winter ; and it is intended to erect others such for ye same purpose at other convenient places along ye Coast. On this footing ye fisheries on this Coast must remain, till ye King may please to order it otherwise. Given under my hand in Pitt's Harbour, Labrador, loth August, 1767. Hugh Palliser. By Order of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. The fort here alluded to was known as York Fort, and was planned by Capt. Dobbieg and Lieut. Bossett, Engineers at St. John's. Sir Hugh sent Lieut. Beardsley in the We/ls cutter to report on the requirements for building the fort, and as the season was then too far advanced for it to be undertaken, he was directed to build a " defencible house." Sir Thos. Adams, in H.M.S. Niger, was directed to assist him. Sir Joseph Bank's journal contains the following entry : — " September 7th. At last York Fort was finished, which everybody agrees was a very surprising piece of work to have finished in the time it was almost entirely by the ship's company. Lieut, Waters has taken up his residence there, and I have spared him the only (/////'//// f ■ . ,,// r/n Mc (ra.'. Reproduced from o YORK FORT Facing p. 190 THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 191 thermometer I have left. He promises to give me an account of the weather next year." It does not seem possible that the elaborate fort originally planned could have been built in such a short time, and I therefore conclude York Fort was only a " defencible house." Each successive officer commanding York Fort was instructed to protect the fishermen, to apprehend and to bring to trial any irregular crews from the colonies whose misdeeds had been such a continual source of trouble, to cultivate friendly relations with the Eskimos, but to take every precaution against being surprised by those treacherous savages, and to prevent the French from encroaching on the Labrador fishing grounds. The garrison were strictly forbidden to interest them- selves in the fishery or any commercial enterprise. York Fort, however, did not prove to be of much benefit or protection. Admiral Duff wrote in 1775 to Governor Carleton, of Quebec, that he had procured the sentiments and opinion of the merchants and traders there on the matter, and they had stated that the gar- rison at York Fort was of no material benefit to the winter residents, and he had consequently given orders for it to be withdrawn. The ordinance and stores were taken to St. John's and given in charge of the ordinance storekeeper, Mr. Edward White, who rendered an account of them to Governor Montague. Hatton and Harvey in their history of Newfoundland say that York Fort was captured by an American Privateer in 1786 (see 1778), and again by the French under Admiral Richery, in 1796. On the latter occasion the English are said to have made a gallant defence and then to have retired after 192 LABRADOR having destroyed their stores. This account has been repeated by Packard and other recent writers about Labrador. There seems to be no foundation for either story in fact. To begin with, York Fort was not garrisoned in 1778, and we can be sure if it had been would have been carefully avoided by that " lying rascal Grimes," as George Cartwright calls him, in the American Privateer, Mhierva. Attacking forts was not his line of business. Cartwright gives a full account of his doings on the coast, and says that Grimes went into Temple Bay and took three vessels from Noble and Pinson, but does not mention the taking of York Fort. In 1780 guns and ammunition were sent from St. John's for the defence of Spear Harbour, Labrador. Admiral Richery's descent upon the coast in 1796 was not a much greater feat of arms than that of Grimes. He took and destroyed the little fishing village of Bay Bulls, hovered off St. John's for a few days, but think- ing discretion the better part of valour sailed to the Straits of Belle Isle, where he wrought considerable havoc among the fishing fleet. The Colonial Records for 1796 do not contain any account of Admiral Richery's attack on the Labrador fishing establishments, but in the following year Captain Ambrose Crofton, in H.M.S. Pluto, was sent to report upon the state of the fishery on the Labrador, the Magdalene Islands, and the more remote parts of Newfoundland. In a letter dated H.M.S. Pluto, Miquelon Island, September 17th, 1797, he reported to the Governor of Newfoundland as follows : — " From Croque Harbour I proceeded to Temple Bay, Labrador, and having been informed that the French THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 193 [meaning Admiral Richery's squadron], continued at Temple Bay two days after it was abandoned by the inhabitants, I thought it proper to have the British Colours hoisted in form, and gave the Merchants Agent a written document similar to the enclosed : — " Whereas three ships of war belonging to the French Republic supposed to be part of a squadron under the Orders of Admiral Richery — did in the month of September last, Attack, Land and Destroy by Fire and otherwise the British settlement in the Harbour of Temple Bay, on the Coast of Labrador — also the two Forts on Temple Point which were erected by the Merchants for the defence of said Harbour, "Therefore to prevent the French Republic having any claim to the settlement in Temple Bay or to any other part of the Coast of Labrador, Know all men by these presents that I, Ambrose Crofton, Esq., Commander of His Majesty's Ship Pluto, do publicly take possession of the said settlement and Harbour of Temple Bay — likewise the Coast of Labrador, in such manner to all intents and purposes as the said Coast of Labrador was considered to belong to the Crown of Great Britain previous to the arrival of the French ships of war here last September. And I further Certify that I have done this in pursu- ance of Orders from the Hon'ble William Waldegrave, Governor of the Island of Newfoundland and its De- pendencies, Vice Admiral of the Blue, Commander-in- Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels employed and to be employed at and about the Island of New- foundland, the Islands Magdalines and Anticosti, and upon the Coast of Labrador, from the River St. John's to the entrance of Hudson's Streights. o 194 LABRADOR " In Witness, whereof I have this day hoisted the Union Flag of England on a Flag Staff erected in the centre of the Upper Fort on Temple Point in the presence of the Officers and Ship's Company of His Majesty's Ship Pluto, and principal inhabitants. " Given under my Hand and Seal on board His Majesty's Ship Pluto in Temple Bay the 2ist day of August, 1797. "(Signed) Ambe. Crofton." Lieutenant Cheppelle, who was stationed on the coast a few years later, tells that at Lanse-a-Loop Admiral Richery met with some resistance from Messrs. Noble, Pinson and Sons who carried on the fishery there, and who patriotically destroyed all their stores rather than that they should fall into the hands of the French. They put in a claim for ;^20,ooo to the British Govern- ment for the value of these stores, but did not succeed in getting it recognized. Messrs. Noble, Pinson and Sons had been fully cogni- zant of the danger they were in, for in 1794 they petitioned Sir Richard Wallace, the Governor of New- foundland and Admiral in Command of the Fleet, to allow the sloop of war Bonetta, Captain Wemyss, to remain on the coast until October. They said that there were nineteen vessels on the coast to be loaded with fish, oil, and salmon, ten of which belonged to them, and that they had been left in an entirely de- fenceless condition. It is therefore evident that there could not have been any garrison at York Fort or Temple Bay. But at the same date (September, 1794) Captain Wemyss reported to Sir John Wallace as follows : — " At Temple Bay there are four forts. " I. Fort Carlton on the top of the hill where the THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 195 Colours are shown on a ship approaching the harbour, where are mounted three 4-lb. carriage guns. " 2. Fort Wallace at the entrance of Temple Bay, where there are mounted six 4-lb. and three 6-lb. carriage guns. " 3. Fort Sheffield, a store 106 ft. long, fronting Temple Bay, whereon are mounted eight 9-lb. and five 4-lb. carriage guns. "4. Fort Charlotte, a small store near the N.E. fishing stage, whereon are mounted two 6-lb. carriage guns. " There are no fortifications on the coast of Labrador but at Temple Bay." It does not seem possible that either of these small batteries could have been York Fort, which had been on a much more pretentious scale, nor does it appear that they were regularly garrisoned. The whale fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the Straits of Belle Isle seems to have been carried on at this period principally by vessels from the New England colonies, and was the object of much concern to Sir Hugh Palliser. He issued proclamations in 1765 and in 1766 for the conduct of this fishery, and laid many injunctions upon the crew for their proper be- haviour. An abundance of whales was said to be on the coast in April, May, and June. From the very earliest days of the discovery of the new lands a whale fishery has been carried on in these waters, with short periods of intermission. The present whaling station at Cape Charles has a long line of predecessors. Sir Hugh's proclamations on the whale fishery were again supplemented by Governor Byron in 1768. Sir Joseph Banks tells the following interesting story, which bears witness to the successful whale 196 LABRADOR fishery of a by-gone age, probably of the " right whale " : — "Just opposite to Henley Island and very near it is a small flat island called Eskimo Island, when last year in digging, an extraordinary discovery was made of an enormous quantity of whalebone carefully and regularly buried upon tiles, and so large that I have been told by those who saw it that at one time as much was dug up as, had it been sound, would have been worth ;^20,ooo. It is by age totally decayed, so that it is scarcely distinguishable from birch bark, which indeed it has much more the appearance of than whalebone, dividing itself easily into liminae as thin almost as you can split with the edge of a knife. The outside parts are exactly the colour of birch bark. It is supposed to have been left here by Danes, who in their return from Greenland south about touched upon this coast and left several whaling crews, tempted, no doubt, by the large quantity of whales which pass every year through the Straits of Belle Isle into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here we are to suppose that the fortu- nate crew who had taken this immense quantity of bone fixed their habitation upon this island till the ships should return as usual. Being attacked by the inland Indians, they buried their bone for the greater security, and most probably were cut off to a man, so that their treasures remained untouched till chance directed us to them in their present decayed state." At this period whalebone was worth about £4SO per ton, so that the quantity found was about forty-five tons, and would be worth to-day nearly ;^ 100,000. Another of Palliser's " Orders" was against the firing of woods. Dire pains and penalties were promised to THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 197 all who should infringe this most important regulation. Would that there had always been a Palliser on the coast to enforce this order ! Where wood takes so long to grow and is of such very great importance for com- fort, nay, for life itself in such a cold climate, every possible precaution should be taken against fires. Yet Labrador has suffered on many occasions from the most disastrous fires, and recent explorers report that vast tracts of the inland have been swept by fire — trees, shrubs, and mosses all being consumed, and nothing but the bare rocks left. The so-called " dark days " which were experienced in Canada in 1785, and again in 1814, and which were at the time thought to have been occasioned by the eruption of a volcano on the Labrador peninsula, have since been attributed, no doubt correctly, to these enormous conflagrations, the effects of which are still noticeable. The Moravian Missionaries also report extraordinary dark days in July, 1821. Two other most important works received Palliser's hearty support — the survey of the coast by Capt. James Cook and the establishing of the Moravian Missionaries on the Labrador. He has been wrongly credited with having inaugurated both of these bene- ficial enterprises. Capt. Cook's services for the work were secured by Palliser's predecessor. Sir Thomas Graves, and the design of the Moravian Missionaries to convert the Eskimos originated in their own pious minds. Cook had served as master's mate in the Eagle, of which Palliser was captain, in 1755, and for his ex- cellent services was recommended by Palliser for promotion to the rank of master. In this capacity he served on the Pembroke at the taking of Quebec, and 198 LABRADOR by his indefatigable labours made himself thoroughly- acquainted with the pilotage of the St. Lawrence. He was then appointed to the Northumberland, com- manded by Lord Colville, at which time he made a survey of Halifax Harbour. In 1762 he was present at the retaking of St. John's by Colonel Amherst and Lord Colville from the French under De Tierney. During the same summer he made a careful survey of the harbour of Carbonear and of Harbour Grace, and reported that ships of any size might lie there in safety. Sir Thos. Graves, who was then Governor of New- foundland, would thus have become acquainted with Cook and seen the excellence of his work. Lord Colville also wrote to the Admiralty in praise of Cook's survey work. In the following year, 1763, Graves wrote to the Board of Trade pointing out the great necessity for accurate charts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and asking that a special surveyor be appointed for that purpose. A few days later he wrote again, stating that Cook was willing to undertake the work, and on this recommendation Cook was immediately appointed. On May 2nd, 1764, the Secretary of the Navy Board wrote as follows to Commodore Palliser : — " Mr. Jas. Cook, who had been employed last yere surveying the Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon and part of the Coasts and Harbours of the Island of Newfoundland, being appointed by the Navy Board Master of H.M. Schr. Grenville at Newfoundland, and directed to follow your orders: I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you therewith and to signify their direction to you, to employ the said Mr. Cook in surveying such Harbours and parts of the Coast, and in making fair and correct Charts and Draughts of the same as you shall judge Reproduced hy kind p,.runssion of the Lords Coiniiiissioiiers of the Admiralty. CAPTAIN COOK Facing p. ig THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 199 most necessary during the ensueing season, and as soon as the season for surveying be over, you are to direct him to repair with the Schr. to Portsmouth and to transmit the Charts and Draughts to their Lord- ships." During the summers 1763-7 inclusive. Cook was engaged surveying and charting the coasts of New- foundland and Labrador. For nearly a century his charts were in use, and it is said that his work was so accurately done that little alteration has been made in them since. His observation of the transit of Venus, April 30th, 1767, was made on a small islaid near Burgeo on the south coast of Newfoundland. This island is still called "Eclipse" Island, and the cairn of stones erected there by Cook still remains. The results of his observations were communicated to the Royal Society, and first brought him into the notice of that body. The acquaint- ance formed between Cook and Banks while at Chateau in 1766, no doubt occasioned that eminent naturalist to accompany Cook on his famous voyage around the world, for the purpose of "culling simples," as Dr. Johnson expressed it. Captain George Cartwright also formed part of the ship's company of the Guernsey during the summer of 1766. In 1767 Mr. Michael Lane, schoolmaster of the Guernsey, was appointed assistant surveyor to Cook, and succeeded him as master of the Grenville in 1768. Lane continued the work of surveying the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador until 1776. The sailing directions which Cook and Lane gave in the first edition of their North American Pilot, are still repeated on the latest charts issued by the British Admiralty. One of the most interesting characters among the 200 LABRADOR early traders to Labrador was Capt, Nicholas Darby, the father of the famous beauty " Perdita," Mrs. Robin- son. In her Memoirs, " Perdita " says her father was born in America and was a man of strong mind, high spirit, and of great personal intrepidity. There is a strong presumption that he was a native of Newfound- land, The Colonial Records for 1763 contain an entry stating that Nicholas Darby and others were summoned before the Court at St. John's for dispossessing one Walsh of his fishing rooms at Zelott, and were fined ;^io. A few days afterwards he obtained judgments against his dealers for debts owed him, so that he had evidently been conducting a business in Newfoundland for some time. About the same date, one Thomas Darby is mentioned as being agent in Harbour Grace, of Elson and Co.^ In 1765 Nicholas Darby is again before the Court over a disputed title to a fishing post. " Perdita " says she was born in Bristol in 1758, her parents having been married in 1749. They lived there in considerable prosperity and comfort until 1767, when a scheme was suggested to her father of establishing a whale fishery on the coast of Labrador, and of civilizing the Eskimos in order to employ them in the undertaking. He went to London and laid his plans before Lord Hillsborough, Sir Hugh Palliser, and other distinguished personages. Receiving great encouragement and promises of assist- ance from them, he immediately proceeded to carry out his scheme. He designed to place his children at school and take his wife with him, but she greatly dreaded the voyage and could not be prevailed upon to accompany him. This caused an estrangement to take place ^ The descendants of Thomas Darby are still living in Newfoundland, but I have been unable to assertain whether he bore any relationship to Nicholas. THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 201 between them, which finally resulted in a complete separation. He established himself at Cape Charles at the entrance of the Straits of Belle Isle, and endeavoured to utilize the services of the Eskimos as he had intended. His good intentions were, however, brought to nought by the inhumanity of some New England whalers towards the Eskimos, who, not being able to distinguish between different parties of white men, in revenge treacherously attacked Darby's establishment, slew three of his men, and made off with his boats. The Eskimos were then attacked by the English and a regular battle ensued, in which some twenty or more Eskimos were slain, and four women, two boys, and three girls taken prisoners. One of the women, named Mikak, and one of the boys, named Karpik, were taken to England by Lieut. Lucas, (Lieut. Lucas, a petty officer of H.M.S. Guernsey, who had been appointed second in command at York Fort in 1767. He after- wards went into partnership with Darby, and on his failure joined George Cartwright). Mikak was possessed of considerable intelligence, and received a great deal of attention from prominent people in England. Lucas learned the language from her, and was commissioned to carry her back to the Labrador, where she and her husband Tugluvina played a very important part in the early relations between the Moravians and Eskimos. The boy Karpik was placed under the care of Jens Haven, the devoted Moravian missionary who had already made a voyage to Labrador, the chosen scene of his life labours. He endeavoured by the greatest patience and kindness to win the boy's love and convert him to Christianity, hoping that he might become in the future a means of communication with the rest of 202 LABRADOR his race. But very shortly the unhappy lad was seized with small-pox and died. Darby lost nearly all his fortune in this enterprise, but nevertheless continued to visit Labrador, fishing and trading, for several years after. Owing to her father's loss of fortune, " Perdita " a few years later decided to go on the stage, for which she was trained by no less a person than David Garrick. There she was so unfortunate as to attract the notice of the Prince of Wales, and to fall a victim to that graceless libertine. Her genius and her engaging manners had brought her the friendship of many of the most celebrated men of the day, and her beauty was many times portrayed by Reynolds, Romney, Cosway, Lawrence, and other cele- brated painters. At the age of twenty-four she was seized with rheumatic fever, which left her a helpless cripple. She supported herself during the remaining years of her life by her writings, consisting chiefly of poems and tales. Such was the unhappy life of this granddaughter of Newfoundland, whose misfortunes were primarily caused by the failure of a whaling enterprise on the Labrador. Nicholas Darby's later history is quite interesting. He was given the command of a small vessel in the Royal Navy, and at the relief of the siege of Gibraltar in 1 78 1, fought most gallantly and was the first to reach the Rock. He was received and embraced by General Elliot, Commander of the Fortress, and praised most highly for his brave conduct. In some accounts of the siege he is spoken of as Admiral Darby, but this seems to have been an error. Not meeting with the reward from the Admiralty to which he thought he was entitled, he left the English service and went to Russia, where he was favourably received and soon obtained THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 203 the command of a 74-gun ship. He died in 1785, and was mourned by " Perdita " in appropriate verse. Another prominent man among the early Labrador traders was Jeremiah Coughlan, whose head-quarters were at Fogo. Writing to Governor Montague in 1777, he says that he was the first English subject to establish a sealing post on the Labrador, which he did in 1765 at Chateau, being encouraged thereto by his " good friend Commodore Palliser." Later, he entered into partner- ship with Captain George Cartwright and Lieutenant Lucas, but on the death of the latter the partnership was dissolved. Coughlan had two ships annually from England and employed 140 men. In his letter he complains that one of his servants, named Peyton, whom he had sent to a station sixty miles north of the Mealy Mountains, had tried to usurp his rights to the post, and prays for redress. The Governor replied that his jurisdiction over the coast had ceased when it was transferred to Quebec, but he nevertheless would send a naval officer to inquire into the matter. This officer reported in Coughlan's favour, and the offending Peyton was ordered to relinquish the disputed post. Sir Hugh Palliser introduced on the Labrador the same judicial processes which were in force in New- foundland. The captain of each vessel first arriving in a port became the Admiral of that port, and was invested with magisterial powers. The justice dis- pensed by these fishing admirals is the subject of many amusing stories in Newfoundland annals. Being the servants of the merchants in the trade, it can be easily seen that when disputes arose between fisherman and merchant justice was not likely to be evenly dispensed. In addition to the fishing admirals, the commanders 204 LABRADOR of H.M. ships on the station were also given judicial power. At first this power seems to have been intended by way of appeal, but gradually it became the custom to hear cases originally as well, especially as by the ignorance and inactivity of the fishing admirals their brand of justice fell into contempt and neglect. Chief Justice Reeves says : — " Very soon the captains of the ships took cognizance of contracts, and held courts in which they enquired into, heard, and determined all possible causes of com- plaints ; and with no other lights than those furnished by the statute of William, the instructions of the Governor, and the suggestions of their own good sense. . . . The Governor conferred on them the title of Surrogates, an idea taken from the Admiralty law. . . . The time of Surrogating was looked forward to as a season when all wrongs were to be redressed against all oppressors ; and this naval judicature was flown to by the poor inhabitants and planters as the only refuge they had from the west country merchants, who were always their creditors and were generally regarded as their oppressors." The first " Surrogates " for the Labrador, appointed by Sir Hugh in 1765 were : — Capt. Hamilton, of H.M. sloop Zephyr, from St. John's river to Cape Charles ; and Sir Thos. Adams, Bart., of H.M.S. Niger, from Davis Straits to York Hr. Thus was justice dispensed and order kept from 1763 to 1774. The Board of Trade papers at this date contain many references to the new fishery on the Labrador. In 1771, Nicholas Darby presented a petition to the Board stating THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 205 how great his expenses and sufferings had been in prosecuting a fishery on the Labrador, and prayed for relief. Which was not granted. The next year he appeared with another petition again for rehef, this time because he had been dispossessed of a fishing post by one Samuel Davis, and having obtained a judgment for ^^650 in the Court of the King's Bench, had been unable to collect the same. But he had no better success than with his first petition. In 1771 John Noble, of Bristol, and Andrew Pinson, of Dartmouth, asked for an ex- clusive grant of Temple Bay and Whale Island. His Majesty's Commissioners were unable to come to any decision on the matter, owing to the claims of Canadian subjects. In 1773, the Canadian grantees of Sealing Posts presented a little bill for loss sustained by the new rules and regulations which were framed for the Whale and Cod Fisheries. In January of the same year appeared Geo. Cartwright, Esq., with a memorial describing the state of the fisheries and commerce on the Labrador, and complaining of being disturbed in his possession of a fishing post by Noble, and Pinson, and praying that he may be con- firmed in its possession. Commodore Shuldham, Sir Hugh Palliser, and Mr. Andrew Pinson were requested to appear before the Board to be examined on the above petition. In February their Lordships were of opinion : — " That actual residence and continued possession were essentially necessary to the carrying on of the Seal and Salmon Fisheries on the Coast of Labrador. That such of His Majesty's subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, who have taken or shall hereafter take such actual possession in any of the rivers and bays of the Coast of 2o6 LABRADOR Labrador to the north of the Straits of Belle Isle, and who have erected or shall hereafter erect houses and warehouses and have made or shall make other estab- lishments necessary to the carrying on of the Seal and Salmon Fisheries, ought to be protected in such pos- session, provided such persons do for the future annually fit out from Great Britain one or more ships to be employed in the Cod Fishery on the said Coast of Labrador, and provided also that the greatest care be taken, that the Proprietor or Proprietors of such fishing posts do not claim or occupy a greater extent of the coast within the said bays or rivers than shall be abso- lutely necessary in proportion to the number of men employed at the said posts." This recommendation was adopted, and Governor Shuldham issued a proclamation putting it into effect as soon as he arrived in Newfoundland. At each meeting of the Board, at this time, there was some discussion on the proposal to transfer the Labrador to the Government of Quebec, which was finally accom- plished by Act 14 Geo. Ill, Cap. 83, in 1774. The Colonial Records, 1774, contain the copy of a letter from Noble and Pinson to Governor Shuldham, ex- pressing great regret at the unexpected alteration in the Government of Labrador. They flatter themselves that the interests of the adventurers from Great Britain will not be overlooked, and believe that had the fisheries re- mained under the late regulations, there would have been a great increase of ships and men from Great Britain. When the country was transferred to the Province of Quebec disorder again began to reign. The Acts of Parliament constituting the fishing admirals magistrates, and appointing the naval Surrogates only applied to the colony of Newfoundland and its dependencies, THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 207 and no regulations were passed in Quebec to provide for the government of the coast. The Governors of Newfoundland, who were always the admirals in com- mand of the North American squadron, still continued to supervise the Labrador. Governor Shuldham, in an order to the officer commanding York Fort, says, after stating that his authority as Governor had ceased : — "But it is His Majesty's Pleasure that I do, as Com- modore of the Ships employed for the Protection of the Fisheries, superintend those on the Labrador Coast as well as those of Newfoundland. And that I do in a particular manner give all possible encouragement and protection, as well to the Seal and Sea Cow Fisheries as to the Cod Fisheries carried on by the King's subjects from Great Britain on such parts of the Coast as are not claimed as private property under regular Canadian titles ; and that I do also countenance and protect as much as in me lies, the Establishments formed under the King's authority by the Society of the Unitas Fratrum to the Northward of the Straits of Belle Isle. You are hereby required and directed to take particular care that His Majesty's pleasure in regard to the several particu- lars aforementioned be strictly complied with so far as is dependent on you as Commander of York Fort." But, as we have read, the garrison was withdrawn the very next year. Anspach, in his History of Newfoundland, is authority for the statement that after 1774, a superintendent of trade, appointed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Four British Provinces, resided on the Labrador. It has not been possible, however, to obtain any further testimony about this official. In the House of Commons report, 1793, already 2o8 LABRADOR referred to several times, Chief Justice Reeves spoke as follows : — "Another point to which I beg leave to draw the attention of the Committee, is the present state of those who carry on the Fishery on the Coast of Labrador. Although this is not within the concession of the Governor of Newfoundland, yet it so happens that he is the only person who is in the way of knowing any- thing about it. The ship which is sent round the French limits never fails of looking in on some part of the Labrador Coast ; and it appears from the repre- sentations of the Captains who command these ships that there is great need of some authority to interpose, and see justice done between master and servant, at least as much need as there was in Newfoundland. The employments and relations of persons are the same ; the abuses and grievances are the same ; amongst these is the old one of keeping servants on the coast from year to year ; all which is more uniform and insurmountable, in proportion as the merchants are few, and can therefore combine to keep all their people in a more absolute state of dependence. "The coast of Labrador is under the Government of Canada ; but the influence it feels from a centre so far removed is very small ; in truth there is no government whatsoever on the Coast of Labrador, as I am informed by those who have been there. It is very much to be wished that some plan be devised for affording to that deserted coast something like the effect of civil government." This state of anarchy continued until 1809, when the Labrador was again attached to the Government of Newfoundland. THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 209 The officer in command of H.M. sloop Otter, stationed on the Labrador coast in 1772-3, was Lieutenant Roger Curtis, who afterwards saw considerable service and rose to the rank of Admiral. He took great interest in his command, and made two lengthy reports upon the country, its inhabitants, fisheries, and prospects. Like the Norsemen, he was first struck by the enor- mous quantity of stones, " many of them of prodigious size," which were scattered everywhere over the country. He said that there was no part of the British Dominion so little known as Labrador, " where avarice has but little to feed upon," and gave a most depressing account of the country, frequently using such terms as " frightful mountains," "unfruitful valleys," "blighted shrubs," " stunted trees," " wretched inhabitants," and " miserable habitations." He drew a chart of the coast as far north as 59° 10", and greatly prided himself upon its correctness, which he said far exceeded any previous production. As a matter of fact it is very crude and incorrect. He thought it not surprising that such a barren country was so sparsely inhabited, and was much struck by the irony of the fact that the comparatively very few tribes that lived there should be so set upon extermina- ting each other. He gave a full account of the Eskimos and their habits, and pleaded earnestly for a more enlightened and humane treatment of them. His strictures upon the conduct of the crews of the New England vessels frequenting the coast are very severe, and will be dealt with more fully later on in this volume. He formed a very high opinion of the value of the fish- eries, which were certain to become of great importance, p 2IO LABRADOR " the Newfoundland waters being rapidly depleted of fish " ! He was at great pains to contradict the general opinion of that time, that codfish could not be properly cured on the Labrador coast, and in- stanced, that a merchant at Temple Bay had that year, 1772, made 5000 quintals of codfish in no way inferior to the best manufactured in Newfoundland. He did not anticipate, however, that the fisheries would ever be pursued north of 54°. The station at Temple Bay was the only one where codfish was dried for mar- ket, but considerable numbers of vessels and boats came from Newfoundland and returned there with their catch. The whale fishery, he reported, was prosecuted mainly by New Englanders, who " swarmed on the coasts like locusts," but for several years past had been very unsuccessful. He strongly recommended that the seal fishery should be more largely followed up, because oil was rapidly advancing in price, owing to the increased use of lamps, and he felt sure no one who had been used to this luxtiry would ever abandon it owing to the increase in price of oil. His description of the manner of setting the seal nets is very complete. He strongly supported Palliser's regulations, and urged the enforcement on the coast of the rules for the gover- nance of the fishery in Newfoundland. His views upon the debated transfer of Labrador to Quebec were very pronounced, he being strongly of opinion that it should remain attached to Newfoundland. In spite of the lack of attention given by the Province of Quebec to this portion of its government, a very great improvement took place in the condition of the Eskimos. The fair and enlightened treatment accorded THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 211 to them by Cartwright, the history of which will be told in a later chapter, doubtless had a beneficial effect all along the coast. The Eskimo trade was an important consideration, and as they were more or less a nomadic people, they traded where they received the best treat- ment. Cartwright's boast that he was the chief agent in their amelioration had a great deal of truth in it. That is, as regards those Eskimos who frequented southern Labrador : farther north their improved con- dition was owing to the devoted labours of the Moravian Missionaries. An interesting description of the southern Eskimo is given by Captain A. Crofton in 1798. He says : — " During my continuance in Temple Bay, a large shallop arrived from the northward, with and belonging to a tribe of Eskimeaux Indians, consisting of six men, five women, and seven children ; they were on their passage to the harbour of Bradore, where it was their intention to remain the winter with the English fisher- men, and to be employed in the seal fishery. They had been so provident as to bring with them some oil and whalebone to barter for English provisions and necessaries, which they are now very partial to, prefer- ring European clothing to the seal skin dresses they formerly appeared in ; and are now so much civilized as to abhor raw meat, and always dress their victuals in a very decent manner, having several cooking utensils with them. They have likewise laid aside the bow and arrow for musquets, and are excellent marksmen. " The devastation committed by the French ships in this place 1 suppose has discouraged the original proprietors, Pynsant and Noble, from carrying on trade with any great spirit, having only one shallop fishing here this summer, which has discouraged the Indian 212 LABRADOR trade, as those people now require clothing, biscuits, powder and shot, and from their present deportment it is most probable, that in future they will become a very- great acquisition to our commerce. I am sorry to observe, that want of knowledge of their language, and their short stay, prevented my obtaining all the in- formation respecting them that I wished, but am con- fident that they are numerous, being not less than four thousand along the coast to the southward of the Moravians or Unitas Fratrum settlement, of whom they seem not to have any knowledge. Mr. Noble's agent says they are strictly honest and well behaved, which I had an opportunity of observing, having the whole tribe to visit me twice on board the Pluto, and sent them on shore much pleased with their reception. A merchant from Quebec, who has a small settlement seventy leagues north of Temple Bay, has hitherto been the principal supplyer, but from the great alteration I have observed in the Eskimeaux Indians since I met them twenty years ago, it is probable that in a short time they will navigate the coast in vessels of their own con- struction, as I discovered in their shallop carpenter and shipwright tools of all descriptions." Captain Crofton made inquiries at Chateau about the Moravians, but could get no information concerning them, thus indicating what little communication there was at that time between Northern and Southern Labrador. His optimistic prognostication about the Eskimos, alas ! was never realized. The southern tribes soon became extinct. Intercourse with the white race proved their ruin. The European clothes and European food, which Captain Crofton complacently noted had been adopted by them, no doubt were the principal agents in their destruction. To which must be added also the THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 213 adoption of European vices and the introduction of European diseases. Captain Crofton's estimate of the number of Eskimos on the southern coast was no doubt much too large. These southern Eskimos had not the benefit of the teaching of the Moravian Missionaries as had their northern brethren. No effort was made to compensate them for the loss of their pristine virtues or to help them to withstand the white man's contaminating in- fluence. They remained sunken in heathendom to the last. Chappell {Voyage of Rosamund, 18 18), tells of a tribe of about fifty persons that visited Pinson's establishment near Lanse-a-loup. While there a woman died, and her female infant was immediately stoned to death and buried with her. APPENDICES Regulations for ye Fishery on the Coast of Labradore, Anticosti, Madelaines and Whale Fishery, April 8th, 1765. BY HIS EXCELLENCY, HUGH PALLISER. Rules, Orders and Regulations observed on the Coast of Labradore, and on the Islands of Anticosti and the Made- laines. Whereas the property of all the land on the said Coast of Labradore and the Islands of i.'\nticosti and the Madelaines is in the Crown, and since the conquest thereof no part of it has been lawfully given or granted away and no power being vested in me to give or grant auy exclusive possessions or privileges to any person whatever, and Whereas it has ever been the policy of the nation to give to His Majesty's sub- jects from Britain in preference to all others to carry on the fisheries. In order to invite Adventurers into that extensive Field 214 LABRADOR for Fishing and Trade, I hereby order and direct that ye whole shall be publick and free to all the King's British subjects in preference to all others till His Majesty's further pleasure shall be known, under the following Regulations subject to such alterations and additions as may hereafter be found necessary for extending and improving that valuable branch of Trade : 1. All the Rules and Regulations ordained by that excel- lent Act of the loth and nth of WiUiani III, intitled An Act for the Encouragement of the Trade and Fisheries to Newfoundland shall be strictly observed on ye Coasts and Islands above mentioned, except that Proviso in the said Act which says (provided always that all such persons as since the 25th day of March 1765 have built etc.), is not to be in force on the Coasts and Islands above mentioned. 2. All British Whale Fishers are to choose places on the shore for landing to cut up their Whales and other Oil fish and to make their Oil as they respectively arrive with Fish to land, observing that they are never to occupy or use any place that ever has or hereafter may be used by any British Cod fisher. Whale Fishers from the plantations may fish within the Gulph of St. Lawrence for Whale only, but not for cod or any other fish, and they may land on the said Coast and Islands within the Gulph and nowhere else, to cut up their Whales and to make their oil, and for that purpose may use any place that they find unoccupied and that never have been used by any British Fishing ships for either Whale, Cod or Seals, taking especial care that they do nothing to annoy or hinder any British Fishers what- ever. 3. Whereas complaint has been made to me that the Whale Fishers from the plantations have a practice of turning adrift ye useless part of the carcasses of Whales to the annoy- ance and damage of neighboring fishers for Cod and Seal, or else leave them on ye shore which is a great nuisance. I hereby order and direct that all Whale fishers shall convey THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 215 the carcasses of the whales to at least three leagues frdiir the shore. 4. No vessel shall be considered as a British fishing ship nor be entitled to the privileges thereof, or of being Admirals of harbors on the coast and islands above mentioned, except such as clear out from Britain the same season and carry out men to be actually employed in ye fishery and to return to Britain when the fishing season is over. 5. If any person commits murther, whether of any of His Majesty's Christian or Indian subjects on the Coasts or Islands above mentioned, or any other criminal crime, all His Majesty's subjects are hereby required and authorized to apprehend such offenders and carry them before the Commanders of any of His Majesty's Ships, or before the Admiral of any Harbor, and Oath being made before them of the fact, the Captain of any of His Majesty's ships are hereby ordered and directed to secure them, and when they join me to bring such offenders with them in order to the being tried at the general Assizes. Given under my hand, 8th April, 1765. Hugh Palliser. By command of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. Regulations for Labrador Fishery, 1765. Regulations for carrying on a Fishery and Trade on the Coast of Labrador distributed throughout this Government. BY HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH PALLISER, ETC. Whereas a most valuable Fishery and Trade may be carried on upon the Coast of Labrador for establishing of which on the best footing for the benefit of the nation some Rules, Orders and Regulations are immediately necessary, and above all things first to banish all disorderly people who can't be depended upon for preserving good order and peace 2i6 LABRADOR with the savages (upon which the success of His Majesty's intentions for opening this extensive field of commerce to his subjects wholly depends). I therefore hereby order and direct that the following Rules, Orders and Regulations shall be strictly observed on all the Coast of Labrador within my Government, subject to such alterations as may hereafter be found necessary for the aforementioned purposes. 1. That no inhabitant of Newfoundland no By Boatkeeper nor any person from any of the colonies shall on any pretence whatever go to the Coast of Labrador (except Whale fishers within the Gulph of St. Lawrence from the Colonies as allowed by my order of 8th April last) and if any such are found there, they shall be corporally punished for the first offence and the second time their boats shall be seized for the public use of British ship fishers upon that coast. 2. That no person whatever shall resort to Labradore to fish or trade but ship fishers annually arriving from His Majesty's Dominions in Europe lawfully cleared out as Ship fishers, carrying at least 21 men all engaged to return after the season is over to the King's Dominions in Europe. 3. That all Rules, Orders and Regulations (respecting British Ship Fishers) ordained by that excellent Act of loth and nth of William HI entitled an Act for the encourage- ment of the Trade and Fisheries of Newfoundland shall be strictly observed on the Coast of Labrador. 4. And as a further encouragement to British Ship Fishers the first arriving Ship in any Harbour on that Coast (besides being Admiral of that Harbour) shall have the privilege of leaving in that Harbour one small vessel not exceeding eighty tons with a gang of ten men and no more for the next winter seal and whale fishery and no other people whatever shall stay the winter in that Harbour on pain of corporal punish- ment such vessel to be properly armed for defence, and the Master to be a prudent, discreet person, to prevent anything being done to break the Peace which I made with the Carolit or Esquimaux Savages on the 21st instant, who have promised THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 217 to live in friendship with us by night and by day, so long as we forbear to do them any harm. The Master of the 2nd arriving British Fishing Ship in any Harbour as above men- tioned shall (besides being Vice-Admiral of the Harbour) have the exclusive right to all the Salmon fishery in that Harbour during that season. The Master of the 3rd arriving British Fishing Ship as aforementioned (besides being Rear- Admiral of the Harbour) shall enjoy in common with the ist and 2nd ships the exclusive privilege of trafficking with the savages, under the Regulations prescribed in the following article. 