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AUIHUW ')%■ '■yANUtfRlNOS TiWV«.»a.tS," "A I'BiiP AT UWCLB " A w.maAv^r now > K I M • * » Y*Jll I Vnp to think /«.»»/ sj T7iK)r> my Ytttlve home, ami i-aII to miud _/» j^ Eacu hiiU'A of oardess youth." /¥ f f 7 , \ LONDON: \ LOW, M.VR^TON", oEARLE, & RIVINGTON, ■ 187S. 89836 PKOJ^^^-". or TKf fm«:^i^Y- ■ ' VNitt *1 t ■ , ; f -^l \ u ?;3 mm f IR VV YLES, Chi el Justice ¥ NE^ ASE THE ] ▲UTHOI SAMPSON NEWFOUNDLAND : 'K 1# 1 i AS IT WAS, AND AS IT IS IN 1877.^' BY /C THE REV. PHILIP TOCQUE^A.M., ▲uthob ov "wanderino thoughts," "a pbbp at unclb Sam's fabm," " the uiohtt dbep," btc. etc. "FC T 4 Z. X /S7S /Ut "A wanderer now • * • Stm I love to think Upon my native home, and call to mind Each haunt of careleBs youth." SOUTHET. // LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET. TORONTO: JOHN B. MAGURN. 1878, 89836 PROPERTY OF IMF I iPr*PY -tiNiVfRSUr u\ UXUKuX) A VISCOUNT AS DOWN, IN FBBIN AI IN THI AND OB GOVERNOR-( mOSE NAME I{ IS, BY HIS Vi TO HIS EXCELLENCY VISCOUNT AND BABON OLANDEBOTX OF OLANDBBOTX, IN THE OOUKTT DOWN, IN THE FBEBAOE OF THE UNITED KINODOM, BABON DUF- FEBIN AND OLANDBBOTE OF BALLTLBIDT AND KILLBLEAOH, IN THE OOUNTT DOWN, IN THE PBEBAGE OF IBBLAND, AND A BABONET, KNIGHT OF OUB HOST ILLUSTBIOUB OBDEB OF ST. FATBICK ; KNIGHT GBAND 0BOB8 OF OUB HOST DISTINGUISHED OBDEB OF ST. MICHAEL AND ST. GBOBGE, AND KNIGHT COMHANDEB OF OUB MOST HONOUB- ABLE OBDEB OF THE BATH, GOVBRNOR-GENERAL OP CANADA, AND VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE SAME. rHOSB NAME IS SO MUCH BB8PB0TBD ' IN TBANSATLANTIO BRITAIN, Sftiiet W0tU IS, WITH HIS EXOBLLENCT'S PEBiaSBION, MOST ' RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY HIS VERT FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT SERVANT, , PHILIP TOCQUE. S9 f \ t ^^ f/ ' 'i EWFO Emp and |to be less k] than Austral: |the globe. 1 )f this wor reader that lere fishing themselves l The best soi md made us )f all sound ! before the rej belf, out of n prom my rela lave picked it in \e history a but to in Toronto, D I I .1'^"^''' PEEFAOE. '\. \ > »♦» EWFOUNDLAND, the oldest colony of the British Empire, situate about 1,650 miles from Ireland, and about 930 miles from New York, appears |to be less known to the British and American people bhan Australia, New Zealand, cr the remotest parts of |the globe. The design of the author, in the publication )f this work, is to show the British and American reader that Newfoundland is something more than a lere fishing station, as well as to make Newfoundlanders themselves better acquainted with their own country. ?he best sources of information have been consulted, md made use of without limitation. The grand object )f all sound history should be to place the simple truth )efore the reader. " I have made this book out of my- self, out of my life. I have derived it from observation, ^rom my relations of friendship, and of neighbourhood ; lave picked it up from the roads ; above all, I have [bund it in the recollections of my youth. To know 16 history and life of the people of Newfoundland, I but to interrogate my memory." Toronto, December, 1877. P. TOCQUE. s ~l .^.^^.'4' SS // .-:.:> 1 *■ Vf. \i;: \<' 'C- y^ ■ Ohapteb. * 1 L— FiBsi i ■ II.— Obni ' 'j 1 1 I ■ III.~Dl8TB . 1 I IV.— DlSTR 1 v.— DiSTB ■*> ■ VI.— DiSTB I VlL-DlSTB » 1 VlIL-DlSTB ' H IX.— DiBTB I X.— DiSTR ► ■ XI.— HisTo , - ,-. ■ ^'\ t I XII-St. G: .' I XIII.— LABBi r I XTV.-Thb ] I XV.-Gk)VBi » I XVl.-P^vui ? ' ' ' HXVlI.--iv.aiToi K BCVIII.— Natuh 1 OLa ■ XIX.— Thb R \ 1 /^.' OONTElifTS. IOhaftbb. Page. I.— Fnurr SiTTLBMBirr and General Histoby, tbom 1497 TO THE AfPOINTMSNT of the VIB6T OlVIL GOVBBNOB IN 1728 1 II. — General History, from the Appointment of the FIRST Civil Governor in 1728 to 1877 10 IIL—Distriot of St. John's 63 IV.— District of Oonoeption Bay 111 v.— District of Trinity Bay 131 VI.— District of Bonayista Bay 143 VIL— District of Fogo and Twillinoate 154 VlII.— District op Ferryland 163 IX. — District of Placentia and St. Mary's 170 X.— District of Burin 177 XI. — History of Fortune Bay, St. Peter's, etc 182 XII. — St. George's Bay, Bay of Islands, etc 234 XIII. — Labrador 258 XrV.— The Fisheries 287 XV.— Government, Revenue, Trade and Shipping . . . 333 XVI.— F'^pulation, Religion and Education 366 I XVII. —ikGi ^cultural Resources and Manufactures ... 421 lVIII.— Natural History — Olimatb —Meteorology — Ge- ology — ^Mineralogy — ^Zoology— Botany 445 I XIX. — ^Thb Red Indian, or Boeothicks 503 / \ ILLUSTEATIOJN^S. .♦• . ' Page, I Sir H. W. Hoyles, Chief Justice of Newfoundland (Frontispiece.) Government House, St. John's 105| St. John's from Signal Hill 1501 Custom House, St. John's 1721 Colonial Building or Parliament House, St. John's 213| IFIBST SETTLEMEN! MENT OF THE r*»'-'^<-3-'-^i n*ltr*^Vj'" i;>' NEWFOUNDLAND : AS IT "WAS, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. CHAPTER I. H InBST SETTLEMENT AND GENERAL HISTORY. FROM 1497 TO THE APPOINT- MENT OF THE FIRST CIVIL GOVERNOR IN 1728. OME writers have affirmed that Newfoundland was discovered by the Scandinavians in the year 1001, while others assert that this alledged discovery by he Northmen is not worthy of credence : " The error ap- ears to have been the work of some designing interpo- ator of the old Icelandic MS. Chronicles." We, therefore, ass over the mists of romance and fable for the facts of istory. The discovery of the West Indies by Columbus in 1492 ; ,nd of Newfoundland by the Cabots, in 1497, is detailed n almost every book written on America. Without then ttempting to go over the same ground, we shall proceed ,i once to state, that John Cabot (or Cabota, his Italian ame), a Venetian, and his son, Sebastian, under a com- ission granted by Henry VII, of England, sailed from ristol with a fleet of five small vessels, and discovered ewfoundland on the 24th of June, 1407, near Cape Bona- ista, and to which they gave the name of Terra Primum ^ista, the land first seen (happy sight or view), because is was the place that first met their eyes in looking om the sea. Cabot called Newfoundland as well as the *!4 11^ ' t NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ American continent Baccalaoa, that being the name hi which the Indians called the cod-fish. The writer founif several ancient histories of Newfoundland in the library| of Harvard University, United States ; by Hackluy^ Whitbourne and others ; but as extracts from these old writers have been given by various modem historians o| Newfoundland, it is unnecessary to repeat them here, ij is not the writer's intention to give a minute detail ol every event connected with the earlier settlement of New] foundland, but rather to bring before the notice of i\\ reader the most interesting and important circumstance The best modem histories of Newfoundland have beeil given by Macgregor, Martin, and Sir Richard BonnycastlJ Anspach, Reeves, Murray, Buckingham, Lyel, Juke Cartwright, Chappelle. Carson and Morris have ala written on Newfoundland, and more recently the Rev. Pedley and McRea. A correct account of the country ha been given in the " Edinburgh Cabinet Library." Theij has also been a very interesting " Catechism of the His| tory of Newfoundland," written by Mr. St John. Bu the best sketch of Newfoundland I have ever seen is ll Bayard Taylor, the great American traveller. Newfouni] land lies between the latitudes of 46° 40', and 51° 37' noi and between the longitudes 52° 25' and 59° 15' west, anl approaches to a triangular form. It is separated froi| Cape Breton by the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and from ~ brador by the Straits of Belle Isle. It therefore affords northern and southern entrance to the Gulf of St. Lm rence. The surface of the island comprises an area 36,000 square miles, which is nearly as large as Englanj 7,000 square miles larger than Scotland, and 4,000 squa miles larger than Ireland. It is '350 miles long, and 2(| broad, or 2,800,000 acres, and has a line of coast, incluij ing the indentations of the numerous bays, of about 2,01 miles. Newfoundland is nearer to Europe thai^ any i the islands, or anypart of America. The distance betwee| St John's and the harbour of Valencia, in Ireland, ben AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 8 nly 1666 miles, and from Liverpool, England, about ,000 miles. In the year 1500, Emmanuel of Portugal commissioned asper de Cortereal to discover Baccalaos, which Cabot ad three years previously coasted. He accordingly isited the island, gave to Cojiception Bay the name that t bears, and coasted along the American continent, all of hich was then called Baccalaos. It is said that Gasper e Cortereal and his brother Michael perished in a second ttempt to visit BaccalnoR. In 1 5()9 fht; Portuguese stablished the first regular fishery on the shores ut New- bmidland, who were subsequently followed by the Bis- ayans and French. In 1517, tiie Portuguese, I'rench and pauiards employed forty sail of vessels in the cod-fishery. 1534, Jacques Cartier, the celebrated French naviga- r, visited Newfoundland with two small vessels ; he uched at Cape Bonavista, and then sailed along the loast and entered the Gulf of St. LaAvrence. After ex- loring the Gulf, he returned to France. The next year e discovered Canada, and sailed up the St. Lawrence. The English began to be aware of the importance of ewfoundland in the twe^ity-eightli year of Henry VIII.'s So eaily as 153G, Robert Hoi'e and othei's sailed rem England to colonize JS ewfoundland and Cape Bre- There were 120 persons. They, however, failed in m. leir design, and returned to England after great priva- ton and suftering. In 1540, Francis the First of France Jppointed Roberval, Viceroy of all the newly-discovered mds. He accordingly sailed with five ships, having [acques Cartier as chief commander. An attempt at this Ime was made to colonize Cape Breton, Saguenay, Terre Teuve, or Newfoundland, and Labrador, but without suc- iss. Newfoundland was not yet discovered to be an ^land. Roberval subsequently sailed with a greater imber of ships, but his fate has never been known. In )40, the English first began to prosecute the Newfound- k-nd fisheries, from the ports of Bristol, Biddeford and i: ft ( mm ■mi « NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Barnstaple. , In 1576, Frobisher is said to have beeJ forced by the ice upon the Newfoundland coast, wheij some of the Indians came on board his ship. He sent then ashore in a boat with five sailors, but neither the boat noJ men were ever seen again. Frobisher seized one of thj Indians and took him to England, where he soon aftei] wards died. "^ In 1578, England had 50 ships engaged in the fishery! France and Spain, 150 sail; whilst the Portuguese haJ 60. In 1583, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Hui phrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh engaged in an exl pedition to Newfoundland, having five vessels unde their command ; but the " Raleigh," commanded b^ SU Walter, after being seme time at sea, was obliged to m back to England, in consequence of an infectious disda breaking out among the crew. Sir Humphrey was creat viceroy, admiral, and sole judge for six years. Sir Hm plirey, with the remaining four ships under his commanil arrived at St. John's on the 5th August, 1583, which li| took possession of, with all the land within the circui f^rence of 600 miles, in the name of his sovereign, Quee Elizabeth. In August, during the same year, he dt patched one of his vessels, the "Swallow," to England witi some of his followers who wished to return home, aftel which Sir Humphrey sailed from St. John's on a voya^ of discovery to the westward. During a heavy gale wind and a thick fog they fell in upon land, probabl] Sable Island, when the "Delight" went on shore, and out ( 116 persons only 14 were saved. A few days after tl occurrence, the other two vessels bore away for EnglanJ During the passage a heavy storm arose, in which tli "Squirrel " (commanded by Sir Humphrey) sunk, togethij with her crew. The "Golden Hind," the only remainiu vessel of the fleet, arrived in England thirteen days aftej These vessels were all small, the largest being 120 ton two of 60 tons each, and the smallest (the one in whid AND AS IT IS IN 1877. O* lir Humphrey was lost) being only 10 tons, and insuffi- ient to weather a heavy gale. Sir HumpL/ey Gilbert as brother-in-law of Sir Walter Raleigh. Just before e " Squirrel " sank, Sir Humphrey was seen reading on eck. After the fate of his brother-in-law. Sir Walter Raleigh irected his attention to the American continent, and leryMyentually established a colony in Virginia. h&M In 1610, John Guy, a Bristol merchant, under the atronage and assistance of the great Sir Francis Bacon, lOrd Northampton, and Sir Francis Sanfield, to whom, ith forty others, letters patent were granted by James ., giving them all that part of Newfoundland lying be- een Cape Bonavista and Cape St. Mary's, with the ghts of mines and metals, and all the seas and islands ithin ten miles of the coast ; the fisheries, however, were be open to all British subjects. Guy, with his followers, sailed from Bristol in 1610, in ree ships, and after a shoi*t passage, arrived in Concep- on Bay, where he established a colony and opened a romising intercourse with the Indians. After remaining years, Guy and the remainder of the colony returned England. Captain Richard Whitbourne, of Exmouth, the County of Devon, published a history of Newfound- nd so early as 1622, which was dedicated to James I. "hitboume was employed in a ship of his own against e Spanish Armada, in 1588. He visited Newfoundland early as 1578, and in his second voyage to Newfound- nd, in 1583, met with Sir Humphrey Gilbert at St. |ohn s, and in his third voyage, in 1585, he saw Sir Ber- rd Drake, who had been sent to St. John's from England ith a fleet by Queen Elizabeth, to assert her sovereignty. rake seized several Portuguese vessels, with their cargoes board, which he carried to England. In 1615, the Court of Admiralty commissioned Whit- urne to impanel juries, and to rectify various abuses d disorders amongst the fishermen. Agreeably to his ( ■ ■ ■ i '•i.-iW y>m\ : 1 '■'"*^ ''"w •U tM m 11^ e NEWFOUNDLAND, AS ITJWAS, commission, Whitboume arrived in Newfoundland, and opened the first regular court ever held in the island. One hundred and seventy masters of English vessels are said to have submitted their complaints to his jurisdiction. In 1618, Whitboume was appointed Governor of a small colony which had been sent out by Doctor Vaughan, a Welsh gentleman, in 1616, who it appears had purchased! part of Northampton's patent, granted in connection with! Guy by James I. Whitboume finally returned to England in 1622. In 1623, James I., gave his principal Secretary of State,! Sir George Calvert, all the South-east part of the island! l3dng between the Bays of Placentia and Trinity, which he! erected into a province, under the name of Avalon, t|iis| being the ancient name of Glastonbury, where Christi f anity was first preached in the British Isles. Sir George] a short time after was created Lord Baltimore. He estal lished a colony at Ferryland, where he resided several! years, but subsequently removed to England and obtained! a grant of land in the State of Maryland, where he founded! the City of Baltimore, which still bears his name. For al more detailed account of Lord Baltimore, the reader is! referred to the District of Ferryland, in another part oi| this volume. In 1626, the French established a colony in Placentia which led to constant disputes between them and thd English settlers. The permission of the French colony was considered a matter of favour on the part of the Engj lish Government, to which the French fishermen paid yearly tribute of five per cent, on the value of the fislj taken. This payment was relinquished by Charles II., ii 1675. In 1628 a colony was sent to Newfoundland by Loril Falkland, then Lord -Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 163{lj Sir David Kirk, with a few followers anived in New! foundland. About this time 350 families were settled id the various harbours along the coast, and the fisheriej were rapidly progressing. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. In 1633, Charles L, through the Star Chamber, promul- rated certain laws for the better government of New- bundland. Some of these laws were, that all persons ho committed murder, or theft above forty shillings, yere to be taken to England for trial ; tlifit no buildings rected for prosecuting the fishery should be destroyed at he end of the voyage ; that no tavern, or houses of enter- ainment, should be set up, and that according to the old nd corrupt system, the master of the first fishing vessel rriving at any port should be Admiral of the same during he season. These Admirals were empowered to settle all isputes among the fishermen, and to enforce due atten- ion to certain Acts of Parliament. The power of these en was very great, which they abused by a partial and orrupt administration of the laws. The shipowners and erchants in England engaged in the Newfoundland sheries, opposed the appointment of any civil permanent Magistrate or of any Governor of the Island. In the ommission granted from 1634 down to 1660, a clause was inserted to the effect, that no master or owner of any ships should send any settlers to Newfoundland. In 1654 there were fifteen different settlements in the island, and about 400 families. About 1670 Sir Josiah Child, one of the principal merchants in England, connected with the Newfoundland Itrade, induced the Government to prevent settlement by [destroying the entire colony. Sir John Bei-ry was deput- ed to burn the housop, and drive out the settlors ; lie, how- ever, strongly remonstrated against this cruel edict and very reluctantly obeyed his orders. Although John Dow- ning, a resident, procured an order from the King in 1676 annulling the order for destroying the houses, «Sz;c. ; yet at the same time no vessel was permitted to take emi- grants to Newfoundland, and all persons were forbidden to settle. In consequence of the interference of Sir John Berry and others no further severe measures were resorted to. It is said the Board of Trade recommended that one t , 8 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ thousand persons might be pennitted to remain in the island to construct boats, stages for drying the fish, &c. In lfi96 all the English settlements in the island were destroyed by a French fleet, excepting Carbonear and Bonavista, which defended themselves. France and Eng- land now struggled for the supremacy of I^ewfoundland till the Peace of Ryswick in Holland, in 1698, which re- stored to each power all their possessions, as at the com- mencement of the war. In the meantime, the French strengthened their positions, and encouraged in every possible way an extension of their settlements. While, on the contrary, England as much as ever discouraged per- manent settlement. The French were therefore better prepared to defend themselves than the English. During the reign of Queen Ann, in 1702, a British squadron arrived in Newfoundland under the command of Sir John Leake, who took possession of the greater part of the island, and captured no less than twenty-nine sail of the French, and returned to England with his prizes before the end of October. Admiral Graydon was sent with a fresh fleet in 1703, but returned to England with- out entering into any engagement. In 1705 the French attempted to become sole masters of the island, their garrison at Placentia having been reinforced by an accession of 500 troops from Canada. They made a formidable attack upon the fortified harbour of St. John's in which they were unsuccessful, they, how- ever, spread their devastation as far northward as Bona- vista. In 1706 they were again expelled by the English from their recent conquests and many of their men-of-war and fishing vessels were either captured or destroyed. In 1708, a French fleet, under the command of St. Ovide, visited and destroyed St. John's, aaid also every British fishing station, excepting Carbonear, which again defended itself. England and France were so impressed with the vast r AND AS IT IS IN 1877. I importance of the fisheries of Newfoundland, as well as being an extensive nursery for seamen, and occupying a commanding geographical position with respect to the Canadas, that for the eight following years, owing to the wars of Europe, in which England was engaged, New- foundland presented a constant scene of warfare and de- predation, being sometimes in possession of the English I and sometimes in possession of the French, until the peace of Utrecht. The celebrated Treaty of Utrecht was concluded in the Netherlands on the 4th of April, 1713. By this treaty Newfoundland and the adjacent islands were declared to belong in exclusive sovereignty to Great Britain ; liberty, however, was given to the French to catch and dry fish only on that part of the coast lying to the north of Cape Bonavista, and stretching along the western shore as far as Point Riche ; they were not to make any fortifications or erections, except such as were necessary for the fishery — nor were they to remain in the island longer than the time necessary for curing their fish. Owing to the continual wars with the French, England was not able strictly to enforce her laws against her own subjects with regard to settlement. The population of Newfoundland had therefore increased very considerably during the wars with France. In 1721, France employed 400 ships in the Newfound- land fisheries. The island was at this time under the I nominal administration of the Governor of Nova Scotia. In 1728 it was established a separate colony of Great Britain. / i •■*■. I n 5 , .1 -:« \ ~1 1,3 ■ ;».:aw - i r.,wm ; I ? 'M i - 5 tM 5 ; I , ■ 111 I 10 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, CHAPTER II. OBNBRAL HISTORY, FROM THE APPOINTMENT OF THE FIRST CIVIL OOVERNOB IN 1728 TO 1877. IHROUGH the representations of Lord Vere Beau- ^^ clerk, who was then the naval commander on the . ^ American station, in 1728, Captain Henry Osborne, of Her Majesty's Ship " Squirrel," was appointed the first 'civil governor of Newfoundland.^ He has been repre- sented as a man of distinguished ability. After his re^ tirement from the Government of Newfoundland, he received the thanks of the House of Commons, and a pen- sion of £1200 per annum during his life. Captain Osborne appointed a sheriff, and likewise au- thorised the captains of the ships of war, then on the station, to hold surrogate courts for the decision of civil causes. These judges were afterwards denominated float- ing surrogates. Captain Osborne's instructions, however, stated that he was not to interfere with, and do nothing contrary to the statute of 10 and 11 William III., which conferred such arbitrary power on the fishing admirals. The deputy-governorship of Placentia ever since it was taken from the French, had been a separate command under the government of Nova Scotia, but on the ap- pointment of Governor Osborne, it was placed under his jurisdiction. Captain Osborne divided the inhabited parts of the island into convenient districts, levied a rate of half a quintal of fish on all boats and boats-rooms, for the build- ing of prisons, stocks, &c. ; he also appointed justices of the peace. The moat important settlements of the island at this time were Placentia, St. John's, Carbonear, Bay of AND AS'IT IS IN 1877. 11 Bulls, St. Mary's, Trepassy, Ferryland, Bay de Verd, Old Perlican, Trinity Bay, and Bonavista. The beneficial measures sought to be carried out by Governor Osborne for the better government of New- foundland were frustrated by the obstinate conduct of the fishing admirals, backed by false representations of the merchants in England. In 1731, Captain Clinton, of the Royal Navy, was ap- pointed Governor of Newfoundland, who made a report of the state of the island, in which he condemned the proceedings of the fishing admirals. Who the Governors of Newfoundland were from 1731 to 1737 does not clearly appear. In 1737, Captain Vanbrugh was Governor. Owing to the great expense and difficulty of taking persons to Eng- land for trial, it was now proposed to establish a Court of Oyer and Terminer, for the trial of persons guilty of capital crimes in the island. It is said, however, that the commission was clogged with such restrictions as ren- dered it useless, until some years afterwards. In 1740, the Right Hon. Lord George Graham was ap- pointed Governor, who was succeeded in the following year (1741) by the Hon. John Byng, whose squadron made numerous captures of Spanish vessels, Spain being then at war with England. In order to avoid the expense and risk of sending prizes to England for adjudication, a Vice-Admiralty Court was established at St. John's, the first judge of which was William Keen, a merchant, who was appointed naval officer, to collect the return? of the fishery, &c. The next Governor was Sir Charles Hardy, captain of H.M.S. "Jersey," who assumed the Government in 1744. In 1749, Captain (afterwards Lord) Rodney, of H.M.S. " Rainbow," was Governor. In 1750, Captain Francis William Drake was appointed Governor. During his ad- ministration, felons were first brought to trial in the island j,fm 1 .:'■ - 1 i i^ '.| t . : ' ! ■■-•"-« 1 ■ i '•i'..