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 •• ''m^ "ms^'^' ^f-iBn^ 
 
 . THE ISLAND OF MTICOSTI, 
 
 ll$ St00r|ra|iT]lcal fmUun, €jcl0tii ^tumuu, lbc», Ifec* 
 
 ='-^^«= 
 
 Extracts from Reports of Arthur Rankin, Esq., A. R. .Roche, Esq.,- 
 
 and James Richardson, Esq. 
 
 The Island of Antico.gfci issitilatod in the River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, about five hundred 
 milos below Quebec, and consequently that irtiich nearer England. It is nearly one Iiundred and 
 forty miles long and its greatest breadth is flirty five miles, gradually becoming narrower as it 
 exteids East and West. It contains more than three thousand square miles, or about two million 
 
 ' r ),- -^-n-.-J-^V— ^1— -i- ^f—ui^T ^^a;,.g4^^ c!;„ w^n;,.,,, T -^or. L. t rv Jp M. S . F Q J.^ «'", -, 
 
 jiiid for ciiriii'' Vi.«',,v.'ul lll■l)vi^^"'"s ' i o •, '.f';"' ' i •i, ' ,.. « • li. i ,, * 
 
 upwara.s », million afies is composed of soil oi the very heic quality tor agricultural purposes. | 
 
 The langULjjC used is " It is on such rocks, in such a condition, and with such an altitude, that 
 the best soils of the Western Peninsula of Canada West are placed, as well as of the Genesee 
 (bounty in the State of New- York. I have seen nothing in the actual soil, as it exists to induce 
 me to suppose that, in so far as soil is considered. Anticosti will be anything inferior to those 
 regiono." 
 
 The island contains extensive quarries of excellent stone for building purposes, deposits of 
 marble of very superior quality besides sUme fit for lithographic purposes. 
 
 The fisheries in its rivers and surrounding its coast are extremely valuable, and in the inte- 
 rior it contains extensive forests of most valuable timber. It also has large deposits of peat of 
 excellent quality, exceeding one hundred and thirty thousand acres in extent. 
 
 According to the best authorities in the United States, an acre of peat, three feet in de^,.^ 
 will contain from throe thou.sand three hundred to three thousand six hundred tons ; six feet in 
 defetjvfrom six thousand six hundred to seven thousand two hundred ; ten feet, from eleven to 
 twelve thousand tons. Assuming the peat deposits of Anticosti to average six feet in depth/ 
 which will be found to be far beU/wr tho mark, prA o«( imating the material, in its crude state, to 
 be worth one penny per ton, the result woulil be six thousand six hundred pence, hundred and 
 fifty shillings, or twenty-seven jiounds ten shillings per acre ; and computing the extent of the 
 peat beds atone hundred and twenty five thousand acres, tho value of the peat alone would 
 amount to no less tlimi tlntf niillioiis four hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 At a comparatively insignificant expenditure, two excellent harbouts, capable of accommo- 
 dating the largest class of sea-going .ships and steamers, can be established upon tho island — one 
 ftt Ellis Bay, near the upper, the other at Fox Bay near the lower end. While beside these there 
 
«,re several other pli 
 draught. The establ 
 steamers must pass I 
 a mile out of their • 
 it would be diHicult 
 of coal required to ca 
 take her to Montreal 
 each ship than .she ca, 
 "each vessel coald thus 
 
 2 
 
 coast, affording shelter for schooners and vessels of light 
 jts of coal at the two harbours above named, close to which 
 Dming and at either of which they could stop without going 
 m advantage to ocean steamers, the importance of which 
 for it would be within bounds to assume that the quantity 
 ) anticosti would be at least two hundred tons less than to 
 space for the stowage of two hundred tons more freight on 
 considering the price paid for freight to Montreal £3 per ton, 
 A\vn £G()0 more on each out-ward trip which at seven trips to 
 Montreal, each season would still add upwards of X'tOOO to the earnings of each ship within the 
 year ; and to a line such as that of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, with its nine or 
 ten steamers, the advantages to be derived from the establishment of a safe stopping place at 
 Anticosti would be something enormous. As to the supply of coal it could either be taken from 
 England, or brought from Nt-w-Brunswick within a single day's sail, if, indeed upon an explo- 
 ration of the interior coal is not found to exist upon the island itself. Then as to the fisheries 
 sun-ounding the island, ;: nd in its Rivers, they ai"e among the richest in the world. 
 