5. The Master of the ist, 2nd and 3rd arriving British Fishing Ships in any Harbour on the Coast of Labrador shall equally enjoy an exclusive privilege of Trading with the natives that may come within limits of that Harbour (the precise limits belonging to each harbour to be hereafter ascer- tained and made publick), and no other persons whatever shall have any trade or truck with the savages on forfeiture of all goods so trucked for to be equally divided among the three Admirals of that harbour, and to lose their liberty of fishing on the Coast for that year. That within the limits of each harbour a proper place shall be fixed upon by the Admirals at a proper distance from all the fishing stages where they are to make a barrier for truck- ing with convenience and safety with the savages, and on no account to suffer their people and the savages to mingle together. And if either of the Admirals truck with them at any other place within or without the limits of their own port such Admiral shall forfeit all the goods trucked for to be equally divided between the other Admirals, and also to forfeit all his privilege as Admiral for that season, and for better pre- venting confusion and for preserving peace with the savages all further Regulations or Orders that may be made by the Commanders of any of His Majesty's Ships stationed on the Coast of Labrador for the time being shall be strictly con- formed to. 2i8 LABRADOR 6. All British Fishing Ships as well as the Admirals of the Harbours during the summer fishery for Cod, that is from the time of their arrival to the time of their departure may also carry on the whale fishery. This the early arriving ships may do with great advantage, there being abundance of Whales on the Coast in the months of April, May and June. Given, etc., in Pitt's Harbour the 28th August, 1765. Hugh Palliser. This regulation published throughout this Government. By Command of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. Order Concerning the Whale Fishery on the Coast of Labrador^ 1^66. BY HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH PALLISER, ETC. Whereas a great many vessels from His Majesty's plantation employed in the Whale fishery resort to that part of the Gulph of St. Lawrence and Coast of Labrador which is within this Government and as I have been informed that some apprehensions have arisen amongst them that by the Regulations made by me relating to the different fisheries in those parts they are wholly precluded from that Coast. Notice is hereby given that the King's Officers stationed in those parts have always had my orders to protect, assist and encourage by every means in their power all vessels from the plantations employed in the Whale fishery, coming within this Government and pursuant to His Majesty's orders to me all vessels from the plantations will be admitted to that Coast, on the same footing as they ever have been admitted in New- foundland respecting the Cod fishery, under the Act of Parlia- ment passed in the loth and nth years of William HI commonly called the Fishing Act, always to be observed. And by my Regulations for the encouragement of the THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 219 Whale Fishers they are also under certain necessary restric- tions (herein prescribed) permitted to land and cut up their whales in Labrador, this is a liberty that never has been allowed them in Newfoundland, because of the danger of prejudicing the Cod fishery carried on by our adventurers ships from Britain, lawfully qualified with fishing certificates according to the aforementioned Act, who are fitted out at a very great risque and expence in complying with the said Act, therefore they must not be liable to have their voyages over- thrown or rendered precarious by any means or by any other vessels whatever. And whereas great numbers of the Whaling crews arriving from the plantations, on the Coast of Labrador early in the spring considering it as a lawless country were guilty of all sorts outrages before the arrival of the King's Ships in plundering whoever they found on the Coast too weak to resist them. Obstructing our ship adventurers from Britain, by banking amongst their boats along the Coast which drives the fish away, and is contrary to the most ancient and most strictly observed Rule of the fishery, and must not be suffered ; also by destroying their fishing works on the shore, stealing their boats, tackle and utensils, firing the woods all along the Coast and hunting for and plundering, taking away or murder- ing the poor Indian natives of the country by these violences, barbarities and other notorious crimes and enormities, that Coast is in ye utmost confusion, and with respect to the Indians is kept in a state of war. For preventing these practices in future. Notice is hereby given that ye King's Officers in those parts are authorized and strictly directed to apprehend all such offenders within this Government and to bring them to me to be tried for the same at the General Assizes at this place, and for the better Government of that country, for Regulating ye fisheries and for protecting His Majesty's subjects from insults from ye Indians, I have His Majesty's Commands to erect Block- houses and to establish guards along that Coast. 220 LABRADOR This notification is to be put up in the Harbours in Labrador within my Government. Given at St. John's in Newfoundland, ist August, 1766. Hugh Palliser. By Order of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. N.B, — Three copies of these Regulations enclosed in a letter to Governor Bernard at Boston. Surrogate Commission, 1765. BY HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH PALLISER, ETC. By Virtue of the power and authority to me given by His Majesty's Letters made Patent, bearing date at Westminster the ninth day of April in the fourth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George IH by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith I do hereby constitute and appoint you to be my Deputy or Surrogate with full power and authority to assemble Courts within to enquire into all such complaints as may be brought before you and to hear and determine the same to all intents and purposes as I myself might or would do. By virtue of the power and authority vested in me you have likewise power and authority to seize and detain in order to proceed to condemnation all unaccustomed prohibited or run goods that may be found within the aforesaid limits or ports adjacent. And I do grant and give unto you full power and authority to administer the several oaths to any person or persons you shall think fit agreeable to the several Acts of Parliament made in that behalf. And I do strictly enjoin all Admirals of Harbours, all Justices of the Peace, all Officers Civil and Military, and all other His Majesty liege subjects to be aiding and assisting you the said and to obey and put into execution all such lawful orders as you shall give unto THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 221 them as I myself might or would do by virtue of the power and authority vested in me. Given under my hand this 13th April, 1765. By Command of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. Commissions delivered to : — Captain Hamilton of His Majesty's Sloop Zephyr from point Riche to St. Barbe on Newfoundland and from St. John's River to Cape Charles on the Coast of Labradore. Captain Sexton from Cape Ray to Ferryland. Captain Thompson of His Majesty's Ship Lark from Trinity to Quirpont, both inclusive. Sir Thos. Adams, Bart., of His Majesty's Ship Niger on the Coast of Labradore from the entrance of Davis' Streights to York Harbour inclusive. Daniel Burr, Esq., on the Coast of Newfoundland from Cape Bonavista to Cape St. Francois. Hugh Palliser. By Command of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. o CHAPTER XII CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT UITE the most notable of the early settlers upon the Labrador was Capt, George Cartwright. He was a scion of a well-known English family, which first came into prominence through the influence of Archbishop Cranmer, whose sister had married a Cartwright of the day. Two of his brothers attained considerable notoriety in English public life, — Major John Cartwright, the reformer and patriot, and Edmund Cartwright, poet, philanthropist, and inventor of the power loom. George Cartwright served in the East Indies as a cadet of the 39th Foot Regiment, and in the German war as aide-de-camp to the Marquis of Granby, and it is said would have undoubtedly risen to distinction had he remained in the Army. The circumstances which led him to take up his residence in Labrador were singularly fortuitous. In 1766 John Cartwright was appointed First Lieutenant of H.M.S. Guernsey, ordered to the Newfoundland station with the Governor, Sir Hugh Palliser, on board. George Cartwright, being on half-pay at the time, and " hearing that bears and deer were plentiful there," decided to accompany his brother, and spent the summer with him cruising about the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts. In 1768 he again visited Newfoundland with his brother, who in the meanwhile had been appointed CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 223 to the dignified post of Naval Surrogate, and accom- panied him on a memorable expedition up the Exploits River to Red Indian Lake, where they hoped to meet and open friendly relations with the unfortunate Beothuks, which expedition, unhappily, failed of its purpose. It was then that he conceived the idea of settling on Labrador. He had been disappointed in an expected promotion in his regiment, several junior officers purchasing their steps over his head ; and having, as he said, " an insatiable propensity for shoot- ing," and hearing that Labrador was practically virgin country, he was irresistibly drawn to the wild, free, ad- venturous life of a settler on that almost unknown coast. Early in 1770 he entered into partnership with Lieut. Lucas, who had been on the Guernsey with him in 1766, and whose adventures have already been told. As- sociated with these novices in business were Perkins and Coughlan, who were largely interested in the New- foundland trade and had a considerable establishment at Fogo, They designed to carry on a trapping and fishing business, both seal and cod, and also to endeavour to trade peaceably with the Eskimo through the medium of Lucas, who had learned the language. Cartwright and Lucas arrived at Fogo in July, 1770, and at once hired a shallop to convey them to Cape Charles, where they intended to make their first start. It will be remembered that this was the scene of Darby's ill-fated scheme to establish a whale fishery. Here Cartwright arrived in safety and took up his abode in the house which had been built by Darby. His retinue consisted of Mrs. Selby, his housekeeper, two English men-servants, eight or ten fishermen and trappers, and a number of dogs of various sporting breeds. On his arrival in Labrador, he says, " Being secluded from 224 LABRADOR society, I had time to gain acquaintance with myself," and therefore began his journal of Transactions and Events During a Residence of Nearly Sixteen Years on the Labrador, which he published in 1792. It is in three large quarto volumes, full of interesting information, though somewhat tedious to read. In his Preface he excuses the literary style of his book, which he says "will be compensated for by its veracity," and informs us that "the transactions of the day were generally entered at the close of the same, and were written for no other purpose than to serve as a memor- andum for my own use and personal reference." The extreme candour of the narrative, especially as to the incidents of his private life, makes one certain that such was the case. His observations on the natural history of the country are particularly valuable, as is also his account of the Eskimos. The following short " Precis " of such a large book must naturally be very inadequate, and all interested in Labrador are recommended to study for themselves the pages which both Southey and Coleridge declared to be deeply interesting. On the morning of his arrival, he tells of the first achievement of his Hanoverian rifle, shooting with it an otter, a black duck, and a spruce game. A record of all the creatures which fell to this extraordinary weapon of precision would astound a sportsman of the present day. Either the weapon was remarkable or " the man behind the gun " was one of the best shots that ever lived, for it was a common occurrence for him to put a bullet through a goose or a duck on the wing, knock the head off a partridge, or, more difficult still, to shoot a loon in the water. Witness the entry in his journal, March 22nd, 1771 : — " I killed a spruce game with my rifle ; but my eye CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 225 not being clear enough to attempt beheading the bird as I usually do, I fired at the body, and the ball knocked him entirely to pieces." The frequency with which similar entries occur in his Journal should remove any doubts as to his veracity. He notes one day having beheaded three spruce game with three successive rifle shots, and again having killed a raven with his rifle at above a hundred yards dis- tance. Probably both birds and beasts had little fear of man, and he was thus able to approach them quite closely. Governor Byron, of Newfoundland, the poet's grand- father, took great interest in Cartwright's enterprise, and sent Lieutenant John Cartwright in a sloop of war with carpenters and others, to assist him in getting himself comfortably settled before winter came on. Darby's old houses were soon repaired, and a new one built. Lieutenant Lucas went north immediately to find the Eskimos, with whom they expected to establish a lucrative trade in furs. He returned a few weeks afterwards, and was followed by a family of Eskimos, consisting of ten or twelve men, women, and child- ren, who took up their abode near Cartwright, and were an unmitigated nuisance to him the whole winter, depending upon him entirely for supplies of food. Fortunately they were not hard to please. On one occasion when they came to him and complained, as usual, that their provisions were exhausted, he gave them " a skin bag filled with seals' phrippers, pieces of flesh and rands of seal fat ; it was a complete mixture of oil and corruption with an intolerable stench, and no people on earth, I think, except themselves would have eaten its contents. The Indians, however, were of a Q 2 26 LABRADOR different opinion, and considered it a most luxurious feast." Cartwright says that they were the most uncleanly people on earth. His description of some of their nauseous habits will not bear repetition. The company was increased in October by five men who had been shipped on shares for the seal fishery. The men found their own provisions, and Cartwright found the nets and implements ; the catch was divided half and half, the men selling their share to the com- pany at a stipulated price. Cartwright describes his outfit for the seal fishery as follows : — " The whole consists of twelve shoal nets of forty fathoms by two, and three stoppers of a hundred and thirty fathoms by six. The latter are made fast one end to the island and the other to a capstan on the land ; by this means the head ropes are lowered to the bottom or raised to the surface at pleasure, and being placed about forty yards apart form two pounds. There is a narrow tickle of twenty yards in width between this island and the continent, across which a net is placed to stop the seals passing through." The seals passed along the coast on their migration south, about the end of November. The first season was a very successful one, and from November 28th to December 14th they seemed to have nearly as many seals as they could attend to. Each year afterwards the nets were ready and out by November 20th, but not always with the same success. The length of the season seemed to depend upon the coldness of the water ; when the anchor ice, or "lolly," as Cartwright called it, began to form, the nets had to be taken in. In 1774 a large number of seals were taken CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 227 on December 24th, and in 1778 the fishery had to be abandoned by December 5th. In 1785 not a single seal was taken. During the first years of his life on the Labrador he had pleasant neighbours only twelve miles from him at York Fort in Chateau Bay. A small garrison of marines under a few officers was stationed there, with whom he exchanged many visits. On Christmas Eve he gives the following description of the revels which he said were customary in Newfoundland, having been imported there from Ireland : — " At sunset the people ushered in Christmas accord- ing to the Newfoundland custom. In the first place they built a prodigious fire in their house ; all hands then assembled before the door, and one of them fired a gun loaded Vv-ith powder only ; afterwards each drank a dram of rum, concluding the ceremony v.dth three cheers. These formalities being performed with great solemnity, the\- returned into their house, got drunk as fast as they could, and spent the whole night in drink- ing, quarrelling, and fighting. This is an intolerable custom, but as it has prevailed from time inmemorial it must be submitted to." Every Christmas afterwards he has to record the same occurrence, much to his annoyance. About the end of January, ]\Ir. Jones, of York Fort (the surgeon), set out from there to walk to Cartwright's settlement, where his services were required, but, losing his way, he was frozen to death. They found him several days after, his faithful Newfoundland dog by his side. They covered his body as well as they could with boughs and snow, but could not persuade the poor animal to leave her master. 228 LABRADOR Cartwright himself had to officiate at the ceremony which this poor young man had intended to perform, and acquitted himself to the extreme satisfaction of the mother, but he said he never wished to resume the office again. His patient, however, became very ill some days after, and "being destitute of every medicine prescribed in such cases, I was entirely at a loss what to give her, but as I judged that Labrador tea {ledum latifolinni) was of the same nature as the herbs recommended, I had some gathered from under the snow in the woods, and gave her a pint of the strong infusion of the plant, with the most beneficent results." Three days after he writes : — " I read prayers to my family and churched Nanny, who is now, thank God, perfectly recovered, an event which I have reason to believe was effected by the Indian tea." Having acted as doctor and clergyman, it is but natural to suppose that he would also have to assume the duties of the other learned professions ; and, in fact, we often find him acting first as judge and then as exe- cutioner to carry out the sentences he had imposed. One gross offender he chained to his bed-post until he could be carried to St. John's for trial. Another he sentenced to thirty-five lashes for having threatened his (Cartwright's) life, and immediately proceeded to inflict the punishment, but after twenty-nine strokes the man fainted, and had to be released. We can be sure that the blows were not light from a man of Cart- wright's physique. On another occasion two men refused to do his bid- ding, and were insolent, so he gave them both "a severe beating with a stout stick," and sent them off. They CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 229 were no sooner in their boat than they began to abuse him again, upon which he pursued them and gave them another " dressing" On the next day the men came again, and Cartwright this time gave them a " trim- ining" for being abusive when he left them the night before. He did not scruple to perform any office of the Church, even to the Marriage Service, marrying with all due ceremony one William Bettres to Cathrine Gourd, one of the maid-servants he brought from Plymouth.^ His first winter passed uneventfully but busily; nearly every day his journal bears record of game of some description being secured. White bears, caribou, wolves, foxes, otter, beaver, etc., and every variety of feathered game in its season. On June 20th his first news of the outside world was received when the first vessel arrived from Newfoundland. He was greatly shocked to hear that his partner, Lieutenant Lucas, had been lost at sea, the ship on which he sailed for England the previous autumn never having reached its destination. Owing to the neglect of his partners, Perkins and Coughlan, whom he accused of taking care of their private enterprises to the detriment of their joint trans- actions, he was not prepared in time for the salmon or cod fishery. The river was full of salmon, but he had no nets to catch them nor salt to cure them, and esti- mated his loss thereby at ^^"400. In July a considerable number of Eskimos came to the harbour, and he soon established a brisk barter ^ The solemnization of marriage in Newfoundland by persons not in holy orders became so prevalent that in 1S17 an Imperial Act was passed forbidding the practice, and making such marriages illegal. 230 LABRADOR trade with them. The proceedings were opened by their presenting him with five silver fox skins, and he reciprocated with beads and needles, to their entire satisfaction. In order to inspire their confidence he went over to the island where they were, pitched his tent among them, sending all his own people away. He carried on a lively trade all the afternoon with- out dispute of any kind, when the proceedings were suddenly interrupted by the chief, who came into the tent and took Cartwright by the shoulder, speaking sternly the while. "As these people have hitherto plundered and mur- dered Europeans whenever they had the opportunity, I must confess that I expected that was to be my fate now, and my suspicions were confirmed upon recollect- ing that I had demonstrated to the Eskimos that my firearms were not loaded. However, being assured that if they wanted to kill me I could not prevent them, 1 put the best face possible on this unpleasant affair, and followed the chief. He soon dispelled my fears by telling me that we had done enough business for one day." As a result of the afternoon trade he got 3 cwt. of whalebone, 100 seal skins, 19 fox, 12 deer, 4 otter, 2 marten, i wolf, and i black bear, at the expense of a small quantity of beads and trifling articles of hardly any commercial value. A representative transaction was the exchange of a comb which cost twopence for a silver fox skin worth four guineas. Cartwright never had any trouble with the Eskimos during his whole residence on the coast, which is re- markable seeing that his immediate predecessor at Cape Charles was forced to abandon the place owing to CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 231 their hostility. He says himself that his success with them was owing to unvarying firmness and fairness in his dealings with them. He would not allow himself to be robbed, and was always at pains to satisfy them in every transaction. His ascendancy over them became complete, and their friendship never ceased, although, as we shall see later, it was put to a very severe strain. Later in life Cartwright wrote a rhyming letter to his brother Charles, describing life on his " loved Labrador," and thus tells of his intercourse with the Eskimos : — The Eskimo from ice and snow now free, In shallops and whale boats go to sea ; In peace they rove along the pleasant shore, In plenty live nor do they wish for more. Thrice happy race ; strong drink nor gold they know ; What in their hearts they think their faces show. Of manners gentle, in their dealings just. Their plighted promise safely you may trust. Mind you deceive them not, for well they know The friend sincere from the designing foe. They once were deemed a people fierce and rude. Their savage hands in human blood imbued ; But by my care (for I must claim the merit) The world now owes that virtue they inherit. Not a more honest or more generous race Can bless a sovereign or a nation grace. With these I frequent pass the social day. No broils, no feuds, but all is sport and play. My will's their law, and justice is my will. Thus friends we always were and friends are still. This idyllic picture certainly marks a very great change from the condition of things a short time before, as described by Palliser. While Cartwright claims the merit for this transformation, it was no doubt to Palliser's wise regulations that the beginning of the change was due, assisted greatly by the Moravian Missionaries who had just begun their noble work among the Eskimo. 232 LABRADOR The winter of 1772 was particularly cold and stormy. Cartwright's English man-servant Charles was taken ill, and in spite of every attention, finally succumbed. As an indication of the hardships they had to endure, it is related that this unfortunate man Charles had his toes badly frostbitten one night during his illness, from putting his foot out from under the bedclothes, although he was in the warmest room in the house in which there was a blazing fire. His first visitors in the spring of 1772 were a number of salmon fishers employed by the firm of Noble and Pinson, who took possession of his salmon rivers, claiming that they had a right to do so under an Act of Parliament. Not being able to dispute the point, Cartwright was obliged to give way, and had to send his men into the next bay to set their nets. The Eskimos were so incensed at this occurrence that they were with difficulty restrained from killing Noble and Pinson's men. Although the injustice was patent, it is probable that Noble and Pinson were within their rights, as we have seen that Palliser's regulations forbade any permanent title to fishing posts, the first vessel arriving in a harbour each season from England having the choice of berths. However, when Cartwright went to England at the end of the year, he made representations on the matter to the Board of Trade, from whose papers the following information is culled : — "Jan. 28th, 1773. A memorial was read from Geo. Cartwright to the Earl of Dartmouth, describing the fisheries and commerce of Labrador, and complaining that he had been disturbed in the possession of a fishing post on that coast, and praying that he be CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 233 confirmed and protected in its possession. Discussion on the matter was postponed until Governor Shuldham, Sir Hugh Palliser, and Noble and Pinson could be present." After several discussions it was finally decided, on February 19th, that actual residence and continual posses- sion were necessar)/- for the carrying on of the seal and salmon fisheries, and Cartwright was confirmed in the possession of the fishing posts he had established on the Labrador. Governor Shuldham's proclamation putting the new rule into effect has already been given. Cartwright's evidence was taken at the same time touching the proposed transfer of Labrador to Quebec, but we are not informed of its tenour. It is to be presumed that he would be strongly against the transfer. He mentions in his journal that he presented to the Earl of Dartmouth a plan for the encouragement of trade on the Labrador, which was laid before His Majesty in Council, and was partially adopted. His intercourse with the Eskimos did not run alto- gether smoothly. In August, 1771, he feared an outbreak, and believed that they had been " up to some of their old tricks" to the southward of him. On several occasions when individual Eskimos misbehaved them- selves, Cartwright did not hesitate to inflict corporal punishment. Once a man stole a skein of thread. Cartwright immediately demanded its return, and when the culprit brought it back administered a few strokes by way of punishment. The man resisted, when Cart- wright gave him a cross-buttock, and pitched him with great force headlong out of the tent. A few days after this, Cartwright became very ill while he was alone with the Eskimos, and one would have expected them to 234 LABRADOR take this opportunity for reprisals, but they exhibited the greatest concern. He thus describes their conduct : — " After it was dark they gave me convincing proof of their regard, (which I most gladly would have excused), by assembling in and about the tent nearest to mine, and there performing some superstitious ceremonies for my recovery. As I was not an eye-witness of their rites, I can only say that they were accompanied by such horrid yells and hideous outcries as I had never heard before from the mouths of the human species. These dismal notes were continued till daylight ; add to this their dogs were continually fighting and tumbling into my tent." The games indulged in by the Eskimos interested Cartwright very much, and occasioned him a great deal of amusement. They were very fond of playing at ball, throwing it from one to another, each striving to get it, but were very poor catches. A species of " thread the needle " was also often played, which ended in all rolling upon the ground in glorious confusion. Cartwright taught them to play several English games, and among them leap-frog, which must have been inexpressibly funny. By his firm but fair dealing, by entering into their sports and pastimes, and ministering to them when they were ill or in want, within two years Cartwright ob- tained a complete ascendancy over them. With the intention of impressing upon them the importance of the English, of whom they were frankly contemptuous, thinking themselves the lords of creation, Cartwright conceived the unfortunate idea of carrying a family of them to England with him. He accordingly selected two of his earliest friends, Attuiock and Tooklavinia, with CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 235 their wives Ickcongoque and Caubvick, and one little girl, Ickiuna, and sailed for England on November 7th. They arrived at Waterford on the 24th of that month, where, he says, he was teased to death by the whole population, and finally got to London on Decem- ber 14th. His experiences there with the Eskimo are best told by himself: — "They were greatly astonished at the number of shipping in the river, for they did not suppose that there were so many in the whole world ; but I was exceedingly disappointed to see them pass over London Bridge without taking much notice of it. I soon dis- covered that they took it for a natural rock which extended across the river. They laughed at me when I told them that it was the work of men, nor could I make them believe it till we came to Blackfriars Bridge, which I caused them to examine with more attention, showing them the joints and pointing out the marks of the chisels upon the stones. They no sooner compre- hended by what means such a structure could be erected than they expressed their wonder with astonish- ing significance of countenance. On landing at West- minster Bridge we are immediately surrounded by a great concourse of people, attracted not only by the uncommon appearance of the Indians who were in their seal skin dresses, but also by a beautiful eagle and an Eskimo dog, which had much the resemblance of a wolf and a remarkable wildness of look. " In a few days time I had so many applications for admittance to see the new visitors that my time was wholly taken up in gratifying the curiosity of my friends and their acquaintances, and the numbers that came made my lodgings very inconvenient to the landlord as well as to myself. I therefore resolved to 236 LABRADOR look out for a house, and soon hired a small one, ready furnished, for ten guineas a month in Little Castle Street. Being willing, as far as lay in my power, to comply with the incessant applications of my friends for a sight of the Indians, and finding it impossible either to have any rest or time to transact business, I appropriated two days a week for that purpose. On those days not only was my house filled to an incon- venience, but the whole street was crowded with carriages and people, so that my residence was a great nuisance to the neighbourhood. " I once took the three men to the Opera when their Majestys were there, and we chanced to sit near Mr. Coleman, the manager of Covent Garden Theatre, who politely invited all the Indians and myself to a play at his house. He fixed on Cymbeline, and they were greatl)^ delighted with the representation. But their pride was most highly gratified at being received with thundering applause by the audience on entering the box. One afternoon I took Attuiock with me and walked beyond the tower, then took boat and rowed up the river to Westminster Bridge, from whence we walked to Hyde Park Corner and then home again. I was in great expectatidn that he would begin to relate the wonders which he had seen, but I found myself greatly disappointed. " He immediately sat down by the fireside, placed his hands on his knees, leaned his head forward, fixed his eyes on the floor in a stupid stare, and continued in that position for a considerable time. At length, tossing up his head, he broke out, *Oh, I am tired ! Here are too many houses, too much smoke, too many people. Labra- dor is very good ; seals are plentiful there. I wish I was back aeain.' CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 237 " Although they had often passed St. Paul's without betraying any great astonishment, or at least not so much as Europeans do at the first sight of one of those stupendous islands of ice which are daily to be seen on the coast of their own country, yet when I took them to the top of it and convinced them that it was built by the hands of men (a circumstance which had not entered into their heads before, for they had supposed it a natural production), they were quite lost in amaze- ment. Upon my asking how they would describe it to their countrymen on their return, they replied with a look of the utmost expression, they should neither mention it nor many other things they had seen, lest they should be called liars, from the seeming im- probability of such astonishing facts. Walking along Piccadilly one day with the two men, I took them into a shop to show them a collection of animals. We had no sooner entered than I observed their attention riveted on a small monkey, and I could perceive horror most strongly depicted on their countenances. At length the old man turned to me and faltered out, ' Is that an Eskimo ? ' On pointing out several other monkeys of different kinds they were greatly diverted at their mis- take which they had made, but were not well pleased to observe that monkeys resembled their race much more than ours. The great surgeon, Dr. John Hunter, invited them to dinner with him, and Attuiock, stroll- ing out of the room, came upon one of Dr. Hunter's anatomical specimens, a complete skeleton in a case. He was terribly frightened, and came to the conclusion that he also was to be killed and eaten and his bones similarly preserved, and was with great difficulty re- assured. " Another day they happened upon a review of a 238 LABRADOR regiment of soldiers by the King. They immediately collected such a crowd round them that it attracted the notice of His Majesty, who sent for them to stand in a place where they would not be crowded, and viewed them himself with much curiosity. He condescended to salute them by taking off his hat, accompanied with a gracious smile, at which they were highly pleased." Cartwright then took them to his father's country residence, where they were lost in amazement at the sight of the cultivated land, grounds, and level fields, declaring that the country was all Jiiade. They had a run with the hounds, and were in at the death, although they had only been on horseback three or four times before. Cartwright says that he omitted nothing that could make their stay pleasant which his pocket could afford, and particularly tried to impress them with the numbers and power of the English, for they had often declared on the Labrador that they could easily cut off all the English if they chose to assemble themselves together. But before they had been long in England they became greatly chastened, and confessed to Cartwright that the Eskimos were but as one man to the numbers of the English. As might have been expected, during their visit in London they were visited by that inquisitive person, Mr. James Boswell, as evidenced by the following entry in his immortal work : — " Dr. Johnson did not give me half credit when I mentioned that I had carried on a short conversation by signs with some Eskimo who were then in London, particularly with one of them who was a priest. He thought I could not make them understand me." CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 239 People are generally indignant when their veracity is called into question, but the faithful Bosvvell turned the insult into an occasion of adulation of his hero, for he adds : — " No man was more incredulous as to particular facts which were at all extraordinary, and no man was more inquisitive to discover the truth." Cartwright started on his return to Labrador full of spirits. The term of his partnership with Perkins and Coughlan had expired, and by the liberality of his father, who had given him ;^2000, he was enabled to embark "on his own bottom." His brother, Major John Cartwright, writes of him at this time : — "To-morrow my brother, the Eskimo, and myself are to dine with a select party of the Royal Society, among whom is to be Solander. We have had him frequently. My brother is in great spirits with regard to his Labrador schemes, and at first setting off, although he has hitherto experienced every loss and disappoint- ment that could befall a man. He hath an excellent heart and understanding, but early took a turn which has indeed been a source of continual satisfaction to him, but it has at the same time prevented him tasting the more refined delights of society in a superior degree. He will therefore be happy in Labrador." Again : " My brother has succeeded in his wish with Lord Dartmouth, and will shortly be proprietor of the tract in Labrador he had fixed upon. Our Eskimo friends are greatly admired, and most so by the most intelli- gent." 240 LABRADOR But, alas ! a dreadful misfortune was to befall him and his humble friends. The vessel had hardly left the Downs before Caubvick was taken ill. On reaching Lymington and consulting a surgeon he pronounced her complaint small-pox, which, says Cartwright, " had nearly the same effect upon me as if he had pronounced my sentence of death." One after the other the un- fortunate Eskimos were taken with this terrible disease, and all died except Caubvick, who slowly recovered. The sailing of the vessel was delayed for over two months, and he did not finally get away until July i6th. Caubvick's hair had become so matted with the disease that it had to be cut off, but she could not be persuaded to part with it, flying into a passion of rage and grief whenever Cartwright proposed it, which he continually did, knowing the danger of infection — a foreboding which was only too fully realized, for the following summer he has to record that one William Phippard came on an Eskimo encampment on an island in Invuctok Bay, where the whole family had evidently died of small-pox. Cartwright had melancholy proof that this was Caubvick's family from a medal found there, which he recognized as having been given to Caubvick by one of his brothers when in England. When the vessel arrived at Cape Charles all the Eskimos on the southern coast, numbering about five hundred, hurried to greet their relations and friends. As they drew near the shore and saw only Caubvick with Cartwright, their joy was changed to gloomy silence. " At length, with great perturbation and faltering accents, they enquired, separately, what was become of the rest, and were no sooner given to understand by a silent, sorrowful shake of my head that they were no more, than they instantly set up such a yell as I never CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 241 before heard. Many of them snatched up stones and beat themselves on the face and head till they became shocking spectacles. In short, the violent frantic ex- pressions of grief were such that I could not help participating with them so far as to shed tears myself most plentifully. They no sooner observed my emotion than, mistaking it for the apprehensions which I was under for fear of their resentment, they instantly seemed to forget their own feelings to relieve those of mine. They pressed around me, and said and did all in their power to convince me that they did not entertain any suspicions of my conduct towards their departed friends." Cartwright returned to England again in December of that year and took with him an Eskimo boy of twelve years, whom he intended to educate in order that he might become the means of fuller communi- cation with the savages. Fearing that he also might take the small-pox he decided to have him inoculated, but the poor lad succumbed to the treatment within three days, to Cartwright's great grief. 1774 found Cartwright in partnership with Robert and John Scott, with two vessels, TJie Earl of Dartvwiith and the Lady Tyrconnel, and fully prepared to carry on a much more extensive trade than he had before at- tempted. The year passed uneventfully, his journal giving only the steady slaughter of birds and beasts ; the fisheries were successful, and altogether it seems to have been the most pleasant and prosperous year spent by him on the Labrador. In the spring of 1775 he decided to move further north, and built for himself a comfortable house at Sandwich Bay, which he appropriately named Caribou Castle. It was the most northerly of all the fishing 242 LABRADOR stations at the time, excepting of course the Moravian Missions, and was practically virgin country, having been visited before only by wandering bands of Eskimo. He was extremely pleased with his new location. He says the sea-coast was weary and desolate in the extreme, and barricaded with ice even in July, but immediately Sandwich Bay was entered there was neither ice nor snow. The waters of the bay were covered with duck and other water birds, the hills were clothed with spruce and birch, and the shore bordered with grass. They took large quantities of cod with the seine in the waters of the bay, and more salmon in the rivers than they had salt to cure,^ One river which falls into Sandwich Bay he called the White Bear River, from a remarkable adventure which befell him there. Enormous quantities of salmon ascended this river every spring. Cartwright says that a rifle bullet could not be fired into the river without killing some of them, and the shores were strewn with the remains of thousands of salmon which had been caught and consumed by the polar bears. We have already heard that Cabot also reported this curious fact of natural history. One spring Cartwright went up this river during the salmon run and came upon several white bears fishing in a pool, and shot a she bear and also its cub. The report of his gun startled six or eight more bears out of the woods, at which he fired as quickly as he was able to load, but breaking his ramrod he had to fly to the woods until he could get his rifle loaded again. He then went farther up the river, where ^ Cartwright found on the shore of Sandwich Bay a pair of caribou antlers with seventy-twD points, which was believed to be the recortl head. The animal had apparently been killed in fight with another stag. He presented it to the Earl of Dartmouth. This head has recently been traced by Mr. J. G. Millais, who states that it has fifty-three points only. CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 243 there was a beautiful little waterfall with a good sized pool below it. " Salmon innumerable were leaping in the air, and a great concourse of white bears were diving after them. Others were walking along shore, and others were going in and out of the woods." As he stood watching the curious scene an old dog bear came out of the woods close beside him. Waiting until the bear was within five yards of him he shot him through the head, but another bear followed so closely on the heels of the first that Cartwright had to fly until he had loaded his rifle again. Returning, he fired and again killed a bear. Unfortunately he found himself short of ammunition, a circumstance which had never before happened to him, so v/as unable to avail himself of the finest opportunity for sport that ever man had. He counted thirty-two bears in sight at one time, but there were many more through the woods. He shot six bears altogether, but only secured one skin. " So ended in disappointment the finest sport I ever saw." This was again a very prosperous year, and his vessels went home in the fall loaded with fish, oil, salmon, and furs. During the summer he started a garden and set out peas, beans, radishes, onions, cress, cucumbers, corn, oats, and wheat. An ambitious list, and it is to be feared many of his vegetables did not come to perfec- tion. In the spring of 1776, cod and salmon again appeared in great quantities and kept all hands at work. In the autumn he went home to spend the winter. When he started the following spring for Labrador he was obliged to sail in company with a fleet of vessels convoyed by the Pegasus sloop of war, as the 244 LABRADOR war with the American colonies had broken out, and their privateers had already made themselves feared. The protection afforded by the Pegasus seems to have been rather moral than actual, for no effort was made to keep the fleet together, and Cartvvright finally sailed off by himself, his " prophetic soul " still greatly troubled with the thought of American privateers. He arrived at Sandwich Bay without adventure on June 20th, and was informed that an American privateer was cruising in the Straits of Belle Isle and had taken one of Pinson's vessels. Shortly after he heard that the privateer had taken H.M.S. Fox and several bankers. The fishery that year was even more successful than the previous year, and in August cod were so plentiful that his people had not been in bed for nearly a week and were nearly dead with fatigue. But such a pros- perous state of affairs was too good to last. On August 27th he writes : — " At one o'clock this morning I was aroused by a loud knocking at my door, and when I opened a body of armed men rushed in. They informed me that they belonged to the Minerva privateer, of Boston, in New England, commanded by John Grimes, mounting twenty 9-pounders and manned with 160 men, and that I was their prisoner. They then demanded my keys, and took possession of my vessels and all my stores." About noon the Minerva worked into Blackguard Bay and came to anchor there, (Cartwright does not comment on the appropriateness of her anchorage). He went on board and was received civilly by Grimes, who told him for his consolation that he had a few days before taken three vessels belonging to Noble CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 245 and Pinson, loaded them with fish and sent them off to Boston. A number of Noble and Pinson's men had shipped on board the Minerva, and no less than thirty-two of Cartwright's men followed suit. The Minerva also took away four Eskimo to be made slaves of. They loaded Cartwright's vessel, The Countess of Effingham, with fish and sent her off to Boston. " He gave me a small quantity of provisions, returned my boats and most of their sails, and by noon the ship, together with my brig, went to sea. May the devil go with them ! " Cartwright was particularly incensed at the desertion of Captain Kettle, (who seems to have been of very different calibre to his modern namesake of fiction), the master of the brig, and also hoped that he would have it in his power to reward the infamous behaviour of his former servants who were particularly active in dis- tressing him. It was a great satisfaction to him to find out afterwards that " that lying rascal Grimes," when he arrived in Boston, clapped Kettle and the rest of the traitors into prison, having tempted them with a promise of a share of the booty, but by this means avoiding giving it to them. Before Grimes sailed he turned two of the deserters ashore again, and Cartwright immediately gave them a most severe beating with a stout stick. The chronicle of this disastrous day closes with the following lame and impotent conclusion : " As soon as they were gone, I took up my gun, walked out upon the island, and shot a curlew." Cartwright calculated that he was robbed of ;i^ 14,000 worth of goods, which he feared would prove his ruin, as indeed it did. He was told that this privateer had plundered the merchants in Temple Bay and Charles Harbour to even a greater extent than they did him. 246 LABRADOR His journal afterwards contains many bitter references to privateers. June 8th, 1779, was a particularly bad day, and he writes : — " If any ships are on this coast now, God help them, unless they are piratical privateers coming to plunder innocent people again ; for such I recommend to their friend the devil." But he had a pleasant surprise a month later, when his vessel The Countess of Effingham put in an appear- ance with all his salt and most of the goods the priva- teer had taken away. She had been retaken on the passage to Boston by five of the crew, who took her across to Dartmouth and delivered her to Cartwright's agent. Another American privateer visited the coast about 1779 and committed many depredations, especially at Twillingate and Battle Harbour, so that the settlers north of Trinity Bay were actually in