*M Ml '■'>'mt' '^ ^ t» if 12 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ I ill I'll! ill N instead of being sent to England. The Court, however, could only sit during the summer months, when the Governor was present. In 1753, Captain Bonfoy appears as Governor. It was in this year Lord Baltimore revived his claim to the pro- vince 01 Avalon ; but, in consequence of his having neg- lected to hold possession so long a time, his claim was not allowed. ^ In 1755, Captain Dorril was appointed Governor, who was succeeded in 1757 by Governor Edwards. In 1760, Captain Webb assumed the government. Dur- ing this year an attempt was made by a Mr. Scott and others to open an intercourse with the aborigines, or Red Indians ; but both he and his companions were treacher- ously murdered. \ In 1761, Lord Graves was Governor. So inconsider- able was the naval force on the station in this year that, in order to protect the homeward-bound vessels, a brig was equipped, with guns, at the merchants' expense, and the command was given to Lieut. John Neal. In conse- quence of the island being left in this unprotected state, it was visited in the following year by a French squadron, which arrived at Bay Bulls on the 24th June, and hav- ing landed their troops proceeded overland to St. John's, where they took the garrison, of only sixty-three soldiers, together with the officers and crew of H.M.S. "Grammont," then lying in port. They inflicted every kind of injury on the fishery and trade, and took Carbonear— which had hitherto resisted all aggression — and the village of Trinity. At the time this occurrence took place Governor Graves was in the "Antelope" engaged as a convoy to a large fleet of merchantmen; a sloop, however, was despatched to meet the Governor, who fell in with him on the Grand Bank and communicated an account of the devastations of the French fleet. The Governor, after adopting measures to secure his convoy, sent the sloop to Ferryland with a party of marines to fortify the (Isle aux Bois) Isle of il AND AS TT IS IN 1877. BoyH, and from thence to procecl to Halifax with des- patchcH to Admiral Lord ColviIl(5 and Sir Jeffrey Andierst, the commandere of the land and s*'a forcen, whilst Gover- nor Graves, in the " Antelope," repaired to Piacentia. He found the forts of Placenti/i in ruinn. Forts Fred- erick and Castle Hill, however, were irninodiately repaired., Immediately Lord Colville was made acquainted with the state of affairs at Newfoundland, he set sail for St. John's. In the mean time Sir Jeffrey Amherst directed his brother. Colonel Amherst, to collect troops from Louis- burgh, which he accordingly did, and joined the Admiral off St. John's on the 11th September, 1762, with eight hundred Highlanders and some provincial infantry. The French squadron, under Monsieur de Temay, the Admiral, was lying within the harbour of St. John's at anchor, and a much superior force to the English. Previous to the amval of Lord Colville from Halifax, Robert Carter, Esq., of Ferryland, and Mr. Brooks, of Bay Bulls, had consulted together, and at their own expense collected a number of bank-fishing or western boats, which they cut down, and metamorphosed into very tolerable row- galleys. This proceeding met the highest approbation of Lord Colville, who immediately availed himself of the advantages afforded by these boats for coasting along the surf -beaten shores. He manned them with natives, and embarked in each as many of the military as they could convey, with provisions, ammunition, &c., and appointed Mr. Carter commodore, and Mr. Brooks captain of the little squadron, and under cover of the evening shades despatched them to Torbay, where they arrived the en- suing morning. In the mean time a feint was made of landing the body of the troops from Lord Colville's squad- ron at Quidi Vidi, when a sharp contest ensued. The English fought up the precipice with desperation ; but the numbers of the French, and their superior advantage in situation, prevented the English dislodging them from their position, on Signal Hill. Nevertheless, the schema ! I '/I I i I .... «,lll W.'i<*H ■■■"'i§ f 14 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, „il m was complete ; the western-boat military, under command of Colonel Amherst, effected a march through the forest and swamps from Torbay, without having been observed, until they reached the rising and more clear ground, about one mile from the French position. A rapid stream flowed between the armies, and several skirmishes were fought during the frequent attempts made by the English to cross this stream, which was more than usually over-flown. In one of these conflicts Major McKenzie was severely wounded. The English now advanced upon Signal Hill, the strong position of the French, and in a short time drove the French from their guns. The French, however, still occupied some strong forts in the centre of the town, from which they were driven on the 17th of September, 1762, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. The French fleet under the command of Admiral de Temay, took no part in the engagement ; having escaped under concealment of a canopy of a thickly spreading fog put to sea, and the English fleet being driven off to sea in a heavy gale of wind, were unable to pursue them. About twenty men belonging to the English, besides Captain McDonald and Lieutenant Schuyler, of the Royal Dragoons, were killed, and Captain Baillie severely wounded. The French troops are said to have been some of the finest men be- longing to their army. In those days Robert Carter, Esq., supported a garrison on a small island called the (Isle aux Bois) Isle of Boys, situated near the entrance of the harbour of Ferryland, and Charles Garland, Esq., a detachment of military on an island, at the entrance of Carbonear. The services of these individuals were highly appreciated by the Government. Their descendants are numerous, and are among the most respectable inhabitants of Newfoundland. In 1763, on the 10th of February, the treaty of Paris was signed, by which France yielded to Great Britain all pretentions to Nova Scotia, Canada, Cape Breton, and all the North American Colonies, in return for which Great IT' ill'i: ii ' AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 15 Britain, confirmed the 13th article of the Treaty of Utrecht, which allowed the French to take and cure fish on the Northern and Western coasts of Newfoundland. The French were also permitted to fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, within three leagues of the shore, and fifteen from those of the Island of Cape Breton, whilst the small islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon at Newfoundland were ceded in perpetuity to them, on condition of not erecting any forts or fortifications thereon. About this time the coasts of Labrador, from the River St. John (opposite the Island of Anticosti) to the entrance of Hudson's Straits, was annexed to the Government of Newfoundland. The population at this period was up- wards of 13,000, only about one-half of whom were constant residents. The number of vessels employed by the English at this period was about 400 sail, which car- ried great quantities of fish to Ireland. The quantity of cod fish taken was 386,274 quintals; 694 tierces of salmon; and 1,598 tons of cod-liver oil, besides furs to the amount of £2,000. In 1764, Captain, afterwards Sir Hugh, Palliser, was appointed to administer the Government of Newfoundland. Captain Palliser is said to have been one of the most en- lightened and active of the Naval Governors of New- foundland. The rules and regulations which he made, relative to the fishery, were afterwards passed into law. During 1764, the Commissioners of Customs appointed a collector and comptroller at Newfoundland, in the place of a naval ofiicer who used to receive the duties from the fishing admirals. Newfoundland was now regarded as something more than a mere fishing station. In 1765, the navigation laws were extended to her, and she was declared one of His Majesty's " Plantations " or Colonies. These important changes were strongly resisted by the merchants at home, and the adventurers in the fisheries. During Captain ? r> •fc*lS m 16 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Palliser's administration Labrador was again annexed to| Canada. Sir Richard Bonnycastle says : — " His government was conducted with moderation and hu- manity, and although he had to deal with a very intractable race, yet, by patiently investigating the abuses which were as rife as ever, he succeeded in effecting much relief for the poor| fishermen, and in carrying through afterwards, by his advice, the Act of George III, statute 15, cap. 31, 1775, commonly I called * Sir Hugh Palliser's Act,* which, while it assisted the British merchant in his ship-fishery, enforced the payment of wages to the fisherman, aiid provided a heavy penalty, hitherto wanting, to oblige the masters of vessels to secure the return of the seamen to England. This was as ill received as it was I kindly meant ; and, in Chief Justice Eeeve's day, the mer- chants complained that such was its rigour towards them that | it was with the greatest difficulty they could carry on the fishery. It, however, secured the right of British Europekc subjects to the exclusive privileges of drying fish in Newfound- 1 land, and gave several bounties encouraging the fishery ; it controlled the frequently atrocious conduct of the masters of vessels towards their seamen in the payment of wages in articles of supply instead of money; and gave the fishing sailors a lien or prior claim on the fish and oil for their due I payment, empowering the Court of Session and Vice- Admiralty with competent jurisdiction." Sir Hugh Palliser was a warm friend of the celebrated navigator Captain Cook, under whom he made a survey of the coasts of Newfoundland. The following inter- esting account of Captain Cook is given by Sir Richard Bonnycastle : — I " Cook, the immortal navigator, first entered the navy as a volunteer, in the " Eagle " of 60 guns, to which Captain Palliser was soon afterwards appointed, in October, 1755. By his in- terest, and that of Cook's friends, as well as his own merits, he obtained a master's warrant, on the 10th May, 1759, or only four years after entering the navy as a common sailor. Palliser was his steady friend, and Cook joining the fieetfor Quebec in vl' >■ , . !(: AND AS IT IS IN 1877. If { the " Mercury," was employed in reconnoitering by Admiral Saunders, at the Captain's recommendation, as well as in making a chart of the St. Lawrence, which to this day is the best, ai- though it is said that Cook had never before used a peneil, and [knew nothing of drawing. On the 2'Jnd September, 1759, he was appointed by Lord Colville, as before mentioned, master of the " Northumberland," his flag-ship ; and being at Halifax during the winter, he applied himself to read Euclid and to the study of astronomy, and all the other branches of science Useful to a seaman. He went with the Admiral, in September, 1762, in the expedition to recapture Newfoundland from the [French, and having shewn great activity and diligence in sur- veying Placentia harbour and fortifications, Captain Graves, then Governor of Newfoundland, was struck with his sagacity, formed a friendship for him, and employed him wherever the [expedition went, in noticing the coast and navigation of the Iseas there. In 1762, Cook went to England, but returned with Ihis patron. Captain Graves, who, as Governor, obtained with |difficulty, an order for the establishment of a naval survey of lewfoundland, and got Cook appointed to carry it on. He surveyed St. Pierre and Miquelon, previous to the surrender of those islands to the French. Cook again returned home, and in 1764 Sir Hugh Palliser, his steady friend, having been made Governor, he went out with him to continue the survey, having received a commission as marine surveyor of Newfoundland md Labrador, on the 18th of April, 1764, with the " Grenville" Bchooner to attend him. In this arduous service he continued mtil the winter of 1767. His surveys are the only existing )nes, and he, moreover, explored the interior in many direc- tions, and laid down several large lakes. He also observed an eclipse of the sun at one of the Burgeo islands, near Cape Kay, in latitude 47° 36' 19" north, on the 5th August, 1766. His )bservation was sent to the Koyal Society, and published in a short paper in the 57th volume of the Philosophical Transac- tions ; and the same eclipse having been observed at Oxford, pe longitude of that part was well settled, and Cook first ob- iined the character of being an able mathematician. Some of lis survey marks still exist on that part of the coast. His sub- sequent career is well known, bnt the above account abridged [rem Kippis' Life of Captain Cook, cannot fail to be interesting B :li 1 1 -11 '::i^ Ml M NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, '■>M\ to every Newfoundlander ; and it is to be hoped that sonel means will be taken to preserve the survey marks on the soutbl west side of the island, or at least the most prominent of themf for independently of Cook's general fame, he has been the great] est friend to Newfoundland that it ever had — his accurate cha of it, and its seas, having made its importance very clear." In 1769, Governor Palliser was succeeded by CaptaiJ the Hon. John Byron, so well known by his voyages ii| the southern hemisphere under Lord Ajison. Govemo Byron was the first to issue a proclamation for the pr(^ tection of the native savages — the red Indians — arnon whom a war of extermination was carried on by tlij furriers and others. In 1772, Commodore Molineaux, who was afterwar(i| created Lord Shuldham, was appointed Governor of Ne\i foundland. On his assumption of the government i enforced the payment of customs duties, according io| scale sent to him from England. The collection of (x toms at St. John's was always subordinate to the collei tors of the Port of Boston, and as resistance to taxatic| by the mother country first commenced at Boston, so John's loudly protested against the introduction of dutij on the fishery, which had always been free, hence cause of Governor Molineaux enforcing the payment duties. In 1774, on the 5th September, the first congress America passed a decree suspending all importations f rol Great Britain, and discontinuing exports to her possessioj unless their complaints were redressed. In 1775, second congress carried this decree into effect. Newfoun land was at this time wholly dependent on the Ameria colonies, now the United States, for provisions whil amounted annually to upwards of £300,000 sterling,! $1,500,000. " To meet the first decree of Congress, the British Pa ment passed an Act, 15 George III., chap. 10, by which revolted colonies were excluded from the Newfoundland fisli ies, and a supplementary one declaratory of non-intercourseJ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 19 An alarming apprehension of want now prevailed, ves- sels wore immediately despatched to Ireland for provi- tions. Yet great privation and want was experienced khroughout the island, and to add to the distress, American )rivateers appeared on the coast, and so well acquainted ^ere they with the various harbours and coves that not infrequently they would run in and take vessels while lying at the merchants' wharves. In the year 1775 one of the heaviest storms ever known In Newfoundland took place. The sea suddenly rose twenty feet above its usual height, causing the destruction \i hundreds of fishing boats and numbers of large vessels, which three hundred persons perished. The destruction |)f property on the land was immense. Commodore Robert )uff was Governor during this year, who was succeeded 1776 by Rear-Admiral Montague, who was the first Ldmiral who had been appointed Governor. During this jear, by order of the King, a proclamation was issued for (he better protection of the red Indians. In 1777, by order of the Government of France, all the Prench men-of war as well as merchantmen left the island. In 1778, a treaty, for the mutual protection of each kher was entered into between France and the United states. During the year Governor Montague captured St. Pierre idMiquelon, and sent nearly 2,000 French, which he 3und residing there, to France. In 1779, Rear-Admiral Edwards assumed the Govern- lent of Newfoundland, and captured a number of French id American privateers. He was succeeded in the gov- rnment in 1782, by Vice- Admiral John Campbell, who ,d as his secretary, Mr. Aaron Graham, whose abilities, is said, were of essential service to the country. Mr. iraham was afterwards a police magistrate of London. Wing this year the English had the entire control of the sheries and of the island. In 1783, the treaty of peace permitted the citizens of Ml (i 20 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS* \ the United States to fish on the former footing, and perl mitted them also to cure and dry fish in the unsettled] harbours of Nova Scotia, the Magdalen Islands and La brador. It was agreed that France should renounce hei| right of fishing on that line of coast lying between Cat Bonavista and Cape St. John ; as had been allowed by tl treaty of Utrecht ; but from Cape St. John, situated oa the eastern side of the island, she was, after proceedir north, to extend her privilege down the western shores far as Cape Ray, instead of Point Riche. ' In 1784, the first Roman Catholic Bishop, Dr. O'Donnell arrived in Newfoundland. The Right Reverend J. Mullock, D.D., Roman Catholic Bishop of St. John's, saysl " On the 24th of October of that year, a proclamation wa] published pursuant to the instructions of His Majesty, Gejpr^ III. to the Governor, Justices of the Peace, and Magistral! of the Island, whereby liberty of conscience was allowed I all persons in Newfoundland, and the free exercise of suci modes of religious worship as are not prohibited by law, pr vided people be contented with a quiet and peaceable enjojj ment of the same, without giving offence or scandal to Gover ment — thus Catholicity was permitted and the days of oj persecution were happily at an end. It may be interestin especially to Catholics, to know the state of the Church heJ before that time — Protestantism being the established religioJ ministers were stationed in the principal settlements, but tu few priests in the island had no fixed abodes — they usual! came out disguised in the fishing vessels, seldom staid long, aa had no regular missions, as the surveillance of the local goij ernment was too strict. In the same year of toleration, 178 Dr. O'Donnell, the founder and father of the Church of NeJ foundland, landed in the island. Born in 1737, in Tipperarj he spent a large portion of his life in the Irish Franciscan Co vent of Prague, in Bohemia ; afterwards, as superior of tij Franciscans, in Waterford, and subsequently Provic'^iai uf tit order in Ireland. He was the first regularly authorized sioner in Newfoundland after it became a purely British settll ment, and no man ever had British interests more at heart— I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. lainly saved the Island to the British crown when a mutiny )roke out among the troops under the command of Colonel Skerrett. By his influence among the Irish population, he pre- sented the disaff'ection from spreading, and saved the colony. If such a service had been performed in these days, by one of the Dominant Church, his reward would be a peerage and a tension; to Dr. O'Dpnnell, the British government granted lot a peerage, but the munificent pension of £75 or £50 (I am lot sure which) per annum, for his life ; however, they acted consistently. Catholic loyalty is an affair of conscience, and consequently he only gave to Caesar what was due to Csesar. Ls long, however, as rewards are given by the nation to those |who do their duty, especially when that duty becomes, through Bxtraordinary circumstances, a great public benefit, so long will the stinginess of the Government of that day to Dr. O'Donnell 36 condemned by all right thinking men. Dr. O'Donnell was it first only Prefect Apostolic, that is, a priest exercising Epis- copal jurisdiction, and generally having, like the Prefect Apos- tolic of St. Peter's, the right of giving confirmation, which as i^e see by the practice of the Greek Catholic Cliurch is not essentially an Episcopal Sacrament, if 1 may call it so. The importance of the population now required direct Episcopal superintendence. The sovereign pontiff", to whom is committed the care of all the churches, saw that Newfoundland was des- tined to become the home of a fixed population and the resi- ience of a floating one. Accordingly, in 1796, on the 5th day }f Januaiy, the great pontifl^, Pius VI., the Confessor as well Doctor of the Faith, appointed Dr O'Donnell, Vicar Apos- (jolic of Newfoundland, and Bishop of Thyatira, inpartibus, and le was consecrated in Quebec, on the 21st September of the pame year." In l786,Kear- Admiral Elliot was appointed governor. In this officer's administration, very important and beneficial changes were made in the Court of Vice- Admiralty. The Let of 26 Geo. III., cap. 26, was also passed, continuing ^he bounties on the fisheries for ten years. Admiral Mark lilbank succeeded to the government in 1789, who estab- lished a court of common pleas, which was followed hy a m I -I I f^ I It - -I ^M • i , i M^<« ! « . 1 ' -*• >S«j ; ;! -■J I [ '■? 22 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, i illlll I : " court of criminal and civil jurisdiction, and of which Johnl Reeves, Esq., was appointed chief justice, who was a maul of extensive legal knowledge and great acquirements-l he rectified numerous abuses of the surrogate courts. Inl 1793, Mr. Reeves published the " History of the Goveraj ment of Newfoundland," which revealed a mass of infamjl and corruption. During this period Governor King administered thj government, who was succeeded in 1794 by Sir JamesI Wallace. In 1797, Vice- Admiral Waldegrave was appointedl governor, afterwards Lord Radstock, who exerted himselll in the cause of religion and the just administration of thJ laws. In 1796, the French, commanded by Admin^l Richery, with nine sail of the line, and some other small vessels of war, burnt the town and shipping of Bay BiillJ The following local occurrences are given by a gentlemaiil in St. John's, who took part in the proceedings of thJ periods referred to, and as the particulars narrated ar| not published in any history of Newfoundland, we laj| them before the reader. 1793. "The commencement of the revolutionary war wii France gave rise to important changes in the Govemmenll departments in all the colonies. The first movement in Nort| America was the taking of the Islands of St. Pierre and Miquef Ion from the French, by a brigade from Halifax. The left win I of the Nova Scotia Fencibles, a corps then forming chiefly froml refugee soldiers, who had settled in Nova Scotia after the firsJ American War, were ordered here to relieve the detachment of the 4th or King's Own Regiment, who were ordered to joiif their head quarters at St. Peter's. In the course of the summerJ arrangements were made for forming three or four volunteel companies, including one of Artillery. Thriee companies weij officered by the principal gentlemen of St. John's, and soon fiUe up by respectable tradesmen and fishermen of the town. " During tlie first American War, it had been thought expej dient to erect redoubts on the roads from the adjacent out-porb viz. : — Torbay Road, at Cox's Marsh, two redoubts mountid nil I I: ! AND AS IT IS IN 1877. two IH pounders carronades each, with a guard-house for a sta- tionary gunner ; and on the same road at Pipestock-hill, about a mile from Torbay, three guns were mounted ; and at the vil- lage of Torbay, a battery of four long 6 pounders with a guard- house and a sergeant's weekly command. Two or three guns were mounted on the rising ground north-east end of Twenty- mile Pond, on the Portugal Cove road. There were also a guard-house and battery at Hayes's Farm, on the Petty-har- Ibour Road. 1794. " Estimates had been prepared and approved of for I repairing and improving the existing defences, and plans had also been submitted to the Board of Ordnance for fortifying Signal Hill, which having met the approbation of the Honour- able Board, preparations were entered into for that object pro- portionate to the magnitude of the undertaking. " Early this summer, Colonel Skinner, Commanding Royal Engineer, received a letter of service directing him to raise a Regiment of Fencible Infantry, to be called the Royal New- foundland Fencibles, of which he was appointed Colonel ; and having the appointment of his officers, selections were made here and at the out-ports, of such gentlemen as were likely, from their loyalty, responsibility and influence, soon to raise the quotas of men required for their respective commissions. " The recruiting service commenced with great spirit about I the latter end of September, at the close of the fishery, and in two months more than half the number were enlisted. An Adjutant, late a non-commissioned officer of the Royal Artil- lery, a Quartermaster, and Sergeant-major, arrived from Eng- land. 1795. " It has been stated that the Nova Scotia Regiment was chiefly formed of old refugee soldiers from the American Army, many of whom were well disciplined non-commissioned oflScers, and were of great service in drilling and forming the young recruits of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment ; and it was astonishing how soon the latter became fit for duty ; when this service was performed the Nova Scotia Regiment were ordered to return to Halifax. " In the mean time some buildings were erected at Signal Hill, and the first block-house commenced. " There being no carriage road to Signal Hill, all the guns ■ ; I • : M I 4 m I "-'Si :''■•■ >n% ■ "ft: 5" ! \\ 24 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, required for the Hill were taken by men of the garrison, and parbuckled up the face of the rock, at Crow's Nest, and thence to the respective batteries; a most laborious and dangerous | service. " Preparations for the more effectual defence of the Narrows I were also going on, in the formation of three furnaces for' heating shot, viz. : at Fort Frederick, "Chain Rock, and Fort William. " A large naval force from different stations met here that summer, consisting of the " Monarch," 74, the Governor's ship ; | the " Ramilies," 74 ; the " Adamant," and another 50 ; four fri gates, and three sloops of war, all in the harbour at the same | time. 1 796. " The levy of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment had I been completed the preceding fall ; and it was found that the barracks at Forts Townsend and William were insufficiert^ to I contain so many men ; it was therefore ordered that the ga?!r- son should go under canvas for a few months while the 6k barracks were being repaired and cleansed, and some of the new I barracks at Signal Hill finished, and also for the greater facility of practising the officers and men of that young regiment in the indispensable tactics and operations of the field. A camp was accordingly formed on the general parade giound. with a small park of artillery, of which the troops took posso;>aion about the middle of June. The improved defences of the Narrows being finished, some experiments were tried with heated shot before His Excellency Admiral Sir James Wallace, the Governor, which gave general satisfaction. A large platform of wood was built on South Point called the Duke of York's Battery,! on which were mounted eight 24-pounder guns, three or four 18-pounder carronades, and two 10-inch mortars. The Block- house was so forward as to admit six guns to be mounted on the second floor. The regiment by this time — the latter part of| August — was approaching fast to systematic regularity and dis cipline, and of approved internal economy. "Such being the state of the garrison and fortifications, I together with the efficiency of the volunteer companies, a fine set of men, particularly the company of volunteer artillery, selected from among the flower of the inhabitants of St. John's — as well as the undoubted loyalty of the inhabitants — a wish seemed AND AS IT IS IN 1S77. 25 to be inspired, that flomething might happen to test the fidelity of the whole. If such was the case, it was not long before that wish was realized, for early in the morning of the first day of September, the signal was made for an enemy's fieet to the southward, which proved to be that of the French Admiral Richery, consisting of seven sail of the line, two frigates, and some other small vessels of war. The signal of alarm and de- fiance was instantly made at Signal Hill and all the forts. There was only the Governor's ship and one frigate in port. " His Excellency Admiral Sir James Wallace, a governor of warlike celebrity, immediately proclaimed martial law, and ordered all the men in the town fit for service — merchants with their domestic and wharf establishments, captains of vessels with their crews, planters, with their fishermen and shoremen —to muster in front of the camp, where they were enrolled and told off" to the forts and batteries, and were not to be dismissed until the governor's pleasure was known. The enemy stood off and on, near Cape Spear, all that day ; and during the night the road was opened from Maggotty Cove Bridge through the inclosures leading to Signal Hill, by direction of the governor, in order to expedite the transport of ammunition, stores and provisions to Signal Hill, as well as the camp equipage, which had been struck in the evening ; and by daylight on the morn- ing of the second, the tents were all pitched on the summit of the hill, from Duke of York's Battery to Cuckold's Head, and also on the south side hill, over Fort Amherst. This warlike demonstration, with the display of three or four thousand men oil the hill, must have had a very intimidating effect on Mon- sieur, when viewed from sea. This day passed off, under some- thing like a passive hesitation on the part of the enemy ; a great deal of telegraphing and boat communication took place with the flag-ship, and towards evening the fleet stood a little further off to sea. Reconnoitering parties were out along shore, north and south, day and night, in anticipation of a landing being effected. " A great many seamen were employed that day in raising the chain across the narrows ; the great capstan at the south side being assisted by three schooners placed at equal distances from Chain Rock, and by grappling the chain with their an- chors, and heaving altogether, they raised it to the surface of i i ^. \ I m I it -1 1 i , ) ■'.-.J .*'.ia«i , 1 tm ■' i m I I "!!! 26 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, lllllili Ml the water ; these vessels were also charged with combustibles, and were intended to be used as fire-ships on the enemy coming in contact with the chain. The flag-ship and the frigate wore also placed at enfilading distance in the harbour to give them a warm reception on entering the Narrows. " On the first appearance of the enemy, the shot furnaces were kindled ; it was found difficult, however, to preserve the pro- per degree of heat, and to prevent fusion, which happened to some of the shot. On the third the enemy formed a line and stood in for the Narrows, when it was expected their intention was to attempt a landing. They stood on till the van ship was near the extreme range of the guns at Fort Amherst, when she and all of them put about and stood off to sea. They remained in sight for several days, and at last bore away to the soutli- ward, and arrived at Bay Bulls, where they landed ; and to consummate their dastardly conduct, they drove the poor de- fenceless inhabitants to the woods — \ " * Burnt their atores and houses, Took their fish and oil, The hard-earned produce Of their yearly toil.' " Thus terminated the great excitement occasioned by the appearance of so formidable a French armament. " The detachments at the respective posts were continued till it was ascertained that the French fleet had entirely left the coast. " During the alarm, there was only one old man or a small boy allowed on each merchant's wharf, vessel or fishing room ; all the rest were stationed at the forts and batteries. " A large proportion of civilians were stationed at Signal Hill, where they performed a vast deal of labour — the volun teer companies with their officers setting the emulative example — in dragging guns, mortars and carriages, provisions and stores of all kinds, through the recently opened and very rugged road to the hill. " The order for embodying the inhabitants being now re- versed, they returned to their respective avocations, under the publicly-marked approbation of the governor, for their regu- larity, devoted loyalty, and attention to military discipline, under the privations to which they were subjected during the emergency/' ANT) AH IT la IN 1877. 