 The excellent position of the island in regard to ships, comknerce, &zc., becomes at once appa- 
 rent when we consider that every vessel must take either of the channels formed by Anticosti 
 upon entering or leaving the river, whether having pa-ssed from the Atlantic or intending to 
 pass to the ocean, through the straits of Belle Isle through the nmre frequented passage between 
 Newfoundland and Cape Breton, or through the Gut of Canso, or whether running between 
 Quebec and those portions of Canada and of the Lower Provinces lying upon the Gulf of St. 
 Lawrence. On taking eitiier of channels formed by Anticosti, vessels pass close to the island in 
 roiiscipu'uce of the moderate breadth of the northerix one, and of thi^jiltmiia-SiaiL-aaa—aiiaaB Air- 
 
 1 ahvaysTun^THflH^thTT^t^BRfli^S^^Mfto avoid wmc^^^^^B^^HTof^^^^^^^^^^ron 
 the tndy dangerous coast of the south shore of the gulf and river, where, for ^(^al hundred 
 miles, there is no harbor oi- place of shelter for any craft larger than a schooner, and Were for long 
 distances, there is not one foot of beach outside the perpendicular clifs to land upon, vessels gene- 
 rally stand out till they make the West Point of Anticosti, close to which is situated the conve- 
 nient harbor Ellis Bay, occupying a spot nearly mid distance between the northern and southern 
 banks of the St. Lawrence and of easy acce.ss from both channels of the river. Considering that 
 about two thousand vessels from Europe alone will have made this |)oint in the coui'se of the 
 present season, some slight idea may be conceived of the cai)abilitics of position attached to the 
 island and in particular to Ellis Bay. The inner anchorage of this bay has a depth ot from three 
 to four fathoms at low water with excellent holding ground (gravel and mud,) is of as large 
 capacity as the harbour of Montreal, and hat been found, by experience, to afford perfect shclterj 
 in all winds, to vessels of upwards of 100 tons; while the outer po.sition of the anchorage could 
 be materially improved at a trifling exi)ense, so as to be able to contain in safety, during all 
 winds, almost any number of vessels of the larger size. Docks, with a patent slip, &c., could also 
 be easily constructed there, which would be admirably situated for the repair of vessels stranded 
 or receiving other damage tliroughout the Lower St. Lawrence most of them becoming both up 
 by. theaotiidi of the sen, and, in some cjvses, dismantled by wret^kers, bi!fore tliey can obtain a-ssis^ 
 tAUce from Quebec, or the intelligence of their condition can be conveyed there, which jwrt, 
 strange to say, is the only place from the Atlantic to Montreal (a distance of upwards of eight 
 hundred miles, where vessels can be properly over-hauled or be sujiplietl with the commonest 
 stores, .such as anchors, chains, .sails, &o. For steam tugs, employed for the rel ief of vessels in 
 distress, Ellis Bay might also be made an excellent station with the facilities there for procuring 
 shelter for o\ir shijipiug in a portion of the St. Lawrence, where a spacious and ileep harbour is 
 more wanted than in any other ])art of the river or gulf, it is astonishing tiiat no attention has 
 yet been directed to that spot. This neglect, however cannot long continue. It couM be made not 
 
 onlvl 
 
 <'cnt| 
 and I 
 
 (buti 
 
 to tl 
 
 nord 
 
 neail 
 
 whil 
 
 of t| 
 
 thej 
 
 sea 
 
 upti^ 
 
 aiui 
 
I of light 
 
 to which 
 out going 
 of which 
 quantity 
 
 than to 
 ieight on 
 3 per ton, 
 
 trips to 
 ithin the 
 
 iiine or 
 place at 
 :<'ii from 
 
 oxplo- 
 tisheries 
 
 
 ill the most convenient and 
 e two entrances of the river, 
 
 sixty feet above the bench 
 iet high,) «ui<l is nearly level 
 entire length, and uimn the 
 dck forest of trees, stunted 
 md of other countries,) but 
 less exposed to the iutluenoe 
 where at the exposeil points 
 
 only a fine commercial harbor, but also an excellcu 
 ♦ eiitral sjiot for commanding, with a few steam vesseli 
 and for sending out cruisers up the latter, or to any y. 
 
 The island on the south side generally rises from 
 (but at the ontiaii.'c of (Jbsoivation Uiver it is bctwee 
 to the centre whfie a range of m<)derate sized hills aj 
 north side to terminsite in steep cliff ! It is mostly c< 
 near the shore (like those upon a great ])art of the co 
 which liecoinegiadually larger as the>' ap])ioach the i 
 of the wind and sea. This is very remarkable upon soi. 
 they are very small, and gradually encreasc in size from emu nmc to the centre those nearest the 
 sea being sometimes quite white in a[>peanuice, from the salt which is thn)wn, and crystallises 
 upon them. The trees are spruce, fir, red and white birch a,sh, quantities of very fine taniamck 
 and upon the north side of the i.sland, some good .sized pine. 
 