the utmost distress for want of provisions. But the Americans were not always successful in their raids, for at White Bay, Mr. Tory's people drove her off with the loss of a considerable number of the crew. This news kept him in a continual state of nerves, and every strange vessel afterwards was thought to be a privateer. In August one of his hands came running to him exclaiming " that he was taken again," but it proved to be H.M.S. Marten, Captain Durell, who had come to patrol the coast. The alarm, how- ever, put his spirits in such a state that he could not sleep. Captain Durell gave him three cases of small arms and plenty of ammunition in case he was again attacked. He served out the arms and ammunition, and offered ten guineas reward to any of his people CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 247 who first gave notice of the enemy's approach. But he had yet to suffer at their hands: two years later a new vessel, with his whole collection of fish, oil, and furs being taken on the voyage to England, thus com- pleting his financial ruin. Cartwright was a guileless man, and generous to a fault. He once heard that one of his salmon posts had been taken possession of by a man called Baskem, and went immediately to turn him out, but finding the man, his wife, and children in a wretched condition of poverty, he made him a deed of gift of the house and all his rights to the post. He was continually being imposed upon by his principal rivals. Noble and Pinson. Once he lent them some provisions when they ran short, but when his own supply was late in arriving and he had to go to them to get back what he had lent, they made him pay through the nose for it. Another man, Forsythe, borrowed a lot of salt from him on the pretence that he had plenty at another point near, and would return it immediately, but it turned out that he had not a grain on the coast, and Cartwright again lost heavily through his guilelessness. When he got to England in 1779, his affairs were in such a bad way, owing to the losses he had sustained at the hands of the American privateers, that he had to call a meeting of his creditors and ask for time, when he hoped to pay them in full. But one mis- fortune after another fell upon him. His vessel, the Countess of Effingham, was lost ; then a new vessel, which he bought, was badly damaged in a terrific gale, and had to jettison her cargo, which was without insurance, and finally, as we have heard, was taken by the enemy. In 1783 he was thus deeper in debt than before, but his hopes were revived by hearing 248 LABRADOR that a vein of ore had been discovered on his property ; so he determined to return again to Labrador and take with him an experienced miner, not in the least doubting that he would soon be out of debt, and indeed, in affluent circumstances. But on reaching Cartwright Harbour he was much mortified to find that his people had collected very little fur during the winter, had had a poor salmon fishery, and the ore, from which he had hoped so much, proved to be without use or value. He then saw that he was irretrievably ruined, but worked on, and had a fairly successful summer's fish- ing. Fate, however, had not yet done with him, for again the vessel with his fish was lost without insurance. But he did not yet despair, and when he met his creditors in England told them that he felt confident he could retrieve his fortune if allowed five years in which to do so, seeing that the war was over and he had nothing to fear from privateers. So in April, 1785, he started for the last time for Labrador, feeling that he could not look upon himself as an honest man unless he did all in his power to pay up " the last deficient penny " he owed. His plan was to take few servants, and employ them and himself in trapping during the winter and trading with the Eskimos in summer. The Under Secretary of State, Mr. Nepean, persuaded him to take out some convicts who were under sentence of transportation, and he accordingly went to Newgate and selected four young men. But they proved a troublesome lot, and of little use to him. He went out in a vessel to Trinity, and there hired a shallop to take him to Labrador. On the French shore, where the rights of the French had recently been confirmed by treaty, he was told that the CAPTAIN GEORGE CARTWRIGHT 249 commanders of English men-of-war had orders to turn all the English settlers out of the French district. In July, 1786, he received a letter from Noble and Pinson, who had become one of his principal creditors, " the whole contents of which are infamous falsities calculated to pick a quarrel in hopes of taking an unfair advantage of our situation." They accused him and his partner Mr. Collingham of embezzling part of their late estate, and had seized the consignment of fish which had been sent over at the end of 1785. Cart- wright immediately determined to start for England to confute their villainies and recover his property. On his arrival in London, he applied to his trustees and agents for the restitution of the property which had been seized ; this they refused to do, and he had con- sequently to enter an action at law against them. After many delays the case came up for trial ; the great Erskine, who was counsel for the other side, was finally obliged to admit that he had not a word to say in defence of his client, and judgment was given in Cart- wright's favour with all costs. This last trying experience caused him to determine never to return to Labrador, where he had experienced such hardships, disappointments, and wrongs. But he still retained an interest in the business. In his evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons in 1793 he stated that his business on the Labrador had been very flourishing, having cleared over 100 per cent, for the past three years. He obtained an appointment as Barrack Master at Nottingham, a position which he filled with distinction and popularity until he retired in 18 17. It is recorded that once when political feeling was running very high at Nottingham, and the Radical 250 LABRADOR populace had charge of the streets, he alone, although known to be a violent Tory, dared to show his face. He died two years after his retirement, at the age of eighty-one, full of energy to the last, his mind being occupied on his death-bed with proposals to the Hudson Bay Company to establish hunting and trading posts on the Labrador. He is described as a handsome man of Herculean frame, with great dignity of carriage, courtly manners, and agreeable conversation. CHAPTER XIII THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN SIR HUGH PALLISER, in his "Order for Estab- lishing Communication with the Eskimos," says, referring to the Moravian Brethren : — " I have invited Interpreters and Missionaries to go amongst them to instruct them, etc." This was somewhat disingenuous on the part of Sir Hugh, for the initiative undoubtedly came from the Moravians themselves, although when they made the proposition to him, he immediately encouraged and helped them to the utmost of his power. This was not the first attempt of these pious men to introduce Christianity among the heathen Eskimos on the Labrador. Fifteen years before Palliser's time, John Christian Erhardt, one of the Brethren, proposed that he should go to Labrador and establish a Mission there, such as was already successful in Greenland. He was a sailor by profession, perhaps of the rank of boatswain or second mate, and had been on a Dutch whaler fishing in Greenland waters, where he had many opportunities of seeing the great work which had been accomplished by the Brethren. He wrote a touch- ing letter to Bishop Johannes de Watteville in 1750, begging that he be allowed to undertake the work. " Now, dear Johannes," he said, " thou knowest that I am an old Greenland traveller. I have also an amazing 251 252 LABRADOR affection for these countries, Indians and other bar- barians, and it would be a source of the greatest joy if the Saviour would discover to me that He has chosen me and would make me fit for this service." But Count Zinzendorf, the head of the Brethren in London, hesitated to undertake this new field of Mission work. At length, in 1752, the London firm of Nisbet, Grace, and Bell determined to fit out a vessel for a trading expedition to Labrador, and engaged Erhardt to go as interpreter and supercargo. Apparently these merchants were desirous also that a settlement should be made there, and at their instigation four Moravian Brethren, Golkowsky, Kunz, Post, and Krumm, signified their willingness to accompany the expedition and to remain in the country. The vessel, which bore the appropriate name of Hope, arrived on the southern coast of Labrador on July nth, 1752. Proceeding northwards they first met the Eski- mos on the 29th, and on the 31st arrived at a beautiful harbour in lat. 55.10, which they called Nisbett's Har- bour, and is now known as Ford's Bight. This they thought to be a suitable place for the settlement ; so landing, they took possession of the land in the name of King George HI, carving his name upon a tree. The Eskimos exhibited the greatest pleasure at meet- ing a white man who could speak their language, and Erhardt carried on a brisk barter trade with them in the most amicable manner. All during the month of August the missionaries, assisted by the ship's com- pany, laboured at getting their house finished and all preparations made for the winter. It was a matter of the greatest regret that none of them could speak the Eskimo language except Erhardt, and he was not very proficient. Finally, on September 5th, everything being THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 253 ready, the Hope left the harbour to seek further oppor- tunities for trade. Ten days later she again appeared with the dreadful news that Erhardt, the captain, and five of the crew had left the ship in a boat on the 13th to trade with a tribe of Eskimos whom they had en- countered, and had not been seen again. The mate, Goff, waited for two days for them in the greatest suspense, but having no other boat or a crew to man it, he decided to return to Nisbett's Harbour to get the assistance of the four missionaries and the boat which had been left for their use. The scene of the tragedy appears to have been quite near to Nisbett's Harbour. But very stormy weather came on, and after vainly attempting to reach the place in their boat, they sorrow- fully decided that there was no hope of rescuing their companions, and consequently abandoned the station, sailing on September 20th for St. John's. What happened to Erhardt and the boat's crew must for ever remain a mystery. It has always been conclu- ded that they fell victims to the cupidity and treachery of the Eskimos at the time when they left the ship. But this is by no means certain. For in the following year the American whaler Argo, Captain Swaine, visited the place and found the house still standing, and the remains of the seven murdered men, which they buried. It thus appears that they had been accidentally delayed or perhaps detained by the Eskimos at the place where they left the ship, and later, finding the ship gone, made their way back to the house. Here they were after- wards murdered. Jens Haven records later that one of the murderers was pointed out to him, and Christian Drachardt tells that the graves where the whalers had buried the remains had been shown to him.^ ^ In the report of the Argd's voyage, published in the Pennsylvania Gazette, November 17, 1753, and in Captain Swaine's log, no mention is made of finding or burying the remains of the murdered men. 254 LABRADOR The seed of their great purpose was sown, however, and at once another of the brethren quietly and un- ostentatiously devoted himself to the work of converting the Eskimos on Labrador. Jens Haven, a carpenter by trade, ignorant of both the English and Eskimo languages, and unaccustomed to a seafaring life, decided within himself that it was for him to take up the work, and at once began the study of all the books he could get relating to the country and its inhabitants. In 1758 he went to Greenland and laboured in the missions there, learning the language and training him- self for the purpose he had in view. Returning in 1762 to Herrnhut, the home of the Moravian Church in Ger- many, he declared his intention of going to Labrador. After much discussion he obtained permission to make the attempt, and, alone and unassisted, set out for London bent upon carrying out his design. Through the intervention of friends there he obtained an introduction to Commodore Palliser, who had just received his ap- pointment as Governor of Newfoundland. His pro- posals met with Sir Hugh's hearty sympathy, and all necessary assistance was at once accorded him. He made his way to St. John's, Newfoundland, and there waited for the arrival of Sir Hugh, who at once issued the following proclamation : — " Hitherto the Eskimoux have been considered in no other light than as thieves and murderers, but as Mr. Haven has formed his laudable plan, not only of uniting these people with the English nation, but of instructing them in the Christian religion, I require, by virtue of the powers delegated to me, that all men, whomsoever it may concern, lend him all the assistance in their power," etc. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 255 He also furnished him with the following compre- hensive Indian passport to be dispersed among the Eskimos : — Indian Passport fo7' those inhabiting the Coast of Labra- dor, to bring a friendly intercourse between His M. subjects and them, and to be distributed amongst them by fans Haven, a Moravian. BY HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH PALLISER, GOVERNOR, Etc., Etc. Whereas many and great advantages would arise to His Majesty's Trading subjects, if a friendly intercourse could be established with the Esquimaux Indians, inhabiting the Coast of Labrador, and as all attempts hitherto made for that purpose have proved ineffectual, owing in great measure to the imprudent, treacherous, or cruel conduct of some people who have resorted to that coast, by plundering and killing several of them, from which they have entertained an opinion of our Dispositions and Intentions being the same with respect to them as their's are towards us, that is to circumvent and kill them. And whereas such wicked practices are most contrary to His Majesty's sentiments of humanity, to his desire of conciliating their affections, and his endeavours to induce them to trade with his subjects. In conformity to these, His Majesty's sentiments, I hereby strictly forbid such wicked practices for the future, and declare that all such as are found offending herein shall be punished with the utmost severity of the law. And whereas I have taken measures for bringing about a friendly communication between the said Indians and His Majesty's subjects, and for removing those prejudices that have hitherto proved obstacles to it, I hereby strictly enjoin and require all His Majesty's subjects who meet with any of the said Indians to treat them in the most civil and friendly manner and in all their bearings with them to act with the 256 LABRADOR utmost probity and good faith particularly with such of them as may produce this Certificate of their having entered into treaty with me, and that I have in His Majesty's name assured them that they may by virtue thereof safely trade with His Majesty's subjects without danger of being hurt or ill-treated, and I hereby require and enjoin all His Majesty's subjects to conform and pay the strictest regard thereto, at the same time recommending it to both parties to act with proper caution for their own security till by frequent communication a perfect confidence may be established between them. Given under my Hand, St. John's, ist July, 1764. H P To Mr. Jens Haven to be dispersed amongst the Indians on the Coast of Labrador. By Command of His Excellency, (Signed) Jno. Horsenaill. This laudable design of Sir Hugh, however, failed of its purpose ; for, vi^hen Haven met the Eskimos and, after reading the passport, presented it to them, " they shrunk back terrified, and would not be persuaded to touch it, for they supposed it to be a living creature, having seen me speak words from it." This, however, anticipates somewhat. Haven found it quite difficult to make his way from St. John's to Labrador. The English mer- chants interested in the Newfoundland trade had just extended their operations to that coast, and communi- cations were infrequent. From Jens Haven's Journal, which he gave to Sir Hugh Palliser, and which is preserved at the Record Office, we learn that he went north with three shallops, which were going to Labrador to fish, and arrived at Carpunt on August 17th. Here they were joined by four shallops, which had just come from Labrador, and reported that a great number of Eskimos had been at York Harbour, and had driven away the English by THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 257 their usual tactics of a sudden surprise and unearthly yells. The fleet of fishing boats being increased to ten, Jens Haven persuaded them to set out again for the Labrador coast, but their hearts failed them on the way across, and they scampered back to Carpunt. Haven then went on board Capt. Cook's vessel, and was kindly received by the great navigator, who was then engaged in surveying the northern parts of New- foundland and Labrador. Cook arranged for him to be taken to Labrador by an Irish vessel fishing at St. Julian's, and he finally landed at the much-desired bourne on x'lugust 24th. But the Eskimos had left Chateau Bay, and he was taken back to Carpunt, greatly disappointed. Here he found a Capt. Thompson and Capt. Nicholas Darby, and learned that the Eskimos had been there in his absence. But a few days afterward they returned, seeking to trade with a French captain whom they had been in the habit of meeting there. The encounter is best described in Haven's own words : — "September 4th, 1764, was the joyful day I had so long wished for, when one Eskimaux came into the harbour to see if Captain Galliot was there. While I was preparing to go to him he had turned, and was departing to return to his countrymen, who lay in the mouth of the harbour, with the intelligence that the Captain had sailed. I called out to him in Greenlandish that he should come to me, that I had words to say to him, and that I was his good friend. He was astonished at my speech, and answered in broken French ; but I begged him to speak in his own language, which I understood, and to bring his countrymen, as I wished to speak to them also ; on which he went to them, and cried with a loud voice ' Our friend is come.' s 258 LABRADOR " I had hardly put on my Greenland clothes when five of them arrived in their own boats. I went to meet them, and said, ' I have long desired to see you ! ' They replied, * Here is an innuit ! ' I answered, ' I am your countryman and friend ! ' They rejoined, ' Thou art indeed our countryman.' The joy on both sides was very great, and we continued in conversation for a con- siderable time, when at last they invited me to accompany them to an island about an hour's row from the shore, where I should find their wives and children, who would give me a cordial welcome. I well knew that in doing this I put myself entirely in their power ; but conceiving it to be of essential service to our Saviour's cause that I should venture my life among them, and endeavour to become better acquainted with their nature, I turned simply to Him and said, ' I will go with them in Thy name. If they kill me, my work on earth is done, and I shall live with Thee ; but if they spare my life, I will firmly believe that it is Thy will that they should hear and believe the Gospel.' " The pilot and a sailor, who put me ashore, remained in the boat, and pushed off a little way from the land to see what would become of me. I was immediately surrounded, and everyone seemed anxious to show me his family. I gave every boy two fish-hooks, and every woman two or three sewing needles ; and after con- versing about two hours, left them, with a promise of being soon with them again. In the afternoon I re- turned with the pilot, who wished to trade with them. I begged them to remain in this place during the night, but not to steal anything from our people, and showed the danger of doing this. They said, ' The Europeans steal also.' I answered, ' If they do so, let me know, and they shall be punished.' I seized every opportunity to THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 259 say something about the Saviour, to which they listened with great attention. I then invited them to visit me next morning, and took leave. " Next morning, accordingly, eighteen Esquimaux came in their boats. I went out to sea to meet them, and as the French Captain was frightened at the sight of such a crowd, I only allowed six of them to come ashore with me, and directed the others to land some- where else I then got into a boat and went with them again to their families, who received me as before, with the greatest show of kindness. In the evening three French and one English boat arrived full of Esquimaux. The men came immediately to see me, and requested I would visit them in their tents. I read to them a letter written by the missionary John Beck, in the name of the Greenlanders, and as I spoke to them of the Saviour's death they appeared struck with terror — supposing that they were being upbraided for some of their former murders. On which I showed them that he was a great friend to mankind — but they had no understanding of spiritual things. " To my astonishment I spoke to them with much more ease than I supposed I could have done, and they expressed great affection for me, insisting always upon my being present at all their trading transactions with the sailors, to adjust matters between them, 'for,' said they, 'you are our friend !' When retiring, they entreated me to come again and bring my brethren with me." Sir Hugh PalHser was greatly pleased with this successful beginning to the good work. He sent Haven to England in the Lark frigate, and gave him a letter of introduction to the Board of Trade, setting forth the importance of the work thus begun, and asking for their influence and assistance. This was readily granted, and 26o LABRADOR the next year Haven, accompanied by three of the Moravian Brethren — Christian Drachardt, John Hill, and Andrew Schlozer — were sent out in a man-of-war to Newfoundland. Here they were fortified again by a Proclamation, reading as follows : — Proclamation of Governor in Reference to Moravians, 1765- BY HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH PALLISER, ETC. Whereas the Society of the Unitas Fratrum, under the protection of His Majesty have, from a pious zeal for pro- moting the knowledge of a true God and of the religion of our Beloved Lord the Saviour, Jesus Christ, amongst the Heathens, formed a resolution of establishing a mission of their brothers upon the Coast of Labrador ; for that purpose we have appointed John Hill, Christian Drachart, Jens Haven and Christian Schlozer to effect this pious purpose ; and whereas the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty and the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations have signified to me their entire approbation of an undertaking so commend- able in itself and that promises so great benefit to the publick ; These are, therefore, to certify all persons whom it may concern that the said John Hill, Christian Drachart, Jens Haven, and Christopher Schlozer, are under His Majesty's protection and all Officers Civil and Military, and all others His Majesty's subjects within my Government, are hereby strictly charged and required not to give any interruption or hindrance to the said John Hill, Christian Drachart, Jens Haven and Christian Schlozer, but to afford them every aid and fnendly assistance for the success of their pious under- taking for the benefit of mankind in general and of His Majesty's subjects in particular. Given under my hand and seal, 30th April, 1765. Hugh Pali.iser. By Command of His Excellency, John Horsnaill. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 261 They were sent to Chateau in H.M.S. Niger under the command of Sir Thomas Adams, where they arrived on July 17th. They then separated, Haven and Schlozer going north in H.M. sloop Hope to look for the Eskimos, while Drachart and Hill remained with the Niger. The former were very unfortunate and did not meet any of the savages, as it proved to be customary for them to travel south at that season of the year on trading or marauding expedi- tions. Drachardt and Hill were therefore more successful, and very soon hundreds of Eskimos appeared in the harbour. When the first kayaks approached the ship, they uttered the French words, " Tous cammarades, oui, hee ! " to which Drachardt replied in Greenlandish, using the common form of salutation, " We are friends " ; they at once responded with the counterpart, " We are also thy friends." Some of them had met Haven in the previous year and inquired affectionately for him, and all were delighted to find other white men who could speak their language. With reassuring speeches they invited Drachardt to visit their camp, to which he at once agreed. There, surrounded by over three hundred savages, he began to converse with them in their own language. He told them he had come from the Karalit in the Far East, of whom they had no knowledge, but who knew of them, and that those distant Karalits were very anxious that they should hear the very important news he had for them. He then began to tell of the Saviour and Creator of the world. Never had the great story been told to more unpromising listeners, and their comments and questions showed how little prepared they were to 262 LABRADOR understand what was said to them. But their friendH- ness and pleasure were unmistakable. Very shortly Sir Hugh Palliser arrived at Chateau in the Guernsey, and through the agency of the Brethren made that peace with the Eskimos which has been referred to in a previous chapter. Altogether, their intercourse was most successful, and when at the end of the season the Brethren took leave of their new friends, they were entreated to come again, which they readily promised to do. Unfortunately, several years were to elapse before their promise could be fulfilled, and in the interval several ruptures took place between the white fisher- men and the Eskimos. Two of these frays have been already noted — that of the American whalers com- plained of by Palliser, and the other at Darby's whaling station at Cape Charles. The cause of the delay was the difficulty the Moravians had in obtaining a grant of land and other privileges, which they deemed absolutely necessary for the successful conduct of their mission. They asked for 100,000 acres of land for each settlement they should make on the Labrador. This seemed to have aroused the suspicions of the Board of Trade, and even Palliser demurred. His pet scheme was that the Labrador coast should be kept strictly for the ship fishery from Great Britain, and grants of land were to be rigidly refused. He wanted sailors for the Navy, not settlers. But the Moravians were firm. With remarkable prescience they pointed out that it was absolutely necessary that they should be able to protect their flock from the contaminating influence of chance traders. Mr. James Hutton, the secretary of the London Society, declared " that it THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 263 would be better to leave them ignorant of the Gospel than that by means of spirituous liquors, quarrels, brutal lusts, or bad neighbourhood, they should draw back from the Gospel. The only way to prevent quarrelling and violence would be to grant us absolute property in the land, upon which none should be allowed to stay except on good behaviour." Palliser and Hutton had a hot argument on the subject, " yet mixed with much cordiality and affection, Palliser's hand on Hutton's and Button's hand on Palliser's shoulder — shot for shot, friendly and warm, and without the least air of reserve." Finally, on May 3rd, 1769, the Moravian Brethren obtained their grant on their own terms. By its means their Missionaries, through many years of patient labour, unnoticed, unpraised, unrewarded on this earth, have gradually won the entire Eskimo population of the East Coast of Labrador to the Christian verity, and have undoubtedly been the means of preserving the race from extinction. This grant reads as follows : — Order in Council granting latid to Moravians at Esquimaux Bay, 1 769. AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES, The 3RD day of May, 1769. Whereas there was this day read at the Board a Report from the Right Honorable the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs ; Dated the 20th of last month, in the words following, viz : — "Your Majesty having been pleased by Your Order in Council of the 20th February last to refer unto this Committee a Representation from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations setting forth that they have had under their 264 LABRADOR consideration a memorial presented by the Earl of Hills- borough, one of Your Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, on behalf of the Society of Unitas Fratrum, stating, That the said Society are desirous of prosecuting their intention of establishing a Mission on the Western Coast of Labrador for the purpose of civilizing and instructing the Savages called Esquimaux, inhabiting that Coast, in which undertaking the Memorialists represent that they have already taken some steps in consequence of encouragement received from the Board in 1765; but that there is a necessity of having permission to occupy such a quantity of land on that Continent as may induce the Esquimaux to settle around the Missionaries ; that for this purpose they have pitched upon Esquimaux Bay and praying for a grant on that spot of one hundred thousand acres of land, or about twelve miles square ; with liberty in common of other British subjects of fishing and trading on that Coast, submitting at the same time the expediency of the Government erecting a blockhouse near the said intended settlement to protect the Esquimaux and their Missionaries from violence and encroachments of any disorderly people who might happen to come into the Bay. Whereupon the said Lords Commissioners represent that in the year 1765 the Society above mentioned with the approba- tion of the Government deputed four of their brethren to visit and explore the Coast of Labrador with a view to propa- gate the Gospel among the savage inhabitants ; those persons though unavoidably prevented from completing their design in the full extent did however by the assistance and under the direction of Mr. Palliser, Your Majesty's Governor in New- foundland, make some progress in the laudable work of their mission by establishing an intercourse and concluding a treaty with those savages. Whereupon in the year following, upon the favourable report made to Your Majesty's said Government touching the conduct and behaviour of their said Missionaries and in consequence of a petition of the said Society, the Board of Trade did in an humble representation to Your THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 265 Majesty dated March 27th, 1766, submit, whether it might not be advisable to allow this Society to occupy such a district of land, not exceeding one hundred thousand acres, upon the Coast of Labrador as they should think best situated for the purposes of their Mission, from the opinion of their predeces- sors in office they see no reason to dissent and as they do in Hke manner with them think it advisable to encourage and promote a settlement of this sort, as well from the pious and laudable object of its institution, as from the public and com- mercial advantage to be derived from it; they beg leave humbly to recommend to Your Majesty that the Society, or any persons deputed by the Society, for that purpose may be allowed by an order of Your Majesty in Council to occupy and possess during Your Majesty's pleasure one hundred thousand acres of land in Esquimaux Bay on the Coast of Labrador as they shall find piost suitable to their purpose, and that Your Majesty's Gover- nor of Newfoundland may be directed by the said Order to give them all reasonable assistance and support in forming such establishment, and by a Proclamation to be published in Your Majesty's name signifying that this establishment is formed under Your Majesty's express authority and direction, to warn all persons from molesting and disturbing the said settlers ; and in case it shall appear to him to be necessary for their welfare and security, that one or more of the principal Missionaries shall be vested with the authority of Justice of the Peace, that he should in such case issue the proper com- mission for that purpose, conformable to the powers delegated to him by Your Majesty's Commission under the Great Seal. With respect to the matter of erecting a blockhouse near the said intended settlement for the defence of the Esquimaux and the Missionaries and for the general protection of the British Trade and Fishery, they do not think themselves justi- fied in advising Your Majesty to comply with a request that would very probably be attended with considerable public ex- pense, and for which there does not appear to be any im- mediate necessity ; but as they think it highly proper that 266 LABRADOR reasonable and necessary measures should be taken for the security of those who shall establish themselves on this savage and uncivilized Coast, they would humbly recommend Your Majesty to direct, that the persons who shall engage in this settlement shall be furnished out of Your Majesty's Stores with fifty muskets and a proportionate quantity of ammunition which they consider may be sufficient for their personal security and defence. The Lords of the Committee in obedience to Your Majesty's said Order of reference this day took into their consideration the said representation and do humbly report to Your Majesty that they agree in opinion with what is above proposed by the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. The Synod of the Moravian Church in London at once began to make plans for a permanent settlement. Before this could be done, however, it M^as necessary that a more extended reconnoitring expedition should be made. A vessel called the Jersey Packet was pur- chased, and a most fortunate choice of a captain made in the person of Francis Mugford. The history of the Moravian ships and their captains is one of the most re- markable in the records of navigation. For 137 years they have made an annual trip to this stormy, ice-beset, and still uncharted coast, but have not yet lost a vessel. Jens Haven, Christian Drachardt, and Stephen Jensen were placed in charge of this expedition. The vessel sailed on May 17th, 1770, and on June 24th arrived off Amitok Island near Nain. This was the nominal anniversary of Cabot's discovery, but owing to the change in the calendar was in reality twelve days earlier. This is an important argument in the discussion of Cabot's land-fall. Proceeding northward they soon fell in with the Eskimos, among whom they found an old acquaint- THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 267 ance, Segulliak. Mikak and her husband Tuglavina were also in the neighbourhood, and shortly made their appearance. Mikak was arrayed in the gorgeous dress which had been presented to her in England, and had not forgotten the little English she had learned. By virtue of her larger experiences, or perhaps of her dress, Mikak had gained considerable authority over her tribe as well as her husband, and freely exercised it on behalf of the Missionaries.^ She had told her people that the Brethren intended to live among them, and when they confirmed her report, the Eskimos gave vent to extraordinary ex- pressions of joy. Having selected the locality now known as Nain for their first settlement, they felt it but right that they should obtain the consent of the Eskimos to their appropriation of it. The matter was explained with some difficulty, and a gift made to each family. A document was then drawn up recording the trans- action, and the principal Eskimos were required to make a mark upon it opposite their names, to signify their acceptance of the bargain. A piece of ground was then chosen and marked at the four corners by stones, bearing the inscription, "G. Ill, 1770, and U. F., 1770." Sir Hugh Palliser had given Mikak a very spacious tent ; this was erected, and from its shelter the venerable Missionary Drachardt preached his first sermon to an assemblage of about 800 people. All listened with great attention, and when Mikak and Tuglavina spoke in support of the statements made by Drachardt, they were all visibly affected. The 1 A portion of Mikak's famous dress was still in the possession of her grandson, Joseph Palliser, in 1870. 268 LABRADOR remembrance of the murders they had committed weighed heavily on their minds, and they greatly feared that the Missionaries would take away the boats they had stolen on their marauding expeditions. At length the time came for the Missionaries' depart- ure. Mikak sent two white fox skins to the Dowager Princess of Wales, a black fox to the Duke of Gloucester, and two red ones to Sir Hugh Palliser. The heads of the tribes gave many assurances that they would live in peace with the Europeans, and with many promises of a return in the following year the Brethren set sail for England. The deepest consideration was given to every detail of the preparation for the new colony, and their plans were wisely and truly laid. The company chosen for the work were Jens Haven and his newly-married wife, an Englishwoman ; Christian Drachardt, the old Green- land Missionary who desired only to end his days in labouring for the conversion of the Eskimos ; Chris- topher Braasen, a physician and surgeon, accompanied by his wife ; John Schneider and his wife ; Stephen Jensen, who was to take charge of the trade ; and six single Brethren. The frame of a house was prepared, all ready to set up, and a large vessel, the Amity, purchased to carry the party and their stores to the chosen spot. On the eve of their departure the old church in Fetter Lane was the scene of a memorable gathering of Brethren and their sympathizers, when the work and the workers were commended to the care and protection of the Almighty. On May 8th, 1771, the Amity, commanded by Captain Mugford, set sail, but did not arrive at her destination until August 8th. They immediately began THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 269 to set up their house, and by great exertions had it completed on September 22nd. On the 24th the Amity sailed on her return voyage, leaving the little colony fairly comfortably settled for the winter. Mikak and Tuglavina were again present and greatly assisted the Missionaries, but nevertheless they felt that their position was often a very dangerous one, requiring them to be continually on their guard, " with a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other." The aged Mis- sionary, Drachardt, in the meanwhile devoted himself to preaching and speaking to the Eskimos, endeavouring to awaken in them some idea of the great truths of the Christian religion. In 1772 the ship which was to take out supplies to the settlement first made a fishing voyage to the Banks, in an endeavour to reduce the cost of the adventure. But this delayed her so much that she only reached Nain at the end of October. At that time the Brethren had despaired of receiving any succour that season, and were reduced to gathering berries for their sustenance. The next year Sir M. Shuldham, Governor of New- foundland, sent Lieut. Roger Curtis to visit the Brethren's settlement. His report is most interesting. It is full of praise for the methods of the Brethren, and wonder at the work already accomplished. In temporal things he found that they had built a substantial living house and store-house, had erected a saw-mill, and laid out a garden which provided them with salads and some vegetables. The work of proselytizing was naturally of slow growth, and the Eskimos then showed but little indica- tion of understanding the teaching of the Brethren, but they had made a good beginning in that they had already won their hearts. The following extracts from 2 70 LABRADOR Curtis's report are so vivid that it were a pity not to quote them. Of the Missionaries he writes : — " Shielded by virtue, they find the protection of arms unnecessary. None of the Eskimos presume to come within the palisades without permission. They have been told that they must not, and obey with the most satisfied and patient submission. In their contro- versies they appeal to the Missionaries. Sloth begins to be discountenanced among them, and labour, which was heretofore thought of with detestation, is now practised with applause. Thus it is that by means of this laudable Society, a herd of barbarous savages are in a fair way to become useful subjects, and the adventurers on the coast v/ill prosecute their business in greater security." In the following year jurisdiction over the coast of Labrador was transferred from Newfoundland to the Province of Quebec, during which regime no enquiry into the work of the Missions seems to have been made. The task assumed by the Moravian Missionaries was most difficult and complex. How to reach the souls of this savage people, to teach them the simplest Chris- tian truths, and to explain and to inculcate almost every principle of morality, was a problem which exer- cised all their wisdom and patience. Then there was the economic question, how to provide for the little colonies that gathered around them, and how to teach the Eskimos to provide for themselves. Added to these was the great difficulty in keeping the spiritual apart from the temporal. The Eskimos soon saw what was required of them, and the desire for European goods increasing in proportion to the supply, there was THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 271 great temptation to pretend to conversion and reforma- tion. The Missionaries had to be constantly on guard against being deceived by their protestations. Long periods of probation were necessary before they could be certain that the applicants were genuinely con- verted. It was not until 1776 that they finally adjudged a man named Kingminguse to be worthy of baptism. The ceremony was made as solemn and impressive as possible, and both candidate and congregation were much affected, and indeed quite overpowered. A neighbour of Kingminguse at once professed his anxiety to receive baptism also ; but another man voiced the more general feeling when he declared that he too believed very much, but what he wanted at present was a knife. Kingminguse was christened by the name of Peter, and for a long time remained faithful to his vows, but in 1789 he relapsed after a visit to the south. He took to himself two or three wives, and when expostulated with, declared that he required them to " man " his boat. He finally left the Moravian settlement and went south, and his ultimate fate is unknown. The Brethren soon saw that one settlement would not be sufficient for them to carry on their work to the best advantage. The Eskimos were in the habit of roving from place to place on the coast, now north, now south, and from the outer fringe of islands in the pursuit of seals to the interior, where they sought caribou and salmon. It was impossible for the Missionaries to follow them every- where, although they attempted to do so, and wherever the Eskimos got out of touch, it was found that they 2^2 LABRADOR returned to their old habits and superstitions. For these reasons other centres were established. A second grant was obtained from the Privy Council in 1775, which resulted in the founding of the settlement at Okak, about 1 50 miles north of Nain ; and a third grant in 1781, when the Mission of Hopedale was started about 150 miles south of Nain. Hitherto, the Missionaries in their endeavour to con- vert the Eskimos had but to combat the superstitions and habits of heathendom, but from now on their anxieties and labours were greatly increased by the gradual advance from the south of fishermen and traders — French Canadians, West Countrymen, Ameri- cans and Newfoundlanders. For the sake of their trade the poor Eskimos were seduced with rum, tobacco, and useless European goods. The temptation to travel south in the summer was thus greatly in- creased. The rule of the white trader was not so rigid as that of the Moravians, and the goods he offered in barter were more attractive. Many of the most promising members of the Mora- vians' congregations falling under this temptation re- lapsed into their original barbarism, further darkened by the vices of the white race. The Brethren did their best to prevent this migration south, and used, for them, quite bitter words on the harmful influence of the white traders. For the first fifteen years of the Mission, George Cartwright was the principal trader on the coast, who it may be remem- bered also claimed the credit of having civilized the Eskimos. Of the Moravians, Cartwright said with a sneer that he believed it was for the purpose of trade they had come, and not to convert the heathen. Amoncf the unfortunate ones were Mikak and Tug- THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 273 lavina. After being largely instrumental in the peace- ful establishment of the Missionaries and apparently sincere converts, they unhappily made a voyage south in 1783, when all their vows were forgotten. Poor Mikak did not return to Nain until 1795, but a few days before her death. She sent for the Missionaries and expressed her deep sorrow for her misspent life and broken promises, and received such comfort as was possible. The vicissitudes of her life were certainly extraordinary, and her experiences far beyond those of any of her nation before and perhaps since. Tuglavina was a man of very great influence among his people, and after his relapse became a great thorn in the sides of the Missionaries, inducing many of the better dis- posed of the Eskimos to go south and to leave their congregation. He was known to have committed several murders, and to have instigated several more ; in short, his life was evil «ven for an Eskimo. But even in his dark and desperate nature the seeds of the Mora- vians' teaching still lingered. About the time of Mikak's death he also returned to Nain, and begged again to be taken into the congregation. So far as could be seen he was sincerely repentant and died in 1799 in the odour of sanctity. "A singular object," says the Missionary diary, " of the mercy of the Saviour, who followed him through all his perverse and wicked ways with infinite patience and long suffering, until at last He drew him to Himself." There are few instances of greater self-sacrifice than the lives of the Moravian Missionaries on the Labrador. Yet there has never been any lack of volunteers anxious to follow the example of Jens Haven. He, good man, remained at his post until the infirmities of old age compelled him to give up. He felt that if he remained T 2 74 LABRADOR he would become a burden to the little colony of Mis- sionaries, and a hindrance rather than a help to the work, whose advancement he so greatly desired, and he therefore asked to be relieved. He was accordingly retired to Herrnhut in 1786, after thirty years' service in the work to which he had devoted himself. There he spent his declining years happily and peacefully, dying in 1794. Labrador owes much to his devotion, piety, and wisdom. It was at his instigation that the work was begun, and he was the principal agent in carrying it on through the trying and almost unproductive early years. But for him the energies of the Moravian Church might not have been turned to the requirements of the heathen Eskimos on the Labrador, in which case, it is more than probable, the race would have been long ago extinct. At the beginning of the eighteenth century it was estimated that there were 30,000 Eskimos in Labrador, but I am inclined to think the number greatly over- estimated. The early French settlers certainly saw hundreds together in the Straits of Belle Isle at that period, and therefore surmised that the whole coast was peopled in like manner. But we have learned that the southern journey each summer was an invariable cus- tom, so that the numbers seen by the French were probably the whole population from Hamilton Inlet south. The four hundred Eskimos with whom Palliser made peace at Chateau in 1764 were no doubt the remnants of the southern tribes. The Moravian Bre- thren estimated that there were about 3000 Eskimos on the coast at the beginning of their administrations. This did not include those living within Hudson's Straits, where they were thought to be in greater num- bers than on the east coast. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 275 At the close of the eighteenth century, after thirty years' of administration, the number of Eskimos hving on the Moravians' settlements were as follows : — At Nain 63 persons, of whom 30 professed Christianity. „ Hopedale 51 „ „ 33 >- » ,, Okak 48 n » 22 „ ,, This apparently small result for so many years of devoted teaching shows the magnitude and difficulty of the task. At this period twenty-six Missionaries were employed in the work. The Amity, which conveyed the first colony of Moravians to Labrador, continued to make yearly trips without particular adventures under the command of Captain Francis Mugford. In July, 1777, a sloop called the Good Intent was purchased, and continued in service until 1780. This vessel was cap- tured by the French on her homeward voyage in 1778, but was retaken by an English cruiser. This event caused the application to be made for a passport from the French and Americans, which was readily given. The latter document was furnished by Benjamin Franklin, then minister from the United States at the Court cf France. It is dated April nth, 1779, and is as follows : — "To all Captains and Commanders of Vessels of War, Privateers, and Letters of Marque belonging to the United States Government of America. " Gentlemen, — The Religious society commonly called Moravian Brethren, having established a Mission on the coast of Labrador for the conversion of the savages there to the Christian religion, which has already had good effects in turning them from their ancient practices of surprising and plundering and murdering the white people, Americans and Europeans, who for the purposes 276 LABRADOR of trade or fishery happened to come to the coast, and persuading them to lead a new life of honest industry, and to treat strangers with humanity and kindness, " And it being necessary for the support of this useful Mission, that a small vessel should go there every year to furnish supplies and necessaries for the Missionaries and their converts, which vessel for the present year is a sloop of about seventy tons called the Good Intent, whereof is master Captain Francis Mugford, " This is to request you that if the said vessel should happen to fall into your hands you would not suffer her to be plundered or hindered in her voyage, but on the contrary would afford her any assistance she may stand in need of: wherein I am confident your conduct will be approved by the Congress and your owners." From 1780 to 1786 the Amity was again in com- Mission, but in 1787 she was replaced by the first Hannofiy, a vessel of 133 tons built especially for the Mission, which remained in service until 1802. In 1782 Captain Mugford was succeeded by Captain James Fraser. Amongst the earliest works undertaken by the Eskimo Brethren was the translation of the Scriptures into the Eskimo language. As the translations were finished they were printed in England and returned for the use of the little congregations. Schools were established very early and were always most successful. Letters from Hopedale in 1797 state that two Englishmen had come to settle near them, and that one, William Watson, had arrived at their settlement on January 27th, seeking to obtain supplies from them. Seven other Europeans were reported in the neighbour- hood, two of them having married Eskimo women. A curious phenomenon was observed in the heavens on THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 277 three occasions during the winter of 1799. It consisted of a vast quantity of inflammable matter in the air which seemed to pour itself towards the earth in im- mense fiery rays and balls. Probably some remarkable variety of the aurora. CHAPTER XIV THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN— Con finued THE Moravian Brethren have often been very harshly criticized because of the trade they car- ried on in connection with their Missions on the Labrador. A study of the problems with which they were confronted, however, must convince any unprejudiced person of the injustice of these animadversions. Trading was very unwillingly entered into. In the very beginning, when Erhardt planned his disastrous voyage, Count Zinzendorf strongly objected to trading in the name of the Brethren ; and consequently the commercial part of that venture was undertaken by the London firm, Messrs. Nisbet, Grace, and Bell. When, however, permanent establishments were about to be made, it became apparent that trade in some sort would have to be carried on. Hutton's reasons for this decision have already been given in the account of the negotiations with the Board of Trade. The icy fast- nesses of Labrador were already being invaded by the trader. From the beginning of the eighteenth century the southern Eskimo tribes had been in the habit of trading with the French fishermen and settlers in the Straits of Belle Isle ; and the desire for European goods, boats, utensils, weapons, food, and clothes was already intense and must be gratified by fair means 278 THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 279 or foul — generally the latter. We have already heard of continual conflicts arising out of trading disputes, always in the end resulting in the plunder and slaughter of the Eskimos. The practices of the traders of that day were not humanitarian, and no idea of mutual benefit entered into their calculations when trading with the Eskimos. To obtain their goods at the least possible expense was their sole aim, and rum and tobacco soon became the chief articles given in exchange. To preserve their flock from this contaminating in- fluence was one of the greatest cares of the Brethren, and to obviate any necessity for the intercourse their own trade was established. It has also been pointed out that the Eskimos were nomads, and if they were to be civilized and instructed it was necessary for an attractive central depot to be made where they could be gradually collected and kept within touch. It is certain that had not the Brethren established a trade for the benefit of the Eskimo as well as for the support of the Mission, their labours would have ended long ago. The northern Eskimos would have flocked south, seeking the wonderful new implements and food, and would have shared the fate of the numerous tribes that once inhabited the southern coast, but have been now long extinct. The trading interests have always been separated as far as possible from the spiritual work. A Society connected with the Moravian Church, known as the " Brethrens' Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel Among the Heathen," generally called the " London Association," under the support of the Labrador Mission, and a certain number of the members of this Society, who were called the " Ship's Company," assumed the trading enterprise, and continued to have the manage- 28o LABRADOR ment of it until 1797. The terms upon which the company managed the business have not been ascer- tained. After 1797, the " Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel " took over the management of the trade. With all the unfavourable criticism this practice has caused, no one has yet charged the Society as a whole, or any member of it, with having traded for their personal advantage. The whole proceeds have been devoted to the upkeep of the Mission, and have but seldom been more than sufficient to defray the heavy expenses incurred. On a few occasions it is reported that the London Association had a surplus, which they paid over to the General Synod for the benefit of the Missions in general. It has been no easy task for the Brethren to prevent the trade from interfering with their spiritual work, and it has often been the occasion of considerable dis- satisfaction and jealousy among the Eskimos. To maintain the trade on business principles, so that industry and straight dealing should meet their due reward, necessitated, on the other hand, a seeming hard- ness to the lazy and careless, which the Eskimos thought quite incompatible with the lessons of love and pity taught by the spiritual end of the enterprise. Every year since the inception of their Missions the Moravian Brethren have published a report of their work, carried on, not only in Labrador, but in all parts of world. Letters from Missionaries, or por- tions of their diaries, accompany each annual report, and in the case of Labrador form a consecutive history of the country. As is to be expected, their evangelical work is their first concern and constitutes the bulk of their reports, but in addition one finds invaluable THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 281 records of climatic conditions, of the supply of seals, whales, codfish, etc., on the coast, caribou and fur- bearing animals in the interior, and the consequent effect on the Eskimos. The following account of the work of the Brethren is taken mainly from these reports. The beginning of the nineteenth century found the Moravian Missionaries firmly established on the northern coast of Labrador, but their efforts at converting the Eskimos had not met with marked success. The superstitions of long ages were not easily rooted out nor the customs easy to change, seeing that, how- ever repugnant they were to civilized and Christian ideas, many of them were still not unsuited to the Eskimo manner of life. Their lack of success is a continual plaint in the Missionaries diaries ; every back- slider is wept over, and every convert joyfully acclaimed. It was probably a result of the teaching of the children in schools for nearly a generation that the first real spiritual wakening became general. In 1801 it is reported that many could read tolerably well, and the first book printed in the Eskimo language, a history of the Passion Week, was eagerly studied and read aloud in their homes. Their love of music and singing was very early noticed, and the singing of hymns became a regular practice and delight to them. Later on they were taught to play on instruments of various kinds, and their musical capacity has been encouraged until now they have both a brass and a string band which perform quite acceptably. It was in 1804-5 that the Missionaries first wrote cheerfully of the spiritual condition of their flock. One writes : " Thus the many prayers offered up and tears shed by our brethren and sisters in Labrador, on 282 LABRADOR account of the conversion of the Eskimo nation, begin after thirty-four years to show their fruit." It was at Hopedale that this encouraging condition of affairs was first observed. "There," the Missionaries write, "is at present a small congregation of believing Eskimos, blooming like a beautiful rose." A some- what unhappy choice of a simile. Many remarkable instances of conversions are given, often of those who had previously been the most opposed to the teaching of the Brethren and most wedded to their barbarous habits and superstitions. The effect of con- version upon a noted Eskimo sorcerer is thus described : " The ferocious and terrific countenance of this late monster of iniquity, which made one tremble at his appearance, is now converted into a mild and gentle aspect ; the savage bear has become a gentle lamb." The children were also remarkably affected, and at- tended the schools with the greatest assiduity and interest. The difficulty of providing for their con- gregations, or rather of inculcating habits of industry and economy so that the Eskimos could provide for themselves, often prevented the heathen Eskimo from joining them. A number of them came from Nackvak to Okak at this time and professed a willingness to be taught, but pointed out to the Missionaries that if they left their own country they would starve. The prob- ability of which the Brethren could not deny. The plurality of wives, which was a custom of the Eskimos founded on economic principles, was a most difficult problem for the Brethren. Apparently they did not in every case at once insist upon its abandon- ment, for an instance is recorded about this time of the death of the two wives of one of their converts within a very few hours of each other, The women THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 283 had not formally joined their congregation, but it was hoped had not heard the Gospel in vain. There was a curious sequel to the death of these two women. In the neighbourhood was an Angekok, or sorcerer, who was greatly feared by the Eskimos. In order to in- crease his importance, he gave out that he had caused their deaths — a rash boast, which at once caused him to be attacked and killed by their husband. He richly deserved his fate, for a short time before, when his wife had died, he had barbarously murdered an orphan child in some sort of heathen rite. But, it is feared, the conversions were yet often very superficial. A serious illness, an accident, or any mis- fortune was as likely to turn converts back to their heathenish practices as it was in the first instance to bring them under the guidance of the Brethren. One old man, Thomas, at whose conversion there had been great rejoicing, being taken ill and suffering great pain, abjured all his vows and sought relief in barbarous incantations. " Indeed, during all last winter, his be- haviour was very oppressive to his whole family, and particularly to his two wives, who are both communicants and very worthy women." Which is quite an illuminating little story. Plurality of wives is still a custom among the heathen Eskimos of the far north, and, in the opinion of recent travellers, cannot well be avoided. (Voyage of the s.s. Neptune, 1907.) In the early part of the century we hear first of the advance of the white man upon the Moravian precincts. Hitherto the Brethren had been occupied in preventing their flock from going south, but now the dangerous and contaminating white man were beginning to come to them. The furriers were the pioneers ; the genuine fishermen did not arrive until many years later. They 284 LABRADOR seemed to have been independent men, not working for the Hudson Bay Company, or any particular mercantile concern. In many instances they married Eskimo women, and settled permanently in the country, form- ing the nucleus of the present white or mixed breed population. In 1802 the first Harmony was sold, and was replaced by the brig Resolution, which continued in service until 1808. This vessel had an adventurous voyage back to England in 1804, being twice pursued by a French frigate, and only escaping by reason of the boisterous weather which prevailed. European wars were naturally of the greatest interest to the exiled Brethren, and many are the prayers which went up from Labrador that England should be spared from the invader. It is amusing to find them congratulating themselves that they live " on this barren coast and in the midst of a savage nation in perfect peace and safety, and experience none of those miseries which many of the poor inhabitants of Europe suffer during the war " ; and adding, " We wish your southern neigh- bours, the French, were more like our Eskimos in disposition." During all these early years the Eskimos, and in a lesser degree the Brethren themselves, seemed to be living on the verge of starvation. Their food supply was most precarious. Some years they had a super- abundance of seals, and in others the quantity taken would be entirely inadequate to their requirements. The conditions of the ice seemed to have more to do with the success of this fishery than anything else. The seals seemed to be always there, but often could not be taken. In 1806 the Brethren introduced seal THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 285 nets, which were in use on the southern parts of the coast, and by this means the supply was made more regular. The Eskimos for a long time could not be taught to catch codfish during the summer for their winter sustenance, by which means starvation could always have been avoided. They did not value the codfish as food, and apparently the stronger seal flesh was a necessity to their well being. For a number of years the capture of from three to five whales, and the finding of several more dead, upon the coast is reported each season, but after 1830 there is very seldom any mention of their having been taken or found. It would be interesting to know what species of whale the Eskimos could have killed from their kayaks, — pre- sumably some of the smaller varieties. The dead whales were no doubt drowned by being caught on the shore side of immense fields of ice, which gave them no opportunities for blowing. When seals and whales were insufficient to support them the Eskimos went in the spring to the trout pools, where they were generally able to procure an abundant supply of this fish ; but these often failed, and accounts are given of whole families starving to death in these localities. They also hunted caribou every spring, but again were often unsuccessful. In some winters they were able to take thousands of partridges, but in others not a bird was seen. When the Eskimos were finally induced to give some attention to the catching of codfish, it was the practice of the Brethren to buy from them such codfish as they caught in the summer, and sell it to them again in the winter or spring when they were most in want. On January 21st, 1809, and for some days after, severe shocks of earthquake were felt, and were said to 286 LABRADOR have been general all down the coast. The extra- ordinarily rapid rise of the land, amounting in some places to ten or fifteen feet within the memory of fishermen still going to the Labrador, would lead one to suppose that earthquakes were of common occur- rence. No damage or noticeable disturbance has ever been recorded, however.^ The Preface to Volume V of the Moravian Reports, 1 8 10-13, contains the following information : — " The vessel annually sent to the coast of Labrador to convey provisions and keep up communication with the Moravian Missionaries there, returns with skins, bone, and oil, the sale of which in late years has almost covered the expense of the voyage. In each settlement a Brother, who understands the Eskimo language well, is appointed to receive such goods as they bring in barter for useful articles of various kinds, but the Missionaries never go out to trade, which would inter- fere too much with their proper calling." In 181 1 the ship's homeward cargo consisted of 100 barrels of seal oil, 2000 seal skins, 2750 fox skins, the value of which may have been $25,000 or more. This is the only occasion in which the ship's cargo is given in detail. At the end of 18 10, the number of Eskimos living at Hopedale was 145, at Nain 115, and at Okak 233. In this year, it is noted, a remarkable quantity of codfish visited the shores. In 181 1, the Mission ship Jemima did not reach Hopedale until September 9th, the coast being blocked 1 It is stated by a man who has been fishing at Holton Harbour for thirty or forty years, that the spot where lie used to moor his vessel is now out of water. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 287 with ice until within a few days of her arrival. In the next year, by way of contrast, she arrived on July 5th, and was back in London on September 24th. The Brethren Kohlmeister and Kmoch made a boat voyage to Ungava Bay in 181 1 in order to ascertain the number of Eskimos living there, and the possibility of starting another station for their benefit. A number of tribes were met with who re- ceived the Missionaries well, and begged them to return and settle, but it was recognized that the district lay within the territory of the Hudson Bay Company, whose permission would have to be obtained before a station could be started. Brother Kohlmeister heard two or three years afterwards that about three hundred Eskimos assembled at the Koksoak river the next summer expecting him to return, which he was never able to do. The year 18 16 was a very remarkable one. The Reports say : — " As in almost every part of Europe, so in Labrador, the elements seem to have undergone some sort of revolution during the course of the last summer. The ships arrived in the drift ice on July i6th, when two hundred miles from the Labrador coast. Captain Eraser attempted to get in first at Hopedale, then at Nain, and finally at Okak, which he did not succeed in reaching before August 20th. The very next day the whole coast as far as the eye could see was choked up with ice. Captain Eraser was unable to get to Nain until September 22nd, and left there on October 22nd for Hopedale; but it came on to blow exceedingly hard, with an immense fall of snow, and the ship was in imminent danger of being driven on the rocks. Seeing that every attempt to reach Hopedale was in vain. 288 LABRADOR Captain Fraser was at last forced to bear away for England." This was the first occasion since the founding of the Mission that the ship had failed to visit all their stations. In 1817 the same conditions prevailed. Captain Fraser reported : — " That though for three years past they have met with an unusual quantity of ice on the coast of Labrador, yet in no year since the beginning of the Mission has it appeared so dreadfully on the increase. The colour of this year's ice was different to that usually seen, and the size of the ice mountains and thickness of the fields immense, with sandstone embedded in them. As a great part of the coast of Greenland, which has been for centuries choked up with ice apparently immovable, has by some revolution been cleared, this may perhaps account for the great quantity alluded to." The Brethren note from Hopedale that the coast was beset with ice as far as the eye could see on August 7th, and from Okak they write : " The ice did not leave our bay until July 28th, which is considerably later than has been known since the beginning of the Mission." These peculiar ice conditions on the Labrador and Greenland coasts caused a great deal of discussion in scientific circles at that period. In spite of the apparently unfavourable season, the Eskimos were well supplied with food, having taken considerably above the average number of seals. In the following year the Jemima arrived at Hope- dale on August 4th, after a slow but favourable passage, without meeting any ice at all. By the middle of June all ice and snow had disappeared at Hopedale, and garden work was in good swing. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 289 The new ship Harfuony, the second of that name, started on her long career in 18 19. We learn from the report of that year that the " Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel " had been enabled, by means of the barter trade, to take the whole charge of the maintenance of the Labrador Missions off the hands of the Synodal Committee, and likewise on some occasions to contribute to the wants of other Missions. In the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Mission at Nain, the number of Eskimos living at the various stations was : At Hopedale 149, Nain 168, and Okak 255, marking a slow but steady progress in the work of evangelization. The spirit which animated the Missionaries cannot be better indicated than by the following letter written by Brother Schmittman from Nain in 1819: — " It seems that I am not to see you again in this world, for you will hear that on July 12th last I was seized with a paralytic stroke, by which, no doubt, God would give me to understand that I should not return to Europe, as was intended, but that He intended to call me from hence and perhaps soon into His everlasting kingdom. This would be quite according to my heart's desire, and I shall gladly lay down my mortal body to rest near the grave of my dear first wife and children, and those of my Eskimo brethren and sisters, whom I have now had the favour to serve for thirty-eight years." It was not, however, until five years later that this faithful servant of the Lord was finally called to rest, his last years being busily employed in translating portions of Scripture, hymns, etc., into the Eskimo language, u 290 LABRADOR In most cases the Brethren spend the whole active portion of their lives on the coast. They go out there as young men, wives are sent out to them when they wish to marry, and strangely enough these unions seem to have been invariably happy. Their children, when they survive the rigorous climate, are sent home to school, and often never see their parents again. Their pay begins at i^ii a year for an unmarried Missionary, and increases, if they marry, to ^25, out of which they have to find their clothes, breakfasts, and small necessaries ; they collect no fees. Truly it cannot be for any reward on this earth that they have laboured, and still labour, in one of the most rigorous climates of the world, cut off from all that seems to make life worth living, without public recognition and the consequent feeling that their good actions are known and appre- ciated. Self-abnegation can hardly go further ; and nothing but the strongest sense of duty and the deepest piety can have enabled them one after the other, for one hundred and thirty-seven years, to carry on their great and noble work on the Labrador. The fiftieth anniversary of the settlement at Nain was very appropriately celebrated by the visit paid them by Captain William Martin in H.M.S. Clinker^ acting under instructions from Sir Charles Hamilton, Governor of Newfoundland, this being the first official visit or investigation in any shape or form made by the Government since 1773. Captain Martin appears to have been extremely interested in all that he saw, and to have expressed his entire satisfaction and approval of the work accomplished by the Brethren. They, on their part, were highly pleased and flattered at the visit ; and as for the Eskimos their wonder and delight knew no bounds. Captain Martin entertained THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 291 them on board his ship, regaling them with peas and biscuits, fired off the ship's guns, and at night displayed a number of blue lights for their amusement. Sir Charles Hamilton was very much interested in the aboriginal races of the countries under his command. At this time Mary March, one of the last of the un- fortunate Beothuks, was brought to St. John's, and greater efforts were made to communicate with and save the remnants of that race, alas ! too late to be of any avail. Captain Martin's voyage seems to have been largely for the purpose of investigating the conditions of the Indian races, for we find that in this same voyage he went to the head of Hamilton Inlet (which he named after Sir C. Hamilton), and from thence ascended the river for some fifty miles for the purpose of meeting with the Indians resorting there. (See page 448.) A notable incident in 1822 was the arrival of the first American fishing vessel at Hopedale, but the name of this pioneer is unfortunately not given. Upon receipt of Captain Martin's report of his visit to the Moravian settlements. Sir Charles Hamilton forwarded to the Brethren a grant of land for their fourth settle- ment. An Order in Council had been passed on May 13th, 1818, authorizing the grant, but for some reason or other it had not been issued. The pro- clamation accompanying the grant reads in part as follows : — " Whereas His Royal Highness the Prince Regent in Council, May 13th, 18 18, was graciously pleased to authorize that every facility should be given to the Moravians in Labrador for extending the beneficial influence which they have had upon the character of the Native Indians and for spreading still further the bene- 292 LABRADOR fits of the Gospel, and to that end to permit and allow the Society of the Unitas Fratrum to form a fourth settlement on the eastern coast of Labrador, and to occupy during His Majesty's pleasure that part of the said coast to the north of Okak, which comprehending the bays of Kangershutsoak and Saglek reached the 59th degree of North Latitude, provided that the sports chosen by the said society for its settlement may be such as in no way to interrupt or annoy the fisheries carried on upon the said eastern coast of Labrador." This comprises a strip of coast about one hundred miles in length, not including the great bays which are twenty to thirty miles deep. It is not clear what this grant was intended to convey. The other grants were for specified blocks of land ; this apparently is length without breadth. Like the preceding grants, it is quali- fied by a clause safeguarding the interests of the fishermen. Brother Kohlmeister retired in 1824 after thirty-four years' service, during five of which he had been in con- trol of all the settlements. He reported that Nain and Hopedale were practically Christian settlements, all the inhabitants being baptized and no heathens living in neighbourhood, but that Okak was still a mission among the heathen, a great number of Eskimos from the far north and Ungava Bay regularly resorting there. In 1825 the Eskimos were visited with a peculiar disorder, the symptoms being violent vomiting and profuse sweats. The Brethren were quite unable to diagnose it or treat it successfully, and a large proportion of deaths resulted. After the Harmony left Hopedale this season the THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 293 Brethren were afforded another opportunity to write to their friends at home. A gentleman from Newfound- land, Mr. Cozens, paid them a visit in his schooner, having been into Hamilton Inlet to convey a i\Iethodist Missionary, who intended settling there. This is the first mention of a Newfoundland schooner on that part of the coast. In 1828 all the settlements were scourged by an epidemic of measles, which proved particularly fatal to the unfortunate Eskimos, twenty-one dying at Nain and eleven at Hopedale ; the number of deaths at Okak and among the heathen is not given. In that year there were living — At Okak . . . 394 persons. „ Nain . . .232 „ „ Hopedale . .176 „ Okak was gladdened this year by the present of an organ. This venerable instrument was the same which assisted the devotions of the Missionaries when they first established themselves at Herrnhut in 1724. The Eskimos, who are passionately fond of music and for- tunately not very critical, were greatly delighted with it. Preparations were begun in 1829 for the establish- ment of a fourth settlement, which became known as Hebron. It had been authorized by the grant of 1818, but the building had been unavoidably postponed from year to year. The timber for the building was prepared at the other stations, and the Harmony, with another vessel, the Oliver, took out building material and sup- plies direct from England, but it required six years of arduous labour on the part of the Brethren before all the buildings were completed. Very little help could be obtained from the Eskimos. They were very friendly 294 LABRADOR and assisted at odd times, but could not be induced to work regularly. Steady labour for a day's pay had not yet entered into their scheme of economy. This station at once took the place which had been occupied by Okak, and became the chief point of contact with the heathen Eskimos. All the trials and disappointments of the early days had to be again endured. But few of the newcomers could be brought to listen to the Gospel tidings, and many openly mocked. They were, as usual, greatly delighted by the music, but evinced a desire to dance to the hymn tunes, to the great scandal of the Brethren. One man, who had two wives, being asked if he thought both of them would accom- pany him into another world, misunderstood the pur- port of the question, and naively replied, " Oh, yes ; for I have improved them greatly, and taught them to live in peace with one another." They were visited for the first time in 1830 by Capt. Patterson, Judge of the Labrador Court. This court, which was first held in 1826, was discontinued in 1833, as it was found that there was not sufficient business to warrant the great expense. In 1834 Harmony III was built at a cost of ;^3662 i6s. 2d., less ^^1250 received for the old ship. Fortunately the cargoes brought back by the ship in 1834 and 1835 were of greater value than usual, and the heavy expense of the new ship and station was apparently wiped out, as no further mention is made of them: 1836 was another year when ice stayed on the coast in a solid jam until the beginning of August. The character of the ice was also remarkable, being described as bottom ice of great thickness either wholly or partially concealed beneath a covering of water, too shallow to allow a vessel to pass over with safety. At THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 295 the close of 1835 the number of Eskimos living at each station was — At Hopedale . . . 194 „ Nain .... 278 „ Okak .... 251 „ Hebron . . . . 148 As seems so often to happen, after a year of much ice succeeded a year of very little, the Harmony reporting in 1837 that she had met with no drift ice and was consequently able to get into Hopedale on July 13th. It had been a very hard year on the coast. Very few seals had been taken and the stock of codfish was very small, the Eskimos as usual having neglected to make provision for the winter. At Okak and Hebron they were reduced to the verge of starvation, and several deaths from this cause occurred in the immediate neighbourhood, although out of reach of the Brethren. The distress was very greatly intensified by a distemper among the dogs, which caused the death of about 90 per cent, of these useful animals. On November 30th, 1836, a smart shock of an earth- quake was felt at Hopedale, attended by a sudden and unusual warmth of temperature. On January 24th, 1837, a remarkable atmospheric phenomenon excited all beholders. A brilliant light appeared in the north as if an immense city like London were in flames, approaching in brightness that of the sun ; afterwards it seemed to diffuse itself in a fiery red glow over the eastern quarter of the heavens, whence it moved on- ward south, then west, and became so intense that the snow assumed a perfectly red colour. This singular phenomenon had but little resemblance to the " Aurora BoreaHs." It will be remembered that another extra- 296 LABRADOR ordinary atmospheric phenomenon was recorded in 1799. The Harmony was treated to a most unusual experi- ence in 1838, for the ocean was entirely free from ice, and the Missionaries reported the coast had been clear for some time before her arrival. This and the years 1839-40 were prosperous and uneventful. Moderate seasons, abundance of food, and a steady progress to- wards civilization on the part of the Eskimos, is the satisfactory intelligence derived from the reports of the Missionaries. Except that a plague of mice one summer devoured their crops (which was pretty hard luck after they had withstood the rigours of the climate), and the steady approach of the southlander traders, the Brethren had little to complain of. The number of Eskimos at the different stations in 1840 was — At Hopedale . . . 205 „ Nain .... 298 „ Okak . . . . 352 ,, Hebron . . . . 179 1034 in all. The Eskimos at this period are reported to have largely deserted the coast north of Hebron and to have gone to Ungava. In 1842 a malignant influenza raged among both Europeans and Eskimos, many deaths resulting. It was a lean year, and the Eskimos often felt the pinch of hunger. There was a great scarcity of seals, caused, the Eskimos said, by an exceedingly great quantity of sword-fish which infested the coast and chased away the seals, besides being very dangerous to themselves. The cargo of the Harmony was not sufficient to pay expenses. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 297 In 1843 there was a complete reversal of this gloomy state of affairs. The Harmony made the quickest round trip on record, bringing back a very valuable cargo, which happened in good time as they had just been obliged to spend ^^1500 on repairs to the ship. An incident occurred in 1844 which marked, as perhaps nothing else could, the advance which had been made by the Eskimos towards civilization. A band of Indians, belonging either to the Nascopee or Montaignais tribes, appeared at Hopedale in great distress for want of provisions. Time was when the Eskimos would have exterminated them, one and all, but now they received them with every indication of friendliness and hospi- tality, took them into their houses and supplied them with food, although they themselves were on short commons at the time. The Brethren learned that these Indians had been baptized by Roman Catholic Mission- aries on the south coast of Labrador. The Brethren made an interesting experiment about this time, having obtained from the Himalayas and Thibet seeds of barley and other grains, as well as of pines and cedars, which flourish in those elevated latitudes. The climate of Labrador was too much for them however. The barley came up, but was cut down by frost before it had attained much growth, while the forest tree seeds did not even germinate. 1846 was another lean year on Labrador, particularly at Nain, caused by a total failure of the seal fishery and the neglect of the cod fishery. There were many deaths from starvation in the neighbourhood of the Brethren, but of course none at their stations. The report for 1847 says : — " Food and raiment, health and strength, were largely bestowed upon the members of our several congrega- 298 LABRADOR tions ; to their households want was almost a stranger, neither did any plague come nigh their dwellings." But another visitor appeared on the coast — the fabu- lous " Kraaken." Some Eskimos reported having seen near to Cape Mugford a terrible monster, whose arms protruded out of the water at a distance of a hundred paces, and that its voice was harsh and terrifying, like low thunder. They hastened to the Missionaries with their tale, who had no difficulty in deciding that it was the giant octopus which had so frightened the Eskimos. This fearsome creature has several times been seen on these coasts. At the close of the year 1850 there were 1297 Eskimos living at the settlements — At Nain . . . . 314 „ Okak .... 408 „ Hopedale . . . 229 „ Hebron .... 346 The voyage of the Harmony in 185 1 was reckoned the most stormy for twenty years; ice was met 350 miles off the coast, which with dense fog and storms of wind caused the ship to be often in extreme danger. On her return voyage she took Brother Beck and his wife to seek a well-earned repose after thirty-four years' service on the Labrador. He was born in Greenland, where his father had laboured as a Missionary for fifty- three years and his grandfather for forty-three years' There are several other instances among the Moravians of the Missionary role being handed on from father and son through several generations. One of the most serious calamities which ever befell the Missions took place in 1853, when the Harmony^ after reaching Hopedale, was blown off the coast by a THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 299 violent north-west gale, and in spite of long-continued efforts was forced to abandon the voyage to the other settlements. It was always the policy of the Brethren to keep a year's supply ahead of all necessaries, fearing some such contingency as this. But it was a hard experience. The Eskimos had had a poor season, and the Brethren could not afford them much assistance from the stores, which were quite out of biscuit, meal, and pease, before the Harmony again arrived. They obtained a small supply of these articles from the nearest Hudson Bay Company's post by giving in exchange the skin boots made by the Eskimos, for which a considerable demand had sprung up in the south.^ From Hopedale we get the following interesting item : — " Mr. Smith, the director of the factories belonging to the H. B. Co., called upon us in reference to the establishment of a Mission at Gross Water Bay. He took a quantity of English Bibles and Testaments from hence with him so that our supply is exhausted."^ In 1855 the Havj}io7iy fell in with quantities of drift ice 250 miles from the coast. The winter had been very severe, but an unwonted measure of prosperity had been experienced. An abundance of seal and cod- fish had been taken and a large quantity of fur collected, so that the return cargo of the Harmony was one of the most valuable on record, and not only paid the expenses ^ This excellent footwear is still in great demand among fishermen and lumbermen, being light and quite waterproof if somewhat odoriferous. - That Mr. Smith, now Lord Strathcona, should fifty-five years later be still hale and hearty, and living a life of activity and importance as High Commissioner for Canada in England, is very remarkable. His benefactions are world-wide, but especially has he contributed to the support of the Deep Sea Mission work on the Labrador. 300 LABRADOR of the Missions, but left a surplus which was devoted to the general Mission fund. Sad news was received from the Labrador on the following year. Famine and disease again visited the coast, especially at the two northern stations. Immense masses of ice remained on the coast until late in the summer of 1855, and very small quantities of cod could be taken. The following autumn and spring the seal hunt was a failure, so that both the Brethren and their flock were at the end of their resources. At Hebron fifty-nine people died of disease. The following season, 1856-7, was, as so often seems to happen, a complete contrast to the preceding year. An abundance of seals and cod gladdened the hearts and fattened the bodies of the Eskimos, Earthquake shocks were again noted at Hebron in 1857. In pursuance of an invitation given by Mr, Donald Smith, Brother Eisner left Hopedale in April, 1857, and journeyed to North- West River to discuss with him the advisability of starting a Mission either there or at Rigolet, After a hard journey of five days he reached Mr. Smith's comfortable and hospitable dwelling. He was delighted with the country and the appearance of the settlement. Mr. Smith had four head of cattle, besides sheep, goats, and fowls; there was milk in plenty, and for the first time on Labrador he tasted fresh roast beef, mutton, and pork. Mr, Smith's proposal was an enticing one. While not fully authorized by the Pludson Bay Company, he suggested that they would build a church and dwelling- house, and pay a Missionary i^ioo a year, which would have been affluence to the Moravians, whose yearly stipend was £22. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 301 There were very few settlers in the neighbourhood, and the Indians who visited the post professed the Roman Catholic religion. On Sunday Mr. Smith read service to his household, which was attended by about thirty Indians, although they couid not understand a word of what was being said. Brother Eisner reports that " they were very fond of rum, but get it only in small quantities as presents, the sale of spirits to the Indians being prohibited by law." ^ At Rigolet Brother Eisner found a very small com- munity, and in all Hamilton Inlet there were but thirty- one families, ten of which were Eskimos. After a thorough discussion the Moravians decided that it would be impossible for them to undertake this new field of work. Mr. Smith's attitude to the Moravians was very different from the later policy of the Hudson Bay Com- pany. We shall hear soon of a very aggressive and annoying competition forced upon the Brethren by the Company, who apparently aimed at engrossing the whole Labrador trade. In 1859 the dogs were again attacked by the dis- temper which periodically visits the Labrador. The cause of this mysterious disease has not been ascer- tained. It seems to be rather infectious than contagious, for it breaks out simultaneously all over the coast, at places very widely separated and with no communi- cation. The dogs in Ungava Bay were afflicted at the same time as those in Hopedale. It not only attacked the dogs, but the wolves, foxes, and even the caribou ^ This has been and still is a very serious question. John McLean, writing in 1849, says of York Factory, Hudson's Bay : — " To find the Company serving out rum to the natives as payment for their services in this remote quarter, created the utmost surprise in my mind. No excuse can be advanced which can justify the unhallowed practice." It is feared that it is not yet at an end. 302 LABRADOR died in vast numbers from the same disease. We seem to know very little about the various pestilences to which wild animal life is subject, and less about the strange migrations and changes of habit which have been so often noted. Reading over these Moravian annals one finds many curious and unexplained phenomena of this kind. In some seasons there were immense quantities of willow grouse taken and then none. The caribou and foxes were equally intermit- tent in their visits, not to mention the seals and cod- fish. The strange disappearance within the past fifteen years of the vast flights of curlew which had annually visited Labrador ever since the country has been known; and in Newfoundland in 1904-5, the strange disease which attacked the rabbits and caused them to die in thousands. All are so far inexplicable, and demand investigation by the student of natural his- tory. In i860 the number of Eskimos at the stations was as follows : — At Nain . . . . 277 ,, Hopedale . . . 241 „ Okak .... 314 „ Hebron .... 