27 In 1705, the quantity of cod fi.sh taken was, fi()0,()0() (juintals, 4,900 seals, besides a great quantity of salmon, &c. — the whole amountinjjf to about one million and a half pounds sterling, or six million dollars. During the administration of Admiral Waldgerave, Richard Routh, Esq., {resided as Judge of the Supreme Court. Governor Pole held the reins of government in 1800, and was succeeded, in 1802, by Admiral Lord Oambier, who encouraged the education of the people, and pro- moted the general interests of the country. In this year the treaty of Amiens was signed, by which the French were reinstated in their possession of St. Pierre and Miquelon, and in their concurrent rights of the fishery. During the rule of Admiral Gambier, a red Indian female was taken and brought to St. John's. In 1804, Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower was appointed governor, in whose administration Sunday-schools were established, and the Benevolent Irish Society formed for the relief of the poor. Admiral Holloway assumed the government in 1807. In his time a Volunteer Militia was formed, and the first post office established, but no packet or regular mail communication. The Court of Judica- ture, which had hithei-to been merely the subject of experiment, was made perpetual by an Act of Parliament in 1809. The coast of Labrador, which for some time previously had been separated from the government of Newfoundland, was re-annexed to it ; and an ineffectual attempt was also made, under the direction of Lieutenant Spratt, R.N., to open an intercourse with the Indians. In 1807, the first newspaper was printed in New- foundland. In 1810, Vice- Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth assumed the government, who visited various parts of the island, and issued a proclamation for the protection of the red Indians. He also sent a small armed schooner, under the command of Lieutenant Buchan, R.N., to the P. % S I I I If n 1 1 :_■} ' t "> ' (if ' ■ '-••«• i i ^^^ ; . ! ■::.,^ 28 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, W^ M ^ m Bay of Exploits, to open a friendly intercourse with the Intlians, which, however, terminated very disastrously. Two marines had been left at an Indian encampment as a guard, while Lieutenant Buchan proceeded in search for another encampment. On his return, however, he found his two marines decapitated, and that the whole of the savages liad decamped. In 1811, an Act authorizing the holding -of Surrogate Courts on the Labrador was passed by the British Parliament ; several important changes were made in the letting of ship's rooms, and the streets of St John's were greatly improved. A reward was also offered of one hundred pounds to any person who should bring about a friendly understanding with the red Indians. In 1812, war was declared by the United States of America against Great Britain, on the 17th of June, which produced much excitement and alarm in Newfoundland During the summer the small-pox prevailed in St. John's. The North American fleet shortly after arrived at St. John's, consisting of three sail of the line, twenty-one frigates, and 37 sloops, brigs, and schooners of war. In 1818, V^ce- Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keates was appointed governor. Owing to the wars, the fisheries were left at this period almost exclusively in the hands of the British, who had few competitors in the markets abroad; this, together with the circulation of money arising from the naval and military establishments, as well as from the prizes brought into St. John's, from time to time, produced an unexampled degree of prosperity. In 1814, one million two hundred thousand quintals of codfish were exported, valued at the enormous price of £2 per quintal ; twenty thousand quintals of core-fish in bar- rels ; six thousand tons of cod or train oil, at £32 per ton; one hundred and fifty-six thousand seal skins, at five shillings each ; four thousand six hundred and sixty-six tons of seal oil, at £36 per ton ; besides salmon, mackerel, furs and berries, to the amount of £10,000 ; the whole fijnounting to no less a sum than two million, eight hun- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 29 dred and twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred and seven- ty-six pounds, or eleven million, one hundred and forty- four thousand dollars. Provisions at this time were at an enormous price. Biscuit sold at £6 or $30 per cwt. ; flour at £8 or $40 per barrel ; pork at <£12 or $60 per barrel ; butter at 3 shillings or 75 cents per lb. ; salt £2 or $10 per hogshead, and shop goods in proportion. At this period the wages of fishermen were, for a com- mon hand £70 or $350 for the season, commencing the beginning of June and ending about the last of October ; and for a prime hand or " splitter" £140 or $700. In the same year, on the 17th June, the Treaty of Paris was concluded, when a general depression and fall in the value of the produce of the fisheries immediately took place throughout the Island, attended with a num- ber of mercantile failures. In 1817, Vice- Admiral Pickmore assumed the govern- ment. During his administration, two destructive fires occurred in St. John's and destroyed property to a great amount (for further account of which, see district of St. John.) The winter of 1818 is said to have been the coldest ever experienced in Newfoundland, in the midst of which Governor Pickmore died. He was the first governor who had ever remained on the island during the winter season. His remains were placed for some time in a vault of the church, and subsequently carried to England in His Majesty's ship " Fly." The temporary management of affairs was assumed by Captain Bowker, of H. M. S. " Sir Francis Drake." In 1818, Vice- Admiral Sir Charles Ham- ilton was appointed governor, who was the first governor who permanently resided in the island. During this period the fisheries were very successful, and a purer administration of justice prevailed ; at this time Francis Forbes, Esq., afterwards Sir Francis, an English barris- ter, was Chief Justice, who was put into oftice on the 4th of August, 181G, which he filled for six years. His talents ,r ill f '■1! ' » vV| i I ^.. J , f ^1 |i !H| f-r- / 30 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, U as a judge are said to have been of a superior order. Mr. Morris says : — ■: ; " No sooner did he take his place upon the bench of the Supreme Court, than the old despotic system, as if by magic, vanished before him. When it was attempted to make the rules, orders and proclamations have the force of laws ; when tomes of them were heaped on the table of the court, to the utter discomfiture of the advocates of the monopolists, he said he viewed them in no other light than as bundles of waste paper, which could not have the slightest authority with the court. For the first time the people of Newfoundland discov- ered the whole system, under which they had so long been governed, to be a despotic usurpation of power, equally opposed to law as to their inherent rights and privileges of British sub- jects. From this time, it may be said, the English code suc- ceeded the mercantile code — the reign of the monopolist w^s no more." f> t' In 1819, an Indian female was captured by an armed party in the month of March, and taken to St, John's, where she was kindly treated by Lady Hamilton and others. She was afterwards sent back with presents to her tribe, but she died before she reached them. At this time the laws were administered in the out-posts of the island, by resident and floating surrogate courts, from which parties could appeal to the supreme court in St. John's, if the suit exceeded £40. The magistrates also held courts of session, which had jurisdiction in cases not exceeding forty shillings, and in cases of assault. Sir Richard Bonnycastle, and | Mr. McGregor observes, there has been no instance of a British colony so inade- quately provided for, in the administration of its internal affairs, as Newfoundland. Always regarded as a mere fiiL^hing station, the energies of its 'population were also thus always checked, and the interest, the obvious and actually necessary interest, of the merchant adventurers in the fishery was, to keep as much as possible in their own hands, and, as in the case of India, governed by a AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 31 mercantile body, to exclude competition from without or within. •/• r - In 1822, Mr. Forbes resigned the Chief Justiceship of Newfoundland, and was succeeded in the office by Richard Alexander Tucker, Esquire, afterwards Registrar of Upper Canada, where he died in 1873. In 1824, in consequence of the partial and corrupt ad- ministration of justice in the sunogate courts having been represented to the Home Government, an Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament " for the better Ad- ministration of Justice in Newfoundland," when most im- portant and beneficial changes took place. In 1825, Captain (afterwards Admiral) Sir Thomas Cochrane assumed the civil government of the island. In 1826, on the 2nd of January, a Royal Charter; granted by the king, under authority of an Act of Parlia- ment, was promulgated : The Surrogate Courts were now abolished, and the charter provided that the Supreme Court should be held by a Chief Judge and two assistant Judges ; that the island should be divided into three cir- cuits — northern, central, and southern ; that at each of these three separate circuit courts, one or other of the three judges should preside ; tha'/ the Supreme Court should admit a sufficient number of qualified attorneys and soli- citors to practise in the several courts, and to grant letters of administration and probates of wills. The salary of the Chief Justice was to be twelve hundred pounds ster- ling per annum, and that of the two assistant judges, seven hundred each. It also provided that the Governor should annually appoint a high sheriff, who was to enter into recognizances of £5,000, with two securities of £2,000 each, for the due performance of his duties ; and that in causes exceeding £500 sterling, appeals might be made from the Supreme Court to the King in Council. The first two assistant judges appointed to act in con- junction with Chief Justice Tucker were John William Molloy, Esq., and Augustus Wallet des Barres, Esq. Mr. I """'if ^:»l il ■ 1 i I I ii iwi if I i. u 32 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, I. )• V 'I 'B mm . li i 'UHiililii' Molloy iQ a short time was removed from office, and suc- ceeded by Edward Brabazon Brenton, Esq., at whosel decease in 1845, George Lilley, Esq., was appointed to fill the office, and on the death of Mr. Lilley in 1847, James Simms, Esq., the late attorney -general, was appointed, when Edward M. Archibald, Esq., was af)pointed attorney-l general, now British consul in New Yorlc City. Mr. Des Barres held the office of judge from the granting of the charter to 1858, when, under the responsible system of government, the Parliament of Newfoundland pensioned off Messrs. Des Barres and Sinnns, and appointed Bryan Bobinson, Esq., a member of the Irish bar, and long a leading practitioner at the bar of the island, and Philip F. Lilley, Esq., late attorney-general of Newfoundland, in their place as assistant judges of the Supreme Court Mr. Lilley was the first member of the Newfoundland] bar elevated to the bench. ^; ' "^ The population at this time (1826) is said to have been| about 55,000. In 1827, a " Boesthic Society" was formed in Stl John's, having for its object the civilization of the redj Indians. W. E. Cormack, Esq., the president of the so- ciety, travelled through the interior of the country, but| without meeting with a single Indian. (See " Red In- dians," in another part of this volume.) Sir Thomas Cochrane was the first naval officer, hold-| ing the appointment of governor, detached from the com- mand of the squadron on the station. He was assisted | by an executive council, composed of the judges, the com- mandant of the garrison, and the collector of the customs,! Sir Thomas was very fond of show, his aides-de-camp were called colonels of militia, although no militia existed] in the island. Governor Cochrane, however, was an intelligent and I enterprising man, and promoted the interests of the country by encouraging agriculture, opening roads, and the erection of public buildings. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. In 1827, Sir Thomas Cochrana visited England, and luring his absence the temporary administration of the Jovernment devolved on Chief Justice Tucker. During lis year, James Crowdy, Esq., was appointed Secretary the colony. Arthur H. Brooking, Esq., was Collector If H.M. Customs. In 1828, the building of Government House com- lenced, and a road opened from St. John's to Portugal t!ove. II- -.-.'■'..v-^ ■ "■- - ■ ■" .- ■ " '. ' , V ' :." In 1829, the true position of the Virgin Rocks was scertained by one of His Majesty's ships. These dan- irous shoals are situate on the western edge of the lirand Bank, 18 leagues S.E. by E. from Cape Race, in It. 46° 26' 15" north ; long. 50' 56' 35" west. In 1830, several benevolent societies were formed, lUed "Fishermen's and Shoremen's Associations," and [Mechanics' Societies." In 1831, Governor Cochrane again went to England, luring this year, numerous petitions were presented to fis Majesty's Government for constituting a permanent )lony by the establishment of a local legislature. These jtitions, however, were strongly opposed by the mer- lants in England connected with the Newfoundland bde. In 1832, a Representative Assembly was granted by [is Majesty William IV., and, at the same time, Governor (ochrane obtained a new commission, by which he was jvested with enlarged authority. It empowered him to )nvoke a Colonial Parliament, to create a Legislative id Executive Council, composed of seven persons, any of [hom he could suspend from acting if he found just cause Wso doing. He was authorized to divide the island [to nine districts, townships, or counties ; to negative any [U which the Assembly should pass contrary to his will, id to adjourn, prorogue, or dissolve the same. The House of Assembly consisted of fifteen members, ie qualification for which was : AH persons of the full , t • ! :. : 1 , 1 1 1 • « f ; % . $ % n -i t,^mi ■■-Hi . j ' ■"%' s'l 1 ■;; *'»»"1> \ ■ '■•imi : ■■>*i : ^^^ \-.i\ •■■ •! ^ "' ■ 'li^ ^il ■ :1i. ^^^ ■■■a ' .; ■ "'l i ' ■ I i **.«*« ' 1!^ 1^ f M!' i f ill !V !lll!ilil I iiiiii i lililili 34 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, w age of twenty-one years, being of sound understanding] natural-born subjects, or lawfully naturalized — neve| having been convicted of any infamous crime, and havii for two years next immediately preceding the day of elecl tion, occupied, as owner or tenant, a dwelling-house witlij in the island. The electors were the whole male popula tion of twenty-one years of age, occupying a dwelling] house, either as owner or tenant for one year only. In 1833, on New Year's Day, the first session of M Colonial Parliament was opened by Sir Thomas Cochranef when some beneficial laws were enacted, shortly afii which Chief -Justice Tucker resigned, in consequence ol\ misunderstanding between the House of Assembly the Legislative Council, of which Mr. Tucker waB presil dent. On the subject of taxation, Mr. Tucker conteW that the trade and state of the country in general ¥ii| not able to sustain a revenue. The Kevenue Bill, hof| ever, passed in the House of Assembly, but, in accor ance with the President's views, was rejected in tli Council. The General Assembly was adjourned, and tli matter was referred to the Secretary of State, who oveil ruled the objection of the Council. Mr. Tucker was m\ ceeded in the office of Chief Justice by Henry Joli Boulton, Esq., late Attorney-General of Upper Canada. During this year, Newman W. Hoyles, Esq., was ajj pointed Treasurer of the colony, at whose decease, 1837, Patrick Morris, Esq., succeeded to the office, andi the death of Mr. Morris, in 1849, Robert Carter, Esf R.N., was appointed, who continued to hold office una the introduction of Responsible Government, when he wa| superseded by the then Receiver-General, the Hon. Thoi Glen. /.- " ^" : In 1834, Captain, afterwards Admiral, Henry Prescot^ arrived on the 1st of November, and assumed the Cover ment. Sir Thomas Cochrane and family departed fij England on the 6th of the same month. The Treasury i this period was completely empty, and one of the AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 35 leasures of the new governor was to issue Treasury notes Ito the amount of £5,600, in accordance with the provi- sions of an Act passed in the previous Session of the Legis- lature. The imports of Newfoundland this year amounted to i618,757 = $3,093,785, and the exports to£826,659 = $4,- 133,295, leaving a balance in favour of the colony of £207,- m, or $1,039,510. During this year, 828 British and 20 Lmerican and Spanish ships arrived, besides which about TOO schooners were employed in the fisheries, of which 358 rere engaged in the seal fishery. The number of vessels employed at the Bank fishery this year, was estimated at ibout 20, where formerly no less than 700 vessels were engaged. The population now had amounted to about 70,000. There were at this time seven newspapers pub- lished in the island — five in St. John's, and two in Con- |;eption Bay. In 1834, the Criminal Calendar exhibited a great amount )f crime, four persons were convicted of murder, and exe- buted. In 1835, in the sixth Session of the Local Legislature, m Act was passed imposing an import duty of two and a- lalf per cent, on certain goods, wares, and merchandize, ^hich the following year left a surplus fund in the Trea- sury. During this year the freedom of the press was attempted ^0 be put down by personal violence. Mr. Winton, editor bf the Public Ledger, (the leading newspaper published in )t. John's) denounced the Roman Catholic Clergy (whom le conceived to have unjustly and unnecessarily inter- ferred in the election of members to the House of Assem- )ly), was waylaid by several persons masked, and in the Jpen day, on the road between Carbonear and Harbour Irace, was torn from his horse, beaten in a most brutal lanner, and left bleeding on the road side with both ears but off. The pei-petrators of this crime have never been "scovered, although a reward of £1,500 or $6,000 was )ffered for their detection and conviction. . i 1 i , k I : : 1 f > i ll ' : 1 I I ; i t "I 36 'i:l I' iiiili ill Ji! muk^i it NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ In 1836 an Act was passed limiting the future duration i of the House of Assembly to four years. About this period appears to have been the greatest political trouble iii| Newfoundland. The poor people had not a vestige of liberty, and were the merest tools and slaves of party! The merchants on the one hand threatened them with the refusal of supplies necessary for the support of theirl families, if they refused to vote for their (the merchants')! candidate for the House of Assembly. On the other handl the Roman Catholic clergy held over their heads the thunl der of excommunication, if they refused to vote for the! candidate of the clergy ; hence political strife prevailed tol an alarming extent between Protestants and Catholies-I the population of the island being about half and half ofl the two denominations. The Protestants were called th{ Conservatives, and the Catholics the Liberals. Each partjj had their choice men, and the people voted blindly. Nptl one man in a himdred had any thing to do directly orl indirectly in selecting the candidate whom he had assistd| in electing. About this time Chief Justice Boulton made a speech at a public dinner, which gave great offence to the Roma Catholics. He afterwards altered the scale of jury fee and the mode of striking juries, also the old acknowledge claim of the fisherman's lien for the payment of his wagesj upon the proceeds of the voyage ; for these and simila acts he was strongly denounced by the Roman CatholiJ press. Mr. Boulton, very injudiciously, descended fron the bench and pleaded his own cause before two judg of the Court of which he was Chief Judge, againist libel^ upon his own public conduct. ' Petitions from the Roman Catholics were forwarded the Home Government, praying for his removal ; and lij was charged by the House of Assembly before Her Maje ty's Privy Council with being a political paiiizkn and perverter of the administration of justice. Dr. Lushin£ was employed as counsel by the House of Assembly, sd I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 37 Mr. Burge by Chief Justice Boulton. The Privy Council exonerated Mr. Boulton from all charges of corruption in I the exercise of his judicial functions, but recommended his removal from oflSce, which was confirmed by the Queen on the 5th July, 1838. The Rev. Dr. Dixon, late President of the Methodist Conference in England, during his visit to Canada in 1848 says: ^;-..-,;::, ,^- .,....„ ;,, ■. .v.'- 'i ■ .^ " On board the steamer we met Chief Justice Robinson and Mr. Boulton, late Chief Justice of Newfoundland, now a resi- dent in Toronto, and one of the members of the House of Assembly. These gentlemen belonged to different grades in politics, Mr. Robinson being at the head of the Conservatives and the leading member of the late Government ; Avhilst Mr. Boulton belongs to the Liberals, and supports the present party in power. They were going on circuit, the one as a judge and the other as counsel. We found them very agreeable men. Mr. Boulton, whom I met again on board the " America " on my return to this country, complained much of the treatment he had met with in connection with his office of Chief Justice of Newfoundland." About two years previous to his death, Mr. Boulton also complained to the writer of the bad treatment he received from the Home Government, and particularly by Admiral Prescott, the then Governor. In 1838, John Gervase Hutchinson Bourne, Esq., Fel- low of Magdalen College, Oxford, arrived in Newfound- land as the successor to Mr. Boulton in the Chief Justice- ship of the island. In about two years the Legislature voted £35,000 or $175,000 for making roads and bridges, and agriculture began to be pursued much more extensively. Schools were also established in various parts of the island. A writer in the English Metropolitan Magazine, for 1839, thus describes the state of Newfoundland at this period : — " I am now come to an important epoch in the history of Newfoundland, and one fruitful of troubles. The Chief Justice 1:1 Pi 88 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, il m m V had by this time become tl e idol of one party, and the abhor- red of the other. By the wealthier merchants and gentry he was adored, and looked upon as their only stay ; while by the Catholic, or liberal party, he was considered a tyrant and op- pressor. He unfortunately promoted these opposite opinions | by attending public meetings, and making party speeches; and, instead of contenting himself with firmly and temperately I resisting aggression, he seemed to court occasions of conten- tion. He made abrupt alterations wherever he had the power | to do so, and while his law was probably correct, his conduct in other respects was by no means worthy of admiration. Be- 1 tween the Governor and him there was understood to be no I similarity of sentiment, although there was no open quarrel. " Writs for a new election were immediately issued, and the I legislature was appointed to meet in January. The Catholic portion of the population was openly excited, and indeed cojdi-J pelled by the priesthood, to vote for candidates of their noibi- nation, and the Conservative party were very generally de- feated. Serious riots took place in Harbour Grace, and similar I excesses were prevented in St. John's, only by the presence of | the military. " Bespecting these riots, some magistrates having made re- presentations, the Governor laid them before the Council, These representations occasioned the production to the board I of a returned writ ; and the Chief Justice perceiving it to be | unsealed, immediately pronound it to be invalid. The attorney- general, the only other legal member, coinciding with him iD| that opinion, the matter was referred to the Secretary of State, and the meeting of the legislature was further prorogued. The I Secretary of State admitted the objection, and directed a new election ; a measure greatly to be regretted, as, on the question being subsequently submitted for t- opinion of the law officers of the crown, the original elections were declared to be perfectly ] legal. " So novel a circumstance as that of a double election was I allowed to pass neither unnoticed nor uncensured by the| Liberals. They afifected to represent it as a trick for their over- throw, although nothing could be more palpable than the im- possibility of the executive's influencing the returns, had it I even been disposed to make the attempt. The Conservatives | ilii \\\m wmm AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 39 low abandoned the field altogether. Consequently no dis- turbance occurred in any district, and the session was opened 3n the 3rd of July. " The composition of the House of Assembly was much in- ferior to that of the former ; the new members being in gene- ral of a low, and some of them of the very lowest, grade of society. Previously existing passions had been lately still fur- Ither inflamed by a variety of prosecutions connected with the loriginal election proceedings, and principally consequent upon Ipresentments by the grand jury. The sentences upon those Iconvicted of riot or assault were by the Home Government jdeemed severe, and, upon petition, in a great degree remitted. " The first act of the House was to displace the officers ap- Ipointed to it by the Crown, and their proceedings, generally, throughout the session, were of a corresponding character, being violent and personal, having for their object the gratification of the friends and the injury of the opponents of the dominant party. There was throughout a contest between the Council and the House of Assembly, maintained on both sides with much heat ; and at length the prorogation took place, without any appropriation of money for the services of the year, the Bill passed by the Assembly having been rejected by the Council. A delegation of three members of the House of Assembly pro- ceeded to England for the purpose of making a statement of supposed grievances, and of instituting charges against the Chief Justice. These last were submitted to a committee of the Privy Council, which exonerated Mr. Boulton as regarded his judicial decisions, but recommended his removal from the colony. " On the 20th of June, 1838, commenced the yearly session, and the result of t^^e appeal by the Council and Assembly re- spectively to He. --lajesty on the rejection of the Appropriation Bill of the last y <)ar having been previously transmitted to the Governor, the ofi'er of her royal mediation was communicated to both Houses. The Queen recommended the adoption of that Bill by the Council, but suggested to the Assembly certain rules of conduct for its future guidance in similar cases. With infinite difficulty the Bill was carried in Council by the official members present, and the casting vote of one other ; the re- maining three members opposing it to the utmost, and ulti- r% ■ ■■••: 9- 40 'I II ii' m"'\' NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ mately protesting against it. Thus ceased an embarrassineu which had been sensibly felt by the public ; but a new subjwl of discord quickly arose. An altercation took place in tJ streets of St. John's betwe.en Mr. Kent, a member of the Houjjj of Assembly, and Dr. Kielley, a medical practitioner. UpoJ complaint made by Mr. Kent, Mr. Kielley was taken inJ custody by the Serjeant-at-Arms, and brought to the bar of tii House on the following day, the 27th of August. Being caiy upon for explanation, he use.i, in the heat of passion, venl opprobrious language towards Mr. Kent. Upon this he was n\ manded till the sixth, when he was required to apologise, upon his refusal to do so, was committed to jail by the Speaker'i^ warrant to the Sheriff. The next day he was, by a writ i habeas corpus, brought before a Judge of the Supreme Court,! by whose order he was released, and upon this being stated tol the House by the Sheriff, when directed to produce his prisonetl at the bar, on the 11th, both the Judge and the Sheriff vJeJ immediately arrested by the Speaker's warrant, the former witli| indecent violence. Upon this being officially made known to tli Governor, he signified his intention of proroguing the Assembljl and on Monday, the 13th, it was prorogued accordingly fwl seven days. By this measure the prisoners were at once liberateil and the members were allowed time to cool. When the legij| lature was re-assembled, business proceeded, though not, course, harmoniously ; and on the 25th of October the sessiool was closed, provision having having been made for the yearljl routine of government. In the previous month Mr. Bourne,! Mr. Boulton's successor in the office of Chief Justice, badi arrived, but, by a wise provision, he has not, nor will any judgel in future have, a seat in the Council. A session of the SuprenKJ Court was held in the following December, when Mr. Kiellejl brought an action against the Speaker, other members, officers of the House, for false imprisonment ; but privilegel being pleaded in demurrer, the Chief Justice and Judge! Desbarres decided in favour of the plea, while the remainingi judge, Mr. Lilly, retained his former opinion. An appeal tol Her Majesty in Council was entered, and a colonial barristol proceeded to London to take the necessary steps for its prose^j cution. „ ' ' V "An elaborate opinion of Her Majesty's Attorney and Solicitoil AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 41 Generals was forwarded officially to the Governor. This opinion denies the power of committal assumed by the House, and con- sequently tends to allay the apprehension which could not but be entertained by the most dispassionate and impartial mind, of the evils likely to arise from an arbitrary power of imprison- ment being possessed by such a body." In 1840, a regular sailing packet between St. John's and Halifax, once a fortnight, had commenced under the orders of the Postmaster-General, and a regular post-office established at St. John's, of which William Solomon, Esq., was appointed postmaster. On the 5th of November, H.M. steamer "Spitfire" arrived I at St. John's, bringing from Halifax a detachment of men I for the Royal Newfoundland Companies. After remain- ing a few days, she sailed for England. This was the tirst steamer which ever appeared in a port of Newfound- i land. In 1841, on the 26th of April, Governor Prescott dis- I solved the Local Parliament, and in consequence of riotous proceedings at the election of a member in Conception Bay (in the room of one who had died) in which several I persons were shot, and a house burnt, the Constitution I was suspended. Captain Prescott was the last of a long line of naval I governors who ruled Newfoundland, and for the first time a military governor of high rank, in the person of Major, afterwards Lieutenant-General, Sir John Harvey arrived on the 16th September, 1841 ; previous to the arrival of whom Lieutenant-Colonel Sail administered the Govern- ment. Sir John held a high military post in Canada dur- ing the last war, and had been governor of each of the Colonies of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. He was Governor of the Province of Nova Scotia, which he ruled with consummate tact and ability, and died there while governor in 1853. Sir John was a man of generous and noble disposition, and very fine literary taste. Under his rule a new era dawned upon Newfound- * 1 I 1 t '^''"MMi m:. 