 With the tamarack and "jdiic growing there and the immense quantities of valuable timber 
 drifted upon the i.sland from Quebec and o'^her places after easterly gale many ships might be 
 built every year. Like the valuable mJa^^lows for cattle and sheep, which have recently Iteen dis- 
 covered in Minnesota, in the Far West there are here many very fine natural meadows, producing 
 I'ich gra.sses five and six feet high, and in some parts there are alternate ranges of wood and open 
 plain. On the south side of the island there, are several Peat bogs of some extent, and some salt 
 marshes, caused by the overflowing of tlie sea at certain periods which must ten<l to fertilize nither 
 than to impoverish the land ; and near the south-west point there are some large salt }K»iids, 
 which were labour plentiful there, might be turned to account in the manufacture of salt a manu- 
 facture which Would become of HOmc value to a great part of our North American fisheries, which 
 as well as the whole of Canada, are now sujip'.ied with .salt from England of the United States ; 
 and for curing iish and juiivisiohs. bay salt formed from the sea and from salt ponds is the most 
 valuable. II consequenc of their not having been a sufficient supply of salt upon the Island, an 
 iiiimen.se quantity offish caught at Anticosti last year had to be thrown away ; and during the 
 present sea.Hon, the lisheiiuen at Aiichat, C'ape Breton, were forced to sell mackerel at from six 
 pence to ten pence a hundred or to see them rot. upon the beach through not having enough salt 
 to care thera with. This lather circumstance occured at a time when mackerel M'as selling at 
 Boston for nineteen dollars a Viarrel. vSome of the Bahama islands are retained merely on account 
 of the .salt })onds whish tliey contain, and at Ceylon a large revenue is derived from the salt 
 works carried on in that island. 
 
 It is now time to notice thoses ressources belonging to Anticosti, which, being .wholly inde- 
 pendent of soil and climate may be turned to immediate actM)unt. These res.sources .principally 
 consist of its sea and rher fisheries, which although .coiniiaratively neglected by Canada, may be 
 classed among the most valuable fisheries of British North America. 
 
 In the recent rejiort, published bj' the New-Brunswick (lovernment upon the fisheries thati 
 province, mention is made of the valuable whole and cod fisheries existing upon the costs of 
 Anticosti ; and it is stated that the Jersey-Houses fit out vessels so c^irry on the former upon 
 both sides of the island and u]) the St. Lawrence as far as Bic,, some of the Whales (hump bpxks) 
 being seventy feet long, and yielding eight tons of oil ; while the fishenneu ofG-isp^ freipiently 
 resort to the east end of the island, an<l take cod in great abundance. 
 
 In his work entitled Newfoun<lland in 1842, Sir Richard Bonnycii-stle states, that the whale 
 fishing is ])ursued along the coast of Labrador in and though the straits of Belleisle (close to An- 
 ticosti,) and that whales of all size.^i arc taken, from the suuillest finncr to the largest mysticetus 
 or great common oil whale of the Northern Ocean which ocuasionally visits these regions. It thus 
 
— 4 — 
 
 appears l»y thfse avitlioiitics, that on every side of Aiitiff sti valualilf wlmlfs abnuiHl, the piirsiiit 
 of wliifli, and seals and eoil, it is not improbable, could bo carried on in winter as well as in sum- 
 mer were the attempt to be properly made ; but without a trial the undertaking may ever remain 
 imjiistly condemned as impossible. Shoulil such an atteni|>t be successful, it would not be the 
 first instance of that being accomplished upon trial, which theory, timidity and prejudice had 
 hmg declared to be impracticabl':. Here, again, the ex[)erienee of our iiorthoru fishermen and of 
 the Es(juin»aux, who fearlessly encounter all diffi(ui]ties an<I dangeis of the ice and of the weather 
 and whofish in winter and summer, might be successfully brought to bear. 
 
 " Of cod. M, Corbet, in his statement made to the writer remarks that one boat with two 
 good fishermen, could take off south-west Point or at Fox H.iy, eightenn hundred of these ti,'di in 
 one day ; wliile Mr. Morri.son states that cod, halibut, and a variety of other fish could be caught 
 hII round the island and in incalculable (piantities, .and that no finer cod is caught on any part of 
 the coast of Americji or on the bank.s of Newfoundland than is to bo met with there. To this 
 may be added the testimony, of Captain Fair R. N., of H. M, ship comjianion, who states that he 
 met a few shallops from the Magdalen Islands at the east end of Anticosti where thej' found cod 
 in great abundance and of excellent ijuality. 
 