306 The fourth Harmony was launched in 1861 ; a larger vessel than her predecessor, v/hich had braved the storms and ice of Labrador for twenty-nine years. The London Association found themselves able to pay for her with- out calling for special contributions. The same report says that for many years past no demand had been made upon the Treasury for the support of the work in Labrador, South Africa, or Surinam. The monotony of life on Labrador was occasionally THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 303 varied by the arrival of chance visitors. On two occa- sions American whalers wintered on the coast near the settlements. One of these vessels was very badly damaged, but by the assistance of the Brethren was put into a seaworthy condition. The spiritual condition of the captain also caused them much concern, as it seemed to be in as much need of repairs as his ship. In 1861 there swam into their horizon a boat's crew of runaway sailors from an American whaler in Cumber- land Inlet. Captain C. F. Hall mentions their de- parture from that bay. The boat then contained nine persons ; when they arrived at Okak there were six, and they had no hesitation in confessing that they had eaten their missing comrades, who they said had died. They were a desperate gang, and showed no gratitude for the kindness they received, their last act being to rob the Eskimos who showed them on their way. An interesting report on the stations is submitted by Brother Reichel, who had been sent by the General Synod to investigate the condition of affairs. He esti- mates that there were about 1500 Eskimos living on the Labrador, of whom 1 163 were under the influence of the Brethren, if not actually converted. At New Year they assemble at the Mission stations and occupy themselves in the capture of partridges and foxes. In February they go to the edge of the ice to take seals, but always make a point of returning for the services of Passion Week. After Easter they go inland to hunt caribou. In June they collect eggs from the islands, after which the cod fishing soon begins, and lasts until September. From October to the end of the year they give their attention principally to the taking of seals in nets, which forms their chief supply of food during the 304 LABRADOR winter. But very few Eskimo families were then con- tent with the food which had satisfied their ancestors. Molasses, sugar, biscuits, and other European food had become almost a necessity, and were obtained princi- pally from the Newfoundland fishing schooners or traders. They had given up the practice of harpooning seals or taking sea birds by means of darts, at which they had been so marvellously expert, and used fire- arms instead, which was more expensive and considered by the Brethren to be rather retrograde. The steady advance of the Newfoundland fishing and trading schooners was a continued anxiety to the Brethren. Besides supplying their flocks with useless European goods and intoxicating liquors, they usurped the fishing stations which had been used by the Eskimos. When the schooners first appeared on the coast the Eskimos were usually away sealing, and when they returned they would find their places occupied. Six vessels fished at Hopedale during the summer of 1863, and were first reported at Hebron in the same year. Twenty-five vessels touched at Hopedale in 1866, 108 in 1868, and in 1870 over 500 passed north, 145 being counted in one day. The Brethren at once began to minister to the spiritual needs of this large floating population, and an English-speaking Brother was sent out for this special service. The men are reported as being generally very well behaved and apparently appreciating the endeavour to serve them. Over three hundred attended a special service held for them in 1868. In 1863-4 serious epidemics visited the Eskimos and caused the death of large numbers of them, and in 1868 the " loss of sense " disease again attacked the dogs. The station at Zoar was begun in 1865, and it had THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 305 been decided to start yet another small station north of Hebron, and Saglek Bay had been chosen and a house and store built there. But in the following summer the Hudson Bay Company located an agent there, so it was resolved to leave him in undisputed possession and move farther north to meet the heathen Eskimos. Nachvak Bay was then selected and a house erected there, but again an agent of the Hudson Bay Company was sent to compete for the Eskimo trade, and the Moravian Brethren again beat a retreat. This compe- tition with the Hudson Bay Company was most trying to the Brethren. There can be no question as to whose influence was the better for the Eskimos. The result is, alas ! all too plain to-day, for at Nachvak is living the pitiful remnant of a tribe of Eskimos steeped in barbarism and vice. John McLean, whose book. Twenty-five Years in the Hudson Bay Company's Service, was published in 1849, is very frank in describing the disastrous results of the Company's trade to the Indian tribes. His praise of the work of the Moravian Brethren is as unqualified as is his condemnation of that of his own Company, in respect to which he quotes the old adage, " The more the divil has the more he wants." The hundredth voyage of the Moravians' ship, success- fully performed to and from Labrador, was naturally the occasion of much rejoicing. A pamphlet published by the Brethren in commemoration of the event briefly gives the history of the ships and their captains, and furnishes a story unique in the annals of com- merce. They never lost a ship, nor failed to reach the Labrador in spite of ice, fog, storms, and an entirely uncharted coast. It is worthy of note that a much lower premium of insurance is paid on the Brethren's X 3o6 LABRADOR ships than on any other vessels employed in similar businesses. In 1 870-1 the coast remained blocked with ice until very late in July, so that the take of codfish both by the Eskimos and Newfoundland fishing vessels was very small. This seemed to be quite a set-back for the latter, for very few schooners, comparatively, went north in 1872. In this year the Brethren began to send their catch of codfish to St. John's for sale, as it had been very difficult to dispose of it in London. The usual food supply was very short in the winter of 1871, and there would have been great distress had there not been an extraordinary number of partridges (willow grouse) taken. A change from the ordinary diet which would have been very gladly made by anyone not an Eskimo. In 1 87 1 the most northern station of the Brethren was built at Ramah. For the next few years life flowed along very smoothly at the Moravian Mission stations. In 1874, at Nain, there was considerable dissatisfaction among the Eskimos over their trade dealings at the Brethren's store, but the trouble soon blew over. The ice lay on the coast in 1875 until late in July, and Hopedale reports hundreds of Newfoundland schooners lying outside the ice waiting to get into shore to begin fishing operations. When they were finally able to commence fishing they met with great success. In 1876 the poor Eskimos were again ravaged by a civilised d\sediS&, the whooping cough, and over a hundred died out of a population of twelve hundred. Brother Reichel, whose report on the stations in 1861 has been noticed, again made a tour of inspection in 1876. The \ 4: itt M THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 307 comparisons he makes are very interesting. He reports the spiritual condition of the Eskimos as vastly im- proved. The advent of so many fishing schooners to their neighbourhood seeking the cod, trout, and salmon, which the Eskimos had despised and rejected, instigated quite a feeling of rivalry, and they very soon became much more industrious. By this means they were able to improve their condition greatly. The snow- houses and tents had given place to blockhouses after the European plan. They had also largely abandoned their sealskin clothes, reserving those characteristic cos- tumes for Sundays and state occasions, which was a decided change for the worse. As was also the increased use of European food. During the period 1861-76 the number of boats had increased from 117 to 237; the "umiaks," or women's boats, had decreased from 14 to 4 ; and the kayaks from 214 to 154; while the number of dogs had in- creased from 222 to 716. There were still a number of heathen Eskimos from Ungava Bay regularly visiting Ramah, but efforts to convert them were long ineffectual. One man replied, when urged to join their congregation, that he had already greatly improved his way of living, for had he not refrained from killing a man ivJio had offended him ? A negative virtue which caused him much self- congratulation, and doubtless represented considerable self-command. In 1877 the Brethren were afforded the luxury of a steam-launch to ply between their stations. The credit system had been so much abused at the stores that more stringent rules had to be enforced, and credit refused to those Eskimos who made no effort to pay their debts. This nearly bred a riot, but after a while the Eskimos 3o8 LABRADOR admitted that the new rules were founded in justice, and for a time the trade was conducted on a better basis. The year 1901 was a sort of Jubilee year, when debts were cancelled, and the Eskimos started on a clean sheet. The Newfoundland fishing schooners are first reported at Ramah in this year. A good many complaints are made from all the stations about this time of the conduct of some of the Newfoundland fishermen in appropriating such property of the Eskimos as they took a fancy to. Such valuable property as boats, nets, ropes, and anchors were stolen without any thought of the inconvenience, not to say irreparable loss, inflicted upon the Eskimos. Immunity from punishment is a great temptation ; and there was no governmental control, not even a policeman on this enormous tract of coast, to protect the weak from the strong. From the time of Palliser the only method of government has been by proclamation, and in this instance it was the only means taken to protect the Eskimos from their lawless visitors. In 1879 we note the following entry : — " That our request to be provided with something like security in the matter of our civil rights as German citizens has been met by the appointment of Brother Bourquin, our president, to the office of Consul of the German Empire for Labrador, was a matter of no little interest to us, and we desire to express our thanks to the Brethren in London for their successful efforts on our behalf" In 1880 it is stated that the cargo of the Harmony might reasonably be expected to defray the entire cost of the Labrador Missions. The number of Eskimos THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 309 and settlers in the Moravian congregations was 1302, distributed as follows : — Hebron 202 Hopedale 315 Nain . 282 Okak . 329 Ramah 44 Zoar 130 In this year we have to note an incident which has occurred on several occasions since, each time with dire consequences not only to the Eskimos particularly concerned, but also to the whole community. From time immemorial civilized nations have been possessed with a desire to see savage people. Shake- speare notes this curiosity when he makes Trinculo say, " When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian." The Eskimos have been particular objects of curiosity ever since the discovery of the New World, and have been often taken to England and exhibited. But latterly this species of show has become a regular business, and at every great Exposition remote and curious people from all parts of the world have been exhibited. On the occasion referred to now, Hagenbeck, the well-known wild animal exhibitor of Hamburg, sent to Labrador and induced eight Eskimo men, women, and children to go to Europe for exhibition purposes. The Brethren at once saw the probable evil con- sequences, and used all their persuasive powers to prevent them from going. But the attraction of good pay, easily earned, outweighed the warnings of the Missionaries. Their forebodings were only too quickly 3IO LABRADOR realized. After appearing at the Zoological Gardens in Berlin for a few months, they toured through Germany, and finally reached Paris. Here they con- tracted small-pox, and all died. It was almost exactly a hundred years before that Cartwright's Eskimo friends met with a similar fate in England. The following piteous letter was written by the chief man among this little band of exiles to one of the Brethren : — " Paris, January 8th, 1881. "My dear teacher Elsner, " I write to you very sadly, and am much troubled about my relatives, for my child which I was so fond of lives no more ; she has died of the bad small-pox, after being for four days only ill. By our child's death my wife and I are strongly reminded that we too must die. It died in Crefeld, although many doctors saw it. These men can indeed do nothing, so we will above all look to Jesus, who died for us, as our Physician. My dear teacher Eisner, we kneel daily before Him, and ask Him to pardon us for coming over here ; and do not doubt that He will hear our prayer. Every day we weep together for the pardon of our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ. Even Terrianiak, who is now alone [his wife and child had died], when I speak to him about conversion, tells me — I think with sincerity — he desires to become our Saviour's property. He joins us daily at prayers, as also our little Maria. But her life is in danger, for her face is much swollen. Tobias is very ill. I remember that Jesus alone can help us in the hour of death. Yes, indeed. He is with us everywhere. I wish I could tell my people beyond the sea how kind the THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 311 Lord is. Our master buys much medicine for us, but all seems useless. I hope in the Lord, who sees my tears daily. I care not for worldly advantage ; but I do long to see my friends once more, and, as long as I live, to speak to them in the name of the Lord. I did not formerly understand these things ; now I do. My tears come often, but the words which He has spoken always bring me fresh comfort. My dear teacher Eisner, pray for us that this sickness be removed, if it be His will ; but His will be done. I am a poor man like the dust. "It is very cold in Paris, but our master is now very kind to all of us. I salute you, so does my wife ; and with you the members of the church at Bremen. Tell the great teachers [the Directing Board] that we salute them very much. The Lord be with you all. Amen. " I am, Abraham, husband of Ulrika." Such was the sad fate of these poor creatures, " butchered to make a Roman holiday." It was fortunate perhaps that there were no survivors to take back disease and death to their friends, as did poor Kaubvick in Cartwright's time, and as has been done in a more serious way since. In 1893 ^ colony of Eskimos, consisting of fifty- seven men, women, and children, were taken to the Chicago Exposition. They were recruited principally from southern Labrador, but some few went from the Moravians' stations. Of their adventures in Chicago little has been learned, but at the end of the Exposition the survivors were returned to Newfoundland, in an absolutely destitute condition, at the expense of the colony. The money due to them was never paid. A schooner had gone to Labrador and taken them from 312 LABRADOR their homes, but they were left to get back as best they could. They brought with them the infection of typhoid fever, to which a very large number of Eskimos, from Hopedale to Hebron, fell victims. At Nain, out of a population of three hundred and fifty Eskimos, ninety died during one winter, their dead and frozen bodies awaiting burial at one time the following spring. One man named Zecharias, from Hebron, said on his return : — " We are glad to be at liberty once more, and not to be continually looked at as if we were animals. We shall never go again." Another of this unhappy band was " Pomiuk," the little lame boy who attracted so much attention at Chicago, and whose life story has been since written, {Pomiuk, W. B. Forbush, Boston, 1903), evidencing in the most pathetic way the evil result of taking these poor people from their native country. In 1898 another lot of Eskimos, thirty-three in all, were induced by the same man who had taken the colony to Chicago three years before to go on tour to England, Europe, and America. Three died while exhibiting at Olympia, in London. In February, 1901, they were heard of in Algeria, and then went to America. On September 28th, 1903, six only of them were landed at Ramah, sick and destitute. They ad- mitted having led degraded and immoral lives while they were away, and, it has been found since, had contracted a most loathsome disease which has spread gradually through all the settlements and killed slowly and painfully a large number of poor creatures — the innocent with the guilty. So serious had the matter become, that it was contemplated sending H.M.S. THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 313 Brilliant down in the fall of 1907 with medical assist- ance and supplies. A way must be found to prevent a repetition of such a tragedy. Legislation has been contemplated, but it has been difficult to decide what form it shall take. A reluctance to curtail the liberty of the subject is offered as an excuse for the delay of legislative enactment ; but in every part of the world laws and enactments are in force to protect the helpless from the consequences of their own folly, and already Newfoundland has similar laws, in so much as the sale of liquor to Eskimos is pro- hibited. Why, therefore, hesitate at this most necessary legislation ? Ever since Cartwright's humane experi- ment in 1 78 1, whenever the Eskimos have left their native coasts disease and death have quickly destroyed them. It should be made a penal offence to induce the Eskimos to leave their homes, and all captains of vessels should be prohibited from carrying Eskimos away without special permission of the Moravian Brethren in charge on the Labrador, and of the Minister of Justice of the colony. In 1880 the Newfoundland government first sent a mail steamer along the coast as far as Hopedale. The Brethren were thus afforded the opportunity of communicating more frequently with the outside world, and the oppressive feeling of isolation, which was one of the terrors of the post, was greatly mitigated. It was the unpleasant duty of the Missionary-in-chief, Brother Bourgin, to secure the arrest of an Eskimo man named Ephraim who had murdered his son-in-law in the most cold-blooded manner. In the early days of the Mission murder had been of frequent occurrence among the Eskimos, but latterly it had become quite rare. The lack of communication with the seats of justice, 314 LABRADOR and the absence of any officers of the law, had made it impossible heretofore to bring offenders to justice, and this was the first occasion on which an attempt was made to bring a criminal before a properly constituted tribunal. He was taken to St. John s for trial, was convicted, and sentenced to be hanged, but the sentence was afterwards commuted to imprisonment for life. He died in 1886. Whooping-cough and measles ravaged the unfortunate Eskimos in 1880-2, causing the death of large numbers. So many were ill at one time during the summer of 1882 that it was impossible for them to make their usual provision for the winter, and great distress pre- vailed in consequence. There seems little of interest to be noted in the next few years. The food supply varied as usual, it being always either a feast or a famine with the Eskimos. The Annual Reports give one to understand that the proceeds of the trade had been steadily sufficient to pay the expenses of the Missions. In 1890 the number of Eskimos receiving the minis- trations of the Brethren was 1335 : \t Hopedale • 331 „ Zoar . . . 89 „ Nain 263 „ Okak • 350 „ Hebron . . 243 „ Ramah . 59 In 1892 a new era dawned for Labrador. From this time forward the Moravian Missionaries were to have, in the person of Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, a new and powerful ally in the work of God which they had been carrying on for a century and a THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN 315 quarter. They had been called to this desolate coast by the needs of the heathen Eskimos, then its only residents. We have read how their work has prospered through the long years, and how the heathen Eskimos have become genuine Christians, living humble Christian lives that would set a good example to many a European and American community. We have read how a new transient population has gradually invaded Labrador. How the traders, furriers and fishermen from Canada, America, and the Old Country, and now from Newfoundland, have gradu- ally advanced along the coasts seeking the spoils of the deep and the treasures of the forest. At first the Straits of Belle Isle only were visited ; about the beginning of the nineteenth century they had ad- vanced as far as Hamilton Inlet. In 1821 Capt. Martin could not obtain a pilot to take him farther north than Cape Harrison. It is i860 before we hear of New- foundland fishing schooners at Hopedale, and 1863 before they reach Hebron. But the business continued to grow very rapidly, until in recent years it is com- puted that 1500 to 1800 schooners and 15,000 to 20,000 people, men, women, and children, go annually to Labrador to employ themselves in the codfishery. We have read how the Moravian Missionaries endeavoured to minister to such of these people as they came in con- tact with ; but it was long evident in Newfoundland that the condition of things amongst this large fleet was not all that it should be. Every sudden growth of a new in- dustry of this kind seems to carry with it an attendant crop of troubles and abuses, which have become serious and threatening, almost before people have time to recognize them. It was thus with the Labrador fishing fleet. The Newfoundland Government were called upon 3i6 LABRADOR again and again to pass laws and regulations to remedy abuses, and many more yet require to be passed. The Moravian Brethren did what they could for this large floating population ; but the problem was not one with which they could deal to advantage. The Eskimos were their particular care. Fortunately, the white settlers and fishermen were now (1892) to find a champion in Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, whose remarkable work on Labrador will be described in another chapter. In taking leave of the Moravian Brethren, the writer trusts that he has conveyed to his readers some idea of the noble and self-sacrificing lives of these good men, who, in a steady procession through 137 years, have carried on the work of God on Labrador. By their means the Eskimos have been preserved from extinction, have been civilized, educated, and brought to the knowledge of their Creator and Saviour. CHAPTER XV AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR LORENZO SABINE, in his most valuable Report on American Fisheries, 1853, expresses his con- viction that it was rather the pursuit of the fisheries which occasioned the first planting of the New England States than the desire for religious and political freedom, as is generally supposed. He relates the quaint tale, which has often been re- told, how the agents of the Puritans went from Leyden to London in 161 8, and had an interview with King James I, soliciting his consent to their going to America. The monarch asked them, " What profit might arise ? " and they answered in a single word, " P'ishing." Where- upon James replied, " So God have my soul, 'tis an honest trade ; 'twas the Apostles' own calling." Another anecdote is related of a minister who, addressing his flock in a meeting house in 1690, upraided them with having forsaken the pious habits of their forefathers, who had left ease and comfort for the sake of their religion ; when one of the congregation arose and said, " Sir, you entirely mistake the matter ; our ancestors did not come here on account of their religion, but to fish and trade." Certain it is that fishing was the chief pursuit of the early New Englanders, and has ever since been an important industry with their descendants. The boast 317 3i8 LABRADOR was made at first that New England waters were as plentifully supplied with fish as those of Newfoundland, but as early as 1645 we find that the merchants of Boston and Charlestown sent several vessels on a fishing voyage to Bay of Bulls, Newfoundland. But the Civil War in England had spread even to distant Newfound- land. Sir David Kirke, in charge of the plantation in Newfoundland, was a devoted Royalist, while the New Englanders favoured the Commonwealth. When the fishing vessels had nearly completed their voyage they were seized and confiscated in the King's name. Such is the story related by Sabine ; but there is no reference to the event in the voluminous Colonial Papers at the Record Office. It soon became a regular practice for New England vessels to frequent Newfoundland waters, partly in the pursuit of the fisheries, but principally for trading purposes, bartering flour, provisions, and more especially rum, for codfish, which they marketed in the West Indies, and also for European wines and other goods brought out by the fishing vessels. Another trade which developed very early and was a continued source of trouble was the contraband trade in men, A memorial on the Newfoundland trade, pre- served at the Record Office under the date of 1668, states that " the West country owners at the end of the year send their men to New England to save their pas- sage home, by which fishermen are made scarce, and many serviceable seamen lost," In 1670 new rules and regulations for the government of the fishery were enacted, one of which was, " That masters give bonds of ;^ioo to respective mayors to bring back such as they carry out, and that no fishermen or seamen remain be- hind after the fishing is ended." Subsequent enactments AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 319 always repeated this rule, but as the masters of the vessels were glad to get rid of the expense of taking their fishermen back to Great Britain, and the New Englanders glad to take them to America, where the men themselves were only too anxious to go, it can be seen that the law was very likely to be broken. As an indication of the number of New England vessels resorting to Newfoundland in the seventeenth century, it is recorded that the Dutch fleet, sailing from New York in 1671, had been to Newfoundland, and captured five or six vessels belonging to Massachusetts. The Report on Newfoundland, by John Larkin, 1702, says that five hundred men, headed up in casks to pre- vent detection, were taken from Conception Bay alone in one year. But this was no doubt a gross exaggeration. In 1762 a proclamation was issued, compelling New England vessels to give bonds under heavy penalties not to take away men. But in 1765 we find one Stout, master of the Good Intent, convicted of having taken away sixty men the previous year, sentenced by the energetic and direct Sir Hugh Palliser to pay £60 to be spent in bringing out sixty needy men from Great Britain or Ireland, and also to pay the debts owed by the men he had taken away — thus " making the punishment fit the crime " in a very excellent man- ner. The next year Palliser issued an order that all New England vessels were to sail before October 31st, " Or they will have to stay the winter, as their sails and rudders will be lodged in the Fort until next year." Captain Crofton, in his interesting report of the fisheries in 1798, says in reference to this : — " I am sorry to inform you that the three last winters I was in Newfoundland, fishermen and people of all descriptions went to America in the most public and 320 LABRADOR official manner. I say official, as the vessels in which they embarked cleared out at the Custom House for Ireland to carry passengers, when it was notoriously known that the passengers and master of the vessel had previously agreed that after she sailed the pas- sengers were to seize the ship, confine the crew, and proceed to America, where, having landed, the master then entered a protest and returned to Newfoundland." The first account of American vessels visiting Labra- dor is contained in the paper written in 1761 by Sir Francis Bernard, Governor of Boston, which is so full of interest that it is here reprinted : — Account of Labrador zvritten by Sir Francis Bernard, Governor of Massachusetts^ 1 760, La Terra de Labrador, or the land for cultivation, if settled and improved by civilizing the natives, would afford a great fund for trade, especially that part of it called the Eskimeaux shore, between Cape Charles in the Straits of Belle Isle, in lat. 51, and Cape Chudley, in lat. 60 North, bounding east on the Atlantic ocean. There is but one noted writer of the French nation who mentions the Eskimeaux Indians : The derivation of Eskimeaux must depend entirely on him, as it is a French termination. What nation of Indians he intends by his descriptions of a pale red complexion, or where situated, it is not easy to conceive ; he surely don't mean those on the east main of Labrador, as it evidently will appear by the following observations that no foreigner had ever been among them, till Anno 1729; at least since Captain Gibbons, in Anno 161 4, who, had he seen any of the natives, it is probable would have mentioned it ; and therefore I suppose the French writer must mean those who live on or between the lakes Atchoua and Atchikou, who have been known to trade with the P>ench in Canada, or perhaps at St. James' Bay factory. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 321 The Eskimeaux coast is very easy of access early in the year, and not liable to the many difficulties, either on the coast of Newfoundland or Cape Breton. The coast is very full of islands, many of them very large, capable of great improvements, as they have more or less fine harbours, abounding in fish and seals, water and land fowls, good land, covered with woods, in which are great numbers of fur beasts of the best kind. Along the coast are many excellent harbours, very safe from storms ; in some are islands with sufficient depths of water for the largest ships to ride between, full of codfish, and rivers with plenty of salmon, trout, and other fish. The climate and air is extremely wholesome, being often refreshed with thunder and light- ning, though not so frequently as to the southward of Belle Isle Straits : fresh water is found everywhere on the coast and islands in great plenty. What follows shall be a plain narration of facts, as I received them from several persons who have been on the Eskimeaux coast, with now and then a digression, which I hope may be pertinent. Captain Henry Atkins sailed from Boston in the ship called the Whale on a voyage to Davis's Straits in 1729. On his return to Boston he went on shore in several places south- ward of Davis's Inlet, in lat. 56, but could not discover anywhere the least signs of any persons but the natives having been there before him. In lat. 53 : 40 : or thereabouts, being hazy weather he could not be very exact, he descried twelve canoes with as many Indians, who had come from the main, bound to an island not far from his ship, and then paddled ashore to an island as fast as possible. Captain Atkins followed them, and came to anchor that night, where he lay till the next day in the afternoon. He went on shore with several of his men, wnth small arms, cutlasses, and some small articles, to trade with the Indians, who made signs to him to come round a point of land, but he chose to go ashore on a point of land that made one side of a fine harbour. The Y 322 LABRADOR Indians stood a little distance from the point, and by their actions showed signs of fear and amazement. He being resolved to speak to them, advanced toward them without anything in his hands ; the Indians took courage and suffered him to come near them. He showed them a file, knife, and sundry other little articles to exchange for fur, whalebone, etc. They did not apprehend his design, which obliged him to send on board his ship for a slab of whalebone, on sight of which they made a strange noise. It being near sunset, they pointed to the sun going down, and then lay down with their faces to the ground, covering their eyes with their hands. In a few minutes they rose again, pointing to the sun, and then turned themselves to the east, by which Captain Atkins understood they would come to him again the next morning. The Captain then went ashore, and carried with him some trifles he thought most agreeable to the Indians, who returned to the same place, and brought a quantity of whalebone, at least fourteen feet long, and gave him in exchange for about IDS. sterling value, as much bone as produced him ;;^i2o sterling at Boston. The Indians were chiefly dressed in beaver clothing of the finest fur, and some in seal skins. He could not distinguish their sex by their dress, but one of his seamen, being desirous to know, approached one of them, who, opening her beaver, discovered her sex, which pleased the Indians greatly. Cap- tain Atkins ordered one of his men to strip himself, which caused the Indians to hollow as loud as possible. While they were thus engaged one of the Indians snatched up a cutlass, upon which they all ran off. Captain Atkins resolved not to lose it and followed them, and making signs, they halted. He applied to one of them, whom the others payed most respect to, and got it returned. He then fired off one of his guns pointed to the ground, which terrified them extremely, which their hollowing plainly discovered. I am the more particular in this account from his own mouth, as I think it plainly indicates that the Indians on this coast and islands had never AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 323 any trade or commerce with any civilized people from Europe or America ; of course not with the French from Canada, or the Hudson's Bay factories. The Indians signified to Captain Atkins, that if he would go over to the main he should have more whalebone, but he did not choose to trust them. He observed their beaver coats were made of many pieces sewed together, being the best patches in the skin, which shows plainly they set light by their beaver skins, and this un- doubtedly for want of trade. Capt. Atkins observed they were dexterous, and active in the management of their canoes or boats, which were made of bark and whalebone, strongly sewed together, covered with seal skin, payed over with a dark sort of gum. These Indians were well made and strong, very fat and full of blood, owing to their living on raw whale fat and drinking the blubber or oil. Their limbs were well proportioned, their complexion a dark red, their hair black, short, and straight, having no beard nor any hair but on their heads. Their behaviour very Uvely and cheerful ; their language gutteral and dissonant ; their arms were bows and arrows, some of bone and some of wood ; their bows feathered and barbed ; they sHng their darts through a piece of ivory, made square, and fastened to the palms of their hands. Capt. Atkins conceives them to be very cun- ning, subtile people, who could easily apprehend his meaning when he made signs to them, but took no notice of his speak- ing to them. As Capt. Atkins coasted that main he found the country full of woods, alder, yew, birch, and witch-hazel, a Hght fine wood for shipbuilding ; also fine large pines for ship masts, of a much finer grain than in New England, and of course tougher and more durable, though of a slower growth ; and no question but naval stores may be produced here. The two inlets called Fitch and Davis, it is not known how far they run up the country ; Fitch's is a fair inlet, bold shore, and deep water, and great improvement might be made upon it, there being many low grounds and good grass land. Capt. Atkins sailed up Davis's Inlet about twenty-five 324 LABRADOR leagues. This coast is early very clear of ice, though at sea a good distance off there are vast islands of ice that come from Hudson's and Davis's Straits, which are frequently carried as far as the banks of Newfoundland by the strong current that sets out from those straits southward. Capt. Atkins made his last voyage on this coast. Sailed the beginning of June, 1758, arrived at Mistaken Harbour, which he called so having put in there July ist, following, in a foggy day, and went northward (with fine weather, very hot, with some thunder and lightning) to lat. 57, searching for the Indians to trade with. Saw two large canoes which ran from him. Despairing of meeting any more there he returned southward, and went on shore in lat. 56 : 40 : at the Grand Camp 1 place, which he called so from great signs of Indian tents that had been fixed up there. Here he also saw two Indian men, one woman, and three children, who ran from him. He pursued and took them and carried them on board his vessel, treated them kindly, and gave them some small presents and then let them go. They were well pleased with Capt. Atkins. They called whalebone Shou-coe, a woman Aboc- chu, oil Out-chot. When he sent his seamen to fetch one of their canoes that had drifted from the vessel's side, they said Touch-ma-noc. I shall once for all take notice that the several harbours and places named by him was from anything remarkable he found in them, as Gull Sound and Harbour, from the prodigious number of gulls he saw there, also after the name of some of his particular friends. The entrance of Hancock's Inlet, in lat. 55 : 50: a very fair inlet ; very little tide sets in or out ; from fifteen to twenty fathoms water going in ; five hundred sail of ships may ride conveniently in this harbour, secure from any weather. On the east side the harbour is a natural quay or wharf, com- posed of large square stones, some of them of prodigious bulk. The quay is near three miles long ; runs out into the 1 Nakvak. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 325 harbour in some places sixty, in others two hundred feet broad ; eight fathom water at the head at high water ; so that ships may lay at the quay afloat, and save their cables. The harbour abounds in codfish very large, that a considerable number of ships might load there without going outside, which may be cured on the shore and at the quay, except in very high tides ; while some are employed in the codfishery, others might be catching salmon, seals, etc. in the harbours so called. Capt. Atkins and his people waded in Salmon River in two feet water, and catched some salmon in their hands, as many as they had salt to cure, one of which measured four feet ten inches long. How far up this river reached he could not tell, but believes a good way inland (though shallow in some places), to be capable of breeding such vast shoals of salmon, salmon trout, and other small fish that passed by them while fishing there ; also several acres of Flats in Salmon River, filled with clams, muscles, and other shell-fish, among many other conveniences necessary to a good harbour, and some falls of water suitable to erect saw mills, grist mills, etc. ; all kinds of sea fowl are very plentiful and easily taken. A good settlement might be made on Fort Island in this harbour, easily secured from any attacks of Indians. On Cape Cod there is a vast plenty of wood ; some pines he saw there sufficient to make masts for ships of six or seven hundred tons, and he doubts not but a little way inland they are much larger, and with hazel and other woods fit for ship- building. The soil in this harbour is capable of great improve- ments, there being rich low grounds. The woods abound in partridges, pheasants, and other game, as well as bears, deer, beavers, otters, black foxes, hares, minks, martins, sables, and other beasts of rich fur. The beavers are of the black kind, of the finest fur in this country. He took particular notice of some small birds of passage, among them some robins, well known to love a pleasant climate ; and on the shore side great plenty of geese, ducks, teal, brants, curlews, plovers, and sand birds ; and from all Capt. Atkins and his people could 326 LABRADOR observe, they are well persuaded that the winters at the harbour (he now called Pownal Harbour in Hancock's Inlet), are not so uncomfortable as at Newfoundland and Louis- bourgh, though so much further northward. In September 29th, 1758, he left this delightful inlet in fine weather, bound home to Boston, searching the coast and trading, put into Fortune Bay, and left it October i6th. Some sleet and rain and a little cold; had five days' passage to St. Peter's Bay in Newfoundland, where the weather has been so cold and tempestuous for fourteen days before they could not catch fish, which Capt. Atkins might have done at Fortune Bay the whole time. I can hear of no vessel having wintered on that coast, ex- cept a snow which Capt. Prebble found at Fortune Bay when sent on that coast by Capt. Atkins in 1753. Capt. Prebble traded with the natives, about seventy men, women, and children ; got from them about 3000 lb. of bone for a trifling value. Capt. Prebble carried with him a young Frenchman in hope that some Indians might be found who understood the French language, but they could not find one who took more notice of it than of English — a plain proof these people had never left their own country to trade with the French ; for it is very observable that the Indians who have been used to trade with the French speak that tongue well. Capts. Atkins, Prebble, and others agree that the current sets south- ward ; in the several harbours they went into they found the tides flowed about seven feet. The river St. Lawrence being now opened to us, a passage from Boston may be made early to the Eskimeaux coast, through the Straits of Belle Isle. 1 might here add sundry observations made by Capt. Atkins and others on this coast ; and. of their conjectures of the richness of this country in mines and minerals ; but I, at present, content myself with a bare relation of facts, sincerely wishing the foregoing ob- servations might be of any advantage to future navigators. Boston, Feb. i6th, 1761. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 327 In 1753, Captain Charles Swayne, in the good ship Ar£-o, was despatched from Philadelphia to attempt the discovery of the North-West Passage. He was unable to force his way north through the ice, but carefully explored the coast from 56' to 65° N. lat. In 1754 he again went to the Labrador coast, but three of his men being decoyed and murdered by the Eskimos, the further prosecution of the voyage was abandoned. New England whalers, apparently, were not slow to follow up the path which had been opened for them by Captains Atkins, Prebble, and Swayne, for as we have already heard, Sir Hugh Palliser speaks of them as regularly frequenting the coast in 1766. Their conduct to the Eskimos and to the English fishermen was so bar- barous and lawless that Sir Hugh Palliser wrote a letter of remonstrance to Sir Francis Bernard, and drew up rules and regulations for their government, and for the conduct of the whale fishery on the coast. (See Chap. X I.) This is an important point, and has some bearing upon the question of American rights in British waters. Labrador had just been joined to the colony of New- foundland, and it was the duty of the Governor, Sir Hugh Palliser, to bring this new dependency to law and order. He recognized no divided authority with Sir Francis Bernard, but drew up his rules and regula- tions, and asked Sir Francis to have them posted up in those parts of his government where the whalers and others going to Labrador would take notice of them. If the New Englanders went to Newfoundland and Labrador waters in pursuit of the fisheries, they were bound to obey the ordinances which had been drawn up for the conduct of those fisheries. As it was then, in the very beginning of this industry, so it has been ever since. The claim made by the Government of the 328 LABRADOR United States to be free of any control, and above and apart from all local laws, can hardly be said to be founded upon original rights. New Englanders were also in the habit of visiting the Magdalen Islands, where their conduct was as ob- jectionable as it was on the coast of Labrador. In 1771 Commodore Byron issued a Proclamation forbidding any one to fish at these islands without a special license. In 1774 a certain John Brown wrote to Governor Shuldham saying that he had carried on a fishery at Cod Roy and Humber Rivers, Newfoundland, for seven years, but had recently been greatly annoyed by masters of vessels coming there from America, and particularly by one Lawrence Cavanagh, who brought parties of Cape Breton Indians for the purpose of furring, all contrary to law. The Governor ordered that if any American vessels were found offending there in the future they were to be seized and brought to St. John's. Lorenzo Sabine, whose valuable Report has already been quoted, says : — " As I have examined the scattered and fragmentary accounts of Labrador, there is no proof whatever that its fishing grounds were occupied by our countrymen until after we became an independent people." And he adds : — " As late as 1761 it is not probable that fishermen of any flag had visited the waters of Labrador." In another place he says : — " The first American vessel which was fitted for the Labrador fishery sailed from Nevvburyport towards the close of the last century (1794). The business once undertaken was pursued with great energy, and several AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 329 hundred vessels were engaged at it annually previous to the war of 1812." Sabine was not quite so well informed as usual on these points, for as readers of this history will have learned, the southern Labrador coasts were early visited by Europeans, and the fishery carried on by the New Englanders was also quite considerable. G. Browne Goode, in his monumental Report on American Fisheries, 1884, tells that in 1765 one hun- dred vessels cleared from New England for the whale fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Straits of Belle Isle. The season was a very good one, and they returned with about nine thousand barrels of oil. Loud complaints were made the next year against Palliser's regulations, which do not of themselves appear un- reasonable, but necessitated a considerable change from the lawless and uncontrolled methods of previous years. The Boston News Letter of November iSth, 1766, reports that the " vessels are returning half loaded " ; and a later issue says : — " Several vessels are returned from the whaling busi- ness who have not only had very bad success, but also have been ill-treated by some of the cruisers on the Labrador Coast." The following is Palliser's account of the circum- stance, in his letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, August 25th, 1766: — " When the King's Ships arrived on their stations this year upon the coast of Labrador, they found between 200 and 300 Whaling Vessels from the Plantations, great part of which were employed fishing for Cod and carrying it over to the French ships in Newfoundland ; also destroying the fishing works belonging to English 330 LABRADOR fishers, firing the woods and doing every kind of mis- chief to prevent and discourage English adventurers from going to that coast ; also in hunting and plunder- ing the poor Indians on that coast. The King's officers immediately put a stop to all this, and sent them away a whaling ; then our new ship adventurers from Britain under this protection went to work, and have succeeded beyond expectations, taking amazing quantities of Cod." The New Englanders loudly protested against being debarred from fishing at Labrador. One writes : — " To me it is amazing that any body of men should attempt to engross it to themselves ; it will never prove very profitable to any body of men in England, and must be advantageous to Americans only." Additional instructions were sent to Palliser by the Admiralty in 1766, telling him "not to interrupt His Majesty's American subjects in fishing providing they co7iforin to the established rules of fishing." In the Schedule of the Fishery for 1767, the number of American vessels is given as about 300, 18,000 tons, and 3900 men. (See following page.) Goode says that " there can be no doubt but that the indiscretions of the whalemen were much magni- fied." " Indiscretions " is rather a mild term for the offences described by Palliser. Goode continues : " The Colonial governors often made the resources under their control a source of revenue for themselves, and Palli- ser's action would seem to indicate personal interest in keeping whalemen from the Colonies away from the territory under his control." There is absolutely no ground for this calumnious statement. Palliser was a man of the highest character, and to suppose that he could have interested himself AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 331 An Account of the Trade and Fisheries Carried on within this Government by Vessels and People from the Plantations. No. OF I Vessels.! How Employed. "5 Sloops and Schooners Em- ploy'd Trading to Newfound- land. 300 Sloops and Schooners Em- ploy'd on the Whale Fishery recon'd at 60 Tuns and 13 Men each. 300 Sloops and Schooners Em- ploy'd on the Cod Fishery recon'd at 60 Tuns and 10 Men each. 715 Total Tuns. 6397 iS,ooo 18,000 42,397 Men. 680 3900 7580 Remarks. These vessels Cargo's con- sist chiefly of Rum, Mo- lasses, Bread, Flour, and other Provisions, which with their vessels sold may be rated at 100,000 Pounds Value for which they are immediately Paid with Bills of Exchange upon England, a very small part excepted with the refuse Fish. According to the best Ac- counts, full this Number of Vessels have been Em- ploy'd about the Gulph of St. Lawrence, the Banks and Coasts of Newfound- land and Labrador ; they killed above One Hundred Whales of the best kind within the Gulph, where they stay only about six weeks ; what they killed afterwardsabout theBanks is not known, only that in general they have had good Success. According to the best Ac- counts full this Number of Vessels have been em- ploy'd about the Banks adjacent to the Coasts of Newfoundland and Lab- rador ; they carry their Fish to the respective Provinces to which they belong, therefore the exact quan- tity of Fish they take is uncertain, but on an aver- age may be recon'd at 800 Quintals p' Vessel, making 240,000 Quintals. Hugh Pallisser, 15th Dec'., 1767. 