42 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ ^'i I I ; M^w mm I iiir l« liilff p il I' land, political animosities were hushed to rest, roads were] opened, education encouraged, and the agricultural re- sources of the country developed. James M. Spearman was at this time Collector of H.I,| Customs. In 1842, an Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament! for amending the constitution of the Government of iNew- foundland ; the principal features in which this measure differed from the previous system of government, were the abolition of the Legislative Council as a distinct branclij and its amalgamation with the Assembly into one Hous There was also an Executive Council distinct from the) Legislative (composed, however, of nearly the same per- sons), for advising the Governor. The qualification of per- sons elected to serve as members in the Assembly was a net annual income of £100, or the possession of property, cleail of all incumbrances, to the amount or value of £500. The! qualification of voters was the possession of a dwellingl house for one year. All the elections were simultaneous] being completed in a given time on the same day througli-| out the island. This Act, however, expired at the end four years. It was probably designed to heal the partyl feuds of the island, so rampant at the time of its enact-l ment. During this year, on the 13th January, the firsti Agricultural Society was formed under the auspices ofl Governor Harvey, who delivered an interesting speech oil the occasion, a copy of which was sent to Lord StanleyJ then Secretary of State for the Colonies. In 1843, oil the 17th January, Sir John Harvey opened the first ses-l sion of the General Assembly under the new form o| Constitution, in a speech remarkable for its length, literl ary composition, and general information. During m session, a very useful and popular Education Act passeJ introduced by the late Mr. Barnes, a member of tti Assembly. ^ In 1844, through the exertions of Sir John Harvejj a steamer was employed to carry the mail. She ml AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 43 died the "North America," and commanded by Cap- lin Richard Meagher. Her first voyage from Halifax St. John's was accomplished in sixty hours. She ar- ^ved on the morning of the 22nd of April. During this /ear Chief Justice Bourne was dismissed from ofiice, and (ucceeded by Thomas Norton, Esq., late one of the Assis- int Judges of Demerara. Mr. Norton was a member of Ihe Irish bar, and the first Roman Catholic Judge who resided in a Court in Newfoundland. He was a good lawyer, very humorous, and endowed with talents of no )ominon order. He gave more universal satisfaction dur- ig the short time he remained on the island, than any ludge who had ever preceded him. Mr. Bourne was con- jidered a profound lawyer, but possessed a very violent 3mper. After his return to England, he published two rolumes of poems, entitled " England Won," and the Exile of Idria," a short time after which, his decease )ok place. About this time the Land Act passed, by rhich the possessor of Crown Land is secured in his [itle without having had a previous grant ; and about S40,000 voted for constructing roads and bridges. In 1845, Prince Henry, son of the King of Holland, ^rrived at St. John's, in the "Rhine" frigate, from Iceland. " Shortly after the vessel had come to anchor, His Excel- lency, Major-General Sir John Harvey, attended by his Staff, tmbarked at the Queen's Wharf, where a Guard of Honour had Wn drawn up to receive His Excellency, and proceeded on board the frigate to pay his respects to His Royal Highness, pd to welcome him to Newfoundland. His Excellency was feceived on board under a royal salute of twenty-one guns, Fhich was responded to from the battery at Fort William ; and, fter remaining some time with the Prince, and inviting him [o Grovernment House, His Excellency left the frigate, and re- lumed under another salute. "His Royal Highness, dressed in naval uniform, as commander |)f the "Rhine," and attended by his officers, landed at a little per one o'clock, at the Queen's Wharf, where His Excellency ■ i jij ■■■*•; , m \ - i\ ■•■<«; !l ii, I ; I'a! ■v 44 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, / \ Mm m m ^^mi ' lill ''111 ! the Governor, with his suite, and the usual escort of the heai| of departments, received him with a Guard of Honour, proceeded to Government House, where a Levee was held. " On the following Monday, His Eoyal Highness landed i state at the Queen's Wharf, where he was received by His EiJ cellency and suite, and thence proceeded to Government Hous&| From the wharf to Government House gate, the route whid His Eoyal Highness took was lined with trees temporarilj| planted, and at the centre and top of Cochrane Street, wen erected two superb Triumphal Arches, devised and decorated| " In addition to a very large number of the inhabitants, coi prising those of every class and creed, the Mechanics' SocietjJ together with the Benevolent Irish Society, and the capta and crews of the numerous Spanish vessels then in port, carrjj ing their respective flags, swelled the procession which fol lo\^ed the Royal Visitor and His Excellency to Governipeia House, when some time was occupied in receiving or deliver!] addresses. " In the evening a display of fireworks took place. Alma simultaneously with the visit of the Prince, H. M. S. ' Hyacintli,| arrived from Halifax, also, the steamer * Unicorn,' togethdf with an armed French schooner from St. Pierre, in addition I which there were about 50 sail of Spanish merchantmen in i\ harbour, besides all the English vessels. Among the passed gers brought by the ' Unicorn,' were the Right Rev. and Hoi| Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia and the two Misses Inglis, Maja Tryon, 43rd Regt., Major of Brigade in Nova Scotia, and LadjJ (daughter of Sir John Harvey) and family ; Lieut. W. 8 Dickson, 62nd Regt., son of and Aid-de-camp to Sir Jeremii Dickson : Col. Creighton ; Hon'bles. S. Cunard, M. Tobin, E. Kenny. " His Royal Highness accompanied Sir John Harvey, in tli steamer " Unicorn, '' on an excursion to Harbour Grace, Cai bonear, and other parts of Conception Bay."* On the 9th of June, 1846, a calamitous fire desolated ^ greasier part of the Town of St. John's, by which upwan of 2,000 houses were destroyed, and property to the anion >:ilM Newspapers of the day. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 45 )f £800,000 or $4,000,000 consumed, (see District of St. fohn's). On the 24th of August, Sir John Harvey em- irked for Halifax, to assume the Government of Nova Scotia, and Lieutenant-Colunel Law was appointed Admi- listrator of the Government. In the winter of 1847, the ^ixth and last session of the Amalgamated Legislature ras dissolved by Lieutenant-Colonel Law. On the 22nd of April, 1847, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Jaspard Le Marchant, arrived and assumed the govern- Qent. The country at this time passed through a terrible )rdeal, for in addition to the ifire having destroyed St. Fohn's, the potato crop failed, and a hurricane swept the [soast on the 18th of September of the same year, by which lundreds of lives were lost, and property on land and sea, lestroyed to the amount of upwards of $2,000,000, besides ^hich the fishoi / failed in many places. Sir Gaspard, then, )n the assumpt" f power, had great difficulties to con- tend with ; he < ' > A the colony plunged in debt to the imount of £80,000 or $400,000, with an impoverished )opulation. The Governor immediately applied his ener- jies to meet this complication of disasters; he imported farge quantities of provisions which he caused to be dis- tributed in various parts of the island, for the relief of the lestitute. He also encouraged the cultivation of the soil by procuring seeds which were gratuitously given to the 3oor, and had the grounds of Government House beauti- fully laid out with grain, &;c., which were soon decked dth verdure, and clothed with fruit. During this year an Act passed the Imperial Parliament restoring to Newfoundlana her Constitution of 1833, re- taining, however, the qualification of members, under the imalgamated system. On the 14th of December, 1848, the first session of the legislature (after a return to the old form of Constitution), ^as opened by Governoi* Le Marchant, and prorogued on the 23rd of April, 1849, after passing twenty-two Acts, luring a lengthened session of 130 days. i ••■■'(* SI, J! ■•!»■«• I ! , il v IIP" i 46 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ In 1847, Mr. Norton resigned the Chief Justiceship of| Newfoundland, and was succeeded in the office by Francis Brady, Esq., who was also a Roman Catholic, and a member of the Irish Bar. The writer took passage in the steamer " Unicom" will Mr. Brady, at Halifax, in 1847, for St. John's. We found him a highly-intelligent and very unassuming gentleman Mr. Brady had just arrived from England by the steamer on his way to assume the Chief Justiceship. He had the reputation of being a sound lawyer, and is universally esteemed. In 1848, a Colonial Building, Custom House, Market] House, and Court House commenced building. In 1849, important alterations were made in the Cus| toms Department, by the Home Government, by placi the patronage of the Department under the control of thel Local Government. The Imperial Government, howeverl retained three officers, of which George J. Haywardj Esq., is thf^ head, as Comptroller of Customs and Navigtl tion Laws. Mr. Spearman, jthe former Collector, retired to UnglanJ on a pension allowed him by the Home Government, anil John Kent, Esq., Speaker of the House of Assembly, wasi appointed Collector of H. M. Customs for Newfoundland! During this year the fisheries were prosperous, and con-l siderable quantities of wheat were raised in various partel of the island ; altogether the general aspect of the counti]| was hopeful and cheering. In 1850, a small steamer was employed as a packet ill Conception Bay, and the new Colonial Building was ofrl cupied for the first time by the Legislature. In July] 1861, Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant took his departurel for England, when the Hon. James Crowdy, Secretary oil the Colony, was appointed Administrator of the Governf ment during his absence. In January, 1852, Governoil Le Marchant returned and resumed the government. Dur] ing the following summer, Sir John Gaspard Le MarchaDtl •■ / AND AS IT IS IN 1877. resigned the Government of Newfoundland, and assumed the Government of Nova Scotia, when the Hon. James Crowdywas again appointed Administrator of the Govern- ment. On the 24th December, 1852, Ker Bailie Hamil- ton, Esq., arrived from England, and assumed the govem- Iment. In 1854, the principle of Responsible Government was [conceded, in a despatch from the Duke of Newcastle, the [then Secretary of State for the Colonies, to the Governor. During this year cholera for the first time appeared in Newfoundland, when 800 persons died at St. John's. In 1855, Governor Hamilton was succeeded in the govern- ment by Charles Henry Darling, Esq., under whose Ad- ministration the principles of Responsible Government were fully carried out. In 1856, the old office holders [were pensioned off. In 1857, the Hon. James Crowdy, Iwho held the office of Colonial Secretary for a period of 129 years, retired on his pension to England, and was suc- ceeded in his office by the Hon. John Kent, late Collector in H. M. Customs. At the same time, Hon. Philip F. Little was appointed Attorney-General ; Hon. George H. Emerson, Solicitor-General ; Hon. Thomas Glen, Receiver- IGeneral ; Hon. Edmund Hanrahan, Surveyor-General ; iHon. James Tobin, Financial-Secretary; and John V. [Nugent, Esq., High Sheriff. In these appointments we notice the omission of the Iname of Robert J. Parsons, Esq., a gentleman who has been la member of the Legislature from the time of the second iHouse of Assembly of Newfoundland ; who had borne the [burden and heat of the day; who always adhered to the [party once in power ; nay, had been suffered to gain the [ascendancy of that party. He is still a member of the [House of Assembly, but without office or emolument. During this year the fisheries were bountiful, and steam [communication opened between the different districts and (the capital ; a telegraph line was erected from St. John's the western part of the island, and a line of Canadian J I Ml 11 ii I !- : I ■■! 48 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ and United States steamers made St. John's a port of call on their way to and from Europe, In 1857, the colony was thrown into great excitement by the announce- ment that the English and French Governments had entered into a convention by which it appeared that im- portant privileges in the Newfoundland fisheries were to be ceded to the French. The Legislature appointed Messrs. Kent and Carter as delegates to visit Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Canada, to i interest these colonies against the measure. Delegates were also appointed to visit London, and protest against the measure. These hostile demonstrations of the colony stopped the negotiations between the two Cabinets in making any alterations in the treaties about the New- 1 foundland fisheries. In 1859 the following notice appeared in the Newfound- land Royal Gazette : — " His Excellency the Governor has been pleased, by and with the advice and concurrence of the Executive Council, to ap^ point, pursuant to the Despatch of the Secretary of State, dated 14th January Jast, the Hon. John Kent, Colonial Secretary, to be Colonial Commissioner, subject to Her Majesty's approval, upon the Joint Commission to be appointed by the two nations of France and England, to enquire into the local operations of the treaties conferrng on French subjects rights of fishery upon] the coasts of this island, &c." . The principle involved in the dispute is embodied in i note of Lord Palmerston in 1838, to Count Sebastian! | the French Ambassador. The London Tirms says upon this subject : "It is just about one hundred years ago that the first Mr. Pitt, in declaiming upon the national interests of Britain, af- firmed that one point was of such moment as not to be surren- dered, though the enemy were masters of the Tower of London. We shall be thought, perhaps, to be robbing the idea of its grandeur when we proceed to explain that the point so charac-' AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 49 erised was simply the Newfoundland Fishery, but the inhabi- mt-] of that colony would not themselves be willing to make luch abatement from the estimate which the great Minister las put on record. In their eyes the Newfoundland Fishery is [very thing, and everything it certainly is to Newfoundland. "The subject, however, to which these words refer has recently een invested with immediate international importance. The Bople of Newfoundland really believe that the French are dip- ling too largely into their waters, whereas the French declare liat they are not left in the enjoyment of the rights secured to bem by treaty. Matters have reached, indeed, such a point, liat the commander of the French naval force in these quarters given formal notice to our authorities that on and after the th of May, the French fishermen would be eflfectually pro- kted in their privileges, and the rights secured to France be 'orously enforced by the imperial cruisers. A counter noti- cation has, of course, been made in the interest of Great [ritain and her colony ; but we are happy to state that the iro Governments have promptly come to accord respectin;; a [rtain proceeding which may possibly terminate a long-pend- [g controversy, and which will certainly obviate the chances present embroilment. A commission, consisting of two tench and two British representatives, is to investigate the jiestion this summer by researches and inquiries on the spot, [d in the meantime. Count Walewski has suggested to Lord )wley, that the commanders on the station should receive in- [•uctions to impart all proper forbearance into their proceed- These arrangements, which were accomplished without Ty difficulty, and with every expression of amity and concili- fon on the part of the French Government, will, at any rate, jice the affair in good train, but whether it will be found to |mit of a conclusive or satisfactory solution is a question of Eater doubt. I" One of the chief points at issue between the two countries asists in the claim of the French to certain local rights, which by invest with an exclusive character. Their title to partici- te in the Newfoundland Fisheries, recognised by the treaty Utrecht in 1713, and confirmed by the treaty of Versailles 1 years later, was again established, after the interruptions of (revolutionary wars, by the settlement of 1814. According to D ■'*«; 1 i i ' 1 I I i ; f II i ; 1 ?mI NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, n these treaties, they are undoubtedly entitled not only to fisli, but to resort for the purpose of curing and drying these Ml to a certain part of the Newfoundland shore during a certaa season. It is further stipulated, that * in order that the fisherl men of the two nations may not give a cause for daily quarrels,! his Britannic Majesty will take the most positive measures k\ preventing his •'ubjects from interrupting, in any manner, bjl their competition, the fishery of the French during the tempfrl rary exercise of it which was granted to them.* ' " These terms the French interpret as conveying a rights fishery within certain limits, not only free from all disturbanj but from all participation, on the part of the British, wher ourown Government has always steadily declined toacknowled that any such exclusive rights as regarded the actual fishe^] were designed to be granted. It is admitted on our side, thatj practice the French have always been left sole occupiers dur the fishing season of their own parts of the shore, and for I simple reason that two sets of fishermen could not carry ( their business of curing and drying at one and the same sp The French are entitled to that temporary lodgment on coast, without which their fishery could not be conducted, this lodgment, for plain considerations of convenience, they! allowed to keep themselves ; but, when the argument is e^ tended to the waters of the fishery, it fails altogether. Tim the French can fish without interruption, although the Britii| may be fishing too, and the treaty, therefore, is not infringi when our fishermen ply their ordinary trade at that spot, i vided always that they do not cause interruption to the ves of the French. Such is the view of the case taken by authorities, and maintained by the present Ministry. " It was not, therefore, without some justification that Com Walewski expressed his doubts to Lord Cowley about the pi| bable success of the proceedings suggested. The differea between the two Governments has arisen on a point of inti pretation, and a point of that character can hardly besettledl local inquiries. It will be readily understood, moreover, fw the remarks we have offered above, that the colony of ^ foundland would be loth to see one jot or tittle of itsri^ abated on a subject of such vital importance to it, and its nii -ral prerogatives in this respect have been recognised bytl lowever, the res i^lijP!! ■ / AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 51 9vernment at home. A despatch of Mr. Labouchere, dated [he 26th of March, 1857, to the effect that ' the consent of the lommunity of Newfoundland was regarded by her Majesty's bovernment as the essential preliminary to any modification of [heir territorial or maritime rights,' is quoted in the Colonial Legislature as the Magna Cha/rta of the dependency, and dready, indeed, on one occasion, has a convention been nulli- ied by the refusal of the colony to accept its provisions. In the bresent case an attempt has been made to obviate any ulterior lifficulties by placing a direct representative of Newfoundland [n the commission itself, and it was with the view, indeed, of Baving a place for this nominee that the proposal of two com- lissioners on each side, instead of one, was originally enter- ained by Lord Derby's Government. Possibly this expedient, fhich has been approved by the Colonial Legislature, may be [ttended with success ; but the tone of opinion in Newfound- ind seems so decidedly and so naturally pronounced that we Einnot anticipate with much confidence any of that compromis- ag spirit by which definite agreements are usually preceded. lowever, the resolutions adopted are as good as the occasion imits, and, while they speak distinctly for the admirable senti- [lents and friendly intentions of the French Government, they Brtainly reflect great credit on Sir E. Lytton's administration the department he has lately resigned. The controversy |iay be hard to settle, but the settlement seems likely to be pproached with judicious arrangements and feelings of mutual »od." In 1857 Governor Darling having been appointed to 16 governorship of Jamaica, the Hon. Lawrence O'Brien the first Boman Catholic ever appointed to the oflBce), resident of the Council, was appointed Administrator of 16 Government until the arrival of the new Governor. |n the 8th day of June, 1857, Sir Alexander Bannerman, [ho had previously been Governor of Prince Edward> Bland and the Bahamas, assumed the Government of fewfoundland. In 1858 the Hon. Jude DesBarres and 16 Hon. Judge Simms were pensioned off, aind the Hon. Ihilip F. Little, and Bryan Bobinson, Esq., were appointed "I * i 1 I :4I ' ! < l\ 52 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ ill nJI'!"fl! in their places as Assistant Judges of the Supreme Con when the Hon. George J. Hogsett became the new Att ney-General. In 1859 the fisheries were prosperous, tr brisk, and the revenue incroased. In 1860, in consequenij of disagreement between Mr. Kent, the Premier, and Sii| Alexander Bannerman, the Governor, the Executive Cou cil was dismissed, when Hugh H. Hoyles, Esq., one of th principal lawyers of the country, and leader of the Opp sition in the House of Assembly, was called upon to fon a new government. Shortly after which, an appeal made to the country by a general election. The conte was a sharp one, but resulted in the return of a majoritj in favour of the new government of which Mr. Hoyld was the leader and the new Attorney-General. The elft tions in St. John's, at Harbour Grace, Carbonear,i Harbour Main were attended with a great deal of riotii and religious animosities. Injuries were inflicted on pal sons and property, and one man shot. On the 13tli( May, the Governor opened the new House of Assemblj A crowd of 2,000 persons gathered around the Colon Building, menacing and threatening to stop the procee ings. On the retirement of the Governor from the Hon of Assembly he was saluted with groans, and stond thrown at his carriage. During the day several hoii were attacked and broken. In the evening a company li soldiers commanded by Colonel Grant, was called outt preserve the peace. Three persons were killed byi military and several wounded. Several houses were h the suburbs of the town.* " Amongst the propeii m thus set fire to was that of one of the Judges, the Colle[ of the Church of England (happily discovered and pi| out at its commencement), and the country house of Hoyles, the Attorney-General and head of the new GoJ emment (a pretty retreat totally destroyed). It is notifl able that these outrages were hrougJit to a close after ( * Rev. C. Pedley. 'IP ! m 'iiii|li AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 53 nival 0/200 men from Halifax to atrengtJien the mili- Ly force in St. John's." fWnen these events took place the writer was living in [ova Scotia, and was there called upon to explain the Itounding events which was then being enacted in New- [undland. He then stated that the Irish Roman Catho- cs m Newfoundland were as kind and as hospitable a fople as were to be found in the world, except during mes of excitement — when elections and rum put the pvil in them. The Rev. John Wesley says, that " if a in love you on account of your politics, he loves you than his dinner ; and if he hate you on the same [count, he hates you worse than the devil." Very few b1 that they have the slightest political responsibility. They come out to the elections, perhaps, because their ^rty-leaders desire them to come out, or because their Irty feelings urge them to come out, or because they de- jht in the excitement of an election, or possibly because (ey are paid for coming out. Probably not one in twenty els that he has any personal responsibility in the gov- iment of the country. All feel, of course, that they [ve a personal interest in it, but this interest is not asso- iited with a sense of high personal duty. In times of [litical excitement they may be excited, but their inter- is mainly in behalf of a party. They may work very Ithusiastically, indeed, for ' our side,' without giving a ligle thougiit to our country. This, to a certain extent, [wever, is the result of ignorance." For myself I have faith in parties. I have no faith in politics in the com- 5n acceptation of the word, but I have great faith in Bat principles ; but in party organizations as the means I carry them out, I see always the germs of contention d strife, which as they expand and increase, over- flow the great and true idea upon which the party in infancy is based. The Right Rev. J. T. Mullock, Roman Catholic Bishop, rs: — ^'i •'[?'' I I 'i ip' ^1 I i i^ ; 1 9 • . 