 " Of hardly less value than the former is the seal fishery, which (;ould certainly be carried 
 on in winter as well as in sununer, many .seals being seen on the ico during the former sea.'iou and 
 in the spring, and thousands of them being observed during the summer and autumn, at the 
 entrances of all the bays and rivei's, where they remain almost entirely unmolested. To show the 
 value of this fishery in the Gulf, the New Brunswick offittial report, already cited, brings forward 
 an instance of a schooner engage^l in it from Sydney, Cape Breton, having cleared £14,000 within 
 three weeks of her having left that ])()rt. Yet at Anticosti, where seals abound more than in most 
 parts of the gulf, this fi.shery is at pres^'ut almost neglected ; the Americans and others who resort 
 t<> its neigliliourhood, being princijjally engrossed with thr"Htilt-tnorF]yt.(l table eo* aiiit iiiiifhen'l 
 fisheries. For the storing and prtwervation of seal, whale and cod oil the temperate degree of heat 
 at Anticosti during the sunnner is particularly favourable. 
 
 " At the present moment the mackerel fishery is the most lucrative one in the St. Lawrence, 
 and is the most extensively pursued ; mackerel is now selling at Boston for nineteen dollai-s a 
 ban-el and at Halifax and Quebec for a few dollars les*-- than that sum. No part of the Gulf 
 abounds with this fish more than the neighboi»-hood of Anticosti. Many .schooners visit the 
 coasts of the latter from the United States, the Lower Provinces, and a few from Gospe, to carry 
 on this fishery, in which they are very successful, and M. Corbet states that the mackerel he has 
 seen in July and August come in shoals so thick and so close to the shore that <as many as one 
 hundred l>arrelK could be taken in one haul of the net. A few hours work will thus sometime* 
 pay the whole expenses of a schooner during the season. 
 
 " Herrings as fine as any in the world are as i)lentiful about the i.sland as mackerel ; but 
 from the wretched manner in which they are cured, they obtain a much less price in the market, 
 and are, therefore, comparatively neglected by the fishermen. To make this fishery as valuable as 
 the former, a few nf the Dutch North sea fi.shermen should be engaged, who would introduce 
 their miwie of curing this fish which has long obtained for Dutch herrings the highest price in 
 every market in Europe. By adopting that mode the scotch fishermen are begiiming to compete 
 successfully with the former. 
 
 " At the entrance of all the rivers and creeks immense quantities of lobsters are thrown up 
 by the sea ; the collection of which, and the preseiving them on the spot for distant markets, or 
 8eudint»^ them fresh in vessels containing wells to our home markets might render this fishery a 
 very p'ofttable one. Eels are also very numerous and very fine, and are often collected by parties 
 
 
 t < 
 
 t 
 
'■ I 
 
 t < 
 
 — 
 
 bttvin a high price for thcTU 
 st attain the Aveight of three 
 
 abunflant aioimd the island 
 the depth of two feet. Were 
 Europe, or oil of an excellent 
 
 osti from the United States, 
 od and maoherel is so great 
 between the East Point and 
 
 of Indians who come over for the purpose from Mi 
 from the Americans. Some of the halibut which aie 
 or four hundred pounds. 
 
 " The eaplin, which are now merely used as bai 
 that they are sometimes thrown iii) by the sea and c< 
 they pro[)erly cured and exported, they would find g 
 < quality could be made from them by the simple proi 
 
 " The number of schooners which resort to the 
 the Lower Provinces, and the Magdalen Island, in 
 that there are sometimes as many as one hundred ' 
 Fox Bay at onetime all of which are geueialiy very sueceasmi. if these fisheries can be so profi- 
 table to expensively fitted out schoonei-s (of fn.m 40 to 150 tons), some of which come a distance 
 of fifteen hundred miles, and have to bring every supply, including provisions and salt, with 
 them, how much more profitable wouhl they become to parties residing upon the island, who 
 Avould have their .supplies upon the spot, and who would carry on their operations in boats V 
 How imixn-tant also to the latter would become the trfidt; which might be created with the former, 
 the supplying them with provisions, often with tishins^Mc^nnd with every de.scription of marine 
 .stores ; and how soon would such a trade lettd to nu>re extensive transactions, in regard to the 
 purchase offish upon the spot, and the disposal of it in the V)est markets, and to a further trade 
 in West India. South American, and Mediti^rraaian produce, o^aip^d^^^xch|jige for fish, and 
 being in great demand in Canada ? It might also lead to tfie u2w»4, of good-sized villages, and 
 \iltimately of towns. Many large towns in various parts of the world, which are now places of 
 great wealth, have risen from elements (piite as slight as these. 
 