332 LABRADOR financially in any business during the three short summers he was on the coast betokens very little knowlege of the conditions. A fortnight each season was probably all the time he could spare at Labra- dor. His instructions to his subordinates, commanders of vessels and forts, always contained the strictest in- junctions not to engage in trade of any description. But the New Englanders did not seem to mend their ways as the years went on, for we find, in the very full reports made in 1772-3 by Lieutenant Roger Curtis, even severer strictures upon their con- duct. He said they were a lawless banditti, the cause of every quarrel between the Eskimos and Europeans, and whose greatest joy was to distress the subjects of the mother country ; they swarmed upon the coasts like locusts, and committed every kind of offence with malignant wantonness. Lieutenant Curtis's language gets quite picturesque on this subject, and we can only hope with Goode that they were not so black as they were painted. Curtis strongly recommended that they should be debarred the privilege of fishing on the Labrador entirely. But their fishing operations were soon brought to a standstill by the outbreak of the War of Independence, when many of the erstwhile fishermen turned privateers and returned to their former haunts, to harry the unpro- tected fishermen and settlers in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1776 Governor Montague writes that he hears that four privateers have been seen in the Straits of Belle Isle, and that he has two men-of-war there which he hopes may encounter them. In 1777 he is informed that two privateers are off Placentia " to burn, sink, and destroy." In 1778 he reports that privateers are AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 333 daily committing depredations on the coast. Trinity Bay was actually in want of provisions from that cause, and in 1779 Fortune, St. Lawrence, and Burin are reported to be in the same case. George Cartwright, and the firm of Noble and Pinson, suffered considerable losses from their attacks. But Jeremiah Coughlan, Cartwright's early partner, writes to Governor Montague that he had escaped loss himself, and that " Grimes and his motley crew" had beaten a precipitate retreat. He had 250 men in his employ, and had put them under military discipline, so that he was able to beat Grimes off. He states that old Mr. Pinson was the cause of the garrison being withdrawn from York Fort, and that if Noble and Pinson had mounted their ship's guns on shore and assumed " an encouraging mode of carriage," it would have been defence enough against Grimes. But it was by no means a one-sided conflict, for in 1780 five privateers were captured in Newfoundland waters, and in 1781 H.M.S. Pluto sailed from St. John's one morning and returned in the afternoon with two captured privateers. While the negotiations for a treaty of peace were in progress, great stress was laid upon the importance of the fisheries. Every point, every word, was carefully weighed. Time and again the negotiations were nearly broken off because of the difficulty in coming to an agreement on this matter. But finally, by the Treaty of Paris, 1783, it was agreed — " that the people of the United States shall continue to enjoy, unmolested, the right to take fish of every kind on the Grand Bank, and on all the other banks of New- foundland ; also in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at all other places in the sea where the inhabitants of both countries used at any time to fish ; and also that the 334 LABRADOR inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to take fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen shall use (but not to dry or cure the same on that island), and also on the coasts, bays, and creeks of all other of His Britannic Majesty's dominions in America ; and that the American fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador as long as the same shall remain unsettled ; but as soon as the same or either of them shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settle- ment without a previous agreement for that purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors of the ground." A few points only of the above treaty need be touched upon. It will be noticed that while it was agreed that the United States should have the right'^ to fish in the open seas, they had only the liberty^ to fish in British waters. In Newfoundland they could only take fish on such coasts as British subjects shall use — the intention on the part of the British being no doubt to guard the rights already given to the French, and also because the Americans were bound by treaty not to interfere with the French. In all other British Dominions the liberty was granted to fish in the coasts, bays, and creeks, which was a very much more com- prehensive term than the mere coasts of Newfound- land. That a distinction was intended is proved by the fact that it was so acted upon, and that American fishing vessels did not frequent Newfoundland waters, while they completely overran those of the other colonies. ^ The use of these words was only agreed to after a long and heated debate. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 335 It seems very probable that the United States willingly accepted the lesser rights in Newfoundland waters when unrestricted rights were granted on Labrador, the great value of which they fully ap- preciated. The New Englanders at once resumed their visits to Labrador, and in a few years the trade had become enormous. The Gloucester Telegraph published in 1829 an account written in 18 15 of the Massachusetts fisheries from 1790 to 1 8 10. It says : — "The 648 vessels that fish at Labrador and Bay Chaleur I put down at 41,600 tons, and 5832 men and boys. They take and cure 648,000 qtls. of fish, making one trip yearly. Most of the vessels cure part of their fish on shore near the place where they catch them, and the rest after their return home. Several cargoes are shipped direct to Europe, particularly to Alicante, Leghorn, and Naples. The average price obtained is $5.00 per quintal. They take 20,000 barrels of oil valued at $8.00 to 612.00. Some said that 1700 vessels were engaged in this fishery, but this is no doubt greatly exagg-erated."" *t5t.^ This writer himself greatly overestimated the number of vessels pursuing the Labrador fishery, for in the statistics given by Sabine of the cod fishery of the United States, the average tonnage employed altogether at that period was 43,000, the greater part of which frequented the near-by fisheries on the Grand Banks. But still the numbers were no doubt considerable, for in 1806 forty-five vessels are reported to have sailed for Labrador from Newburyport alone. From Captain Crofton's Report of the Fisheries, 336 LABRADOR 1798, the following interesting particulars are gleaned. He says : — " Before concluding my observations respecting the Coast of Labrador, I think it proper to acquaint you that vessels from the United States of America have arrived here every year since the Treaty of Peace with that country ; and as there has been no ship hitherto appointed to attend their motions, it is most probable that they take every opportunity of trading with the Indians (Eskimos).^ I have likewise heard that they have interrupted the British in their Salmon Fishery, having placed their nets in Rivers, which our Fisher- men consider contrary to the Treaty ; Harbours, Bays, and Creeks being particularly specified, and Rivers not being mentioned. It will therefore be satisfactory to have the right of fishing in Rivers more fully explained, as reference will be made to the first officer that happens to be on the spot during the time of catching salmon, which was finished before my arrival on the coast of Labrador, and the American vessels departed." While somewhat foreign to the design of this book, it is interesting here to note Captain Crofton's account of the fishery at the Magdalen Islands. He found that these islands had not been visited by any of His Majesty's ships since 1787. Prior to the war with America, the fishing rights had been leased to Colonel Richard Gridley, of Massachusetts — a fact which is also noted by Sir Joseph Banks in 1766. During the war, Gridley played an important part in the American Army, laying out the works at Bunker Hill, and after- wards becoming the head of the engineer's department ' It must be remembered that after the war was over, trade between the United States and the British Nortli American colonies was inter- dicted. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 337 under Washington. Lorenzo Sabine says he had not been able to learn whether Colonel Gridley retained his grant of the Magdalens after the war. Captain Crofton, however, reports : — "That the only British fishery on the Islands is carried on by Mr. John Janvrin of Jersey, who has but one boat and three men. He bought a house, etc., from Mr. Gridley of Boston that had been resident here many years before and since the last war. Mr. Gridley carried on the Sea Cow fishery, and was then in partner- ship with Mr. Read of Bristol, but by what authority he established himself here since the War I cannot learn, as he received all his stores and provisions from Boston in New England, and sent the produce of the Islands thither in return. I was much surprised at finding a British Merchant's establishment here, on so small a scale, but am informed that the Island has been so much resorted to lately by American vessels that it has discouraged Mr. Janvrin from extending his commerce. This year the number of American vessels drying fish at the Magdalens amounted to thirty-five, and more than two-thirds of them have cured their fish in the Harbour of Amherst, and occupied so large a space as to almost exclude Mr. Janvrin or any British Adventurer from pursuing the fishery in an extensive way. The Americans, having met with no interrup- tion, have lately had the presumption to build several fish stages and flakes ; they have not yet left any person to remain the winter, but in the Spring bring two crews for each vessel, one of which remains on shore to cure the fish. The Americans having finished their fishery for the season, I therefore only observed to them that I was of opinion that it was improper for them erecting flakes, etc., and so many vessels resorting z 338 LABRADOR to one harbour, supposing that my admonishing them would now be too late to produce any effect this season. Before leaving the Magdalens, I am extremely sorry to acquaint you that the Sea Cow Fishery at those Islands is totally annihilated, not one having been seen for many years." ^ In September, 1797, Captain (afterwards Admiral) Isaac Coffin wrote to Governor Waldegrave, informing him that the Magdalen Islands fishery had been granted to him in 1788 by Lord Dorchester, and asking that Americans and all other poachers be restrained from re- sorting there. Governor Waldegrave wrote to the Duke of Portland for instructions on the matter. The reply was made that Captain Coffin's grant did not convey the right of settlement and occupation, that conse- quently the Magdalen Islands could not be said to be settled, and that therefore the Americans had the right to fish there. As lately as 1852, his heir. Captain Townsend Coffin, leased the islands to Benjamin Weir and others of Halifax. The American fishermen were clearly within their rights to dry and cure fish on the Magdalen Islands, provided that the places used by them were unsettled. Captain Crofton evidently considered that Amherst Harbour was a settled and occupied harbour from which the Americans were excluded, unless they made special agreements with the ostensible owners. The practice of hiring stations for drying and curing fish was occasionally resorted to by the Americans on the Labrador, as the following correspondence shows. That the lessors had no right to the place, and that the ^ In the Report of the Fisheries for 1789, it is stated that the sea cow fishery had been almost totally destroyed by the Americans, who killed them in the water and on shore, especially during whelping time, in the month of May. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 339 Americans relet it in part, adds considerable piquancy to the story. In 1802 the important firm of D. Codner and Com- pany, of St. John's, made complaint to Governor Gambier that, having sent a vessel to Red Bay, Labrador, they could not get room there to erect stages and cure fish. They stated that the place was claimed by Randall and Company, who only occupied a small part themselves, letting the balance to Americans, so that the captain of their vessel was forced to rent a station from the said Americans, for which he paid £10. The Governor replied as follows : — " I have to inform you that no person is allowed to take possession of any part of the coast of Labrador, where there are no Canadian possessions, nor to make sedentary establishments save such as shall produce certificates of having sailed from England. You are authorized to occupy any vacant places on the coast of Labrador so long as the above rule is carried out." The rapid growth of the American fishery, on the coast of Labrador in particular, but also on the Nova Scotian coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, seriously affected the prosperity of Newfoundland. In 1804. the naval officer on the fishery service was told that there were 1360 American vessels employed on the Banks, in the Gulf, and on the Labrador. A watchman who had been employed to count the American vessels passing through the Gut of Canso in 1807, stated that there had been at least 938. Complaints of the aggressive conduct of the Ameri- cans were made from every part of British North America, At this period United States vessels do not appear to have frequented the Newfoundland coast, 340 LABRADOR owing no doubt to the fact that the privileges granted by the Treaty of 1783 were very much more restricted in that island than in any other part of British North America. While Newfoundland waters were spared from the American invasion, the competition from the United States in foreign markets nearly ruined the Newfoundland trade. It was a serious handicap to have to bring out ships and men from Great Britain each spring and to take them back at the close of the season. Newfoundland was also debarred from the cheap pro- visions and marine stores which had been obtained from the American colonies prior to the Revolution, and everything had to be brought from England at great expense. Urged by the merchants of St. John's, the Governor, Sir Erasmus Gower, in 1805, wrote to the Secretary of State to the following effect : — The New England fisheries had increased to such a degree that they far exceeded those of Newfoundland. Their produce com- peted with Newfoundland fish in all markets, and was sold at lower prices. The Newfoundland catch had been reduced by half The chief advantage of the Americans lay in their cheap provisions and outfits, and he recom- mended that the embargo on trade with the United States be removed. He also stated that the Americans had almost driven British-caught fish out of the British West Indies, having sold there in the previous year 150,000 quintals, while Newfoundland had sold 50,000 only, and asked that something be done to secure that market from American competition. The fisheries of Newfoundland and Labrador were still considered to be vitally necessary for the supply of men for the Navy, and Sir Erasmus Gower's representations at once received due consideration. His secretary, Mr. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 341 Joseph Trounsell, wrote to the merchants of St. John's, in March, 1806, saying that the Lords of the Committee for Trade and Plantations had recommended that a bounty of 2s. per quintal be paid on all British-caught fish imported into the West Indies. This was supple- mented in April by a bounty of is. 6d. to 4s. per barrel on pickled fish. Finally a duty was imposed on American fish to countervail the duty which America had imposed on British fish. This was very satisfactory to the Newfoundland merchants until the United States retorted by placing a complete embargo on trade with the British North American colonies, thus preventing them from obtaining the supply of cheap provisions which was so vitally necessary. In 1808 considerable fears of famine were entertained, and provisions went to extreme prices. The bounty on exports to the British West Indies seemed to be only temporary, for in 1808 we find the merchants of St. John's petitioning for its continuance. These restrictions to trade bore very hardly also on the American fishing industry. It is recorded that in 1808 quantities offish rotted in their stores for want of a market. In 1806 the principal merchants of Conception Bay presented a memorial to Governor Holloway calling his attention to the actions of the Americans who visited Labrador, declaring that they were indefatigable in their endeavours to entice away the fishermen and ser- vants of the merchants, and were connivers and abettors in robbery and fraud. Among other instances given was that of a crew who had been furnished with a brig and supplies of all sorts by the firm of Goss, Chauncy, and Ledgard, of Carbonear, and who fished at Camp Islands, Labrador. Owing to the inducements offered 342 LABRADOR them by the captain of an American vessel, they sold their catch of fish and all the gear of the brig to him, left her to go to pieces on the rocks, and all went off to America. The petitioners begged that a ship of war be sent on the coast to put a stop to the illicit dealings of the Americans. Governor Holloway at once sent a vessel to enquire into the doings of the Americans on the Labrador coast, and apparently discovered more than the memo- rialists intended, as is seen by the following letter to the Privy Council, dated September 9th, 1907 : — "As His Majesty's ship Topaz is ordered to sail for England, I have the honour to relate a circumstance which I feel is of importance for the consideration of the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Plantations, which I beg you will be pleased to lay before them. " The Americans that fish on the Coast of Labrador have long been suspected, and upon good information, of carrying great quantities of provisions as well as other contraband articles, which they sell and barter to the British merchants, who with great facility tranship them in small quantities to this Island. It has been usual for the Commander-in-Chief of Newfoundland to send vessels to the Coast of Labrador, not only to pro- tect His Majesty's subjects, but the Commanders also have orders to prevent any illicit trade between them and other powers. " The Adonis cutter. Lieutenant McKillop, a ioyft days since detained two American vessels upon correct information of their having sold and bartered a great quantity of provisions and other articles, a7id had laden with fish not caught 01' cured by the people of the United States. They are sent here for adjudication, where it is AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 343 alleged they cannot be tried as the offence was com- mitted without the jurisdiction of this Government. If they are liberated it will be giving great encouragement to the Americans to pursue this system, which must prove highly injurious to His Majesty's commercial interests. It is impracticable at this season of the year to send vessels to Quebec, and it would also be attended with great inconvenience in the event of liberation from the situation of that port. " The Coast of Labrador was formerly annexed to this Government, and, I understand by my papers from the Admiralty, was removed to Quebec on account of a few grants to individuals which extend but to a small district. " I therefore humbly beg leave to suggest to their lordships the advantages which will arise to His Majesty's Government by annexing the Coast of Labrador to this command as the most effectual mode of suppressing this illicit trade, which otherwise will prove a great evil to the trade of Great Britain." A few days afterwards permission was granted to land the cargo of fish and sell it for the benefit of whom it may concern. The schooner Malita, seized " for breach of navigation laws of Labrador," lay in St. John's Harbour and rotted there, and it is probable that the case never came before the Admiralty Court at all. On November 19th, 1808, Governor Holloway, writing to Lord Castlereagh, asks if any decision had been arrived at respecting the transfer of Labrador to New- foundland, for " at present the most atrocious deeds may be committed and the offenders go unpunished, irregularities being constantly practised by the Ameri- cans who frequent the coast, which I have no authority to take cognizance of, although only to be detected by 344 LABRADOR my cruisers, Quebec being too remote for the establish- ment of any civil or other authority. The number of vessels from the United States frequenting or fishing on the Coast of Labrador and Newfoundland have been but few in comparison with other years, the number this season not having exceeded 200 or 300." The seizure of this vessel is a most important occur- rence, and is a most valuable piece of evidence on the rights of American fishermen in British waters. At that period trade of all descriptions with the United States had been prohibited (28 Geo. Ill, c. 6) except that in case of emergency the Governor of New- foundland was empowered to authorize the importation of " bread, flour, Indian corn, and live stock." British subjects in Newfoundland and Labrador also were strictly prohibited from selling, to persons not British subjects, vessels or gear, any kind of bait, or produce of the fishery of any sort. The inhabitants of the United States, by the Treaty of 1783, were given the liberty to take and cure fish but not to purchase it, and when this vessel was found laden with fish not caught by inhabitants of the United States, she and her cargo were promptly confiscated. In 1812 the pursuit of the fisheries by inhabitants of the United States on the coast of Labrador was again interrupted by war, and again the coast of Newfoundland was visited by numerous American privateers. The merchants of St. John's asked Admiral Keats, the Governor of Newfoundland, for a convoy to bring down vessels from Quebec, with flour and provisions, of which the country was much in need. But the Governor replied that he could not undertake this service with the little squadron which he had at his command. Quite a number of British AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 345 merchant vessels took out letters of marque, and a goodly number of American prizes were brought into St. John's. Prowse's History of N ewfoimdland is authority for the statement that one could walk across the harbour of St. John's on the decks of the prizes which were moored there side by side. The merchants of St. John's, who were a very active body, presented a memorial to Admiral Keats, the Governor, at the close of the year 1813, begging that, when peace came to be negotiated, both the French and Americans should be excluded from British waters. It is such an interesting document that it is quoted here in full. It must be observed that the worthy merchants were careful to present their case in the strongest possible light, and that some of their state- ments were probably exaggerated : — To Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, K.B., Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of New- foundland, etc. The Memorial of the Merchants and Principal Resident Inhabitants interested in the Trade and Fisheries of Newfoundland assembled at the Merchants Hall in St. John's, twenty-seventh of October, One thousand eight hundred and thirteen : Humbly sheweth, The Merchants, Planters and all other classes of His Majesty's subjects in this Island have at all times manifested their Loyalty to their King, and have never failed to express their indignation at the treacherous conduct of the enemies of their country. And considering that our existence as a great and independent nation must chiefly depend upon our preserving the Sovereignty of the Seas, the policy of excluding France and America from the advantages those nations have 346 LABRADOR heretofore enjoyed in times of Peace, in this fishery must be evident to every man of observation engaged in this branch of commerce. By former treaties with France and the United States of America, those powers were allowed certain privileges on these shores, banks, coast of Labrador and in the Gulf of St. Law- rence, in the opinion of Your Excellency's Memorialists highly impolitic, and which the wisdom of the British Government would not coincide except under very peculiar circumstances. By this concession to France and America a great national benefit was lost, and a door opened to illicit commerce to the injury of the Revenue as well as to His Majesty's subjects engaged in the trade of Newfoundland and the British American Colonies, A facility was thereby afforded of intro- ducing into Newfoundland and those Colonies, teas and other articles of contraband, and temptation held out to our fisher- men to emigrate to the United States, and the superior numbers of their citizens who annually resorted to the shores of Labrador enabled them to control and overawe our people on that coast except indeed when a ship of war happened to be within the reach of complaint. Fifteen hundred American vessels have been known to be prosecuting the fishery at one time on the Labrador coast, bringing with them coffee, teas, spirits, and other articles of contraband. In their passage thither from their own country they generally stop in the Gut of Canso, where the narrowness of the navi- gation affords great facility to smuggling. The intercourse of our fishermen with these secret enemies of Britain has an effect not less fatal to their moral character than to our fishery. The small planters and catchers of fish which make the great body of the people on the coast of Labrador under the influence of notions imbibed by their daily intercourse with men whose interests are at war with ours, become dissatisfied with their supplying merchants who are unable to meet their foreign competitors on equal ground, the next step, as experience shows, is the neglect AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 347 of the only means in their power to discharge their debts. Disobedience and Insubordination follows, and finally their minds become alienated from their own Government, and they emigrate to another to the great loss of their country. In times of Peace, besides, the citizens of the United States resort in great numbers to the Banks, where they anchor in violation of express stipulations to the great annoy- ance of this valuable branch of the Newfoundland trade. Nor is it possible that the strictest vigilance is often able to detect them in the breach of such stipulations. The evils growing out of the impolitic concessions to insidious friends are more extensive than Your Excellency's Memorialists have yet stated ; they accompany our commerce into the markets of Europe and the West Indies. In the United States, men, provisions and every other article of outfit are procured upon much better terms than the nature of things will admit of with the British. These combined advantages enable them to undersell the British merchant in the Foreign Market. Hence heavy losses have often by him been sustained, and must always be sustained under similar circumstances. The proof of the great national advantage heretofore reaped by America from the Fishery, Your Excellency's Memorialists not only quote the language of Massachusetts in June last in a remonstrance to their Government "keep your land, but give us a fishery." The French in time of tranquillity prosecuting the fishery at St. Pierre and Miquelon, it is well known carried on an extensive illicit commerce with the British residing on the coast contiguous to those Islands, although they pretended that such intercourse was contrary to a known law of their own country, similar illicit traffic was at the same time carried on by the subjects of that nation with the English on the coast ceded to the former on the North part of this Island. The entire range between Cape John, Northward to Cape Rea, was yielded to France, and the British were prohibited 348 LABRADOR by the French from ever fishing between those two Capes. Your Memorialists have learnt from good authority that France actually employed upon this North Shore (with St. Pierre and Miquelon) Twenty thousand men. Excellent Harbours, hardly five miles asunder, skirt the coast from Cape John to the Straits of Belle Isle, affording security to ships and vessels in the worst weather, and the great resort of the codfish to the very mouths of these harbours, beyond what is generally known upon the other shores of Newfound- land, evince the high advantages of the North Fishery formerly possessed by France. The fishery now prosecuted with vigour by the British upon the shores heretofore enjoyed by the French is become very extensive, and employs a large proportion of our fisher- men. The product of this industry is brought hither and carried to other ports of export coastways in vessels owned by the employers, and supplies of the Planters and Fishermen. Dwelling-houses, substantial stages and stores would soon rise up in that quarter of the Island, were it certain that the builders would at the return of Peace be allowed to retain their property. That valuable part of Newfoundland, fertile in everything for promoting a fishery, would in such an event form a populous district of great value to the Mother Country, not only as a fishery, but as it would cultivate a coasting navigation, at all times an important object with Government. And believing firmly, as your Excellency's Memorialists have reason to believe, and have already stated, that our existence as a great independent nation depends upon our Dominion on the Ocean, the wise policy of shutting out those nations now leagued in war against us from a future participa- tion in so important a branch of our commerce can hardly be made a question. The increased advantages since the commencement of hostilities with America, derived to both our Export and Import Trade having now no competitors in the Foreign Markets, and what is of the last and highest importance, the AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 349 increase of our means to make mariners, while those of our enemies must in the same proportion be crippled, show the wisdom of preserving the " vantage ground " we now stand upon. And Your Excellency's Memorialists feel the more urgent in their present representation as the prospects which happily have recently opened in Europe may afford a well- grounded hope that the time is not very remote when negotia- tions may be opened for the return of permanent Peace. From the protection afforded to the trade of this Island by Your Excellency, as well as by His Excellency, Sir John B. Warren, a great number of fishing vessels having gone to Labrador from Nova Scotia, the number of men employed on the Labrador shores this season has been double, and the absence of their former intruders has enabled them to fish un- molested. Your Excellency's Memorialists beg to press upon your serious consideration, which they cannot too often urge, the important policy, should fortunately the circumstances of Europe ultimately encourage such a hope, of wholly excluding foreigners from sharing again in the advantages of a fishery from which a large proportion of our best national defence will be derived. From the proofs Your Excellency has manifested, during Your Excellency's short residence in Newfoundland, of solici- tude for the prosperity of this trade, and from Your Excellency's high character, in a profession, the salvation and admiration of oppressed nations, and upon which we can rely for a continuance of that prosperity. Your Excellency's Memorialists confidently hope that Your Excellently will, on your return to England, lay this, their humble representation, before His Majesty's Government and give it that support which the high importance of the case demands. (Signed) J. MacBraire, Chairman. St. John's, Newfoundland, ?>th November, 1 813. 350 LABRADOR On April loth, 1814, Governor Keats wrote from England to the merchants of St. John's that their memorial was receiving due attention, and in the foUow- July he himself wrote the following letter to the Secretary of State, supplementing the memorial of the merchants : — Memorial of Merchants ajid Exclusion of Foreigners from Fishery. I HAVE the honour at the request of the Merchants and principal Resident Inhabitants interested in the trade of Newfoundland, to transmit your Lordship a Memorial which I have received from them, calculated to call attention to the growing importance of the Fisheries of Newfoundland to afford some useful information upon that interesting subject, and praying that if circumstances should permit at the return of Peace, that our present enemies may not be allowed to participate in that valuable fishery. The important advantages that would result to Great Britain and Newfoundland by excluding foreign powers from any participation in the valu- able fisheries of that island are too well known to Your Lordship and His Majesty's Government to make it necessary for me to enter at all upon. I will delay Your Excellency only to remark that the quantity of fish taken this season exceeds that of any former year — that the number of vessels sent from Nova Scotia (of which no notice is taken in my returns) to take fish in the Straits of Belle Isle, where fleets were employed by the Americans, have doubled that of the last year, and will probably next year greatly exceed that of the present, that from the spirit and vigour with which prepara- tions are already making to pursue the fisheries (chiefly arising out of the American war) it is expected they will be very much increased next season. Connected with this subject, Government will have the satisfaction of seeing by the Custom House Returns that the imports (provisions apart) from AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 351 Great Britain have increased since the American war, seem- ingly in a greater proportion than can be accounted for by any increase of the population, and that the 6d. per gallon duty on rum has of itself this year produced upwards of ;2^ 10,000. The readmission of America to privileges she enjoyed by former treaties in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the Coast of Labrador, and Newfoundland, would infallibly be felt severely by the Merchant, the Planter, and in the Revenues, whilst the worst effects would be produced by communications with a people so inveterately hostile and depraved, and the most serious losses to our country would ensue, by the valuable seamen and fisherman they would deprive us of. Fort Townsend, No. 25. St. John's, Newfoundland, 27 July, 18 14. My Lord, Having in my Despatch No. 18 referring to the Memorial transmitted from the merchants and principal inhabitants interested in the trade of Newfoundland, stated it as my opinion that the readmission of America to the privileges she enjoyed by Treaty, prior to the present war, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the Coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland would be severely felt by the merchants, planters and in the revenue. I have the honour to detail more particularly the grounds on which that opinion was formed, conceiving they may be found to contain some observations not entirely undeserving notice, whenever the subject may come into particular consideration. I have the honour to be, with great respect. My Lord, Your Lordship's Most obedient, humble servant, (Signed) R. G. Keats. To the Right Honourable The Earl of Bathurst, &c. 352 LABRADOR Enclosure. The Fishery carried on by America to the Northward most injurious to our interests seems unquestionably to be that on the coast of Newfoundland within the Gulf of St. Lawrence and particularly that on the coast of Labrador, To this fishery that pursued by the Americans on the Banks of Newfoundland was of very inferior consideration, the latter not employing more than three or four hundred sail of vessels seemed stationary, whilst the former gradually increased from the Peace of 1783 to the War declared by her in 181 2, at which period it appears from many creditable authorities America sent not less than 1500 vessels into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and upon the coast of Labrador, which at the moderate calculation of 10 men to a vessel would afford employ- ment for 15,000 men, admitting no abatement to be allowed for those who made second trips. America from her situation, the Gulf of St. Lawrence being cleared of ice earlier than the Straits of Belle Isle, was enabled to get the vessels on the Coast of Labrador before our Merchants and Planters who reside on the East Coast of Newfoundland, and whose vessels enter by the Straits of Belle Isle. With this advantage, and coming in such immense numbers, the harbours best calculated for the cod fishery were occupied by them to the prejudice almost to the exclusion of our own fishermen in places where we had no settlements, whilst the multitude of boats sent by them to the fishing ledges have been even known to create a scarcity of fish — and (the Gurry) the ofifal thrown by them into the sea (for the fish taken by the boats are prepared and salted on board the vessels at anchor in the harbours) produced the worst effects upon the neighbouring Salmon Fisheries, and also on the Caplin, on which our fishermen principally depend for Bait, and this practice, which at the first view it should seem would be equally injurious to the Americans was less felt by them, as they commonly came prepared with clams, and salted bait. Our planters and fishermen complain that their nets were AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 353 continually cut by them ; that they could not leave anything on their Sealing Posts without a strong guard, which they could not afford, and that the woods are set fire, too, by them (which numerous ineffectual proclamations have been issued by the Governors to prevent) in order to deprive our fisher- men of the Means of making and repairing their flakes and other fishing conveniences. Against practices of this vicious nature complaints, as the Americans were commonly the most numerous, were disre- garded and treated with insult. Indisputably it never was the intention of Government to grant to America a right on our Coasts, which, from the advantages she possesses from her situation and produce, could be exercised to the extinction or the serious disadvantage of our own fisheries. But the loose and undefined manner in which the 3rd Article of the Treaty of 1783 is expressed with the abuses already and hereafter noticed, which have been practised by the Americans, expose our Merchants and Planters to difficulties to whom an unqualified renewal of the 3rd Article of the Treaty would inevitably prove highly injurious. The Americans claim and dispute with us the Right of the Salmon Fishery, which is properly a River fishery, and by setting their nets at the mouths of the rivers prevent half the fish from entering to lay their spawn. They are also in the habit of sending Light Ships from America to some of the harbours on the Labrador, par- ticularly Labrador Harbour, Red Bay, and Cape Charles, which receive the fish caught and prepared by them on the coast, and take it with what they procure clandestinely from our Boatkeepers by Purchase or Barter, for they come pre- pared with money and goods for that purpose, and thus become the Carriers of a proportion of our own fish to the Market. The Trade and Revenue of the Island equally with the Planter are exposed to great and serious losses — an evil which will grow with the rapidly increasing population of 354 LABRADOR Newfoundland — for the Americans are enabled to undersell our Merchants in Bread, Flour, Salt, Provisions, Teas, Rum, Tobacco, etc. The articles are smuggled into the Country and bartered for fish taken by our Boatkeepers, and the facilities which such an unrestrained communication with our Coasts and Harbours afford for Smuggling and other clandestine practices are such that no vigilance on the part of the Men of War can prevent. A serious grievance arises from the quantity of New England Rum with which at low price they are enabled to supply our Boatkeepers, fisher- men, and servants, which never fails to have a sensible and unfavourable effect at the season at which Industry and Exertion are peculiarly requisite to enable the Boatkeeper to pay for the supplies with which he has been furnished by the Planter. The number of valuable men annually seduced from their employers and taken away by the Americans is a source of national as well as private injury, and with a people so democratic, so insulting and offensive in their conduct and behaviour, it were perhaps desirable to lessen our com- munications as much as circumstances may permit. America, jealous in the extreme of what she calls her waters, a right she claims and is labouring to establish to the extent of Forty Miles from her coast, can, on no fair principle, it should seem, claim of us the privilege to enter our Bays, Creeks, and Harbours, and to use them to the injury of our Merchants and Planters and to the prejudice of the Revenues — if on her principle we establish our right of what she terms waters — to only half the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the valuable fisheries on the Coast of New- foundland and Labrador. If we keep her only three miles from the Coast a very considerable and perhaps sufficient advantage will be secured to our own fisheries. Whatever may be the determination of His Majesty's Government respecting these fisheries on the return of peaceful relations with America, explanations in any event AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 355 respecting the unwarranted pretensions of the Americans herein noticed it is presumable will take place, and although in the unfortunate event of their readmission into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and on the Coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, it is probable no foresight could effectually secure His Majesty's subjects from considerable interruption and annoyance in their occupations, it is nevertheless to be hoped some regulations will take place which shall be found to check, if not entirely remove the evils represented. And it should seem from the annoyance which the French also experienced from the Americans on those parts of the Coast on which they formerly had the right to fish, that in the event of their readmission to their former privilege, that that nation would also feel a corresponding interest in keeping the Americans from their coast and fishermen. Connected in some degree with the present subject, I beg leave to close it with an opinion arising as well from my own observations as that of some previous persons on whose infor- mation and judgment I have reliance : That on the return of Peace no necessity will exist in Newfoundland for any com- munication whatever with the United States. From Canada, Nova Scotia, and the Mother Country all necessary supplies of Provisions and Lumber may be drawn. With some en- couragement Newfoundland might be made to supply herself with lumber and even to send to the West Indies, nor is it by any means certain that she could not be made useful in affording some supplies to our Dock Yards of Timber and Spars applicable for Naval Purposes. (Signed) R. G. Keats. Fort Townsend, St. John's, Newfoundland, Zlth July, 1814. The representations of the merchants seemed to have had effect, for when negotiations for peace were entered into, the British Commissioners declared in the most positive way, that " the British Government did not 356 LABRADOR intend to grant to the United States gratuitously the privileges formerly granted to them of fishing in British waters." The American Commissioners also were in- structed on no account to suffer their right to the fisheries to be brought into the discussion. Neverthe- less, the matter was discussed very freely, but the British held to their determination and no mention of Fishery Concessions was made in the Treaty of Ghent of 1814. Lord Bathurst, Secretary of State, wrote to Governor Keats on June 17th, 18 15, instructing him on the new state of affairs. He said that the war of 181 2 had cancelled all privileges, and that subjects of the United States could have no pretence to any right to fish within British jurisdiction. In regard to the banks and open sea fisheries, the Americans were not to be dis- turbed, but they were to be rigidly excluded from the "Bays, Harbours, Rivers, Creeks, aiid Inlets of His Majesty's possessions." The Americans set up the peculiar plea that the war of 18 12 had not abrogated their rights under the Treaty of 1783, which they declared to be inalienable, and their fishino- vessels began at once to invade British waters. In 181 5 a company was formed at Gloucester, Massa- chusetts, to carry on the cod fishery on the Grand Banks and Labrador, and twelve vessels were built. ISlote. — The following opinion on this vexed question is taken from Hall on Treaties, 1895, a standard authority on International Law : — "After the war of 1812 it was a matter of dispute whether the article dealing with these privileges (Treaty of 1783) was merely regulatory, or whether it operated by way of a grant ; its effect being in the one case merely suspended by war, while in the other the article was altogether abrogated. On the part of the United AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 357 States, it was argued that the Treaty of 1783 recog- nized the right of fishery, of which it is subject, as a right which having, before the independence of the United States, been enjoyed in common by all the inhabitants of the British possessions in North America as attendant on the territory, remained attendant, after the acquisition of independence, upon that portion of the territory which became the United States, in com- mon with that which still lay under the dominion of England. " By England, on the other hand, it was as distinctly maintained that the claim of an independent State to occupy and use at its discretion any part of the terri- tory of another without compensation or corresponding indulgence, cannot rest on any other foundation than conventional stipulation. The controversy was put an end to by a treaty in 1818 in which the indefensible American pretension was abandoned, and fishing rights were accepted by the United States as having been acquired by contract." Governor Keats gave instructions to the captains of His Majesty's ships to carry out the regulations laid down by Lord Bathurst, but on the Newfoundland and Labra- dor coasts the records note only one American vessel found trespassing, which left immediately on being dis- covered. Not so on the Nova Scotian coasts, where a good many seizures were made, some of which at least were entirely unjustifiable. A strained condition of affairs was produced again, and when the President of the United States proposed that negotiations should be opened for the amicable settlement of the disputed fishery matters, the British Government weakly ac- quiesced. In 1 8 16 Lord Bathurst informed Admiral Pickmore, 358 LABRADOR who had become Governor of Newfoundland, that His Majesty's Ambassador at Washington, the Hon. Charles Bagot, had been authorized to enter into negotiations and to conclude some arrangement by which inhabitants of the United States were to par- ticipate in the fisheries within British Dominions, and to have a modified use of British territory. We can imagine the consternation the news must have caused in the British North American colonies. Admiral Pickmore was also directed to be governed by any instructions he might receive on the matter from Mr. Bagot. This gentleman, however, wrote from Washington in January, 1817, that the negotiations had been brought to a close by the rejection of the English proposals. On May 12th of that year, Lord Bathurst informed Admiral Pickmore that temporary permission had been granted to the Americans, for one season only, to pursue the fisheries in any unoccupied harbours, bays, etc. of British territories. Encouraged by this permission considerable numbers of American vessels visited Labrador that season. The town of Newburyport alone is said to have sent sixty-five vessels to the coast. During the wars with France and America, Newfound- land enjoyed very prosperous times. Being relieved from the competition of both French and Americans, the Newfoundland merchants had a monopoly of the European markets, and very high prices were obtained for fish. Considerable inflation took place in New- foundland, and a great increase was made in the resident population, chiefly by the influx of a number of poor Irish settlers. When peace was declared, competition immediately began again, and prices declined so enormously that AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 359 commercial disaster overtook all interested in the Newfoundland fisheries. The new surplus population could not be employed, and during the years 18 16-17 the greatest distress prevailed all over Conception Bay, as well as in St. John's. The poorer classes were on the verge of starvation, and robberies and riots were frequent and serious. To add to the trouble, a disastrous fire took place in St. John's in November, 1816, and thousands of people were rendered homeless. The Imperial Parliament granted ;^io,ooo to relieve the dis- tress, and the merchants of Boston most generously sent a cargo of provisions, which arrived in the nick of time. A committee of the House of Commons was appointed to enquire into the state of the trade in Newfoundland in 1 8 17. Their report, dated June i6th of that year, forms most interesting reading. Many merchants in- terested in the Newfoundland trade were examined. The principal reasons vouchsafed for the prevalent distress were, first, the competition from the French, who gave large bounties on fish ; and second, the in- creased duties on British fish in Spain and Italy. The remedy proposed was that a bounty of two shillings per quintal should be given on all fish exported from Newfoundland so long as the French should continue to give bounties. The picture drawn of the distress in Newfoundland, both from the personal experience of the testators and from letters received from Newfoundland, is pitiable. These were undoubtedly some of Newfoundland's darkest days. But the evidence which interests us most at this time is that given by Mr. George Kemp as to the American fishery prior to the war of 181 2, and the view then taken of their rights under the Treaty of 1783. Mr, 36o LABRADOR Kemp was a merchant of Poole, largely interested in the Newfoundland trade, and had resided there for many years. Being questioned as to the size of the American fishery, he made the statement, which originated in the protest of the St. John's merchants in 1809, that he had heard there were 1500 vessels employed, but did not think it credible. He referred to regulations which had been made to prevent the Americans coming near to the coast of Newfoundland, which they had endeavoured to do, as it greatly facilitated their export of fish. He did not think this illicit business of the Americans had been as great as that of the present French fishery which was duly authorized. Being asked if the Americans employed vessels in the fishery on the French coast as well as on the other coasts of Newfoundland, he stated that they were not allowed to come round to that part of the French coast on the front of the island, but understood that their fishery was carried on principally in the Straits of Belle Isle, and on what is called the back part of Newfound- land, but their privilege of fishing was always guarded by being kept at a suitable distance off the coast. That communication with that part of the coast was not frequent, and ships employed by the Government would not go round so often to prevent their fishing there as in other parts. On the front of the island they were more easily discovered by His Majesty's vessels. We have already heard from other sources that the Americans gave all their attention to the Labrador fishery, but it appears from Mr. Kemp's evidence that attempts had been made by them to come into the inshore waters and use the shores of Newfoundland AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 361 in order to facilitate the export of fish. That such attempts were prevented, and that they were always kept at a suitable distance from the coast, is most valuable evidence that the term " coasts of Newfound- land " was strictly interpreted at that time. The temporary permission of 18 17 was renewed again for the season of 1 818. Capt. Shiffner, of H.M.S. Drake, who was stationed on the Labrador coast, reported that no less than four hundred American vessels had been on that coast during the season. He found that they were continually exceeding the privileges given them, by trespassing in occupied bays and harbours. He had warned off six vessels which he had found so trespassing, but was informed that when he left they returned to the places from which he had sent them. On the Newfoundland coasts two vessels only were reported, the schooners Hminah and Juno, which were found carrying on a whale fishery in Hermitage and St. Mary's Bays, and having taken some whales had gone into occupied harbours, and even landed, for the purpose of trying out the fat. They were seized by H.M.S. Egeria and sent to St. John's under prize crews. The Juno soon arrived there, and was very leniently dealt with, being released with a caution. The Hannah did not put in her appearance, having been retaken by the captain and two mates, and the prize crew sent on shore in a boat.