1 ■^:' 1 :i 'J 1 ' 1 '■ t ; N 54 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ( ^ \ / V m ! i ilii 'lilliil! ill If!';!!,!!; "Allow me to say a few words of my experience of th(| people. I found them, in all parts of the Island, hospitabld generous, and obliging. Catholics and Protestants live \A gether in the greatest harmony, and it is only in pijiii we fioj anything, except on extraordinary occasions, like disunion among them. I have always, in the most Protestant districti,! experienced kindness and consideration, — I speak not only o(l the agents of mercantile houses, who are remarkable for theirj hospitality and attention to all visitors, or of magistrates, Mr. Gaden, of Harbor Briton, or Mr. Peyton, of Twillingate,| whose guest I was, but the fishermen were always ready to join Catholics in manning a boat when I required it, and I am happjl to say that the Catholics have acted likewise to their clergjf men. It is a pleasing reflection that though we are not imm^l culate, and rum excites to evil, still out of a population ofl over 130,000, we have rarely more than eight or ten prisonenl in gaol, and grievous crimes are happily most rare, capitilj offences scarcely heard of." The first Atlantic telegraph cable was landed at Bay oil Bull's Arm, Trinity Bay, on the 6th of August, 1858. Oil the following week the Niagara and the Gorgon entereiil the harbour of St. John's, amid the thundering of cannoil and the ringing of bells. In the evening the citywai| illuminated; addresses were presented to Capt. Huds and Mr. Cyrus Field ; a public ball was given, and il regatta on Quedi-Vidi Lake in honour of the visitoRi This great enterprise, however, at that time proved i| failure. In 1860, on Monday, July the 23rd, His Royal Highnesj the Prince of Wales arrived at St. John's on his wayl Canada and the other Provinces. His Royal Highne was accompanied by His Grace the Duke of Newcastl and the Earl of St. Germain. They remained at St. JohnJ three days. His Royal Highness was treated with eveij demonstration of respect ; and nothing was left undone t honour the distinguished visitors by the citizens of Si| John's. They presented the Prince with a NewfoundlaiJ dog, to whom he gave the name of Cabot, in honour! AND AS IT IS IN 1877. ^^ Itlie great Italian navigator who discovered Newfoundland. - jTho Hon. Francis Brady, Chief Justice, was knighted in [honour of the visit of His Royal Highness. In 18G1, the first Baptist minister, a Mr. Turner, ar- Irived from England, and sought to establish himself in ISt. John's, but owing to the want of adequate support, ■failed to organize a congregation, and, after a short time, Ireturaed to England. In 1864, Sir Alexander Bannerman took his departure Ifrom the Government of Newfoundland, when the Hon. Lawrence O'Brien was sworn in as Administra- or of of the Government. In September, of the same year, Anthony Musgrove, Esq., arrived in St. John's, and as- Isumed the Government. During this year, Messrs. Cs rter land Shea were appointed delegates to represent New- foundland, in the Congress at Quebec, to adopt a scheme for the Confederation of the British North Ameri- can Provinces. The Montreal Witness has given the fol- I lowing valuable information on the subject : — " No branch of industry has grown up in the Provinces to I greater dimensions in the course of a comparatively short I period of time than the Maritime interest. When British I North America is elevated into a Confederation, it will be en- I titled to the proud position of the third Maritime State in the world. Great Britianand the United States will alone exceed it in maritime influence. In 1863, no less than 628 vessels were built in Briw>ish America, of which the aggregate toi n, ge was 230,312. The industry represented by these figures shows an export value of nearly nine million dollars. On the 31st December- 1863, the figures were as follows : — Vesgels. Tons. Canada 2,311 287,187 Novia Scotia 3,539 309,554 New Brunswick 891 211,680 Prince Edward Island 360 34,222 Newfoundland 1,429 89,693 N 8,530 932,336 ^ I 1 ■r ! I III ■X iiilil *6 NEWFOtTNDLANI), AS IT WAS, , ^ " Great Britain and the United States largely exceed tliis number, but France, the next greatest commercial State — with thirty-five millions of population, an immense foreign trade, and an extensive sea coast — owns only 60,000 tons of ship- ping more than British America. In 1860, the aggregate commercial navy of France was 996,124. " Another important statement is the return of shipping en- tering and leaving the ports of British America : — Inwards. Outwards. Total Tons. Canada 1,061,307 1,091,895 2,133,204 Nova Scotia 712,959 719,915 1,452,854 New Brunswick 659,258 727,727 1,386,985 P. E. Island 69,080 81,200 150,288 Newfoundland 156,578 148,610 302,188 2,659,182 2,769,347 5,415,519 " And for Inland Navigation, Canada 3,530,701 3,368,432 6,907,133 6,189,883 6,137,779 12,322,652 " The United States at the same period only exceeded us by 4,000,000 tons, and our excess over France in one year was 4,000,000 tons. " It will also be interesting in connection with this subject, to see what will be the strength of the United Provinces in sea faring men. "By the census of 1860, it appears that the number of those engaged in maritime pursuits were as follows : — Canada 5,958 Nova Scotia 19,637 New Brunswick 2,765 P. E. Island 2,318 Newfoundland 38,578 Total 69,256 " Here we see that five years ago the Provinces unitedly had i ■ iiiii AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 57 !■ i I no less than 70,000 able-bodied men engaged at sea, eith«)r in manning their commercial shipping or their fishing vessels. In case of war this force would be the most valuable element of strength British America would possess. Facts like these must have great weight when placed before the world. They give an idea of the importance of British North America that other statistics could hardly afford. It must be remembered that the Imaritime interest is not stationary but progressive. It must [increase with the progress of the Provinces in population, and [the other elements of wealth. A half century hence — it is not Ihoping too much — British America will stand side by side with [the mother country — the foremost maritime State in the Iworld." The following is from a letter of Mr. Brydges, Manag- ing Dii-ector of the Grand Trunk Railway, to the Canadian Boards of Trade, on the trade of the Lower i^rovinces in 1866 : — " The total importations of flour into the four Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New- foundland, according to the last returns which have been pub- lished by the respective Governments of these Provinces are as follows, viz. : — " In New Brunswick 256,096 bbls. Nova Scotia . 355,358 ) " " " .. . 26,943 j •* Prince Edward Island 32,601 " Newfoundland. 202,718 " "Making a total of 873,716 " " This is more than the average importations of flour into the Jnited States from Canada during the existence of the Reci- procity Treaty. " It follows, therefore, if proper means of communication are Jrovided, and energy displayed by the merchants of Canada, 'aat the Lower Provinces alone will offer a market for the reat bulk of the surplus flour that Canada has to export. !( ■•■-J i ! '/.rj ■ ' n , ■ t ...-^ *» ■ ^ : i ■■■•■*' ■ :» i i '•'■Hi : I II 58 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ " The duties now (imposed by the United States upon the importation of breadstufifs from Canada, and the great cost of all their manufacturing operations, render it certain that the comparatively lighter taxed country of Canada will be able to produce what the Lower Provinces require at much less prices than can possibly be the case with the United States. I " Of the importations of flour into New Brunswick, not far short of 200,000 bbls. are taken at the port of St. John alone, and from that place a very large portion of the Province is supplied, especially that part of it tributary to the Eiver St. John, which is the most populous and best settled portion of the country. " Between 20,000 and 30,000 bbls. of flour find their way to the Gulf ports as far down as Shediac, and the remainder of the importations into New Brunswick go to St. Andrews and St. Stephens, to be carried along the line of railway running towards Woodstock, for the use of the lumbering districts. " Nearly the whole of the flour, therefore, imported into New Brunswick will, until the Intercolonial Railway is completed, of necessity find its way into the Province by the Bay of Fundy. As I have already stated, I have completed arrangements with steamers running between Portland and St. John, by which flour from all parts of Canada can be sent on through-bills-of-ladingto St. John ; the shipper at any station on the line of the Grand Trunk Railway having no necessity to look after the transfer at Portland, that being done, as well as the Customs business, by the officers of the Company. St. Andrews and St. Stephens will also be supplied from Portland by sailing vessels, which can always be obtained without difficulty, and throusjh-bills-of lading will be given to those places also. " Of the importations of flour into New Brunswick, the great bulk has for some years back been from the United States; although, even before the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty, the quantity sent from Canada has been annually increasing, Thus I find in the the year 1863 St. John received from Canada by way of Portland 9,000 barrels; in 1864, 15,000 barrels; whilst during the last twelve months the quantity was increased to 47,000 barrels. *' If this has been the case before the abrogation of the Reci- procity Treaty, it follows, as a matter about which there can I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 59 be little dispute, that the circ imstances which now exist will make it certain that nearly thp ^rhole supply will in future be drawn from Canada. " In regard to Nova Scotia, the importations by the last re- turns which have been published in that Province, namely, for the year ending 30th September, 1865, show the following re- sult : — From Canada 58,233 bbls. New Brunswick 10,482 . P. E. Island 372 Newfoundland 658 United States 312,371 GreatBritain 118 Other places 67 " Of the importations from Canada the largest amounts have been to Halifax and Pictou, the quantities having been respec- tively — To Halifax 27,018 bbls. Pictou 25,479 " "From New Brunswick, the importations into Nova Scotia have been principally along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. From the United States, the importations have been to a very large extent, into the Port of Halifax — they having amounted to 172.192 bbls. " The next largest place of importation is Yarmouth, into which place the importations wore 19,714 barrels. " The next largest are Cornwallis and Windsor, they each having imported 9,000 bbls. " All other ports have received quantities varying from 100 bbls. to 3,000 bbls. each. " There re now 65 places (including Halifax) in Nova Scotia, which have received importations of flour from the United States. Many of these, of course, are small harbours where fishing operations are carried on, and each derive their supply of from one hundred to two or three thousand barrels from sailing vessels which carry fish from these places to New York or Boston, and bring back, after selling their loads, the flour they want for their home consumption. i i '":!% !*%!( i 1 I'M ifli'': '' ,/ ll V 60 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, .j » " In Prince Edward Island the importations according to the last published returns have been — From Canada 1,849 bbls. NovaScotia 2,353 « New Brunswick 373 " United States 27,227" ; Total 31,802 " These figures are taken from the returns for the year 1864. I was informed in Prince Edward Island that the amount last year was larger, and that during the present year the quantity imported will not be less than from 50,000 to 60,000 barrels. "In Newfoundland, of the total importations of 202,718 barrels, there were from Canada 25,835 ; from Nova Scotia, 3,482 ; and from the United States, 172,145, The bulk of the importations into Newfoundland are taken into St. John's, although some portions find their way to the different fishing points along the coast in the same way as is the case in Nova Scotia. " These figures will give a very accurate idea of the general course of the flour trade, and will show the merchants of Canada the places with which it will be necessary to make arrangements for supplying this traffic in future from Canada. To facilitate these arrangements, I have, as already explained, effected arrangements in regard to steamer communication between Portland and St. John. At the latter place I have appointed an agent, who will attend to all business arising at that place and in New Brunswick generally, and to whom all property will be consigned. The steamers I have mentioned will be placed also upon the line between Portland and Halifax, as early as possible in the month of September. An agent has been appointed at Halifax, who will attend to the business in Nova Scotia generally, and also to the trade which no doubt can be cultivated from that city with Newfoundland. " There is, of course, in addition to the question of flour, much trade hitherto carried on by the Lower Provinces to a very large extent with the United States, which, by proper arrangements, can be diverted in the direction of Canada, to the advantage of both buyers and sellers. Thus, as regards New Brunswick, the AND AS IT IS IN 1877. HI IH importations of butter and cheese amounted, by the last public returns, to 500,128 lbs., of the value of $105,725. Of this, 309,846 lbs. were purchased in the United States. Of meats and hams, cured and salted. New Brunswick imported 2,059,131 lbs., of a total value of $157,183, of which 1,999,845 lbs. were imported from the United States. Of boots and shoes of various kinds, New Brunswick imported to a total value of $80,475, of which $66,489 came from the United States. Of leather of various kinds she imported to the value of $47,183, of which the United States supplied $42,650. Of lard. New Brunswick imported 93,165 lbs., of which 78,603 lbs. were sent from the United States. Of tobacco she imported 505,521 lbs , of which 469,873 were sent from the United States. Of refined sugar the United States supplied New Brunswick with 150,995 lbs. ; of unrefined sugar, 430,815 lbs. The greatest portion, of course, of the unrefined sugar was either supplied direct from the West Indies, or from the same place through Nova Scotia. Of the article of tea. New Brunswick imported 1,058,082 lbs., of which 455,978 lbs. were sent from the United States, nearly the whole of the remainder being imported from Great Britain. " The several articles of which I have given particulars, are mentioned only as samples of the general trade of New Bruns- wick. There can be no reason whatever why, with proper energy on the part of our merchants. New Brunswick should not find it to be to her interest to make her purchases in the markets of Canada rather than those of the United States. The rate of taxation in the latter country, and the great cost of everything, have so largely increased the price of all articles of commerce, that it is a question that cannot admit of doubt, that Canada, that is comparatively so lightly taxed, and will, it is to be hoped, improve in this respect hereafter, ought to be able to supply the Lower Provinces upon much more advantageous terms than can be done, under existing circumstances, by the United States. " It may be interesting to give some similar facts in regard to the trade of Nova Scotia. It seems from its returns that the total importations of beef, pork, and beans (cured and salted) amount to about 13,000 barrels per annum, of a total value of $212,700 ; of this, 10,695 barrels were imported from the United States, and only 77 from Canada. Of tea, the : f i : ( t ; i i I I l! ■ I -ffl 1 '• ,;.iBiillI !'> i 1 'i m 'I'lr; ,ll,,liMM:i„M||l{|| 62 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ total importations into Nova Scotia were 1,546,075 lbs., of a value of $515,790, of which the United States supplied 176,- 105 lbs. Great Britain, of course, supplied the great bulk of the remainder. Of tobacco in the le.'^.f, the total importations into Nova Scotia were 507,989 lbs., of which the United States supplied 58,856 lbs. Of manufactured tobacco, the importa- tions were 317,029 lbs., of which the United States supplied 244,532 lbs. The importations of raw and refined sugar from the United States into Nova Scotia appear to be but a very small proportion of the whole. r " The exports of fish from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are, of course, very large, and there can be no reason why, if proper arrangements were made for the curing and packing of the fish there, instead of allowing it to be mainly done as at present in the United States, there could not be a very large trade direct to Canada and through Canada iuuo the Western States from Halifax. I " The exportations of raw sugar from Nora Scotia are very considerable, amounting in the aggregate to nearly ten millions of lbs., of which upwards of a quarter appears to be sent from Halifax: to Canada. This of itself will provide considerable back freight to the line of steamers which will be put on be- tween Portland and Halifax. " In regard to Newfoundland, in addition to flour, they im- ported in the year 1864, the last return which I have been able to obtain, 26,157 barrels of pork, of which 23,472 were sent from the United States, and 1,293 from Canada. They im- ported of beef 2,417 barrels, of which 1,999 were from the United States. Of butter, the importations were 16,536 cwt., of which Nova Scotia supplied 4,192 cwt., Canada 2,466 cwt., and the United States 7,454 cwt. Of leather-ware, the total importations were to the value of £61,936. Of tea, 461,830 lbs., and of tobacco, 291,750 lbs. " For the reasons already given, the trade of which I have en- deavoured, as regards the Provinces, to give a few examples, can by proper arrangements be carried on to a very large ex- tent indeed with Canada before Confederation takes place. Of course, as soon as that desirable event has actually been com- pleted, there can be no doubt of the large increase of trade which will immediately follow." AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 63 CHAPTER III. DISTRICT OP ST. JOHN'S. T. JOHN'S, the capital of Newfoundland, lies in 47° 33' 33" north latitude, and 52° 45' 10" west longitude from Greenwich, and 10° 52' east of Halifax. Magnetic variation in 1828, 28° 47' westerly. The first authentic record of St. John's is given in a letter to King Henry VIII., by John Rut, in 1527, who was at that time employed on a fishing voyage. This is recorded by Hackluyt, one of the earliest writers on Newfoundland. The capital is situate on the most eastern part of the coast, ;^in the Bay of St. John, which, however, is but a slight indentation of the coast. On approaching St. John's from the sea, the shores present an air of grandeur and sublimity. The coast for miles consists of old red sandstone and conglomerate, from four to six hundred feet in height, presenting an almost perpendicular wall, which resists the unbroken surges of the Atlantic Ocean that incessantly thunder at its base. In the summer season this wall of nature's masonry is adorned with touches of the beautiful — the interstices and crevices of the sublime clifis are dotted with grass, wild flowers, plants, and shrubs of various kinds, the green foliage of which trailing along the red surface of the rocks, gives it a picturesque and romantic appearance. I have seen no part of America that can compare with the grandeur of the Newfoundland coast. The Palisades or high lands on the River Hudson, in New York, may probably bear some resemblance. The Saguenay river, in Canada, strongly reminded, me of the coast about St. John's. m t|^ !! V I ( ! f-i r ; i! fii-i 64 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ m t St. John's is one of the finest harbours in Newfound- land, where a vessel might in a few minutes shoot from the stormy Atlantic into a secure haven, and ride at anchor completely land-locked, in from four to ten fa- thoms of water, on a mud bottom. The entrance to St. John's is very narrow, which is therefore called the " Narrows." The channel from point to point, that is, from Signal Hill on the north side to Fort Amherst on the south side, is 220 fathoms across ; but it widens just within the points, then again gets narrower on approach- ing Chain Rock, from which to Pancake Rock the dis- tance is only 95 fathoms across, after which it expands into a beautiful sheet of water, one and a quarter miles long, and about half a mile wide. In war times a chain used to be thrown across from Chain to Pancake Rocks. On each side of the Narrows are lofty cliffs, five hundred and six hundred feet in altitude, studded with forts and batteries, while a short distance £o the right is seen Cuckold's Head and Sugar Loaf, towering in solitary grandeur above all the surrounding coast. Bishop Mul- lock says : " St. John's is placed almost in the centre of the peninsula of Avalon, on the nearest point to Europe, with a port the most secure perhaps in the world, fortified by nature, and only re- quiring a very moderate outlay, and a few thousand brave sol- diers, to make it, I may say, impregnable — the Gibraltar or Sebastapol of the North Atlantic. A fleet of war steamers sta- tioned in St, John's, sheltered by the guns of Signal Hill and Southside batteries, would give the command of the North Atlantic to West Britain, and with Bermuda, paralyze the com- merce of the entire seaboard of the neighbouring continent. I consider St. John's and Bermuda as the two great bastions of North America." At Fort Ambrose, on the south side, the harbour light- house is situated, which is also a signal station. There is another signal station at the north side on Signal Hill. As soon, therefore, as a ship hoves in sight at Cape Spear AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 65 (which is eight miles distant, and is also a signal station, with a splendid lighthouse), she is telegraphed to the principal station on Signal Hill, and as soon as she ap- proached the south entrance of the Narrows, an artillery- man on duty, with trumpet in hand, used to walk to the edge of the rocky precipice, and hail — " From whence came you." Vessels acquainted with the trade usually chalked on the quarter the number of days on the pas- sage, also their name, if they ctirried no distinguishing flag. The city of St. John's (since 1839 St. John's has been called a city, owing to a Protestant bishop being at that time appointed — it is not incorporated) stands prin- cipally on the north side of the harbour, on hills of slight acclivity, on the western one of which, in 1762, the French took a determined stand against the English batteries. The south side of the harbour is formed by a lofty and unbroken range of hills which plunges into the water at an angle of about 70°, which is lined with wharves, ware- houses, oil manufactories, and some dwelling-houses. St. John's was twice destroyed by the French. Some relics of their dominion are still to be seen. It is said the stone buildings at Fort William were erected for their commander, and some chairs, with the fleur-de-lis, which belonged to the commandant, are also yet in existence. It will be seen by the following letter, addressed to Mr. Hutchins, whose descendants are now some of the principal inhabitants of St. Johns, that down to 1790 no tavern or house of entertainment was allowed to be set up, neither was the soil to be cultivated : " Letter from the Governor, M. K. Milhanke, to George Hutchins. Esq., dated Government House, St. John's, Newfoundland, Ibth October, 1790. " Sir, — I have considered your request respecting the altera- tion which you wish to make in your storehouse near the waterside, and as it appears that the alteration will not be in any ways injurious to the fishery, you have hereby permission £ •■■* ■ n 1 I i ,n m 1 Jl '">.♦«# , '^Jtm '1.^ •1^ si It i i! '! i . i: 66 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ I I to make it. As to Alexandor Long's house, which has been built contrary to His Majesty's express commands, made known to the inhabitants of this place by my proclamation of the 13tli of last October, it must and shall come down. The pretence now set up of its being intended for a craft-house serves rather to aggravate than extenuate the offence, for by the confession of your tenant to the magistrate who forbade him to go on with the work after it was begun, as well as to me when I viewed the house on Saturday last, no such use was to be made of it : as he said it was intended only as a covering to his potato cellar, though there is a complete chimney, if not two in it, and lodging for at least six or eight dieters. I shall embrace this opportunity of warning you against making an improper use of any other part of (what you are pleased to call) your ground, for you may rest assured that every house or other building erected upon it hereafter, without the permission — in writing — of the Governor for the time being — except such building and erection as shall be actually on purpose for the curing, salting, drying and husbanding of fish, which the fishermen from any part of His Majesty's European dominions, qualified agreeable to tlie Act of the 10th and Uth of William the Third, and the 15th of (4i3orge the Third, have a right to erect without asking per- mission — must unavoidably be taken down and removed, in obedience to His Majesty's said commands. And it may not be amiss at the same time to inform you, I am also directed not to allow any possession as private property to he taken of, or awj right of property whatever to be acknowledged in any land whatem which is not actually employed in the fishery, in terms of the aforementioned Act, whether possessed by pretended grants from former Governors or from any other — no matter what— unwarrantable pretences — therefore it behoves you, with all possible despatch, to employ the whole of the ground which you can lay claim to in the fishery, lest others should profit by your neglect, and make that use of it which the Legislature of Great Britain intended should be made of all the land in this country, and without which no one has a right to claim it as his own. The sheriff will have directions about the removal of the house above mentioned, which you will no doubt assist him in executing. " I am, &c. "♦ To George Hutchins, Esq." AND AS IT IS IN 1M7. 67 Up to 18X1, St. John's consintcd of one long, narrow, dirty streot, with irregular blocks of low wooden huild- ingM, interspersed with fish flakes. In the above year, however, inipoi*tant alterations were made by Admiral Duckworth, who was then Governor, under authority of an Act of Parliament, the " ships' rooms " were divided into building and water lots, and measures were adopted for the general improvement of the town. From this period the place began to rise into importance, for until the year above named no building could be erected in any part of Newfoundland without the permission of the Gov- ernor, in order to prevent settlement. On the 12th of February, 1816, a most destructive fire desolated a great part of the town of St. John's. The property destroyed is said to have amounted to more than £100,000 sterling, or $500,000. When the intelligence of this calamitous event reached the " City of the Pilgrims," Boston, the Capital of the " Old Bay State," a deep and powerful sympathy was excited among her citizens for the destitution of 1,500 human beings left homeless and penniless amid the frost and storms of a Newfoundland winter ! Burying in oblivion the recollection that the year previous the two countries were hostile to each other, and regardless of the disputed right of fishing on the Banks, which right America wished to claim but Britain was unwilling to concede, the noble and disin- terested citizens only remembered the claims of their suffering fellow-creatures upon their hospitality. A vessel was immediately loaded with provisions, which were sent to be distributed gratuitously among the distressed in- habitants of St. John's, where she arrived and delivered her valuable cargo. To brave the storms of a winter pas- sage to Newfoundland, at that period, was considered a most daring and hazardous enterprise. In the following year, 1817, on the night of the 7th of November, another immense fire broke out at St. John's and in nine hours destroyed thiiteen mercantile establish- I ■■■■ The height of the floor of the portico from the ground h about 12 feet, and to the top of the pedi- ment, about 55 feet. The entire of the building, externally, is of cut stone, with moulded architraves to windows and doors, and en- tablature corresponding all round. The Legislative Halls, for the sitting of the General Assembly and the Legisla- » s 1 '^'tt *% n 1 ^ i I W i\ ■ 74 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, .H, ( tive Council, are each 30 by 50 feet. The building also affords accommodation for House-keeper's family, Trea- surer's office, Surveyor-General's office, &c. The foundation stone of this edifice was laid by His Excellency Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant. Underneath the stone are placed some wheat, the produce of the Island, and a tin canister, containing some newspapers, British coins, and the following inscription engrossed on parchment : — " The foundation stone of this building was laid on the 24th day of May, in the tenth year of the reign of Her Most Gra- cious Majesty, Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Anno Domini 1847, by His Excel- lency Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant, Knight, K. R and K. C. S., Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland and its dependencies. " This edifice was raised by virtue of an Act of the Colonial Legislature of Newfoundland, 6th William IV., Cap. 14, under the direction of a Board, consisting of nine Commissioners, VIZ. The Hon. James Crowdy, Colonial Secretary, Patrick Morris, Colonial Treasurer, William Thomas, Merchant, William B. Row, Queen's Counsel, Lawrence O'Brien, Merchant, Thomas Bennett, Merchant, Robert Job, Merchant, Peter McBride, Esq., and Thomas Glen, Esq. tt a (I u it (( « Members of Her Majesty's Council. HEADS OF CIVIL AND MILITARY DEPARTMENTS. The Hon. Thomas Norton, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Hon. Augustus W. Des Barres, "| . • . . t j <• " James Simms, ' | Assistant Judges. " " Edward M, Archibald, Her Majesty's Attorney- General, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 75 The Hon. James M. Spearman, Collector of Her Majesty's Customs. The Hon. Joseph Noad, Surveyor-General. Peter W. Carter, Esq., Chief Magistrate. Benjamin G. Garrett, Esq., Sheriff of Newfoundland. Christopher Ayre, Esq., Marshall of the Vice Admiralty Court. Lieut.