 " Thou«'h all the rivers of Anticosti abound with the finest salmon, few of them are fished to 
 uny . exten t, jn consequ ence of ther e being but a small nunilier of persons residing upon the 
 island and tho,se who come thefcCnot l>ping prepared, and not having the right to fish in the 
 rivers, which, with sufficient attention and judicious management, might be made almost as va- 
 luable as the best .•<almon rivers in Scotland, for each of which a rent is obtained of from five to 
 fifteen thousand pounds sterling i)er annum. 
 
 " With 80 many other resources, it is of little conseqtience wliether or not Anticosti shall be 
 found to posses valuable minerals. There is no account of its ever having been visited by a geolo- 
 <rist ; but iron ore of great richness and (juartz are freiiuently met with on the island, and recently 
 some substances have been discovered reseml)ling mineral paints. Plumbago may also exist there, 
 us it has been found among limestone of a similar character to that(£ the island upon several 
 parts of this continent, and Mr. M. Ewan mentions having foundJeiA^f>"e there, some of it as 
 fine as water of Ayr-stone, and some as coarse as grindstone. The fossiliferous limestone, which 
 exists in great ipmutities upon the shores in that horizontal strata, is of so fine agi-ain and colour, 
 «,nd so hard, that it is most reservedly classed ur.der the head of marble 
 
 Were this marble quarried to any extent, large profits could be made by disposing of it to 
 builders in the chief towns of the province, whose wealthy inhabitants are beginning to vie with 
 each other in the beauty of their residences and the style of their living. To Quebec and Montreal 
 it could easily be conveyed as ballast. Being very durable, as well as very beautiful there is little 
 doubt that, were it brought to those cities in any quantities, it would be selected for many 
 public buildings. B.vth Lieutenant Baddeley, R E., who touched at several parts of the island in 
 1831 and Sir Richard Bonnyca^J** R- E. ; who landed at the entrance of Jupiter river iu tl81, 
 Hpeak of the value of this marble. 
 
 The captain of the Wilmington, who has a good knowledge of the construction of harlwurs 
 of refuge, and who proved himself to be a thorough seaman upon several trying occasions, de- 
 
 1 
 
- (5 - 
 
 dared that, nt an oxpenno of i;2()()() lie voiiM builii a hmikwater upon tlie reefe running out front 
 the point, whifli wotild render the hay a secure shelter in all wimls for the huj^est vessels. A 
 harbour eouM also probably be made at Salt Luke Bay. about eij^ht miles further to the east. 
 
 " A specimen of the nwirble brought fn>iii the island obtained the first prize at the recent 
 Proviueial Exhibition lield at Quebec. 
 
 " With regard to the capabilitiea of the island, there nu'ght be a colonization conipnny, a fishing 
 company, and a commercial company ; the first purchasing the whole island, and selling or leassing 
 to the othei-s thase portions of the conAfc at which the operations of the lattei- could be mcist con- 
 veniently carried on." 
 
 Pine was observed in the ralley of the Salmon lliver, about four miles inland, where ten or 
 twelve trees tluit were measured ga\e from twelve tfi twenty inches in diameter at the base, with 
 heights varying from sixty to eighty feet. White and yellow birch are common in sizes from a 
 few inches to two feet in diameter at the base, and from twenty to fifty feet high. Balsam was 
 seen, but it was small and not abundant. Tamarac was observed, but it was likewise small anJ 
 scarce. One of our meu, however, who is a hunter on the island, informed he had se*m snoves of 
 this timber north from EULs or Ganiache Bay, of whiijh some of the trees were three feet in 
 diameter, and over a hundred feet in height. Poplar was met with in gro\-es, close to the Itcmh 
 on the north side of the island. 
 
 '• Drift timber. — ^The quantity of sqnareil timber and saw-logs which ait scattered along tho 
 south 3hore of the island is very surprising ; the abuuilance appears to be greater towards the 
 east end than the west ; Init according t») the calculation which I have made, if the whole of the- 
 logs were placed end to end they would form a line to the wl ole length of the island, or UO 
 miles ; this would give about one million of cubic feet. Some of the s(|uaiTe«l timber may havt> 
 be»5n derived from wrecks, but the great number of saw-logs, which are not shipped as cargoi, 
 induces me to &nppv/se tlitit the uudn source of thf?~tiattJBr is drift. ' — — '■ " — - 
 
 The proprietors cnn give an absohite title, in fee, for the whole island 
 
 . Quebec, 6th April 1870. 
 
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