^ The Legislature of Novia Scotia, in 1818, prepared an elaborate protest against the renewal of any fishing privileges to Americans, particularly contending against ^ Sir Charles Hamilton wrote to Earl Bathurst, August 28th, 1818, in- forming him of the capture of these two vessels, and saying that he intended to release them after exacting an engagement from their captains to leave the Bays and Harbours of Newfoundland and not to return, or to use the shore for purposes connected with the fishing. 362 LABRADOR the use of the Gut of Canso by American vessels bound to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Labrador. A copy was sent to the Acting Governor of Newfoundland, Capt. Bowker, asking for a joint protest to be sent from there ; but as the Newfoundland merchants had already made their protest, no further action seems to have been taken at that time. June 20, 1818. Copy of Memorial from Council and Assembly of Nova Scotia to Lord Dalhousie. To His Excellency Lieutenant General the Right Hon. George Earl of Dalhousie, Baron Dalhousie, of Dal- housie Castle, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honour- able Military Order of the Bath, Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of Nova Scotia and its Dependencies, etc. The Address of His Majesty's Council and the House of the Assembly. May it please Your Excellency That His Majesty's subjects, the people of this province, anxiously hope that His Majesty's Government will take effectual steps to prevent foreign fishing vessels from resorting under any pretence to the harbours, rivers, creeks and bays on the sea coast of Novia Scotia and such parts of the shores of the Bay of Fundy as are within His Majesty's Dominions, and of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton and the Magdalen Islands, the Labrador Shore and the Straits of Belle Isle, and also to prohibit them from taking fish of any kind within the said harbours, bays, rivers and creeks, or upon the banks and shores contiguous thereto. Whatever right foreigners may have to take fish in the open waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the people of this province conceive they cannot have a right to enter the said AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 363 Gulf through the narrow strait or passage which separates Nova Scotia from Cape Breton, it being unquestionably a part of the territory of the Crown, into which foreigners can have no right to enter, as it is an arm of the sea extending in length between both shores about twenty-one miles and in width not more than one mile in the widest part, and about half a mile in the narrowest part, and foreigners if excluded from this inlet can have no right to complain, as they have free access into the said Gulf through the open sea that lies between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, and the people of this province consider the Straits of Belle Isle in like manner the exclusive property of the Crown. That His Majesty's subjects the people of this Province are of opinion that foreigners can have no more right to pass into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or into the Bay of Fundy for the purpose of taking fish therein, or within the line which separates the territory of His Majesty's in the last-mentioned Bay from the territory of the United States than His Majesty's subjects have a right to pass into the Bay of Chesapeake or Bay of Delaware for the purpose of taking fish. That British fishermen are in a great measure excluded from the most valuable fisheries on the Labrador shore under pretence of exclusive privileges which the North West Com- pany and other Companies and individuals claim under certain pretended leases made to them by His Majesty's Government in Lower Canada, whereby they monopolize the exclusive right of Hunting and Fishing on a vast extent of the Labrador shore, and under Colour of these unjust monopolies foreigners obtain the liberty of hunting and fishing on these shores to the exclusion of His Majesty's subjects, and the same evil arises from the improvident grants which have been made of the Magdalen Islands. That since the last peace with the United States of America, foreign fishing vessels resort as they did before the War to the Harbours, Rivers and Creeks on the Labrador shore in numbers so far exceeding the British Fishing Vessels that 364 LABRADOR British subjects can only fish there at the will and pleasure of foreigners, they being unable to resist their superior force and numbers. That foreign vessels also resort to all the other Harbours, Rivers and Creeks on the sea coast of British North America the same as they did previous to the last war with the United States, which is totally subversive of the rights of His Majesty and destructive of the best interests of His subjects. We pray Your Excellency to move His Majesty's Govern- ment for such instructions as will clearly describe what are the rights of the Crown as touching the premises, and the course to be pursued to prevent foreigners from infringing such rights, and on behalf of the people of this Province, we engage they will use their utmost endeavours to maintain and defend the same. We also pray Your Excellency to call the attention of His Majesty's Government, and the Governor General of the North American Colonies to the destructive monopolies claimed on the Labrador shore, and the improvident grants made of the Magdalen Islands, so that proper steps may be taken to remove all impediments to the fishery of His Majesty's subjects under such Rules and Regulations as His Majesty's Government may think proper to establish. And we further pray Your Excellency to request the Admirals Commanding in Chief on the North American and Newfoundland stations to use their best endeavours to ex- clude foreigners from the Fisheries which belong exclusively to British subjects, and to prevent every infringement of the Maritime and Territorial rights of His Majesty's North American Colonies. In the behalf of the Council, (Signed) S. S. Blowers, President. A true copy. (Signed) Henry H. Cogsweli,, D. Secy. In behalf of the House of Assembly, (Signed) S. B. Robie, Speaker. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 365 This fact cannot be too strongly accentuated, that during the long period of thirty-five years, from 1783 to 1 818, there is no account of American vessels fishing in the bays and harbours of Newfoundland, except the two whalers above mentioned. Nor is there any evidence to be found that they even took advantage, to any extent, of their privileges of fishing on " the coasts of Newfoundland, such as British fishermen shall use." This is not surprising, when it is considered that at that period the Americans were freely permitted to fish in the bays, harbours, and creeks of the other British provinces, that their route was always through the Gut of Canso, thus affording an easy approach to the west and northern shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and thence to the practically virgin fishing grounds of Labrador, Mr, Kemp's evidence in 18 17 makes it clear that they were reported on the west coast of the island only, that His Majesty's ships were employed in keeping them at a suitable distance off the coast, and that any approach thereto was considered illegal. Negotiations for a renewal of the fishing privileges to the Americans were continued, until finally a Con- vention was signed in London in 181 8, which renewed in part the liberty they had formerly enjoyed. Article i of this Convention reads in part : — " The inhabitants of the United States shall have for ever, in common with the subjects of His Britanick Majesty, the liberty to take fish of every kind on that part of the southern coast of Newfoundland from Cape Ray to the Ramea Islands, on the western and northern coast of Newfoundland from the said Cape Ray to Quirpon Islands, on the Shores of the Magdalen Islands, and also on the coasts, bays, harbours, and creeks from Mount Joly on the southern coast of Labrador, to and 366 LABRADOR through the Straits of Belle Isle, and thence north- wardly indefinitely along the coast, without prejudice, however, to any of the exclusive rights of the Hudson Bay Company ; and that the American fishermen shall also have liberty for ever to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours, and creeks of the southern part of the coast of Newfoundland, hereabove described, and of the coasts of Labrador." Volumes have been written as to the correct meaning of the above clause, and it will be a relief to all con- cerned to have a definite interpretation given to it by the Hague Tribunal, to which the question has now been referred. It is naturally impossible here to enter upon any lengthy explanation of the various contentions which have been advanced by both sides as to the meaning of this Treaty, but it is thought necessary to state as shortly as possible what the principal British claims are: — 1. That the right was given to bona fide inhabitants of the United States only. 2. That the inhabitants of the United States using the privileges granted to them are bound to abide by the regulations made for the conduct of the fisheries by the sovereign power. 3. That the terms " coasts of Newfoundland," " shores of the Magdalen Islands," and "coasts, bays, harbours, and creeks " of Labrador have a distinct meaning, and that under the first term a purely coast fishery only is intended, and does not give any right to fish in bays or arms of the sea in Newfoundland. It is a curious circumstance that each one of these contentions has been either admitted or contended by the United States when it suited their purpose so to do. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 367 At the Halifax Fishery Commission in 1877, Ameri- can counsel argued persistently for contentions i and 3. Then the United States were being assessed for the value of the privilege of free fishing given by the Treaty of Washington, 1871, and they claimed that the bill should be lessened, because large numbers of Nova Scotians went each year to Gloucester and shipped as crews on United States vessels on shares. They claimed also that they should not be assessed for the Newfoundland frozen herring fishery because they did not avail themselves of the privilege of taking herring themselves, but always bought the herring, that the fishery was essentially a strand fishery, and the Treaty of 18 18 did not permit them to go ashore and seine herring. They claimed the herring fishery at the Magdalen Islands as a right under the Treaty of 18 18, because they were by that Treaty permitted to use the "shores" of the Magdalen Islands. In respect to contention 2, American fishermen have been again and again instructed to respect local fishery laws when made for the bo~da fide protection of the fishery, particularly in March, 1856, by letter from the Department of State, Washington, to the Collector of Customs at Boston, and again by Secretary Bayard in the same year. On this point it is interesting to note the early instructions given to officers of His Majesty's ships on the Fishery Protection Service. When the first Circuit Court started for the Labrador in August, 1826, Governor Holloway wrote as follows to Captain Patterson, the newly appointed Judge for that district : — " At the same time that I recommend the most con- ciliatory and friendly conduct on the part of yourself and all attached to your Court or under your authority, 368 LABRADOR towards the subjects of the United States whilst en- gaged in the fishery secured to them by the Treaty, you will bear in mind that whilst they are employed within your jurisdiction they are equally amenable to the laws with any of His Majesty's subjects, and that the same measure of Justice is to be dealt to them as to any others infringing the rights of individuals or disturbing the public peace." On comparing the Treaties of 1783 and 1818, it will be noticed that no reference is made in the latter to the ob- vious right of the United States to the open sea fisheries, and that the liberty to take fish on the coasts of New- foundland was not qualified by the words " such as the British fishermen shall use," but the said coasts were carefully delineated, and instead of being such parts of the coast as were particularly reserved for British fishermen, were principally those parts of the island on which the French had a concurrent right of fishery. No one reading these treaties, the protests made against them, and instructions for their enforcement, can suppose that the different expressions used, in describing the various localities, were purely fortuitous. The Bays, Harbours, Creeks, ayid Rivers of Newfoimd- land 7vere carefully reserved, as were also the rivers of Labrador. If the term "Coast of Newfoundland" includes " Bays, Harbours, and Creeks," it can also be made to include rivers and lakes, which is a reductio ad absurdum. It is interesting in this discussion to note the letter of President Monroe to the Secretary of State, June 2ist, 1815. He says: "It is sufficient to observe here that the right of the United States to take fish on the Coast of Newfoundland, and on the coasts, bays, and AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 369 creeks of all other His Britannic Majesty's dominions in America, and to dry and cure fish in any of the un- settled bays, harbours, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador," etc., which proves conclusively that he thoroughly understood that their rights in Newfoundland waters were more restricted than in the other Provinces. Also, it is somewhat mortifying to find that the Americans were prepared to accept less than they obtained. The letter of instruc- tions from the Secretary of State to Messrs. Gallatin and Rush of July 28th, 181 8, reads : — " The President authorizes you to agree to an article whereby the United States will desist from the liberty of fishing and curing and drying fish within British Jurisdiction generally upon condition that it shall be secured as a permanent right, not liable to be impaired by any future war, from Cape Ray to the Rameau Islands, and from Mount Joli on the Labrador Coast, through the Strait of Belle Isle, indefinitely north along the coast ; the right to extend as well to curing and drying the fish as to fishing." Immediately after the signing of the Convention of 1 81 8, United States vessels began to flock to Labrador, where they had full permission to use the in-shore fish- eries and to dry their fish upon land ; the more liberal privileges granted on this coast being undoubtedly the reason for the fishery there being more actively pursued than in Newfoundland waters. Captain H. Robinson, of H.M.S. Favourite, on the Fishery Protection Service in 1820, kept a private journal while on the coast, abstracts from which were printed in the journal of the Royal Geographical Society. Respecting the Labrador fisheries, he says : — 370 LABRADOR " The American fishermen sail from all the northern ports of the Union. As nearly as could be computed there were 530 sail of them this year, generally schooners, but some few brigs and sloops, and manned with crews of nine to thirteen men. Eleven would be a full average, giving 5830 as the number of men em- ployed. One hundred quintals of fish per man is a full average of their catch, with oil in the proportion of one ton to every three hundred quintals. The Americans clean their fish on board, and thus leave the coast early. They use much salt, and their fish is considered inferior to our best. They are expert and industrious fisher- men, generally preferring the northern part of the coast, but following the fish wherever they are to be found. They receive a bounty from their Government in the shape of a drawback on the salt used, and they fish in shares ; a merchant in America furnishing the vessel and one-third of the boats, nets, lines, and salt ; the crew furnishing their own provisions (which are of a very frugal description), and the remaining two-thirds of the boats, nets, lines, and salt. They divide in the same proportions, and the system is said to answer well." That Captain Robinson was not an accurate observer, or that the editor of his journal was very careless, the very next paragraph clearly indicates. It reads : — " The French are much less successful fishermen, and do not very much frequent the Labrador shore, though they have some permanent stations on it." This is absolutely incorrect, for after 1763 the French never had the right of fishing on the Labrador coast, and captains of His Majesty's ships on the station were always particularly instructed to guard against AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 371 any encroachments there. It seems impossible that Captain Robinson could have made the mistake, so we must attribute it to his editor. The Colonial Records of 18 19 state that no United States vessels had availed themselves of their privileges on the Newfoundland coast, but that on the Labrador they had carried on the fishery with great spirit. In 1820 the same observation is made, with additional par- ticulars of the same tenor as those quoted above, which were no doubt furnished by Capt. Robinson. Troubles between British and American fishermen immediately arose. In 1820 the merchants of St. John's presented a memorial to the Governor complaining that they had been interrupted in the fishery carried on by them at various rivers and harbours on the Labrador by the Americans, and asked for redress. In 1820 Samuel Gordon, fishing at Chimney Tickle, complained that an American had invaded his harbour and sailed through his nets, causing him considerable loss. In 1820 Admiral Sir Chas. Hamilton, Governor of Newfoundland, issued a proclamation forbidding stran- gers to lay down their nets within three miles either way of the rivers or entrances of harbours in which pro- prietary interest had been established by long usage. It is not recorded that he consulted Washington before taking the step. Complaint was made in 1821 that the Americans fishing at Greenly and Wood Islands, in the Straits of Belle Isle, were injuring the fisheries by throwing gurry and offal overboard on the fishing grounds. The Captain of the man-of-war on the station was requested to check the grievance. The same year an act of piracy was committed by the crew of the Newfoundland schooner Maria, fishing at 372 LABRADOR Chateau. They seized the vessel and cargo, and sailed off for the States in company with some American vessels which were fishing there at the same time. These Americans were accused of aiding and abetting the absconders by supplying the American flag which they had hoisted, and also by giving them a pilot to take charge of the vessel. The English Ambassador at Washington was requested to endeavour to have the pirates and their assistants arrested. For some reason unexplained, the number of American vessels on the Labrador was not so great as usual that year. The merchants again felt the force of the American competition. In 1822 they presented a memorial to the Governor saying that the Treaty with America, con- cluded October 20th, 181 8, had prostrated all their hopes, and rendered the return to their former prosperity for- ever impossible. The remedy they asked for was that St. John's should be made a free port, which was granted. The Governor, Sir Chas. Hamilton, reports in 1823 as follows : — " The subjects of the United States continue to prose- cute their fishery along the coast of Labrador with great perseverance ; but it may be proper, as so much stress has been laid upon the concession made to that people by the Convention of October 20, 1818, and the fatal effects likely to result from it, to repeat what I have before stated to your Lordships, that the Americans never yet (that I have been able to learn) availed them- selves of the privilege granted them of drying and curing their fish on the unsettled harbours of New- foundland between Cape Ray and Ramea Islands, nor have I understood that they have any vessels on that coast." AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 373 A curious controversy arose about this time between the French and the Americans in respect to their rights in Newfoundland waters. French cruisers had ordered United States vessels from the western coast of New- foundland, and when the American Ambassador pro- tested against this action, the French replied claiming an exclusive right of fishing on that part of the coast. They also pleaded that the United States by treaty in 1778, and again in 1800, had agreed not to interrupt the French in pursuit of the fisheries to which they had been long entitled. These treaties, however, had been abrogated by the United States, and the American Ambassador replied that the French had only a con- current right with the English, in which the Americans were also to share. Sir Charles Hamilton, commenting on this cor- respondence, stated that in his opinion the cod fishery on the coast remained as much a right of both parties (English and French) as that of the Grand Banks. He was of opinion, however, that the English should not interfere with the French on shore by erecting stages or flakes. He stated that the coast was little used by any nation, and was immaterial to the United States, which enjoyed so much better fishing stations on the south coast, and also on the productive and extensive Labrador. It is difficult to ascertain from American sources the extent of the Labrador fishing industry after this time. Newburyport seems to have been the centre of the industry, and to have had as many as sixty vessels employed in it at various periods from 1818 to i860. Other New England towns had from two to four vessels which went to Labrador. In 1827 the Admiral in command of the fleet in Newfoundland 374 LABRADOR reported that about 1600 American vessels with 12,000 to 14,000 men had been fishing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the coast of Labrador ; 400 of them had dried their fish on the Magdalen Islands by- agreement with the people, which he pointed out was entirely contrary to the treaty. The business is said to have been at its height about 1840, and then to have declined rapidly, until in 1870 not a single vessel sailed for that coast. Not that the fisheries had failed, for there is no instance of a vessel having returned without a paying cargo. The fish were taken principally by seines. Some of it was made on the coast and shipped from there to market, and some was brought to the States to be cured and dried. Bilbao was the principal market, for which reason the fish was generally known as Bilbao fish.^ As the average exportation of codfish from the States for thirty years, 18 18 to 1848, was only 250,000 quintals, and the Grand Bank was always the principal fishing ground, it will be seen that the estimates of 500,000 to 600,000 as the American Labrador catch were probably greatly in excess of the actual quantity. In John MacGregor's British America it is stated that in 1829 there were 500 American vessels and 15,000 men fishing on the Labrador, and that their ^ From an Inquiry into the Present State of Trade in Newfoundland, 1825, we learn that the admission of American citizens into the British fisheries was one of the chief causes assigned for the then depression in trade. " Americans have many advantages over British fishermen ; they obtain their outfits at a cheaper rate ; they have certain local encouragements in the way of bounties ; they have a home market for their fish ; they have the means of employment during the winter, and are not compelled to charge the expenses of the whole year upon the laljour of a few months in the fishing season— advantages more than sufficient to counterbalance the facilities of our local situation.'"' Tiie Americans are represented as standing by, watching the decline of England's oldest colony with glee, intending to reap great advantage from her ruin. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 375 catch amounted to 1,100,000 quintals cod and 3000 tons of oil. But this is palpably very much over-estimated. We learn from the report of Elias Rendell, who was sent to collect duties on the Labrador in 1840, that a great deal of smuggling was carried on between the American and Newfoundland vessels, especially in bad rum. In the same year Captain Milne, H.M.S. Crocodile, on the Fishery Protection Service, reported that there were about a hundred American vessels fishing between Black Islands (lat. 54°), and Blanc Sablon. He also reports that a large amount of smuggling was done between the American and New- foundland vessels, and urges that more vessels be sent upon the Fishery Protection Service. In 1852 Captain Cochrane, H.M.S. Sappho, reported that the number of American vessels on the coast was fewer than usual, probably about 150, and that they fished principally about Sandwich Bay and Cape Harrison. Mr. J. Finlay, of the Newfoundland Fishery Protection Service, in the same year said : — "The number of vessels belonging to the United States, as well as the neighbouring provinces, every year engaged in trading on the coast of Labrador is immense, and their dealings to an almost incredible extent. The resident population on these coasts draw their supplies principally from these traders, whilst the transient fishermen have an opportunity to dispose of their produce with great advantage to themselves. These adventurers have now monopolized the entire trading business ; they pay neither duties nor taxes of any description, although they unquestionably come within the jurisdiction of this Government. I would beg leave to bring to the notice of the Executive the great necessity of appointing Magistrates for the coast 376 LABRADOR of Labrador, who shall also be duly invested with power to collect duties." The great ornithologist, Audubon, spent the summer of 1833 on the Labrador side of the Straits of Belle Isle. Passing through the Straits of Canso he saw twenty odd sail of American schooners bound for Labrador. At Bras d'Or, later in the season, there were 150 sail of vessels, Nova Scotian and American. He estimated that the Americans were the most numerous on the coast, and mentions that Eastport, Maine, sent out a goodly fleet each year. No definite reason has been given for the decline of the American fishery on the Labrador coast. G. Brown- Goode offers the following explanation : — " Two reasons for the abandonment of these grounds by American vessels are mentioned : " I. The demand in American markets for larger fish than can be found on the Labrador coast ; the exportation of salt codfish, for which the small fish were formerly preferred, having fallen into the hands of the British provinces and Norway. " 2. The introduction of trawling upon the off-shore grounds, which has been accomplished by improvements in the fishing vessels, the capture of larger fish, and in an increase of skill and daring on the part of our fishermen, so that it is now unnecessary for our fleet to go so far from home, or engage in voyages when the vessels lie in harbour while fishing, since fares of higher-priced fish can be readily obtained on the banks lying off our coast." A few United States vessels have frequented the Labrador coasts in recent years, but the fishing carried on by them is quite unimportant. AMERICANS ON THE LABRADOR 377 The important trade in frozen herring, which is carried on in the long arms of the sea of Bay of Islands and Bonne Bay, had its origin in an almost accidental occurrence. Previous to 1854, the year of the Recipro- city Treaty, which gave to the Americans the unrestricted right to use all British waters, the frozen herring trade was unknown. In that year, an adventurous skipper, Capt. Harry Smith, of Gloucester, decided to make a winter voyage to Rose Blanche, on the south coast of Newfoundland, to endeavour to get a load of fresh halibut, which he had been told could be procured there without difficulty. But finding halibut very scarce, he made up his cargo with cod and about 80,000 frozen herrings. When he arrived at Gloucester he sold some small quantities of herring to three bankers who were just getting ready to sail, and sent the balance to Boston to be sold for food. The three vessels were wonderfully successful, and returned in eight or nine days with large catches of cod. The advantage of having bait for the early trips to the banks was so apparent, that arrangements were made next season for a larger supply, and four vessels were fitted out for the purpose. The supply of frozen herring brought by them was eagerly sought for by the banking fleet, and its efficacy as bait was firmly established. The industry immediately began to grow rapidly, and while the fish were always saleable for food purposes, their chief value was as bait for the early banking trips. Fortune Bay and Placentia Bay were for many years the centre of this industry, and it was only after the herring began to fail in those bays that vessels resorted to Bay of Islands and Bonne Bay, where it is 378 LABRADOR now principally carried on. The custom which has been always pursued, is for the vessels seeking cargoes to go to the bays which the herring frequent and there purchase their loads from the local fishermen. The method of taking the herring has been almost invariably by gill nets — purse seining and other plans for taking them being found to be so destructive and improvident that laws were made, very early in the history of the fishery, forbidding their use. So far as is known, the only occasion upon which American crews endeavoured to take their own herring was in Fortune Bay in 1877. ^Y the treaty of 187 1, the Americans had a perfect right to take herring in the inshore waters of Fortune Bay, but had never exercised that right. On this occasion herring were very scarce, and twenty or thirty American vessels were waiting impatiently for their appearance. At last, on a Sunday, the herring were seen schooling into Long Harbour, which was the principal fishing ground. The laws of Newfoundland forbade fishing on Sunday, and the local fishermen would not put out their nets. The American captains then determined to man their own seines, but on attempting to do so the Newfoundland fishermen forcibly prevented them, cutting the nets and turning the fish loose. It is unnecessary to rehearse the long dispute which followed this breach of the peace, which was finally adjusted by compromise, neither side waiving the rights which they had claimed. No record can be found of United States vessels frequenting the inshore waters of Newfoundland prior to the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. The permission then granted is now claimed as a right, and is one of the principal points to be submitted for the decision of the Hague Tribunal. CHAPTER XVI THE BRITISH FISHERIES ON LABRADOR IN writing this chapter, dealing principally with the British fisheries on the Labrador coast, it will be necessary to repeat some facts and incidents which have appeared in other chapters ; but the import- ance of giving a connected history of this industry seems so great, that this minor fault will, it is hoped, be pardoned. We can be fairly positive that while Labrador was abandoned to the French from 171 3 to 1763, no English fishing vessels frequented the coast. But the instant it became a British possession, steps were taken to induce the ship-fishers from Great Britain to continue the fishery in the Straits of Belle Isle which the French had found so profitable, and to explore the virgin fishing grounds on the east coast. Palliser's proposals were admirable for the end he had in view — the encouragement of the fishery from England in order that a supply of seamen might be available for the Navy — and we learn from the reply of the Merchant Adventurers to him in 1767, that they purposed to pursue the fishery on the coast with spirit. The copy of this document at the Record Office is endorsed : — " Signed by Twenty Five Ship Adventurers in Labra- dor, in behalf of themselves and their partners at 379 38o LABRADOR Bristol, Dartmouth, Exeter, Teignmouth, Pool, and London, August, 1767." [-■■ It is a matter of regret that the names of these first adventurers are not given. In Sir Hugh Palliser's " Remarks on the State of the Newfoundland Fishery," dated December i8th, 1765, is found the following information about Labrador: — " On the fishery on the Coast of Labrador only was employed 1 17 Sloops and Schooners with 1563 men, who killed 104 whales, which yielded on an average 140 barrels of oil and 2000 lbs. of good bone, all killed within a space of 30 leagues, and between the 14th of May and the loth of July. The winter Seal fishery, on the same coast, carried on by 107 men, yielded 500 tons of oil besides fur, and the furs from the Indians was very considerable, so that the value of the Whale, Seal, Salmon, and Furs, upon that part of the coast only, was, at a moderate computation, i^ioo,ooo, and not one Old English Skip or seaman employed tJierein, nor a seaman raised thereby for the service of the Fleet." These whale fishers were New Englanders, and the seal fishers the French Canadians who continued in their posts after the English occupation. It evidently rankled in Palliser's ardent soul that such a splendid nursery for seamen for the Navy should be entirely lost. Hence the enthusiasm with which he set about opening it up to the ship-fishers from England, and hence the rules and regulations made by him for their especial benefit. These regulations will be found in the Appendix to a previous chapter. They were not authorized by Act of Parliament, but had all the force of law, and, as we shall learn later, law-suits were decided by them as late as THE BRITISH FISHERIES 381 1820. Yet almost from the beginning some of its provisions were openly disregarded. The first clause reads as follows : — " That no inhabitants of Newfoundland, no By- Boatkeeper, nor any person from any of the Colonies, shall on any pretence whatever go to the Coast of Labradore. And if any such be found there, they shall be corporally punished for their first offence, and the second time their boats shall be seized for the public use of British ship-fishers upon that Coast." In the returns for the Labrador fishery 1766, it is stated that there were three fishing ships from England which took 8500 quintals of fish ; and that eight fishing ships and forty-one boats came from Newfoundland and secured 8900 quintals ; that they had left boats, gear, and winter crews on the coast intending to return the follow- ing year. 10,422 seals were shipped from Labrador in this year. In 1767 the returns state that there were eighteen fishing ships from England and nine from Newfound- land. They secured 24,690 quintals codfish and 13,136 seals. The catch of salmon was very small, 45 tierces only. It does not appear, therefore, that Palliser's threaten- ing regulation was very rigidly enforced. In 1769 the number of fishing ships was reduced to nine, and no mention is made of vessels from New- foundland. Lieut. Curtis reported in 1772 that many Newfound- land vessels and boats took codfish upon the Labrador coast, which was afterwards cured in Newfoundland. He recommended that they should be encouraged to settle there, to off-set the New Englanders. About 9920 382 LABRADOR quintals of codfish were taken in 1772, and 173 people remained on the coast during the winter. The following particulars of the Labrador fishery were reported by the Naval Office on the station in 1773 : — 8 fishing ships from Great Britain. 10,000 quintals of Codfish taken. 265 tierces of Salmon. 283 men remained on the coast all winter for the Seal fishing. ;;^23,o23 value of Seal Oil. Jeremiah Coughlan, whose principal station was at Fogo, stated that he was the first to establish a seal- ing station on the Labrador, "induced thereto by his good friend, Commodore Palliser." With the excep- tion, of course, of the French -Canadians found by the English in possession of the greater portion of the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Straits of Belle Isle. We have already heard how Coughlan afterwards went into partnership with Cartwright and Lucas, and later separated from them, but still con- tinued to carry on several establishments, one of them in 1777 being "sixty miles north of the Mealey Moun- tains," probably in the neighbourhood of Indian Har- bour, but possibly in Hamilton Inlet. The principal firm on the Labrador at this time was Noble and Pinson, the partners being Mr. John Noble, of Bristol, and Mr. Andrew Pinson, of Dartmouth. I have not ascertained when they began business on the Labrador, but their trade was well established and flourishing in 1 77 1, when they applied for a grant of Temple Bay, at which time they had four ships and a hundred and fifty men employed. They were great rivals of George Cartwright, and were evidently too much for that in- i THE BRITISH FISHERIES 383 genuous pioneer. His aspersions of them appear to have been well merited. They also lost heavily by the American privateers, and again in 1796 at the hands of the French under Admiral Richer}/; but in 18 18, when Lieut. Chappell visited the coast, they were once more flourishing, having establishments at Lance-a-loup, Temple Bay, and Sandwich Bay. The managing partner was a Mr. Pinson, who had spent twenty years on coast. Cartwright also mentions in his diary the following firms : Adam Lymburner, of Quebec, who was the first to go into Hamilton Inlet furring and trading ; Coughlan and Hooper ; Slade and Co. ; B. Lester and Co. ; our old friend Mr. Nicholas Darby ; and Thomas, whose firm name I have not ascertained. Several of these firms continued honourable careers well on into the nineteenth century. In 1807 the Lymburner mentioned by Cartwright, or a descendant, associated with several others, acquired by purchase the seignorial rights from Gagnish to Blanc Sablon. They were known as " The Labrador Company," which terminated its career in a celebrated lawsuit lasting many years, being fought through every court in Canada, and finally going to the Privy Council. The Jersey firms, who had been from the earliest times largely interested in the Newfoundland trade, were among the first to embark extensively in the fishery in the Straits. The most important of them was De Ouetteville and Co., having three or four stations. Le Boutillier Brothers were also prominent at an early date. In 1775 it was stated that there were a hundred British vessels occupied in the fisheries on the coast of Labrador. 384 LABRADOR From the Report of the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade, dated March 17th, 1786, we gather that the EngHsh merchants interested in the Newfoundland trade, whose evidence had been taken, desired that the fishing on the coast of Labrador might be under the same regulations, and receive the same encouragement as that of Newfoundland. A request which the Committee fully endorsed, " As the Labrador Coast was included in the Commission of the Governor of Newfoundland," thus ignoring altogether the fact that Labrador at that time was under the jurisdiction of Quebec. Their recommendation was not accepted. The Act passed in that year made no reference to Labrador, and the bounties offered were payable only to the ship-fishers from Great Britain fishing on the banks, and drying their fish on the south or east coast of Newfoundland. George Cartwright's evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons in 1793, contains the in- formation that prior to 1770 the intercourse between Great Britain and Labrador was very inconsiderable, and was not very important at that present time. But he admitted that it had latterly been very remunerative, returning him 100 per cent for his interest there for the last three years. So little was known of the northern part of the coast at this time, that we find instructions given to Governor Elliott in 1786, "to direct the officer appointed to visit Labrador, to search and explore the great Inlet, com- monly known as Davis's Inlet, in order to discover whether the same has or has not any passage to Hud- son's Bay or any other enclosed sea." He was also to make a particular report on the whale and sea-cow fisheries, and obtain such other information as may THE BRITISH FISHERIES 385 serve to convey a perfect understanding of the fisheries on the coast. I have been unable to find that such voyage of ex- ploration was ever made. In the Returns of the seal and salmon fishery on the Labrador for 1784-5, the firm of Lymburner and Grant are reported with sealing posts from Little Mecatina to Black Bay, employing 100 men, and taking 13,425 seals. Slade and Company had stations at Battle and Fox Harbours, employing 16 men and taking 2300 seals. Dean and Company at St. Francis, with 9 men, taking 2100 seals, and Noble and Pinson at Lance-a-loup, Temple Bay, Seal Island, Cape Charles, and Spear Harbour, employing 48 men and securing 4300 seals. The value of this fishery was estimated as follows : — 22,125 seals producing 553 tons of oil at;^22 22,125 skins at 4s. ^12,166 4425 ;^i6,59i The return of the salmon fishery is as follows : — tierces. River au Saumon, Simon du Bois St. Modeste, Noble and Pinson Mary Harbour ,, St. Francis River „ Black Bear Bay ,, Sandwich Cove „ Sandwich Bay „ 2 men I 2 3 2 3 19 60 6 26 84 20 80 400 per The value of the salmon is stated to be 40s. tierce. During the season of 1785, there were eight fishing ships from England and eight from America. The catch of codfish was estimated at 1 3,500 quintals. Winter crews 2 c 386 LABRADOR to the number of 153 persons remained on the coast sealing and furring. In a Return sent in by Governor King in 1792, Forteau and Blanc Sablon only are mentioned. At the former place 4 vessels were carrying on the cod fishery, employing 144 men, and taking 5000 quintals of fish ; at the latter there were 2 vessels with 63 men, whose catch was 2700 quintals — a very poor fishery. The following remarks appended to the report give a doleful account of the condition of the poor planters and fishermen : — " The coast of Labrador, in the Straits of Belle Isle, is much in want of some attention from Government. The planters and furriers, who are numerous, (although I cannot return how many,) are entirely subject to the oppression of the merchants, who impose whatever price they please, and upon any debt however small being incurred and not being paid upon immediate demand, the boats and other effects of the debtor are seized (without any authority for so doing), sold, and purchased by the creditors for sometimes one-sixth of their value. The prices upon the coast are enormous and want great regulation, one hundred weight of coarse Biscuit being charged to the planter at 30s., and other provisions in proportion. Man-of-war's slops, condemned by Government, are bought up by the merchants of Labrador and sold at a guinea a jacket. The planters in general I remarked to be sober, hard- working, industrious men, and worthy of encourage- ment. It was reported to me by them that some American vessels, from what port they could not say, had taken some unwarrantable liberties on the coast, and drove them from their fisheries before the Echo's arrival." THE BRITISH FISHERIES 387 From a letter written by Noble and Pinson in 1794, we learn that there were nineteen vessels, ten of which belonged to them, in the Straits that season loading with fish, oil, and salmon. The condition of Labrador from 1774 to 1809, while under Quebec rule, was decidedly anomalous. The coast was not visited by the ships on the Newfound- land station with any regularity, and affairs were left largely to manage themselves. Palliser's regulations seem to have been nominally kept in force, but " more honoured in the breach than in the observance." On several occasions appeals were made to the Governor of Newfoundland to settle disputes about fishing stations, which always elicited the pronouncement that the coast was free to ship-fishers from Great Britain, and that no vested rights in establishments were per- mitted save such as pertained to the old Canadian grants. Nevertheless the fishery gradually came to be largely prosecuted by boats and vessels from Newfoundland. These were at first no doubt properly constituted ship- fishers from Great Britain, who made their head-quarters in Newfoundland ports, but latterly they were New- foundland vessels pure and simple, manned by the residents of Newfoundland. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the resident population of Newfoundland had grown to be quite considerable in spite of all the restraints which had been devised to prevent it. The island was begin- ning to be a colony, and not " a ship anchored on the Banks." The inhabitants had houses, land, and families, and, one writer says, were so much attached to their homes that they could with difficulty be persuaded to make a voyage as sailors to foreign parts. The fishery 388 LABRADOR carried on by them gradually became more important than that from Great Britain. At what time this came to be recognized by the Imperial Government is not easy to determine. It has been stated that Palliser's Act (1786) did not provide for the payment of a bounty on fish caught on Labrador. This Act expired in 1797, and was renewed from year to year until 1801. In that year an Act was passed providing for the payment of a bounty of 3s. per quintal on salted salmon and codfish im- ported into the United Kingdom from Newfoundland and Labrador, which bounty was not forfeited if such salmon or codfish were afterwards exported from England. The term of this Act was one year only, but in the following year it was extended until 18 10. There was one very notable difference between these Acts and Palliser's. In the earlier Act the bounty was only payable to ship-fishers from Great Britain, but by the later Acts it was stipulated only that the fish should be caught by British subjects — a very important concession to the colonists. The following synopsis of reports furnished by naval commanders on the coast in 1804-5-6, will afford a fair idea of the size of the fishery at that time. No of. vessels. No. of boats. No. of men. Seals taken. Qtls. codfish. Tees, salmon. Notes. 1804 28 120 929 7350 27,400 600 1805 37 157 951 2260 Imperfect. 554 1806 24 87 656 i6oo(?) 24,750 420 380 tierces of salmon at Indian Harbour THE BRITISH FISHERIES 389 The places frequented were Bradore, Lance-au-Loup, Blanc Sablon, Forteau, Red Bay, Henley Harbour, Chateau, Miller's Tickle, Pitt's Harbour, Francis Har- bour, Battle Harbour, Sandwich Bay, and Indian Harbour. I am doubtful, however, whether the latter was the place now known by that name. In 1806 the resident population at these fishery posts was 489. Some of the firms carrying on this fishery were : — From England : Noble and Pinson, William Codner and Company, Grange and Nash, John Slade and Company, Dormer and Richards, B. Lester and Company, and Richard Tory, From Jersey : Robert Berteau, Simon du Bois, Falle and Durrell, L. Kidville (De Ouettville), and Emery and Best. From St. John's : Skeans and Kersley, J. Widdicomb, John Power, John Bradbury, and John Cahill. And from Quebec : Lym- burner and Grant. Their method of taking fish was by hook and line only. The American vessels were generally furnished with large seines, which at times gave considerable advantage, and was no doubt a principal cause of the quarrels which were so frequent. In 1792 the merchants of Harbour Grace, forty-three in number, petitioned Chief Justice Reeves for a perma- nent court to be established there. They describe the supplying trade in which they were principally engaged, and the difficulty in obtaining judgments against their dealers, " the boat-keepers or, as they are usually called, planters, most of them natives of the island who hire their own servants and plan out their own voyages independent of the merchant, (except being supplied by him), which is not the case in many parts where master and crew are in fact servants to the merchant." In 1806 some of these same merchants sent a 390 LABRADOR petition to Sir Erasmus Gower, calling attention to the lawless acts of Americans on the Labrador, and asking for protection. They stated that the fishery in Conception Bay had failed for many years past, and that it had become necessary for their planters to go to the northern parts of the Island and the Labrador in pursuit of codfish, where they came into contact with the Americans, and were induced by them to rob their merchants and fly to America. At this period, therefore, it was the practice for Newfoundland fishermen in Newfoundland boats and schooners to be commonly engaged in the Labrador fishery, in spite of the regulation which threatened corporal punishment and the seizure of their boats. The protests of the St. John's Commercial Body in 1813, and the Nova Scotian Parliament in 181 5, also bear witness to a considerable fishery carried on both from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. In 18 13 the number of Newfoundland vessels going to Labrador was said to have doubled, no doubt the result of being relieved from the competition of the Americans by the war of 18 1 2. In 181 1 an Act was passed instituting Surrogate Courts for Labrador in like manner as for Newfound- land. Surrogates were either naval officers having a general jurisdiction over the coast, or local men at the more important stations, such as Mr. Andrew Pinson at Temple Bay and Mr. Samuel Prowse at Cape Charles, who were appointed in 181 3. But prior to this, in 18 10, the naval surrogate visited Blanc Sablon, Forteau, and other points in the Straits, opening court and hearing and settling disputes, a proceeding which was appa- rently not authorized by law, and required to be after- ward legalized. THE BRITISH FISHERIES 391 In 1820 an important case was tried before the Supreme Court in St. John's. The firm of Philip Beard and Co., of Dartmouth, had succeeded to the fishing establishment at Sandwich Bay which had been originally granted to George Cartwright. As a salmon and seal fishery were both carried on there, and a fishing ship from England was annually sent out with supplies according to the proclamation issued by Governor Shuldham in 1775, their right to the station was inviolable. In 18 16 they were interfered with both by Americans and Nova Scotians, and they therefore applied to the surrogate, Captain Cooksley, for redress, who issued an order in their favour. As this order was disregarded, Captain Gordon was sent in 18 19 again to investigate the circumstances, and again decided in favour of Beard. This same year, and again in 1820, Beard was disturbed by a Nova Scotian named Jennings. Captain Martin, the surrogate in 1820, was sent by Sir C. Hamilton to issue new regulations in respect to salmon fisheries, especially dealing with Sandwich Bay, for the protection of Beard. Arriving at Sandwich Bay, he ordered Jennings to take up his nets. But here Beard appears to have committed a breach of the law. He proceeded himself to execute Captain Martin's order, removing and keeping Jennings' nets, who forthwith came to St. John's and instituted suit for damages in the Supreme Court. The judgment delivered by Chief Justice Forbes is very interesting. The powers of the surrogates, the force of proclamations, the vested rights of Beard and Co., and the rights of the Nova Scotians on the Labra- dor were all difficult problems. In his judgment, he said : — " Let us look at the Code of Regulations for the 392 LABRADOR fishery and trade on the coast of Labrador. The first article declares that no inhabitant from Newfoundland, nor any person from any of the Colonies, shall on any pretence whatever go to the coast of Labrador ! A regulation which^ debars a million of His Majesty's subjects from the exercise of a common right may well be called law, and if it be, however penal its provisions, I am bound to enforce them. Now it is well known that the principal fisheries at Labrador are actually carried on by people from this Island ; and I have purposely put this case, because I wish it to be clearly seen to what extravagant consequences the principle contended for must lead. " A legislative authority in this government, unknown to the laws of England, but claimed under a prescriptive exercise in Newfoundland, is now, for the first time, sought to be established in this Court. So large and indeed so dangerous an innovation upon the accustomed principles of adjudication in the Court, ought not to be passed over unobserved. If the Proclamation by which the surrogate is stated to have been governed be legal, then indeed there can be no doubt that it is as binding on this Court as it was on the Surrogate Court." But by Statute 49 George III, chapter 27, the laws of England were made applicable to Newfoundland, and by Statute 51 George III, chapter 45, they were extended to Labrador, and by the common law of England all the King's subjects have a common right to take fish in arms of the sea, except in such places where an exclusive right has been granted by special charter, custom, usage, or prescription. The exclusive right of Beard was not examined into, nor evidence taken on the matter, and the surrogate ap- THE BRITISH FISHERIES 393 peared to have considered the point settled by the pro- clamation. " All that can be said is that he mistook that for law which was not law, and so far his judgment was erro- neous. In giving this opinion, however, I desire to be understood as not determining any question of right at Sandwich Bay. . . . As it is in evidence that the nets are in the defendant's possession . . . and as the jury have assessed separate damages for the nets, I think I am bound to give judgment for the value." {£4.60.) This was a very important judgment. The Governor, Sir Chas. Hamilton, wrote to the Secretary of State and gave the full history of the case. He said : — " Your Lordship is aware that the laws enacted for regulating the fisheries and trade of the Island of Newfoundland do not extend to the Coast of Labrador, although the Government of the latter is included with the former in His Majesty's Commission. The fisheries on the Labrador have heretofore, as appears by the records in this office, been regulated by Proclamations and Orders issued from time to time by the Governor, either as the necessity of the case required, or from direct instructions under the King's sign manual or communicated through one of His Majesty's Secretaries of State, and which have generally tended to encourage a Ship fishery and adventurers from England in prefer- ance to any other class of His Majesty's subjects, with the obvious view of promoting the increase of seamen. These Orders and Proclamations were until very lately considered to carry with them the force and effect of law. ... It would appear that the Chief Justice considers the Proclamations of the Governors as not binding-. I 394 LABRADOR have considered it my duty to transmit all these pro- ceedings to your Lordship, and to solicit such instructions for my future guidance as His Majesty's Government may be of opinion the case requires," Sir Chas, Hamilton stated that the case had been appealed to the Privy Council, but I have been unable to find any judgment upon it from that tribunal. The most complete account of the Labrador fisheries obtainable up to this time is that furnished by Captain Robinson on his return from Sandwich Bay, where he was sent to investigate the dispute between Beard and Jennings. (See following page.) "In all harbours where there are any considerable fisheries a few people winter to take care of the property, cut wood, and catch furs. These constitute the only resident population. "Petty Harbour, Fishing Ship Harbour, Occasional Harbour, Square Island Harbour, Cape Bluff Island Harbour, Snug Harbour, St. Michael's Bay, Double Island Harbour, Partridge Bay, Black Bear Bay, Island of Ponds, Spotted Island Harbour, and Table Harbour; at all these places there are small establishments, prin- cipally of adventurers from Newfoundland ; and, by the best information which could be obtained respect- ing them, they may be estimated to yield about 1500 quintals for each post on an average, making about 20,000 ; with a proportion of oil, at the rate of one ton for every 200 quintals of fish, making 100 tons. At all the smaller intermediate harbours there is an appearance of settling and building houses, but we cannot estimate their produce at all correctly ; though, from the number of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia vessels which carry on a desultory fishing and take away their cargoes, a very considerable quantity THE BRITISH FISHERIES 395 o > H < W pq oT ffi o C) < ^ Ci! M C/2 O H H rr Q < P5 O < > ffi W H ffi »; Pi U To what country exported. E ngland, Lisbon, and different parts of the Medi- terranean. < 00 s H W o Q O •bjnj o •[10 UIBJJ JO SUGX •poo JO siBiuin^ O CC •uoin[«s JO S30I9IX 1 •SMOD B3S JO jaquiniij : 1 •|tO [BSS JO suox V3 ■si^ss JO J3qiunj<[ 8 •sajB^M JO aaqumfsj " s K H Q W >« c a, oi ■U3f^ o pa •jaquiii^ > •uajM ON •suoj ui uapjng •isquin^ ? 396 LABRADOR of fish may be added to the above estimate, perhaps 20,000 quintals." In the Table of Exports in the Appendix it will be noticed that the total exports of codfish from Cape Charles to Sandwich Bay, are stated by Captain Robinson to have been 134,580 quintals, while the Colonial Records state them to have been 76,000 quintals for the French shore and Labrador, — a dis- crepancy which cannot be explained. The weight of evidence will no doubt be held to lie with Captain Robinson. In addition to the direct exports, Captain Robinson estimated that 20,000 quintals were taken at small stations, and 20,000 quintals by Newfoundland and Nova Scotian schooners in all say — 175,000. To this must be added the fishery in the Straits of Belle Isle, which may be roughly estimated at 50,000 quintals, making a grand total of 225,000 quintals. By an Act passed on June 17th, 1824, entitled " An Act for the Better Administration of Justice in Newfoundland, etc." power was given to the Governor to institute a court of Civil Jurisdiction at Labrador, such court to be held by one judge authorized to hear and determine complaints of a civil nature. By the same Act the Surrogate Courts were dis- continued. Captain William Patterson was appointed judge of this court in 1826, and continued in the office until its termination in 1834. Mr. George Simms was the first clerk. In 1829 Mr. Bryan Robinson, afterwards Chief Justice of Newfoundland, was ap- pointed sheriff, and held office until 1833, when he was succeeded by Mr. Elias Rendell. The proclama- tion issued at the inception of this court and the THE BRITISH FISHERIES 397 letter of instructions to Captain Patterson are here given : — " Government House, " wth Atigtist, 1826 " Captain William Patterson. " Sir, " With your Commission to proceed on your Circuit to Labrador and the Proclamation which ac- companies, I transmit to you a list of such places as from the best information that can be obtained are likely to call for your presence. At the same time you will understand that it by no means professes to be correct ; but after your arrival at Invucktoke you must obtain from time to time the best information you can get on that point, and regulate your proceedings accord- ingly, taking the most Northern place at which first to hold your Court, so that you may always be making progress to the Southward as the Summer declines. '■' Herewith you will receive a copy of the Treaty with America by which that country is entitled to take and cure fish upon the Coast of Labrador, and with it I also forward you a copy of an explanatory letter from Lord Bathurst on the subject of it. At the same time that I recommend the most conciliatory and friendly conduct on the part of yourself and all attached to your Court or under your authority towards the subjects of the United States whilst engaged in the fishery secured to them by the treaty, you will bear in mind that whilst they are employed within your jurisdiction they are equally amenable to the laws with any of His Majesty's subjects, and that the same measure of Justice is to be dealt with them as to any others infringing the rights of individuals or disturbing the public peace. 398 LABRADOR " For your further guidance in the discharge of your official duties I must refer you to the Act 5, George 4, Cap. 5 1 and 6"], with which you will be furnished, and should there be any point on which you may previously to your sailing require legal advice, the same shall be submitted to the Attorney General or to the Judges of the Supreme Court as the case may be. During the period that you are upon the Coast of Labrador it is very desirable you should take every opportunity of informing yourself of the state of our fishery as well as that of the Americans, and that you should collect all the information you can with reference to the Fur trade, the native inhabitants, the Moravian Settlements, the number, if any, of Europeans or Americans who remain the winter, as well as the stations they occupy, and generally, that you should collect all the information you can of that imperfectly known country that may in any way tend to the advancement of science or commerce. " I am, etc. "(Signed) Thos. Cochrane, " Governor. " To Capt. Paterson, C.B., r.n." Proclamatio7i by His Excellency Sir Thomas John Cochrane^ Knight, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, etc., appointing times and places of holding the Labra- dor Court. Whereas by an Act passed in the 5th year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Fourth by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom or Great Britain and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith, etc., entitled " An Act for the better administration of Justice in Newfoundland and for other THE BRITISH FISHERIES 399 Purposes," it is enacted and declared that it shall and may be lawful for the Governor or acting Governor of Newfoundland for the time being to institute a Court of Civil Jurisdiction at any such parts or places on the Coast of Labrador or the Islands adjacent thereto which are reannexed to the Govern- ment of Newfoundland as occasion shall require. Now therefore in pursuance of the power and authority to me given by the said Act of Parliament, and in fulfilment of the requisitions and provisions of the same, I, the Governor, do by this my Proclamation institute a Court of Civil Juris- diction to be holden at Invuctoke on the 22nd day of August — at Huntingdon Harbour on the 30th day of August — at Venison Island on the 5th of September — at Cape St. Francis on the 9th day of September — at Cape St. Charles Harbour on the 13th day of September — at Chateaux Bay on the 21st day of September — and at L'Anse-a-Loup on the 29th day of September next on the said Coast of Labrador, or at any or either of the said places, and as nearly on the said days and periods or at any other place or places on the said Coast and at such periods as circumstances will permit, or may render necessary, with jurisdiction power and authority to hear and determine all suits and complaints of a civil nature after the manner and for, provided by the said Act, and arising within any of the parts or places on the said coast of Labrador or the Islands adjacent thereto, which are reannexed to the Government of Newfoundland, viz. : — from the entrance of Hudson's Straits to a line to be drawn due North and South from Anse Sablon on the said Coast to the fifty-second degree of North Latitude. And I do authorize, empower, and direct the Judges of the said court of Civil Jurisdiction, hereby instituted, from day to day, and from place to place, or for any number of days within the term. Session or continuance of the said Court to adjourn the said Court, to meet re-assemble and sit again in the execution and discharge of the duties of the said Court, when and so often as by the said Judge may be deemed necessary 400 LABRADOR or expedient for the due and proper fulfilment and discharge of such duties. And of these presents all Magistrates, the Sheriff and his deputies, all Bailiffs, Constables, Keepers of Gaols and other Officers of the Coast of Labrador, in the execution of their offices about the premises, are directed and hereby required and commanded to take due notice and govern themselves accordingly. Given under my hand at Government House, St. John's, the second day of January in the sixth year of His Majesty's Reign. By Command of His Excellency the Governor, (Signed) E. B. Brenton. In 1826 thirteen civil actions were tried, in 1827 a similar number, and in 1828 twenty-seven actions, in- volving an amount of ;^i885 5s, 3d. But the amount of work which the court found to do was not considered commensurate to the cost, and one of the earliest Acts of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland in 1834 was to discontinue it. A series of cases was brought before the Supreme Court at St. John's in 1826 to determine the particular classes of seamen and fishermen who were liable for the payment of the Greenwich Hospital dues of 6d. per man, monthly. In the case submitted for the decision of Chief Justice Tucker, the following description is given of the method pursued at that time in shipping crews and fishermen for the Labrador. It will be seen that it does not greatly differ from the present custom. The decision of the Chief Justice was that all classes of Labrador fishermen were liable for the dues. THE BRITISH FISHERIES 401 "Labrador schooners are fitted out about the ist of June for the Labrador fishery, which is carried on upon that coast by open boats or skiffs. On board this schooner are embarked six men, three of whom are hired on wages for the season, say from 20th of May until the last of October ; and three on shares for the same period of time. One of such servants takes charge of the schooner, as master, to navigate her to the Labrador, and carry the supplies and fishing crews to a certain place, where, on the vessel's arrival, she is moored in safety, and laid up, unused, for a time, except as an occasional store for salt, etc. The master and men are then employed in skiffs, or open boats, catching fish, which they carry on shore to defendant's room, to be cured by a shore crew of the defendant's. As soon as enough fish is caught and cured to load the schooner, a sufficient crew from the men so hired and on shares, is put on board to navigate the vessel to St. John's ; from whence, after delivering her fish there, she again returns to the Labrador, and remains until the end of the season, and then brings the residue of the fish and oil, the produce of the voyage, to St. John's, together with the fishing and shore crews, returning about the middle of October. But besides the aforesaid men, the hired servants of the defendant, the said vessel carried also to the Labrador ten other fishermen (besides defendant's shore crew, who were employed solely in curing the fish ashore) ; and which fishermen were supplied by defendant, who also contracted to cure on his room the fish they caught, and freight it to St. John's. On the vessel's arrival at the Labrador, these men, form- ing three separate crews, employed themselves in their own skiffs, or open boats, catching fish on their own account ; and, as they caught it, daily delivered it on 2 D 402 LABRADOR shore upon defendant's room to be cured. When cured, defendant's said schooner carried the fish on freight to St. John's ; and out of it took the value of his supplies furnished to the catchers, together with the price of curing and the amount of freight; and delivered the surplus to the said fish-catchers to sell where they pleased, or purchased the same from them at current price." In a memorial from the Chamber of Commerce, St. John's, 1825, protesting against any portion of the Labrador being returned to Canada, it is stated that 60 vessels were fitted out in St. John's and 200 from Conception Bay for the fishing on that coast, em- ploying altogether about 5000 men.; The senior naval officer on the station had a careful census taken in 1826 of all the vessels fishing at Labra- dor, from Lance-a-Loup to Rigolette, of which the following is a resume : — 95 vessels, 6439 tons, 131 2 men. 397 boats, 828 men. Catch. 3450 Seals. 1 1 24 tierces of Salmon. 102,980 quintals of Codfish. 304 tuns of Oil. Of the above there were twenty-one fishing ships from England. But this report was admittedly not complete, and it was estimated that 50,000 quintals of codfish were taken in small creeks and harbours not visited. It will be noticed that herring are not mentioned. We learn from the Colonial Records that there were THE BRITISH FISHERIES 403 276 fishing ships from Great Britain to Newfoundland and Labrador in 1792. In 18 17, the number had de- creased to 48, and in 1824, to 15. In 1832, it is stated that only 5 fishing ships went to Labrador, and 15 to the Banks. Save for the few Jersey vessels to the Straits of Belle Isle, the great ship fishery, which had been fostered with so much assiduity for nearly two hundred years, and for the sake of which the coloniza- tion of Newfoundland had been kept down with an iron hand, soon ceased to exist. It is perhaps idle to speculate on historical hypotheses, but one cannot help pausing a moment to consider how different Newfoundland would have been had she been allowed to grow naturally from the first. And one must also " point the moral " of the folly of trying to foster an unnatural industry, such as the British ship fishery. Acts of Parliament, devised by wire-pulling West-country merchants, could not keep it alive ; and while it was being artificially fostered, the infant colony of Newfoundland was being strangled. About the year 1830 the Labrador fishery was prose- cuted with great vigour. Newfoundlanders, Nova Scotians, and Americans flocked there in great numbers. The following particulars are taken from British America, by Colonel MacGregor, who, being A.D.C. and private Secretary to the Governor of Newfoundland, had an excellent opportunity for gathering correct information. It will be seen, however, that some of his statements do not bear examination, and that he greatly over- estimated the American fishery, and possibly the British fishery as well. He said that about 300 schooners went from Newfoundland to the different fishing stations on the Labrador coast, where about 20,000 British subjects were employed in the season. Many of the vessels 464 LABRADOR made an early trip to the straits, returning as soon as a cargo was secured, and leaving again as quickly as possible for the eastern Labrador coast, a practice which is still pursued by the schooners from the northern outports. From the maritime provinces about 120 vessels with 1200 to 1300 fishermen annually fished on the coast ; and there were six or seven English and five Jersey firms with extensive fishing establishments, still carrying on the old ship fishery, and employing about 1000 men. The Americans had about 500 vessels and 15,000 men employed on the coast, and their catch amounted to 1,100,000 quintals of fish and 3000 tuns of oil. According to this authority, therefore, there were about 1000 vessels and 35,000 people engaged in the Labrador fishery at this period. To examine first into his estimate of the American fishery. According to Lorenzo Sabine's Report of American Fisheries, 1853, the total export of codfish from the United States in 1830 was 229,796 quintals, and the home consumption about 500,000, making a total of 729,796 quintals. As a large proportion of the American fleet fished on the Grand Banks and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is evident that MacGregor's figures are much exaggerated. Admitting that there were 500 vessels, it is safe to assume that their crews numbered about 5000 and their catch 200,000 to 250,000 quintals. If in MacGregor's figures for the number of British subjects employed on the Labrador are included the Canadian and English fishermen, estimated at 2000, and the settlers on the coast, say 2000, not including Eskimos or Indians, it will leave 16,000 people to go from Newfoundland, As the whole population of Newfound- THE BRITISH FISHERIES 405 land at that period was about 60,000, it would thus appear that one-fourth of them migrated to Labrador each summer, — a proportion which seems altogether too large. Owing to the Newfoundland fishermen being driven from the French shore, they were compelled to go farther afield, and on this account the Labrador fishery- was said to have increased sixfold between 18 14 and 1829. But on the Labrador they had to meet American competition, particulars of which are related in another chapter. Our Yankee cousins tried to carry things on the coast with a high hand, and many complaints of aggressions are recorded. They went so far on some occasions as to drive the Newfoundland vessels from the harbours, and tear down the British flag, hoisting the Stars and Stripes in its place. They cut away the salmon nets of the Newfoundlanders, set their own instead, and threatened to shoot any one who interfered with them. Redress was impossible. The visits of the British cruisers were few and far between. It was beyond the power of the poor fishermen to bring the aggressors to justice, and being greatly outnumbered in many places, they could not take the law in their own hands. But after a few more years of steady increase, the balance of power was in the hands of the Newfound- land fishermen, and we can be sure that they were not backward in protecting themselves. Possibly the United States fishermen found the Labrador a little warm for them, which may account for the rapid decline of their fishery after 1840. The fisheries were variable, but no doubt were very much more productive than in recent years. The salmon fishery was still important, but the herring fishery had not been prosecuted extensively. In the list of exports given by MacGregor, herring are not 4o6 LABRADOR mentioned. Codfish were no doubt more easily taken then than now. There were no traps, as in modern times, but yet they succeeded in securing large catches. The following figures for 1829 are given by Mac- Gregor : — I Exported to Europe by English and Jersey - firms. Exported to Europe ^ by Newfoundland houses. Sent to Newfound- land from Labrador. Sent to Maritime f ..i jc u r p • -I 20,000 qtls. codfish . 60,000 ;^278,4oo 50,000 qtls. codfish • ^25,000 900 tees. salmon 2,700 200 tuns cod oil 4,000 200 tuns seal oil 4,500 Furs • 3,000 20,000 qtls. codfish 10,000 300 tees. salmon 900 ^50.100 324,000 qtls. codfish 138,300 1,500 tuns cod oil 27,000 Salmon, etc. 3,000 MacGregor's statements do not hang together. The number of Newfoundland schooners was said to have been 300, and it was impossible for them to have brought back 1000 quintals each on an average. But after making due allowance for overestimates, I am inclined to think that the total catch of codfish on the Labrador at that period may have approximated 1,000,000 quintals yearly. About the year 1831 the Hudson Bay Company began operations in Labrador, the inception of which is thus cynically related by John MacLean {Thirty Years in the Hudson Bay Company's Service^ : — "The Company, having learned through a pamphlet published by the Moravian Missionaries that the THE BRITISH FISHERIES 407 country produced excellent furs, were induced by the laudable desire of ' ameliorating the condition of the natives ' to settle it." Posts were started at Rigolet and North-west River in Hamilton Inlet, at Fort Chimo\ Whale River, and George's River in Hudson's Straits, at Nackvak, Davis Inlet, and Cartwright on the east coast. This last was purchased from Messrs. Hunt and Henley, who had suc- ceeded to the rights originally obtained by George Cartwright. The title of the Company to the posts in Hudson's Straits is naturally included in their original charter, but that of the others, with the exception of Cartwright, seems to rest upon squatters' rights only, as no grant of them appears to have been given by the Imperial Government or Government of Newfoundland. In 1840 a Bill was introduced in the House of Assembly to provide for the collection of duties and for establishing a Court on Labrador. But being re- turned from the Council with amendments, it was allowed to drop. Nevertheless, an attempt was made the following summer to collect duties there, and Mr. Elias Rendell was appointed for the job. He found great difficulty in getting to Labrador, as the merchants, knowing his errand, refused to let him go in their vessels. He was therefore obliged to hire a small schooner, and finally sailed on July 5th. He travelled up the coast as far as Hamilton Inlet, into which he went some distance, and collected duties to the amount of ;^205 IIS. 4d. All complained loudly at having to pay duties, and some of the firms refused positively to pay at all. They pleaded that they should not be ^ " Chymo," according to Rev. S. M. Stewart, missionary to Ungava, means " welcome." 4o8 LABRADOR called upon to contribute to the revenue unless they derived some benefit from it, and stated that another year they would resist payment by every possible means, unless a Court of Justice were established, and the coast afforded the protection of the police. Mr. Rendell was of opinion that such was most necessary, as disputes were continually arising, and serious crimes occasionally committed, " a man at that time going at large, who was known to have murdered his wife last winter." Mr. Rendell also drew attention to the encroachments of the French on the fisheries of Labrador. From Blanc Sablon to Henley Harbour the shore was literally lined with French boats, and the protection of a ship- of-war was imperatively necessary. We first hear of French encroachments on the Labra- dor side of the straits, in 1835, and a Committee of the House of Assembly was appointed to make enquiries, but I have been unable to find that it ever made a report. In 1841, the year after Mr. Elias Rendell's visit. Captain Milne, H.M.S. Crocodile^ was sent to the coast on the fishery protection service. He found the reports to be more than justified, and French encroachments to be most general. They had simply taken possession of Belle Isle, driving off the Newfoundland and American fishermen who had been frequenting it. Two fishing rooms had been built there by the French, and it was actually included in the list of fishing stations which were regularly ballotted for in France every five years. Belle Isle was considered a very valuable fishery at that time, and immense quantities offish were taken annually round the shores, approximating 30,000 quintals. The codfish were said to enter the straits from the Atlantic, passing near the island, and later schooling along the Labrador shore. The fishermen there were thus enabled THE BRITISH FISHERIES 409 to secure the cream of the voyage, both in size and quantity of fish. Capt. Milne pointed out that as Belle Isle was nearer to Labrador than to Newfoundland it must be held to belong to the former coast where the French had abso- lutely no rights. In Palliser's time, the commanding officers of the fishery protection fleet were particularly directed to guard against French aggression, and it is hard to understand how the abuse began. In 1845, petitions were forwarded to the House of Assembly from the merchants of Conception Bay, pray- ing that Courts of Justice be again instituted on the Labrador. Over 200 vessels and 5000 men went from that Bay alone to Labrador, and many disputes arose in respect to fishing berths, for the prompt settlement of which a Court of Justice was absolutely necessary. Capt. Locke, who was on the coast in H.M.S. Alarm in 1848, visited Belle Isle, and although he found no French vessels, was told that they had been there all the summer, and had left hurriedly when they heard he was in the neighbourhood. All along the Labrador side of the straits he received the same in- formation. It was estimated that 200 French boats with 1000 to 1500 men had been poaching that summer, and had taken 50,000 to 70,000 quintals of fish. The British fishery had been very good, averaging 70 or 80 quintals per man. Blanc Sablon was the principal station, three Jersey firms doing business there. The catch in this one place was 15,000 to 16,000 quintals. At Red Bay, William Penney, of Carbonear, carried on business, employing twenty-five boats and forty to fifty men. Their catch was 3500 quintals. It is interesting to know that the firm of Wm. Penney and Sons have carried on a prosperous business there ever since, hold- 4IO LABRADOR ing the record for the oldest established business on the Labrador carried on at one locality. No determined effort seems to have been made to stop the French encroachments, in spite of the continual reports which were made in regard to them, until 1852, when the sum of £$5*^ was voted by the House of Assembly for a fishery protection service at Cape John and in the Straits of Belle Isle, and an effectual stop was very soon put to the poaching propensities of the French, which had been endured so long. Capt. Cochrane, R.N.; visited Labrador in 1852, and assisted in this service, his particular duty being to re- move the French establishments from Belle Isle. He reported that very few American vessels were on the coast that year, and that they fished between Sandwich Bay and Cape Harrison. The number of Newfound- land fishermen from Cape Charles to Cape Harrison he estimated at 6500. In 1856 the colony of Newfoundland was amazed to learn that a Convention had been practically agreed to between the Imperial and French Governments, by which, among other concessions, it was proposed to give the French the right to fish on the Labrador coast from Cape Charles to Blanc Sablon. The colony was at once up in arms. Evidence as to the importance of the Labrador fishery was taken by a Committee of the House of Assembly. Among those who testified were E. White, Thos. Rowe, John Rorke, John Walsh, Chas. Power, Bishop Feild, and Bishop Mullock. They stated that 700 sail of Newfoundland vessels went to Labra- dor each season, and carried on fishing operations from Blanc Sablon to Cape Harrison. The most im- portant part of the fishery was that carried on in the Straits of Belle Isle, where 170,000 to 180,000 quintals of THE BRITISH FISHERIES 4" codfish were taken on an average each year. Indigna- tion against the Imperial Government was the dominant note of the evidence, and many satirical references were made to their ignorance of the question, and their re- markable generosity to the French. The House of Assembly passed unanimously a vehement protest against the ratification of the Con- vention, and the influence of the neighbouring colonies was enlisted, with the effect that the Imperial Govern- ment realized that they had been on the brink of a serious error, and withdrew from the Convention. The news was conveyed to Newfoundland in the celebrated despatch from Mr. Henry Labouchere to Governor Darling : — " The proposals contained in the Convention having now been unequivocally refused by the Colony, they will of course fall to the ground ; and you are authorized to give such assurance as you may think proper, that the consent of the community of Newfoundland is regarded by Her Majesty's Government as the essential preliminary to any modification on their territorial or maritime rights." This is regarded as one of the most important docu- ments in the history of Newfoundland, and has been quoted by the colony in defence of its rights on several subsequent occasions. The resident population from Blanc Sablon to Sand- wich Bay, in 1856, was computed at 1553 persons. Attempts to collect duties on the Labrador were again made this year, but were very generally resisted. One Customs official with an eye to business pointed out that the firm of De Quettville, employing 250 men, served out to each five glasses of brandy daily, the 412 LABRADOR duty upon which alone would make a considerable item. Governor Darling visited the coast during the sum- mer, probably wishing to see for himself the fishery which the mother country proposed to give away. The Reciprocity Treaty with the United States in 1854 was said to have occasioned an increase in the number of their vessels fishing on the Labrador coast. Why that should have been so is not plain, as they already had an unrestricted right to that fishery. If such increase did take place, it was evidently a last spasmodic effort, as their interest in Labrador declined very rapidly soon after. In 1859 only fifty American and Nova Scotian vessels were reported in the straits, a great falling off from the numerous fleet which had formerly fished there. In the Appendix will be found a list of the exports or catch of fish on the Labrador. It will be seen that from 1830 to 1 860 no statistics are given. It has been a great disappointment to me not to be able to get the figures for this period, but after a careful search in every place I could think of, I have been obliged to abandon the hope of finding anything, and have con- cluded that no record was kept of the direct exports, or any estimate made of the total catch at that time. The principal information about the Labrador fish- eries from 1850 to 1870 is obtained from the reports made each year by the naval captains on the Fishery Protection Service. In 1862 the fishery was very poor, and the herring fishery a total failure. A Government regulation this year prohibited the barring of herring in seines, — a very wise law, as the destruction and waste by barring is enormous. The Nova Scotian and American vessels THE BRITISH FISHERIES 413 resisted the enforcement of this ordinance, the latter claiming that it could not be enforced against them as it was not the law before 1854, when the last Reciprocity Treaty had been made. Cape Harrison was yet considered the northern limit, but a few adventurous spirits had penetrated still farther north. The Moravian Missionaries at Hopedale in 1857 describe the first arrival of an American trading vessel, and the demoralization which resulted from the sale of rum to the Eskimos. In 1859 several Newfound- land fishing schooners are reported at Hopedale, Nain, Hebron, and Okak. In the Nain diary, July 2nd, 1861, it is recorded that the Newfoundland schooners had made their appearance in the offing, and were cruising about in the open water, waiting for the ice to move off. It was no sooner gone than they came in, and usurped the fishing places used by the Eskimos. Six Newfoundland vessels fished at Hopedale in 1863, 25 touched there in 1866, and 108 in 1868, while in 1870 over 500 passed north, 145 being counted in a single day. The important northern Labrador fishery therefore sprang into being in 1863, and was actively prosecuted by 1870. The schooners going to the far north are termed " floaters," meaning that they are not generally attached to fishing establishments on the Labrador, but catch their fish wherever they can get it, and take it direct to Newfoundland ports, where it is cured. This fish is known to the trade as shore-cured Labra- dor, and constitutes one of the largest items in the cod fishing industry. The report of Captain Hood, the naval commander on the coast in 1865, was much fuller than usual. An attempt was made to take a census of the fishing popu- 414 LABRADOR lation, and the catch of fish from Battle Harbour to Red Island, but I am of opinion that it is very incom- plete. He reported that there were between those points 1098 boats and 271 1 men, and the catch 116,700 quintals codfish. The largest establishments were Black Tickle and Indian Harbour. The Newfoundland Chamber of Commerce, in 1866, petitioned the Imperial Government to send a naval vessel to survey the northern Labrador coast, which was then entirely uncharted. Accordingly, the next year Lieutenant Chimmo, in H.M.S. Gannet, was detailed for the work. He called in at Battle Harbour to get a pilot, but was unable to obtain one. The schooners had all gone to Cape Harrison, where they were "doing what they liked with the fish." Lieutenant Chimmo found by careful observation that the whole coast had been placed on the charts ten or eleven miles too far to the eastward. His only chart was that of Lane, drawn in 1772, which he found very incorrect. The coast had not been surveyed since. When he reached Cape Har- rison he was informed that about 200 Newfoundland vessels were fishing at Windy Tickle, 180 miles still farther north. He went into Aillik, where the Hudson Bay Company had a station, and also called at Hope- dale. Coming south he stopped at Indian Tickle, and was given a glowing account of the Labrador fishery by Mr. Warren (Matthew H.), who had his fishing rooms there. 3000 vessels were said to have passed through that well-known passage during the season, on the voyage north and return south, and the number of fishermen to have been 30,000. These seem rather large figures, and I have been able to find no evidence to support them. By the census of 1857 the population of Newfound- THE BRITISH FISHERIES 415 land was found to be 122,000, which would indicate about 40,000 men and boys. The number of schooners was 800, with crews approximately about 15,000 men. Making all due allowance for nine years' increment, it does not seem possible that the Labrador fleet from Newfoundland could have reached the figures given by Mr. Warren. The merchants of St. John's were much gratified at the prompt way in which the Imperial Government had carried out their request for a survey of northern Labra- dor, and tendered Lieutenant Chimmo their best thanks for his care in the matter. But it was not until 1876 that Commander Maxwell's charts, which gave the first reliable information about the coast, were published. These charts are still in use. In i860. Sir Leopold McClintock, in H.M.S. Bulldog, was sent by the Imperial Government to survey a route for the proposed North Atlantic Telegraph between Great Britain and America. His course was via Ice- land and Greenland to Indian Harbour on the Labra- dor, where he arrived on August 24th. Indian Harbour was then the most extensive of the northern fishing establishments, and under the charge of a Mr. Norman. Although there had been very little ice on the coast the fishery had been a poor one, owing to stormy weather. While the Bjilldog was at Indian Harbour, however, the fishermen were taking codfish by means of jiggers as fast as they could haul them on board. As the Eskimos in Greenland had been seen using the same method, it was remarked that the Labrador fishermen could not improve upon the custom of the Eskimos. It was not, however, an original custom of the Eskimos. As a matter of fact, jiggers have been in use from very early times. In 17 16 complaints were 41 6 LABRADOR made against their use by the French on the southern Labrador, as it was said that the fishery at Petit Nord (northern Newfoundland) had been ruined by them ; a statement which has happily not proved correct. At the present time their use is forbidden in Canadian waters. As a result of the soundings taken by the Bulldog it was demonstrated that a bank extends north and south of Hamilton Inlet for i8o miles, and at least lOO miles in an easterly direction. Sir J. C, Ross (Parliamentary Reports re Atlantic Telegraph) reported that this bank stretches parallel to the coast for a considerable distance north and south of Okak.^ The ^z