-Col. Eobert Law, K.H., Commander of the Forces. Lieut. -Col. Kobe, Commanding Royal Engineers. Lieut. Brettingham, Commanding Royal Artillery. Thomas Weir, Esq., Assistant Commissary-General. George Winter, Esq., Ordnance Storekeeper. Mr. James Purcell, Architect and Contractor. Mr. Patrick Kough, Superintending Inspector." The Covernment House. — This building was commenced |in 1825, and finished in 1828. It is built of cut stone, some of which was obtained from the South-side Hills, and the remainder imported. The west wing of the building Iwas formerly occupied by the Colonial Secretary's and IClerk's offices. It is much larger than either of the Gov- lernment Houses of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. It lis destitute of exterior architectural ornament, but possesses Isuperior interior accommodation. This building is said to have cost £50,000, or $200,000. The grounds around iGovemment House were planted some years ago with trees, but owing to the exposed situation they did not thrive well. On tht, arrival of the Governor, Sir John Gaspard le Marchant, the grounds were laid out into grass plots, shrub oeries, flower gardens, potato-fields, and wheat plots, and otherwise embellished and beautified. In front of the building is a circular or crescent walk, called the " Mall," which is a public promenade, where, during the rule of Sir John Harvey, the militarv band used to assem- hie twice a week to play for the gratification of the public; but, unlike the people of Halifax, few of the citizens of I St. John's assembled to listen to the martial strains of I music. •I nt ■Mi i i t ",:?} I ' ! ( •* • .1? - .» m a I i 76 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, i The Custom House. — This buildingwas finished in 1848, the former one having been destroyed by the fire in 1846' It is built of brick, with stone cornices and architraves of windows and doors and colonade. It is 51 feet long, 38 broad, and 29 feet high, and cost about $24,000. In front of the building is the Queen's Whaif and warehouses, In the foundation stone is deposited a tin case, containing a few of the current British coins and the following in- scription : — " The foundation-stone of this building was laid on the u\ day of May, in the tenth year of the reign of Her Majesty Qu'tun Victoria, and in the year of Our Lord One Thousainl Eigttr. Hundred and Forty-seven, by His Excellency Sir JuhD| G afroard Le Marchant, Knight, and Knight Commander uf the Ordfr of St. Ferdinand and Charles III. of Spain, Gov^ernorandl C'^nimander-in-Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland | and 31 s dopendencies, in presence of — The Hon. James Morton Spearman, Collector of Her Majesty's | Customs. The Hon. James Crowdy, Colonial Secretary. The Hon. Patrick Morris, Colonial Treasurer. The Hon. Joseph Noad, Surveyor-General. The Hon. Edward Mortimer Archibald, Her Majesty's Attor- ney-General. Lieut-Colonel Robert Law, K.H., commanding Her Majesty's Troops. Lieut.-Colonel Alexander W. Robe, commanding Royal En- gineers. Lieut.-Ct'ionel Henry R. Wright, commanding Royal Artillery, Thomav C. Weir, Esq., Assistant-Commissary-General. William Jenkins, Li'iutenano Royal Newfoundland Com panics, and Acting Fort Major. William Parker, ) ^i ^ ^ i t> u p . 1 T> A > Contractors and Builders. John Macpherson, Clerk of the Work." . The HoHpital, wliich is a spacious wooden building, i^ situated at Kiverlie;id. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 77 The Factory, a large wooden building, the upper part j)f which is used as a public hall, and the ground floor is bccupied by persons who are employed making wearing tpparel, nets, etc. The Merchant's Exchange, which is occupied chiefly as a reading-room, is built of stone, and has one spacious lind elegant room, besides several smaller ones occupied as pffices by various persons. The Bank of British xiorth America (now called the Commercial Bank), is built of brick and stone, embellished oth a superb front which is quite an ornament to the city, and of which Robert Brown, Esq., is manager. The Post-office is a fine stone building, near which is the elegraph office. The Orphan Asylum School is a large rooden edifice, belonging to the Benevolent Irish Society, f which a large number of children are educated. The Union Bank is located on Water Street, of which ihn W. Smith, Esq., is manager. -| The Market House. — This building is situated on Water [Street about the centre of the city and built in 1849. It is a large and handsome building, built chiefly of stone lobtained on the site of the building, with facing of Nova jScotia cut freestone, in which is placed the town clock. IThe lower story of the building is occupied as the Market |House, and the second story which fronts on Duckworth street, is occupied as the Court House, in which the [Supreme and Circuit Courts sit. Here also is located the [Registrar's and other offices. The Church of England School Society for Newfound- lland and the colonies, is a large brick building capable of |accommodating several hundred children. The Colonial School at Maggotty Cove is a neat wooden [structure. There is also the College and School of the IChurch of England. The Roman Catholic College, and [the Methodist and Presbyterian School Houses. The Protestant Cathedral is a large and magnificent [building, 120 feet long, 56 feet broad, with tower and spire .9 i "I I : i i \l ■■ i .1 . 1 ■« ' 1 ' : ■) '.-.J I .^ '-mmt 1 •' ^'■t'^St ::-^[ ^tm' ■ i m ,; . i i: . I iilN 78 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, 130 feet high. It is partly built of stone obtained in tlit island, and partly of cut stone imported from England, Ireland and France. It is estimated to have cost $200,- 000. It was opened for worship by the Right Rev. Dr, Field, the Lord Bishop of the diocese, in 1850. " The naive of this church is all that has yet been erected) and finished, but it is in strict conformity with the original del sign of the entire building, and of the pointed gothic or eccles-l iastical style of architecture. The finish externally and inter- nally is characteristic, elaborate and beautiful ; the carvings upon the oaken pulpit, the desks and seats are splendidly executed, as] is also the sculpture of the heads upon the various arches. 1 communion table is formed of a deep slab of white marble upon | a frame of oak ; the roof is of hardwood timber stained, j appears like oak ; a hot air apparatus, sufiicient to temper the I atmosphere within the church in the coldest weather, is arranged beneath the flagged floor ; a small but powerful organ has been set up, and the appearance generally of the interior is rendered 1 most solemn and impressive by the mellowed and subdued light | admitted through the lofty pointed windows. It is, so far, a magnificent building, and when the transcepts, tower and chan- cel shall have been completed, it will rank amongst the finest | buildings in British America." Collections are now being taken up by Bishop Kelley | for the finishing of the building. The Roman Catholic Cathedral — a great proportion of | the stone for this building was obtained in Conceptio Bay, from Kelly's Island. The whole exterior of the buih ing is faced with cut lime stone and Irish granite. The I cathedral is in the form of the Latin cross, with two towers 138 feet high. Its extreme length is 237 feet, the | length of transcepts, 180 feet; breadth of naive, 60 feet, and of transcepts 60 feet ; with an ambulatory twelve feet I in breadth, connected with the main body of the church by a screen of square massive pillars and semi-circulai arches. The height of the walls to the naive course is m AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 70 I feet. It was opened for worship in January, 1850, by the Right Rev. Dr. Fleming, Sr., Bishop, assisted by Bisliop Mullock, Archbishop Hughes, of New York, and Bishop iMcKinnon from Arichat, Nova Scotia. St. Thomas, Church of England, is a wooden building I with a spire; this is where the military used to attend, and usually the Governor and family. The Rev. Thomas I M. Wood is cuiate of this church and rural dean of Avalon. St. Andrew's, Church of Scotland, is a neat wooden I building with a spire 110 feet high, erected in 1847. The Wesleyan Methodist Church is a spacious brick I edifice, with stone facings, erected in 1857, and another at I River's Head. The Congregational Church is a neat stone building, I erected in 1853. There is a fine stone Church of England (St. Marys), on I the south side of St. John's harbour ; and a Roman Catho- I lie stone church near the River Head. The Presbyterian (Free) Church, was erected in 1850. lit is built of wood, and is said to be a very neat and '[ elegant structure. For a view, and more detailed account of the churches, the reader is referred to " Wandering Thoughts," published by the author in 184)6. The convent is a stone edifice near the cathedral. The Presentation Convent, a large and beautiful wooden structure was des- |troyed by fire in 1846. A splendid Presentation Convent has been erected near the cathedral, with which it is con- nected by a passage leading to the chancel. A school I house is attached to the convent. The whole erected of cut I stone ; cost *V,000 or $28,000. The foundation stone of this building was laid in 1850 by Dr. Mullock, the Bishop. With the foundation stone w^as laid, deposited in a block of granite, a vase containing several medals, currents coins, the seal of the late Bishop Dr. Fleming, the names of the clergy of the colony, of the Bishops of Ireland, of His I Holiness the Pope, periodical journals of the day published I in Newfoundland, some wheat, the growth of the Island in **!' ■ i«9 I ^r.^'m t3 Hi* i f i .1 I 80 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, l«S48, together with a scroll bearing the following insciij)- tion : " The Foundation Stone of this Convent of the Nnns of the | Presentation Order (first established in the city of St John's in MDCCCXXIII. by the Eight Rev. M. A. Fleming, O.S.F, Bishop of Newfoundland) was laid by the Eight Eev. John Thomas Mullock, O.S.F., Bishop of Newfoundland, on the I XXIII. day of August, MDCCCL. in the V. year of thePon tificate of His Holiness Pius IX., in the XIV. year of the reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great | Britain and Ireland ; Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant being Governor of Newfoundland. " Directing Superintendent " Builder } ] P/iTEICK KOUGH. JAMES PUECELL. Fort Townsend consists of a square of wooden build- ings, the centre of the square is used as a parade. Fort I William consists of another square of stone buildings, Long ranges of stone barracks line Signal Hill. All the I military has new been withdrawn from Newfoundland. In 1845, the erection of a Native Hall was commenced I for the purposes of a classical school, lecture room, libraiy, and reading-room. The site of the building was given by the Government. The foundation-stone was laid by Sir John Harvey, who was then Governor. The following is | a copy of the inscription, on the foundation stone : ** On the twenty-fourth day of May, Anno Domini 18li,| being the anniversary of the birthday of Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria, this stone was laid by his excellency I Major -General Sir John Harvey, Knight Commander of the most honourable Military Order of the Bath, and of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order ; Governor and Commander-in Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland and its Depen' dencies, as the foundation stone of the Native Hall. " For the erection of which the site has been freely granted | by his Excellency the Governor, then kindly consenting AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 81 otficiate, unto Richard Barnes, Edward Kielley, Robert Carter, George Hoylcs Dunscomb, Hannibal Murch, Ambrose Shea, and Philip Diiggaii, in trust for the use of the Newfoundland Native Society, instituted in this town on the 12th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1840, Edward Kielley, Esq., being its first, Robert Garter, Esq., lieut. Royal Navy, and M.G.A.., its second, and Richard Barnes, Esq., M.G.A., its third and i)resent pr( sident. "The object and aim of the Association, in the use to which the contemplated sti-ucture shall be appropriated, being the ;i(h'ancement of science by the creation of a thirst for know- ledge. "The present Building Committee being Ric' A Barnes, Chairman; Hannibal Murch, ISecretary ) George liuyles Duns- comb, Thomas Graham Morrey, James Johnston Rogerson, I Julm Barron, Philip Duggan, Wm. Freeman, James Gleeson, Henry Thomiis, Ambrose Shea, James S. Clift, and Archibald H IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^.^^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 128 |25 12.2 1.4 III 1.6 V] 7 f / '/ ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation ^o-.^ ^:^ ^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S8G (716) •72-4503 ■^' Si 82 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ij'i Worcester, which is one of the finest buildings in the country, and has 400 patients residing in it. I have often visited this building, and have been surprised at the arrangement and order which prevails. Dr. S. B. Wood- ward in his report says : — <' In my experience of six years as physician of a prison, and thirteen as superintendent of this hospital, I have seen many individuals vrho were broken ofif abruptly from all stimulating drinks, yet I do not think a single case of delirium tremens has occurred. " Alcohol is not the only narcotic which affects the brain and nervous system. Tobacco is a powerful narcotic agent, and its use is very deleterious to the nervous system, producinp; tremors, vertigo, faintness, palpitation of the heart, and other serious diseases. That tobacco certainly produces insanity, I am unable positively to observe ; but that it produces a pre- disposition to it, I am fully confident. Its influence upon the brain and nervous system generally, is hardly less obvious than that of alcohol, and if used excessively, is equally injurious. " The very general use of tobacco among young men at the present day, is alarming, and shows the ignorance and devotion of the devotees of this dangerous practice to one of the most virulent poisons of the vegetable world. The testimony of medical men of the most respectable character, could be quoted to any extent, to sustain these views of the deleterious influ- ence of this dangerous narcotic." The following are some of the charitable and other in- stitutions in St. John's. The Benevolent Irish Society, established in 1806, is the wealthiest and oldest society on the island. The Dorcas Society, Mechanics' Society, British Society, St. George's Society, St. Andrew's Society, Provident and Loan and Investment Society, Coopers' Society, Volun- ' tser Fire Company (Phoenix), Agricultural Society, Bible and Tract Societies, Volunteer Companies, Law Society, Chamber of Commerce, Library and Reading-room, Ma- sonic Order, St. John's Total Abstinence Society, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 83 I ■ various Orders of the Sons of Temperance. A Catholic Total Abstinence Society. A Mechanics' Institute, estab- lished in 1849. A Young Men's Christian Association, Church of England Society for Widows and Orphans. The Native Society was established in June, 1840, and was organized in consequence of the systematic and almost entire exclusion of natives from offices under the Govern- ment. Strangers from the Old Country were appointed to offices of emolument, and the Natives were reduced to the necessity of continuing in their own country as a se- condary and subordinate class, or becoming expatriated and seeking some better field for the exercise of their in- dustry and talents. The Natives of Newfoundland have never asked for anything exclusive in their favour. They only wished to be placed on a 'perfect equality with all others, and their own energy and talent, would work out the rest. The Rev. J. Brewster, an Englishman, and Weslyan Methodist minister, says : — i. rv > " The natives of St. John's, Brigus, Harbour Grace, Carbo- oear, and other wealthy and populous places, are a well-edu- cated and intelligent people. Among them may be found men who could fill with honour the higher stations of political power and trust ; and women who would adorn and bless the family circle of the most refined establishment. We could re- fer to instances in which the offices of the Colonial Govern- ment have been better filled than by the gentlemen sent out from Downing Street. I know not whether our Colonial Sec- retaries have a large staff of dependents to provide with sala- ries, but the fact is, they have sent out young men from Eng- land to fill important stations, who were not worthy to carry the shoes of some of the natives, and were inferior to them either in point )f morals, general intelligence, and a natural promptitude and ]>unctuality in business. Tiding the natives generally, I have perceived, from personal observatiou, that they are superior in manners and speech to the peasantry of many of the country villages of England. I HI 1 , ! 1 .•■; '"ii' V\ ■--I I:; •■"«i ! .■••3 -: .•.:.« .... , ■ 'I ! - ' »^-^.j . 'i ■•^'.'isiJ ,-**«»w > i; li 84 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, If ," ■ There is not that provincialism in their speech as among the peasantry of the Peak of Derbyshire and the moors of the East Biding of Yorkshire. While travelling in those parts I have frequently felt my want of an interpreter. During a visit to one of these romantic villages where every prospect of moun- tain and flood gave enchantment to the scene, I spent some time in visiting the different families. A farmer accompanied me as guide. Stopping before a garden gate, on which a boy was idly swinging, my guide asked him in his dialect — " Beed, ist morrow %t loose ? * " Yah" was the answer. Had rudest of Newfoundland's ocean sons accompained me, he would have asked in plain English, ** Bill, is your mother in the house ]" and the answer would have been, '" Yes, sir." The natives of Newfoundland were not only debarred from a participation in the offices of the Government, but they were also excluded from the pulpits of the vari- ous denominations. Mr. Brewster's remarks are equally as applicable to some of the Methodist preachers sent to Newfoundland, as to persons sent to fill offices in the Government. It is well known that many natives were immeasureably superior to the preachers who were sent from England, in point of general intelligence. It is a well known fact, also, that most of the Methodist preachers sent from England to Newfoundland, were raw young men without experience or education. They were sent " to fill important stations who were not worthy to cany the shoes of some of the natives." Some of the preachers were accustomed to write to England an account of tLdir privatioTis and sufferings, and these accounts were pub- lished in the Report of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London; when most of them well knew they were enjojdng more comforts and luxuries than they ever dreamed of in their paternal homes. See the debate which took place in the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in Eng- land, 1860, as reported in the Watchman, Augusi 9th, of that year. I believe it was not until 1862 that the Methodists had li AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 85 a native preacher among them ; and I do not remember to have heard of a single native Roman Catholic priest until 1858, the Rev. Father Brown, of Bonavista. In 1869, when the first Bishop of the Church of England, Dr. Spencer, was appointed to Newfoundland, he saw the importance of employing a native ministry. He at once established a Theological Institution, in which several natives were trained for the ministry, and of which the Rev. Charles Blackman, A.M., was the first Principal. Bishop Field, his successor, has pursued the same course. There are now a number of natives employed as clergy- men of the Church of England, and others going through a preparatory course of study for ordination. There are natives of Newfoundland clergymen of the Church of England in England, the various British colonies, and the United States of America. The Rev. Dr. M'Cawley, a native of Newfoundland, was many years President of King's College, Windsor, and Archdeacon of Nova Scotia. Another, the Rev. Joseph H. Clinch, A.M., is a poet, and one of the most talented clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the City of Boston, U.S. A number of others might be named, — ^indeed, many who have left the Island have in other places distinguished themselves in law, medicine, and the army and navy. Sir Henry Pynn, of Mosquitto, Conception Bay, entered the army, and died on his estate in Ireland.* The present Chief Justice of Newfoundland, Sir Hugh Wm. Hoyles, the Attorney-General ; the Hon. F. C. B. Carter, the Premier ; also the Solicitor-General, the Hon. Judge Hay- ward, are all members of the Newfoundland bar, and I natives of the country. The first commander of New- foundland, the Hon. Ambrose Shea, formerly Speaker of I the House of Assembly, the Hon. John Bemister, formerly i Secretary of the Colony, the Hon. E. W. Shea, the present * Since the oi^ganizatioii of the Natives' Society, natives have been I ?PP®*'**®^ *o various important offices ; and recently some of them have been raised to the highest offices in the gift of the Government to bestow. \:'..' ' 1 ;;' "****<' I' '■' i% lit ! ' ! '■ ( . '■ ! ; ill ■ j I ! ! J i 1 ■ .« i ■7»'^ ^ 1 i 1" E { :* V-TUIBW ^ j . i it j i ^:sB ip. i m i i ( ill! 86 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, 'f ( fi Secretary ; the Hon. J. J. Rogerson, present Receiver- General ; Matthew R /an, Esq., District Judge, Winnipeg, Manitoba, are all natives of Newfoundland. The following are the Joint Stock Companies of St. John's : — St. John's Water Company, Gaslight Company, Savings Bank, Union and Commercial Banks, Association of Underwriters, and Farmers' Mill Company; besides which there are agents for the following insurance Societies: — Britannia Life Assurance Office, the Colonial Life As- surance Company, National Loan Fund Life Assurance Society, London; Protection Insurance Company, New Jersey ; Alliance British and Foreign Life and Fire Assur- ance Company, Liverpool ; Hartford Life and Fire Insur- ance Company, etc. ; Telegraph Company, Steam Packet Company, Benefit Building and Investment Society. The merchants occupy the most important position in the social character of St. John's, most of whom are per- manent residents. Many of them have villas in the neighbourhood of the city. The merchants of St. John's are renowned for their hospitality, and liberality towards all philanthropic and benevolent objects. The mercantile class is the only one who accumulate wealth in large amounts, hence, like the " Colonocracy" of Boston, the " Fishocracy" of St. John's exert a great influence over all the other classes of the community. Society in St. John's is composed of four classes — First. — The principal merchants, high officials of Gov- ernment, and some of the lawyers and medical men. Second. — The small merchants, large shopkeepers, some of the lawyers and doctors, and secondary officials. Third. — Grocers, master mechanics, and schooner hold- and the ers ii Fourth Class is the fishermen. The first and second classes rarely, if ever, hold any social intercourse with the others. There is nd colony belonging to the Britisy Empire where influence and name tend so much to form caste in society, and whew . m AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 87 it is more regarded than in St. John's. This distinction of caste has a very pernicious influence. It prevents the amalgamation of fellow citizens, and destroys mutual confidence. Here I shall let my friend, E. Fiy, speak : — " We live in a husiness age. To obtain the character of a thorough man of business, is to obtain a passport to the admin- istration and confidence of mankind. There is no volume studied with more intense and laborious devotion than the ledger — no pursuit so fascinating and absorbing as that of making money. We are not about to enter any protest against business men and business habits. The age needs them ; and their energies, wisely directed, contribute largely to the public good ; but the age also demands that they should really be business men, and not business machines. He who gives up all the faculties and powers, all the time and all the energy with which God has endowed him to the pursuit of wealth, to his counting-house or his counter, may be an excellent business machine — as a thing of figures, weights and measures he may be first rate — but the higher attributes of his manhood are gone ; for the highest privilege is to be the steward of God, not the slave of self. For the government of the great human family, Divine Wisdom has framed laws as beautiful as they are simple and practical. He has written them by the finger of inspiration— He enforces them by the teachings of expe- rience — He implants in every heart the power to understand and fulfil them. * Love is the fulfilling of the Law,' but the law of what ? of gold, of power, of self 1 Nay, but the love of God, and the broad comprehensive love of universal humanity. Why do we see so much want and misery in the world, but because men of power and of business, whose love should be universal, narrow down their senses and their sympathies to the service of one object, and that object is self. They regard their neighbours, not as men and women to be served, but to be used. Their solicitude is not how much happiness they can confer, but how much they can extract — not how much good they can do to others, but how much they can compel others to do for them. This is the working of a heartless system of trade machinery, but should never be the policy of a Christian man of business." -" ^ . '5 !.(*ii-3H ^ ' • ft ■■" ■lit'' i ■ I - . '■"■?! "M VtUlfV li: l! I 1 88 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, [■^'•:ii' The mercantile clerks of St. John's are a highly re- spectable and intelligent class of young men, and as some of them will be the future merchants of the country, they are of course a very important class of persons. Few of them exhibit the " swell manners and flash appearance of the roile," which are too frequently found amongst this class of persons. The merchants very generally close their shops at an early hour during throe months in the sunmier and three in the winter, so as to afford their clerks an opportunity for mental and moral culture. The clerks are always employed by the year, and generally board in the house of the merchant. The family of the merchant, however, rarely take meals with the clerks, and if the merchant or his agent be present, it is eaten in silence. I " There is a strange want of confidence exhibited in the in- tercourse between merchants and their derkp. Too frequently their conversation resembles what may be termed cross-ex&mm- ation. Confidence begets confidence. No man has so much talent and power as to be above learning many important points of intelligence, respecting both men and business, from his young men. ]^ch of the parties moves in a different circle ; and the clerk, from the nature of his young companions, has equal means of obtaining valuable informution his master enjoys. " What would be said of a military commander, and what would be his success and fate, did he not avail himself of all the talent and diversity of character in his subordinate officers ? A mechanic is careful to attend to the suggestions of his work- men ; a shipmaster should have the most perfect confidence in his mates and crew ; and should a merchant lose all the advan- tages to be obtained from an active exercise of all the taients and means of information his clerks possess t " Another evil attendant upon this intercourse, is the want of interest manifested by employers respecting their young men during the time they are away from tlieir places of business. In a very large majority of cases, employers do not trouhle themselves about this matter ; and yet who does not see that upon this point depends, in a great degree, the value of the \, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 89 services rendered while the clerk is on duty. I ask clerks, — How many of you receive any indications that your services are appreciated 1 How many of you have ever been invited to meet your employers at a house of worship, even in oases where you are professedly Christian 1 I ask again, How many of you are requested, even once a year, to visit your employers at their dwellings for one evening of social intercourse V The following is the population of the City of St. John's at different periods : — In 1820 10,000 "1836 15,000 " 1845 20,941 " 1869 28,840 According to the returns of 1845, the population of the Electoral District of St. John's was — Episcopalians 4,226 Roman Chatholics 18,986 Wesleyan Methodists 1,075 Presbyterians 529 Congregationalists 365 Protestants of other Denominations 15 lotai •• 2u,19o There were — Protestant Episcopal Churches..., 9 Wesleyan Methodist Chapels 4 Presbyterian 1 Cdngregationalist 1 Roman Catholic Chapels 5 There were also 4,110 dwelling-houses, and 52 schools, and 3,620 scholars. There were 8,099 acres of land under cultivation, yielding an annual average of 48,543 bushels of potatoes ; 3,436 bushels of oates and other grain ; and 4,313 tons of hay and fodder (since this ])eriod quantities .|V- . 91 5 Portuguese, ■'•' ■ t 177 ■"■--'f^' German, 2 292 - 1 Total, 11,950 835 .'-■A J t|5v-«» if 1 i •;" '«■«•• '• ■ ;i It - ! \ 1 ;: !; li 92 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ' Exports from St. John's in foreign bottoms, in 1850 : QtlB. Oodfish. Tuns Oil. Seal Skint. Spanish, 152,666 378 — German, — 114 — Danish, — 85 6,430 Portuguese, 1,750 — — U.S. America, 16,582 — — Besides the above, about 600 vessels belonging to St. John's, were employed in the foreign trade. The following will enable the reader to form an esti- mate of the number of seals annually manufactured at St. John's. Number of seals received in St. John's in 1839: Landed from 76 St. John's vessels 91,749 Landed from 98 out-port vessels 150,576 Total 242,325 The following is the number of seals received by the various mercantile establishments up to the 30th of April, 1845. There were, however, many thousaud more received after that date. Eobinson, Brooking & Co 4,365 John P. MuUowney 3,500 Walter Dillon 1,800 Parker & Gleeson 700 James Douglas & Co 3,300 Lawrence O'Brien 14,000 James Tobin & Co 26,500 Hunters &Co 7,150 Job, Brothers & Co. 6,431 W. & H. Thomas & Co 11,000 Baine, Johnston & Co 8,000 Richard Howley 7,806 McBride&Kerr 15,497 Bowring Brothers 9,800 John & J.Kent 3,000 AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 9* R. O'Dwyer&Oo 7,000 E. & N. Stabb 1,996 John Nichols 1,000 John H.Warren 6,100 C. F. Bennett & Co 9,672 J. & W.Stewart 18,236 Rennie, Stuart & Co 13,523 R. Alsop&Co 7,800 Stabb, Row & Holmwood 4,900 Hounsell, Schenk & Hounsell 5,978 Newman & Go 5,557 Mudge & Co 4,250 Making a total of. 207,764 Which produced 2,696 tuns of oil imperial, at the usual calcu- lation of 80 seals to a tun — valued at £30 per tun, amounts to £77,880, or 8311,520. In 187C, Messrs. Job Brothers* steamer "Neptune," commanded by the Hon. E. White, returned from the seal fisheries with 8,000 young harps the first trip, and 18,000 old seals on the second trip. The total value of both trips estimated at $132,000. The staple articles of the produce of St. John's ex- ported are fish and oil. Some few years ago, four or five cargoes of ice were exported, but I believe none have since been sent away. I do not know why the exportation of ice is not more attended to. The ice trade of Boston and other parts of the United States is very considerable. The freight on ice exported from the United States in 1849 amounted to $95,027. The following is ti aumber of vessels employed in the ice-trade of Boston in 1848 : — To various ports of the United States — 41 ships, 33 barques, 39 brigs, 128 schooners, making in all, 241 ves- sels coastwise. IVwi :>« ■-«mm > ■ < : 1 , > ■ •; : 1 . • I It ;.*.'t . ill )| Ml '* J 1 ,: 94 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, To foreign ports — 22 ships, 19 barques, 13 schooners, in all 85 vessels. The total value of the 60,425 tons of ice shipped from Boston in 1848 amounted to $386,700. The quantity of ice shipped from Boston in nine months in 1851 was 86,752 tons. It is calculated that about 66,000 tons of ice are consumed in the City of New York, valued at $2.50 per ton of 2,000 lbs., will give $164,500 as the value of the ice consumed in the city. The ice sells in foreign ports at from three to six cents per pound. The ice crop of New York in 1851 was 180,000 tons— of course it is a great deal more now. There are eleven newspapers published in St. John's, four weekly, four tri- weekly, two semi-weekly, and one published on the arrival of every mail packet. There is also a small paper devoted to temperance, and an agri- cultural journal — a quarterly publication. In order to complete the improvements which are going on in St. John's, the town should be incorporated. The great objection to this, by the Protestants, is, that all the patronage would be thrown into the hands of the Koman Catholics, who compose two-thirds of the popu- lation. There are two police magistrates in St. John's, called district judges, with a clerk of the peace. There are about a dozen medical men living in St. John's, some of whom have a very lucrative income. Newfoundland was formerly distinguished from the other North American Colonies by its frequent exemp- tion from cholera, but in 1854 St. John's suffered fear- fully from that disease. It attacked chiefly, says Bishop Field, — " Those quarters of the town which are occupied by the poor, dwelling in houses closely packed together, or in over-crowded rooms wholly unventilated, and unprovided with appurtenances as essential to decency as to healthiness, and having no proper drainage or sewerage. There it was sadly true, in the course M AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 96 of this visitation that * there was not a house where there was not one dead.' It has been estimated that 700 or 800 persons died, of whom 80 were Members of the Church of England. " The Clergy had frequoitly, in addition to their own more proper duties, to minister with their own hands to the sick and dying. There was such a panic among the people, that many who only fancied themselves ill, summoned us to them. The Bishop, who was at St. John's throughout this distressing time, not only aided us by his counsel and advice, but directed us by his example, and encouraged us by his earnest and fearless devotedness. I have myself seen him pouring nourishing ' drinks ' into the mouth of the poor agonised patient, in a room or hovel, where filth and offensive odours proclaimed the very hot-bed of pestilence. Even when friends or neighbours declined the office, his Lordship has assisted in bearing the sick to the vehicle in which they were to be carried to the hospital ; and in any way in which he hoped he might be useful to the souls or bodies of his suffering flock, he was forward to prove himself their * servant for Jesus' sake.' " The parish also had the benefit of the services of the Rev. J. F. Phelps, Vice-Principal of the College, and of the Rev. A. E. C. Bayley, Missionary in charge of the out-harbours, and especially of a pious and devoted English lady, who has for the last year and a half given herself to the work of GOD here. She not only toiled beyond a woman's strength, but with more than even a woman's kindness and sympathy in ministering to the afflicted. The nourishment which she had prepared at her house^ she carried and gave to them herself, and shrank from no office of piety or charity, — even closing the eyes of the dead, and other- wise preparing them for their coffins. " A distressing fact connected with this visitation was the seeming indifference to the highest and most momentous con- cerns produced by the rapid and entire prostration of mind as well as body, which occurred in almost every case. I remember very few instances in which the dying expressed any anxiety about their souls. " Many of the inhabitants (including Churchmen, Dissenters^ and Roman Catholics) afterwards expressed their sense of the valuable services of the Clergy, by contributing to present Arch- ■(-> 't m? -im ■ :'' ^'Hl'^ a i 3 if ! i ! I I ( it 1 1: ; I ' 96 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, deacon Bridge and the Rev. T. M. Wood with appropriate and acceptable gifts." * The merchants have two steam tug-boats for towing vessels in the Narrows. Instances have been known of vessels after having arrived at the mouth of the Narrows in the winter season, being obliged to bear up for Europe. The pilots of St. John's are a noble and fear-nought race of men, who are constantly exposed to the " peltings of the pitiless storm." The pilot-boats are small open boats. built sharp at both ends, like whale-boats ; they are fur- nished with a crew of good rowers, and, when the breeze is favourable, sails are spread. This class of boats, how- ever, ought to be superseded by larger and decked boats. Many persons wonder how the pilot-boats of St. John's live in weather in which they are frequently found. The Newfoundland Mails are conveyed to and from Halifax by a Royal Mail Steam-packet, acd one of the Cunard line, once a fortnight, except in the months of I January, February, and March, once a month. The steamer leaves Halifax for St. John's, immediately after the arrival of the homeward bound Mail, (from Boston), and after remaining there seventy-two hours from the time of arrival, proceeds back to Halifax with the return Mails, calling at Sydney, Cape Breton. On the average the passage is performed in about three and a half days. The following calculation of the distances between New York and Bristol, and New York and Liverpool, and also between Boston and Liverpool, via Halifax and St. John's, were given some years ago in the Liverpool Standard: — ^ v^. .. FROM BOSTON TO HALIFAX. From Boston Wharf to Cape Ann Cape Ann to Cape Sable (course N. 78° E. Cape Sable to Sambro Light (N. 55° E... Sambro to Halifax tt n it MILES. 36 111 18 -387 * Report S. P. G. FROM HALIFAX > I AND AS IT IS IN 1877* 97 PROM HALIFAX TO LIVERPOOL. HILB8. From Halifax Wharf to Sambro 18 « Sambro to Cape Clear (N. 79° E) 2,207 " Cape Clear to Tuskar 135 " Tuskar to Holyhead 99 " Holyhead to Liverpool 74 2,533 Total from Boston to Liverpool, via Halifax. 2,91 1 FROM NEW YORK TO BRISTOL. From New York to Cape Clear (K 79° 30' E)... 2,754 " Cape Clear to Lundy Island (S. 85" E). ... 182 " Lundy Island to Anchorage, KingWoad. 74 , 3,010 FROM NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL. , \ ■' ■ :. :^ ' From New York to Cape Clear 2,754 " Cape Clear to Liverpool, as above 299 ^^ 3,053 < FROM HALIFAX TO LIVERPOOL, VIA ST. JOHN's, NEWFOUNDLAND. From Halifax to Cape Race (N. 76° E.) 513 " Cape Race to St. John's .. 55 « St. John's to St. David's Head (N. 82° E.) 1,860 " St. David's Head to Liverpool 200 Total from Halifax to Liverpool, via St. John's. 2,628 St. John's to Sydney, C.B 354 Sydney to Halifax 235 Taking, therefore, the direct course in each case, as by the calculations given, we have the following results : — : ^ The voyage from New York to Liverpool is 43 miles longer than from New York to Bristol. From New York to Liver- pool is longer than from Halifax to the same port by 529 miles. From New York to King's-road, near Bristol, where the Great Western .mchors, is 99 miles further than from Boston, via Halifax to Liverpool ; and that the voyage from Liverpool to Halifax, ma St. John's, is only 104 miles longer than the direct passage. ^ G .- .. ■■■■■■ ■'■ /'^ V -V-' ' , ■■■ ^■'^: - ■:-- ■';• a.? '«• n -^frnfm 98 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, There is a Postmaster-General in St. John's, with a Chief Clerk, and five assistants. Post Offices are established at the following places : — Harbor Grace, Carbonear, Brigens, Trinity, Bonavista, Greenspond, Fogo, Twillingate, Bay Bulls, Ferryland, Trepassey, Placentia, Burin, Harbor Briton, Burgeo. : WAY OFFICES. Port-de-Grove, Bay Roberts, King's Cove, New Perlican, Old Perlican, St. Mary's, Grand Bank, Corelin, Isle of Va- len. Little Platentia, Salmonier, Garnish, and Harbor Maine. " POSTAL ROUTES. Summer — Between St. John's and Portugal Cove, every- day, except Sunday and Friday, by Waggon. Between Portugal Cove, Brigus, Harbor Grace, and Carbonear, by Steamer, tri- weekly. Overland, by Waggon, for Carbonear, via Topsail Kel- ligrews, Holyrood, Harbor Main, Brigus, Port-de-Grave, Bay Roberts, Spaniard's Bay and Harbor Grace, Four Hours after the arrival of Hsdifax Steamer. Winter — Overland, Mondays and Thursdays, between St. John's and Carbonear, calling at all the intermediate places. Between Carbonear and New Perlican (calHng at Heart's Content) weekly, by Messenger. Between Carbonear and Bay-de-Verds, weekly, by Mes- senger, calling at intermediate places. ' Between New Perlican and Bay-de-Verds and Grates, calling at Old Perlican, weekly, by Messenger. Between New Perlican and Trinity, weekly, by Boat. ^ 1 Between Trinity and Bonavista, weekly, by Messenger. Between Trinity and King's Cove, weekly, by Messen- ger. * Between Bonavista and Greenspond, fortnightly, during summer months, touching at King's Cove or Tickle Cove. Between St. John's, Fogo, and Twillingate, leaving St. John's every second Wednesday after the arrival of the m AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 99 Mail Packet from Halifax, or on such other days as th'^ Postmaster-General may appoint. ♦ Between St. John's and FeiTyland, weekly, by Wag- gon, during summer months, and fortnightly in winter. ♦Between Ferry land and Trepassy, by Messenger. ♦Between St. John's and Placentia, by Waggon, at 4 o'clock, a.m., on the Tuesday after the arrival of Halifax steamer. ♦Between Placentia and St. John's, by Waggon, in one hour after the arrival of Packet Boat from Burin. j^ ♦Between Salmonier and St. Mary's, by Messenger. • ♦ Between Great and Little Placentia, by Messenger. ♦Between Little Placentia, La Manche, Sound Island, Harbor Buffett, Red Island, Merasheen and Bourgeo, by Boat. ♦ Between Great Placentia and Burin, by Boat, touch- ing at Paradise and Oderin. ♦Between Burin and Garnish, by Messenger. • *^ ■ ' ♦Between Garnish, Grand Bank, and Fortune, by Mes- senger. ♦Between Garnish and Harbour Briton, calling at EngUsh Harbor, by Boat. ♦Between Harbour Briton, Burgeo and La Poile, by Boat. Routes marked thus (*) are fortnightly during summer, and monthly during winter months. Mr. Morris says : " On the great Holyhead line, the coach stops to deliver the mails at the smallest villages or post towns ; on the rail-roads, rapid as their course is, the same system is adopted. The con- sideration that is given to a village is denied to Newfoundland, Her Majesty's Mail passes her shores, and she is not considered of sufficient importance to stop for a few hours to deliver them. The trade to Newfoundland is not so large, the demand for British manufactures is not so great as that to the American continent, yet it is not insignificant ; there is between three hundred and fifty thousand and half a million's worth of British manufactures annually consumed, and the amount rapidly in- %i •'•« \ H t:.m \ H ' 100 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, creases. There is nearly a million of exports, the returns chiefly centre in England. Some two thousand British ships, manned with many thousands of British seamen, are employed. To say nothing of the growing importance of the country itself, surely such a Colony claims a due share of consideration." It has never yet received it. ., < In 1838, when establishing direct steam communication between England and America was contemplated. Admiral Prescott strongly recommended the harbour of St. John's as a convenient post to touch at in the passage out and home. He forwarded a memorial from the Chamber of Commerce of St. John's on the same subject, to show the facility with which the passage to Newfoundland was made, even by sailing vessels, in the depth of winter. His Excellency, Governor Prescott, in a despatch, under date of the 2nd February, 1839, said: " With reference to my despatches of the 1 2th and 19th January, I have the honour to inform your Lordsliips, that a merchant brig arrived here from Cork, on the 30th ult., after a passage of only thirteen days, and had no difficulty in enter- ing this port, and sailing up to her owner's wharf." Admiral Prescott's recommendation of St. John's as a post of call was submitted by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, who did not deem it expedient to attend to his recom- mendation. His Excellency Sir John Harvey, in his speech to the Legislature, at the opening of the Session in 1846, points out the advantages of making Newfoundland an interme- diate post of call, and fully confirms the opinion given, under the high professional character of Admiral Prescott. "The impressions which have been produced on the minds of several distinguished individuals by whom this Island has been visited during the last summer, as to the decided superiority which this port of St. John's possesses over every other, as an intermediate point in steam navigation between England and America, whether the terminus be the British Colonies or the '■1; AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 101 United States, are : 1st — From its geographical position. 2nd — From the depth of water and perfect security of its noble har- bour, accessible at all seasons, and at all hours of day or night, owing to the absence of tides or bars. 3rd — From the safety of navigation along the whole of the southern coast of New- foundland, from Cape Spear, on which a splendid light has long existed, to Cape Race, which — or in its neighbourhood — it is hoped will ere long exhibit one of equal power. 4th — From the numerous harbours of refuge which present themselves along that coast. " These are among the circumstances which have attracted the attention of the intelligent individuals to whom I have re- ferred, and I now allude to the subject in order to point to it the attention of the mercantile interests of this Colony, at a mo- ment when such great eflforts are being made to extend railroad communications to the western extremity of Ireland, with the object of shortening and facilitating steam communication be- tween Great Britain and her transatlantic possessions. "The General Assembly petitioned Her Majesty and both Houses of Parliament on the same subject." The railroad extending from the State of Maine, through the Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, will greatly faciliate travel between Europe and America. Also the Intercolonial Railroad. The distance from St. John's, Newfoundland, to the nearest part of Ireland is about 1,650 miles, and instances are on record of sailing vessels having anchored in Ireland 7 and 8 days from St. John's. A powerful steamer would accomplish the distance in about 5 days. By making St. John's an intermediate port of call for the mail steamers, the distance between the old and new world would be wonderfully reduced. " This can only be achieved by shortening the sea voyage, and dispensing with the vast weight of coal and other superfluous load now carried. Vessels designed for crossing the ocean with speed, should be relieved of all load not requisite for steadiness and good carriage. Ordinary merchan':lise will always go more cheaply in sailing vessels. Valuable goods could be transferred to boats of still greater speed, from the ocean terminus running if necessary to the various Atlantic cities. In this way the safest 'h I ■.■'■■••nm ;' ^« f I j! -ii I ! Hi! t 1 1 it 102 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, and swiftest passage would be secured. In a few years, instead of a semi-weekly, a daily an*ival of steamships may be expected.'* A railroad is now being surveyed across the Western part of Newfoundland to St. Qaspard's Bay ; thence to Shippegan in New Brunswick, connecting with the Inter- colonial Railroad. Steamships from Europe now make St. John's an intermediate port of call. Messi"s. Lord, Major and Munner's steamers from Montreal run to St. John's, calling at Sydney and Pictou. The following is an interesting incident in the life of Fulton, the father of steam navigation, taken from an American paper : — " Some twenty years since, more or less — for I cannot fix the date with more certainty — I formed a travelling acquaintance, upon a steamboat on the Hudson Biver, with a gentleman, who, on that occaHion, related to me some incidents uf the first voy- age of Fulton, to Albany, in his steamboat, the Claremont, which I have never met with elsewhere. " I chanced, my friend, to be at Albany, on business, when Fulton arrived there in his unheard of craft, which everybody felt so much interest in seeing. Being ready to leave, and hear- ing that this craft was to return to New York, I repaired on board and inquired for Mr. Fulton. I was referred to the cabin, and there I found a plain gentlemanly man, wholly alone, ami engaged in writing. "Mr. Fulton, I presume." . ' " Yes, sir." ^ 'r " Do you return to New York with this boat 1 " " We shall try to get back, sir." '' " Can I have a passage down 1 " " You can take your chance with us, sir." " I inquii*ed the amount to be paid, and after a moment's hesitation, a sum, I think six dollars, was named. The amount, in coin I laid in his open hand, and with his eyes fixed ^ upon it he remained so long motionless that I supposed there might be a miscount, and said to him, is that right, sir 1 This roused him as from a kind of reverie, and as he looked up to me the big tear was brimming in his eye, and his roioe faltered as he said, ' excuse me, sir ; but memory was busy as I contem ' ' ' «s AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 108 this, the first pecuniary reward I have ever received for all my exertions in adapting steam to navigation. I would gladly commemorate the occasion over a bottle of wine with you, but really I am too poor, even for that just now ; yet I trust we may meet again, when this will not be so.' "The voyage to New York proved successful, as all know, and terminated without accident. " Some four years after this, when the Claremont had been greatly improved, and her name changed to the North River, and when two other boats, namely, the Car of Neptune and the Paragon, had been built ; making Mr. Fulton's fleet, of three boats plying between N.ew York and Albany, I took passage on one of these for the latter city. The cabin, in that day, was below ; and as I walk its length too and fro, I saw I was very closely observed by one I supposed a stranger. Soon, however, I recalled the features of Mr. Fulton, but, without disclosing this, I continued my walk and awaited the result. At length, in passing his seat, our eyes met, he sprang to his feet, and eagerly seizing my hand, exclaimed, 'I knew it must be you, for your features have never escaped me ; and although I am still far from rich, yet I may venture that bottle now.' It was ordered, and during its discussion, Mr. Fulton ran rapidly but vividly over his experience of the world's coldness and sneers, and of the hopes, fears, disappointments, and difficulties that were scattered through his whole career of discovery, up to the very point of his final crowning triumph, at which he so fully felt he had at last arrived. 'And, in reviewing all these,' said he, < I have again and again recalled the occasion and incident of our first interview, at Albany ; and never have I done so without renewing in my mind, the vivid emotion it really caused. That seemed, and still does seem to me, the turning point in my destiny — the dividing line between light and dark- ness, in my career on earth — for it was the first actual recogni- tion of my usefulness to my fellow-man. " Such, then, were the events coupled with the very dawn of steam navigation — a dawn so recent as to be still recollected by many — and such, as Fulton there related them, were the early appreciations by the world of a discovery which has invaded all waters, causing a revolution in navigation which has almost literally brought the very ends of the earth in contact." mm ■'■If /I I I ■ ''■"rt 1 I 8 • ■ m>9 I.:' ' I i iHfi II i f :h I 104 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, The following, from the Montreal Transcriptf is a history in brief of the losses of ocean steamers since the experiment was satisfactorily tried of crossing the Atlantic in steam-propelled ves- sels. Our contemporary is, however, incorrect in one partioidar. The Ro^al William and not the Sirius was the first steamer which successfully performed the ocean voyage from Pictou to Cowes, Isle of Wight, in 1833. — The only vessel of the Ounard line lost was the Columbia, at the entrance of the Bay of Fundy. ^' The first steamship that crossed the Atlantic was the Sirius, in 1838.* The regular line of European steamships was started by Mr. Cunard in 1840, and since that time there have been lost on the Atlantic twelve steam vessels, making an average in nineteen years of about one in every eighteen months. The disasters may be summed up as follows : — 1. President. 2. Columbia. i * "u 3. Humboldt. 4. City of Glasgow. / 5. City of Philadelphia. 6. Franklin. 7. Arctic. < • 8. Pacific. 9. Lyonnais. 10. Tempest. 11. Austria. 12. Indian. 13. Hungarian. 14. Atlantic. ' ' 15. Northfleet. 16. Ville-du-Havre. 17. Arbitrator. Never heard of. All hands saved. (i (( Never heard of. All hands saved. « (( ./. A few only saved. Never heard of. A few only saved. Never heard of. Burned, great loss of life. Twenty-two lives lost. All lost. Burying hundreds within a few feet of shore. Hewn down by a passing iceberg. Riven in mid-ocean. Foundered in twenty min- utes, after striking an iceberg. These, with numerous minor cases, the details of which will never be known, go to swell the list of lost steamers." * For an account of the first steamer which crossed the Atlantic, see " A Peep at Uncle Sam's Farm," by the Author. Page 207. ^ I- \ ' V AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 105 • r lUliite 9mm ^9 ■ ■ ■*«•■ J J ' »> J I « it ! ' 1 I ■ ! ii. * i ! M 106 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, A magnetic telegraph has been erected from St. John'i to Conception Bay and the western part of the island. As yet no effort has been made to establish a " Sailor's Home," or to erect a Mariners' Church, in St. John's. In this respect it stands alone amid all the North American colonies, although [)ossessing a larger number of seafaring persons than any of them. The writer communicated with the British and Foreign Sailors* Society, in Lon- don, in 1846, but from vanous causes the project was then abandoned. The first President of the Biitish and Foreign Sailors' Society, Admiral Lord Oambier, was a well-known and philanthropic Governor of Newfound- land in 1802. It IS calculated that there are three mil- lions of persons throughout the world occupied on the great deep, and of this number 800,000 are at least British seamen. Of these, it is said, not 20,000 have any practical or experimental knowledge of the great truths of Chris- tianity, so that not fewer than 280,000 of the most deserv- ing portion of our fellow creatures are in moral darkness and ignorance. The poor sailor is more deservi/ng of hon- our than the most renowned warrior that ever crimsoned his sword in the blood of his fellow man. The people of Newfoundland, above all other countries, are deeply in- debted to the adventurous and daring intrepidity of the sons of the ocean ! To use the language of the eloquent author of '" Bri- tannia," a Prize Essay, dedicated to William IV. : From the shores of eternity they cast back on us looks of upbraiding and reproach, because we never stretched out a friendly hand to save them from destruction ; and because, while every other class was enjoying the benefits of our christian soli- citude, we entirely neglected them. From eternity they implore us instantly to warn their brethren and children, lest they also come to the place of torment." ^ The following is an extract of a letter addressed to me by the British and Foreign Sailors* Society, in 1847 : AND AS IT IS IN 1»77. 107 '^r- b every year in the mighty deep, ohieily by shipwreck, by wliioh PROPERTY to the value of nearly three iiilligns stc^rling is annually lost to the empire ; while hundreds of widows, and thousands of orphans, are thrown upon public charity ; and that thB more frequent cause of these shipwrecks is intemperance ! Tliese thrilling facts must speak with deep and solemn empha- sis to every one possessed of the feelings of our common human- ity; but especially to such as have a due sense of the worth of the soul, and the momentous doctrines of salvation by Christ. Oh ! if there were any bowels and mercies in those who call themselves disciples of the Lord Jesus, let them — by all that is precious in redeeming blood — by all that is touching in Divine Love— by all that is real in the discoveries of the gospel — by all that enters into the worth of a deathless soul — by all that stands connected with immortality and eternity, attempt, witliout de- lay, the present and eternal salvation of our deserving Seamen !" The advocacy of Temperance first commenced in St. John'8 in 1836. A society was then formed, but eventu- ally failed for want of being conducted on the total absti- nence principle. In 1838, a total abstinence society was formed, which, for a long time consisted of only nine members. In 1849 more public efforts were made, when the Society began to increase. In 1841 the Society num- bered 250 members. The Society held several public meetings and festivals in aid of the cause, and put in cir- culation temperance journals and tracts. All these efforts were the means at length of inducing others to embark in the cause. In 1843 this Society was denominated " The Abstinence Union Society," connected with which was then the Presbyterian and Methodist Ministers. hi 1841, the Right Rev. Dr. Fleming, late Roman Ca- tholic Bishop, commenced the advocacj'^ of total absti- nence. He imported several thousand medals, on one side of which the trade, fisheries, and agriculture of New- I* <» I -» I I -.J !( '/ ««*■ 1 1' *^%'» 1 ¥ I.. »» i f I r II iti |ii III imH Mk ff 108 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, f oundland were represented, and on the reverse side was the pledge, with the name of the president. The bishop appointed one of his clergymen, the Rev. Kyran Walsh I to administer the pledge, and in the course of a few weeks several thousands enrolled their names and received the pledge. From this time the temperance cause made rapid strides, through the zealous advocacy of Mr. Walsh. Sub- 1 sequently, the Rev. John Forestal was appointed presi- dent of the Society, who was indefatigable in his exer- j tions to extend the cause. Mr. Walsh has now resumed his old post again as president of the Society. In 1842, the Rev. Thomas F. H. Bridge, M.A., rector of St. John's, parish church, began to administer a temperance card amongst the Protestant part of the community, when hundreds signed the pledge. After this the Catholic and Protestant clergymen in the outports commenced the ad- vocacy of total abstinence. In 1844, the number of teetotalers had increased to 22,000 for the whole island, of which number there were 20,000 Catholics. During the Governorship of Sir John Harvey, he delivered several temperance speeches, and aided the cause by his presence on several occasions. After this period the temperance cause retrograded, until 1848, when Mr. Kellogg, an American temperance lec- turer, visited St. John's, and delivered a course of lec- tures, which gave a fresh impetus to the cause. A new society was then formed, under the title of " St. John's Total Abstinence Society," when several influential per- sons, who had hitherto stood aloof, joined the Society. Since this period public meetings have been regularly held, and converts obtained to the cause. Several Ordeis of the Sons of Temperance have been formed. The following is the quantity of liquors imported in the undermentioned years, including ale and porter, v:ines and spirits, of all kinds : — In 1838, 277.808 oallons; in 1847, 94,268 gallons ; in 1856, 256,361 gallons " AKD AS IT IS IN 1877. 109 The scenery around St. John's is as fine as I have ever seen in any country. The land is beautifully cultivated, and dotted with cottages and groups of trees. The trees are, however, destitute of that magnificent foliage that the trees of the neighbouring continent present. Neither oak, elm, maple, beach, cedar, walnut, butternut, or ches- nut adorns the Newfoundland landscape ; the principal trees being spruce, fir, birch, and pine. There are some well cultivated farms in the neighbourhood of St. John's. In the winter season the environs of St. John's is crowded with persons drawing wood from the interior with horses and dogs, on low sleigh-like vehicles, called slides and catamarans. The greater part of the wood is used for fuel. The principal part of the inhabitants, however, bum coal, which is imported from Sydney, C.B., and Great Britain. The air-tight or close stoves which are so common in the United States and the continental pro- vinces, and which are so very convenient, but which are also very destructive to the health, are not much used in Newfoundland. During this season also, trains of sleigh- ing parties are seen flying about in all directions, while the brass harness glistening in the sunshine, and the tink- ling of the little bells on the horses' necks, present a scene of gaiety and animation. The sleigh of Newfoundland is not a vehicle of busi- ness, sleighing being pursued mostly for recreation and pleasure, and principally confined to St. John's, Harbour Grace, Carbonear, and Srigus. The principal places in the district of St. John's, east and west, besides the City of St. John's, is Torbay, which has three cod liver oil manufactories, and a population of 1,200 ; Petty Harboiu*, where are three cod liver oil man- ufactories, and a population of 74)7 ; and Portugal Cove, with a population of 651 — at the latter place there are three churches, one Church of England, one Wesleyan Methodist, and one Roman Catholic. There are also three hotels, also two schoolhouses, and a public wharf for pas- *! I . - " m ■-■* I I ^ I • ■.*.« Hi I ! I u ■\ ■■H l^. -M I ..(' ^ i;.; illBHUB! 'i'; 110 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, sengers, &c., to land off the packets which touch here every day from various parts of Conception Bay, The passengers either walk or ride in a coach over a beautiful road nine miles and a half to St. John's. The craggy rocks and wild towering cliffs, crowned with stunted fir trees, surrounding Portugal Cove, gives it an exceedingly romantic appearance. Waterf ord Bridge and Tindi Vidi in the neighbourhood of St. John's, are places of great resort for pleasure parties, also Topsail, some miles distant. Quidi Vidi Lake is frequented in the summer for bath- ing and regattas, and in the winter season for skating. A considerable quantity of ice is taken from the lake and deposited in an ice-house by the side of the lake, which belongs to a company who supply the city during the summer months. The whole country surrounding this lake is finely cultivated. About three miles from St. John's is " Virginia Cot- tage," once the rural retreal of Sir Thomas Cochrane, the governor. The lands are beautifully embellished with trees, and laid out, in gravel walks. There is also a small lake along which winds a walk. This lovely spot was adorned from the private purse of Sir Thomas Cochrane, and after his departure from the island, was sold to the present proprietor, George H. Emerson, Esq., once a member of the House of Assembly, and solicitor-general of the island. Besides the above places in the two districts of St. John's, there is Logy Bay, population 180 ; Flat Rock, 236 ; Outer Cove, 237 ; Pouch Cove, 736 ; and Broad Cove, 301. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. Ill ' CHAPTER IV. DISTRICT OP OONOBPTION BAY. ,N 1501, Gasper de Cortereal, the Portuguese navi- gator, visited Conception Bay, and gave to it the name which it bears, after the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary. He also gave the present names of many of the coves and headlands. A colony was attempted to be established at Musquito Cove, Conception Bay, so early as the reign of James I. By letters patent, dated 27th April, 1610, a company of Bttglish gentlemen (among whom were the celebrated Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Northampton, and Sir Francis Tan- field) were granted all that part of the island lying be- tween Cape Bonavista and Cape St. Mary. These gen- tlemen sent a company of emigrants, under the direction of John Guy, to plant a colony in the newly-granted territory. Guy was a Bristol merchant, and set sail from that city in 1610, with three ships and thirty-nine per- sons, as governor of the colony. He arrived at Mosquito Cove after a short passage, where he erected a dwelling- house, storehouse, &ic., and planted a small fort of three cannon. He remained here two years, and opened a verj'^ promising intercourse with the native Indians, and in his letters to England, describes the climate as not so cold as that of England, and that the brooks had not been frozen during the depth of winter. William Colston, however, who was left in charge of the colony after Guy's return to England, did not speak so well of it. Six of the emi- grants were seized with scurvy and died. In the summer of 1612, Guy returned to the colony, and by judiciously treating the sick they soon regained their health. It is said vegetables were at this period raised, among which were turnips, which were given to 'Mm i m I ■I* ,* 1 1 ! ! ii \m ' II 112 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, the sick. Guy made a journey along the coast, where he met with a number of Red Indians, shortly after which the colony was abandoned. Conception Bay is the most thickly settled and best cultivated part of Newfoundland. Few bays surpass it / in beauty and grandeur of scenery. " Harbour Grace is the capital of Conception Bay, and the next Town to St. John's. It is called the " Brighton of Newfoundland," on account of its beauty. The harbour is seven miles long, at the entrance are some islands, en- tirely composed of fine roofing slate, on one of those islands a splendid Light-house is erected, there is also a harbour light. According to the census of 1857, the population of Harbour Grace was 5,095. There are four churches, one Episcopalian, one Roman Catholic, one Wesleyan Metho- dist, and one Presbyterian. There is also a stone Court House and Gaol, which was erected in 1830, with stone obtained from Kelley's Island. The first Court House in Conception Bay was erected about the year 1808, a few years previous to which, Judge Reeves, the first Chief ,. Justice of Newfoundland, visited Harbour Grace and examined into a most disgraceful state of things, as res- pected the administration of justice there. The Courts were then conducted by floating and resident surrogates, generally naval officers. , The following is an account of the public meeting held, with the amount of money raised for the erection of the Court House and Gaol in 1807 : — " At a meeting of the magistrates and merchants in the Dis trict of Harbour Grace, in Conception Bay, in order for raising a subscription, &c., for the purpose of building a Courthouse and Jail in Harbour Grace, it was fully resolved that the sum of twenty shillings be levied on every thousand quintals of fish , catched and shipped oflF in Conception Bay ; and each oierchaut holds himself responsible for the amount of the collections as annexed to his name, which sums the said merchants are to be reimbursed by leving the sum of two shillings on every hundred quintals on each person or planter of whom they receive the said For Alexr. Bou AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 113 quantity of fish, which the magistrates hereby give the authority to do. « And it is further resolved, that every servant employed in the fishery is to pay one shilling for every ten pounds wages, the same as the last season ; and that all publicans, shop-keepers, coopers, and persons not carrying on the fishery, shall pay res- pectively as follows : — Every shop-keeper, the sum of one guinea and-a-half ; every cooper carrying on his trade on his own ac- count, the sum of one guinea ; every publican not carrying on the fishery, the sum of one guinea ; and such other persons that are employed in the fishery, the sum of half a guinea. And it is also further resolved, that all chartered vessels that shall load in Conception Bay, and not belonging to the merchants as their own property, that each vessel so chartered shall pay the sum of ten shillings and sixpence for one season only. ** (Approved of) " " Chas. Garland, J. P., " Wm. Lilly, J. P., " Ls. Amad, Anspach, J. P., " Oliver St. John, Secretary. "Harbour Graro, 22nd June, 1807." (Enrolled.) , For Geo. & Js. Kemp & Co., Henry C. Watts X45 for 45,000 For Wm. Dawson, A lex. Campbell 25 for 25,000 For Alexr. Boucher & Co., John Smith 16 for 16,000 Gosse, Chancey & Ledgard 16 10 for 16,500 Wm. H. MuUowney 5 10 for 5,500 Richd. Cornish & Co 3 for 3,000 Thomas Dunn 2 for 2,000 Richard Palmer 1 10 for 1,500 John Church will & Co 1 13 for 1,300 Kearney & St. John 3 10 for 3,500 For Wm. Newman & Son, J. Furneaux 7 7,000 Carried forwa/rd £126 13 H 1\. , ^'J> it '\ il! I I .u !) i'' .- lU U h H : ! Ji.' ii t If '■ -^:\ . 1 1 1- ■ ■' ^^j : i V- i- • '■«l : i i !'■ 1-1 •■t" ■ ■ i : i :'I. !■:; .,:, • .*« . . , , 1 ^ , ,.- ; . ■, , , 1 ^ ' i * - "iiwl 'i ".<•» : H ' i i : I i * ' -'^ ' •-m ^iim ■::jt 1 ■ ift<' 1 I I MM ■ ■■■'. . . '» 114 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \- Brought forwa/rd £126 13 William Pinsent 3 3,000 Jno.Travers 1 1,000 Danl. Connors 1 1,000 Mathew Quarry 10 500 Frs. Pike, for Elizth. Pike 1 14 1,400 JohnKennedy 1 1,000 £134 7 Harbour Grace has two principal streets running through it, called Water and Harvey Streets. There are some brick and stone buildings on Water Street. The Church of England of Harbour Grace is the first stone church ever built in Newfoundland. The following is an extract from the scroll read on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone, by John Stark, Esq.. Chair- man of the Building Committee, and Chief Clerk and Re- gistrar of the Northern Circuit Court, which was depo- sited in a bottle beneath the foundation stone. " Here stood St. Paul's Church, which was burnt to the ground by the great fire at Harbour- Grace, on the 18th August, 1832 — erected on the site of the first church built in the year 1794 ; and the comer stone of this New Stone Church is now laid by His Excellency Henry Prescott, Esq., Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland and its dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, on Tues- day the twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty -five, and in the sixth year of the Reign of his present Majesty William the Fourth of Gi*eat Britain and Ireland King." The land on which the Church was erected, together with the Burial Ground and Parsonage lands, was the gift of the late Charles Garland, Esq., J.P., of Harbour Grace, and grandfather of Wm. C. St. John, Esq., late Editor of the " Conception Bay Herald." In 1849, the Methodist Chapel was destroyed by fire, A larger and finer wooden building has since been erected. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 115 5 i ' I The Roman Catholics have also erected a large stone church, which is now a cathedral, Harbour Grace being now the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishopric On the 18th of August, 1832, Harbour Grace was visited by a destructive fire, by which ninety-six buildings and the Episcopal Church, were destroyed. In 1844 it was visited by another fire, when twenty-five houses were burnt, and property to the amount of $30,000 was con- sumed; and in 1858, nearly the whole town was destroyed. In 1833, several awful murders took place here, the perpe- trators of which were discovered and executed. The Circuit Court sits twice a year at Harbour Grace, presided over by one of the three Judges of the Supreme Court. Quarter Sessions of the Magistrates' Court is also holden, and one of the Police Magistrates is in daily attend- ance at the Police Office. There are two resident Police Magistrates, a Clerk of the Peace, a Sheriff", and a Clerk of the Supreme Court. There are three medical men. Here are located two of the most enterprising, as well as the largest mercantile establishments in Newfoundland, owned by Ridley & Sons,* and Punton «fe Munn, now John Munn & Co. Both houses take a deep interest in all political and social improvements, and contribute much to the ^/osperity and welfare of the town. These houses are largely embarked in the seal and cod fisheries, and issue an extensive supply on credit to persons engaged in the Labrador cod-fishery. There is great rivalry between the two houses. But then the influence of commerce is peaceful. The mercenary gospel of the ledger denounces the god of war, and charges to his account a vast waste of blood and treasure, to the debit of profit and loss. Commerce is favourable to the full development of the res^'uiios of every land, and calls to its aid all the light and knowledge which art and science' can render. Wherever merchants divested of caate, have given a tone * The house of Eidley & Co now defunct. if.] 1 ' ' 1 ( ■ -'■-•0 ' ' ii '» ■^ ( ! J i ■ ..s 1 ■1 • ill ;;! ■ IM : f 1 <» ', i "^"> ill 1 i '■■^■■■^m : ; i '.■ 'i<« ' '■.: .'«.» ; ^ 1 'm : ■ i 1 1 ' \ ■S'; i ■ .^« ; ! ■■'•■^ ■ '!| -<%mi i ; ; ■W«'» i 1 ..■t.^ ■ i ■■■t3 ' ^1 'i::M ■ n - ' •t^ ; I ■ ; i ■ 1- '■ \i ! i '! ■i '■ 116 NEWFOUia)LAND, AS IT WAS, to society, civilization and refinomont have had a dwelling, place ; the standard of learning has been higher than in communities where agriculture and the mechanic arts have been solely cultivated ; and religion now follows where commercial enterprise leads the way. There are several other smaller merchants at Harbour Grace, besides the two large houses above mentioned. Since the establish- ment of the Local Legislature, Harbour Grace has always returned one of her townsmen to the House of Assembly. The first member was Peter Brown, Esq. ; since that, Thos. Ridley, James L. Prender, John Munn, and others. Harbour Grace has been the birth-place of the press in Conception Bay. Formerly the " Mercury," the " Herald," and the " Conception Bay Man," were published here. The name of the paper at present published in Harbour Grace, is the " Standard," Mr. Archibald Munn being editor and proprietor. There is an excellent Grammar School at Harbour Grace, well furnished with books, maps, and philosophical apparatus, in which a large number of children is educated. This school is presided over by Professor Roddick, a highly intelligent Scotchman, for- merly teacher of the classics in the High and Lower School of the Mechanics' Institute, Liverpool, England. There is also a very excellent School belonging to the Episcopal Church. The Roman Catholics have also a very large School, and there is a female school supported by the Government ; besides these public schools there are some private ones. There is also a small Custom-House. Since the election riots in 1840, a small company of the military had been stationed at Harbour Grace, and when it was in contemplation to remove them to St. John's, so anxious were the people to retain them, that they peti- tioned the Home Government for them to remain. Har- bour Grace has a Commercial Society and Public Reading Room. There are also the Benevolent Irish Society; Dorcas Society; Temperance Society; Maiine Insurance Society; and a Volunteer Company. There is a post office and a AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 117 telegraph office. The town next in importance to Harbour Grace is Carbonear, which ranked a little higher in popu- lation in 1845, and until within the last few years, always stood higher as a place of commerce. The census of 1857 gives Carbonear a population of 4,808. The manufacture of oil clothing here amounts to over $3,000, When the French fleet attacked and destroyed St. John's in 1696, the British settlers at Carbonear success- fully resisted Iberville, the French commander. Again, in 1706, when St. Ovide, the commander of the French fleet, destroyed every other British settlement in the island, Carbonear defended itself and repelled the agres- sor. In 1762, however, in common with all other parts of the island, this hitherto impregnable fortress was taken by the French. In 1762, Charles Garland, Esq., of Har- bour Grace, supported a detachment of men, whom he garrisoned on Carbonear Island, at the mouth of the harbour. Mr. Garland paid, fed, and supported these men, when provisions were scarce and dear. He also raised a number of sailors for the temporary use of the navy. The writer has often seen some of the cannon and the remains of the fortifications erected on Carbonear Island. In 1775, in a dreadful storm which devastated the whole coast of Newfoundland, Carbonear and Harbour Grace sufiered severely in loss of fishing craft and men. It is said upwards of a hundred boats, with their crews, were lost in one cove. During the above year. Harbour Grace and Carbonear were constantly annoyed by Ame- rican privateers, but were kept at a distance by the commanding batteries on the cliffs. Owing to the general depression of trade on the close of the war, and great privation consequent on the destruction of St. John s by the great fires in the winter of 1816, and other causes, some of the inhabitants of Carbonear and Harbour Grace were in a destitute condition. Numbers, rendered des- titute by want, began to break open the merchants' stores, IS .3 1^ 1 1 "'1 i ! 1 |:,^ , ; 1 . ' : ■ " • *? % -■^*l 1 I M 1 I i I! V^l 118 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ r (t Volunteer companies were immediately embodied and armed, to prevent further depredations, and committees of relief were formed to issue small quantities of food at stated periods. This winter is universally designated by the old inhabitants of Carbonear as the * Winter of the Rals." In 1856, a destructive conflagration destroyed a great part of the town of Carbonear. ^ Carbonear was once a town of great commercial im- portance. The merchants at one period used to send to St. John's to purchase fish and oil to load their vessels. It is said that two of the Carbonear merchants, George and James Kemp, retired to England with a fortune of £30,000 or SI 50.000 each. These persons at one time owned the greatest proportion of the landed property in the town of Poole, county of Doi*set, England. John Gosse, Esq., of the well-known firm of Gosse, Pack and Fryer, it is said also accumulated a fortune at Carbonear, and retired to Poole, and many others. The principal mercantile establishments of Carbonear at the present time are those of John Rorke — who ho^ been many years a member of the Legislature, J. and S. Maddock, Benjamin Gould, and others. Robert Pack, Esq., the principal of the house of Pack, Gosse and Fryer, had lived at Carbonear the greater part of his life, and had largely contributed to its prosperity. He was one of the members sent by the unanimous votes of the people to the first Legislature of Newfoundland, and was subsequently twice returned ; he declined, how- ever, at the last election to take his seat. By his devo- tion to agriculture he set an example worthy of imitation. About twenty-five years ago, Mr. Pack commenced the cultivation of a large tract of land in the neighbourhood of the town of Carbonear, which he soon brought into a well-cultivated farm. He subsequently built a splendid cottage on it, surrounded by gardens, walks, and trees. He made it his permanent residence up to the time of his death a few years ago. He was identified with the AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 119 general interests of the country from a boy, and for fifty years was a principal in one of the oldest and largest mercantile establishments in Newfoundland. He spent a fortune in developing the agricultural capabilities of the soil. Carbonear has three places of worship. One Church of England, a new and elegant building, erected mainly through the exertions of the Rev. Wm. Hoyles ; one new Methodist Church, which is the largest belonging to that body in the island ; and one Roman Catholic. It has a court-house, a police magistrate and constables, a clerk of the peace, and a custom-house officer. Out of the four members for the district of Conception Bay, Carbonear has always sent one. There are several private and public schools. The Government School is conducted by Professor O'Donovan, formerly a tutor in Trinity College, Dublin. He is a good-natured, intelli- gent Irishman. There is a well-conducted Methodist school, also an excellent school belonging to the Church of England, and another under the direction of the Roman Catholics. There is a post-office and telegraph office. A newspaper called " The Star," was established at Car- bonear in 1830, which was succeeded some years after by " The Sentinel," both, however, are now defunct. Through the efforts of the late Thomas Chancey, Esq., then a leading merchant, a commercial society was formed in 1834, this also has become defunct. For many years Carbonear was blessed with a valuable, circulating library, established mainly by the late John Elson, Esq., a gentlemen of extensive literary acquire- ments, and one of the principals in the respectable and long-established house of Slade, Elson & Co. P. H. Gosse, Esq., M.R.S., was in this establishment several years, afterwards one of the English naturalists, and au- thor of several valuable works. S. W. Sprague, afterwards a Wesleyan Methodist minis- ter, P. Tocque, afterwards a Church of England clergy- I'y ■■fmr. 9^m Ik* If L 1 : t > i 1 i i if '■ I !!(!■; n 4 I ij 120 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, It man, and about a dozen merchants, received their train- ing in this establishment. Owing to Mr. Elson's seques- tered habits, his worth as a man of general literature wa« known to but few in the community in which he lived. Had his lot been cast among other influences than those by which he was surrounded, he would have shone most conspicuously as a public man. The library, after many years of usefulness, was finally broken up, and no eflbrt has since been made to establish another. There is, however, a valuable and extensive Methodist Sunday-school library, and a large number of standard works are yearly added to it, by means of an annual public collection. There is also an excellent Church of England library. These libraries, however, reach very few of other denominations. It is to be re- gretted that in a community so large as Carbonear a pub- lic circulating library is not re-established. Books have been termed " the monuments of vanished minds," and a circulating library pronounced " an ever- green tree of knowledge, which blossoms all the year." Dr. Channing, one of the greatest American writers, says :— " It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds, and these invaluable means of communication are in the reach of all. In the best books great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours. God be thanked for books. They are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages, fiooks are the true levellers. They give to all, who will faithfully use them, the society, the spiritual pre- sence, of the best and greatest of our race. No matter how poor I am. No matter, though the prosperous of my own time will not enter my obscure dwelling. If the sacred writers will enter and take up their abode under my roof, — if Milton will cross my threshold to sing to me of Paradise, and Sh^kspeare to open to me the worlds of imagination and the workings of the human heart, and Franklin to enrich me with his practical wisdom, — I shall not pine for intellectual companionship ; and T may become a cultivated man, though excluded from what is called the best society in the place where I live." ■? AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 121 There is a benevolent Irish Society at Carbonear, also a Methodist Total Abstinence Society, a Bible Society, and two medical men. The next important town is Brigns, which contains a population of about 1,779, from which an important seal and cod fishery is cairied on. Fonnerly Charles Cozens, Esq., the late stipendiary magistrate, carried on a very extensive mercantile establishment. He also cultivated a large farm. The Messrs. Munden, Nor- man, Percey, Wheelan, Bartlett, and Roberts reside here, who are some of the richest planters in Newfoundland. Brigus is well cultivated, and, for the extent of popula- tion, has a number of good residences. There is no large mercantile establishment at present at Brigus. The last belonged to Robert Brown, Esq., who has removed to St. John's. Nearly the whole trade of Brigus has been re- moved to St. John's and Harbour Grace. There are three churches, one Episcopal, one Methodist, and one Roman Catholic. There is a Court-house, a stipendiary magis- trate, and a clerk of the peace. Quarter Sessions of the Peace are holden here ; John C. Nuttall, Esq., is collector of customs. There is a post-office and a telegraph office. There is one large public school, belonging to the Episco- palians, and also one Roman Catholic school. Not far from Brigus, at places called Turk's Head and English Head, Copper mines are being worked, they have produced three tons of good ore. The next important town is Port-de-Grave, which is situate on a very long, narrow, bleak promontory. It and the neighbouring coves contain a population of 1,973. There are three places of worship, one Episcopalian, one Methodist, and one Roman Catholic. There are two Public Schools, which belong to the Episcopalians and the Methodists. There are here several merchants who carry on the seal and cod fisheries to a considerable extent. The next place of importance is Bay Roberts. There was formerly a large mercantile establishment, a branch of the firm of Pack, Gosse, and Fryer, conducted by a very intelligent English gentleman, , 1 * ;> J J __ vt J "■" '% > ll 1 i 1 • 1« 1 "• 1 * « • « . 1 1 ''■ i ' ■-% ..,,J ' \ • J ; 1 •'-•*'» i t •♦•4 , i ■ 'i. ■ '■•\. i ■■i ,m \ i f '. V,,m ;,,h •■• i? [ 1 •^•^ i lili I ' ( ih!^ i lil m 122 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, William Green, Esq., son-in-law of Mr. Pack. James Cormack, Esq., a smart and well-informed Irishman, also carried on a very respectable trade, and Mr. McLellan did a considerable business. (These firms are now defunct.) The Episcopalians, Methodists and Roman Catholics each have a church here. There are two Public Schools, be- longing to the Episcopalians and Roman Catholics. The Hon. C. F. Bennett, of St. John's, coriamenced the working of a very extensive slate-quarry here some years ago. Bay Roberts has a population of 2,300. There is a Methodist Church and a School here, and a number of respectable planters.* Formerly large mer- cantile establishments were conducted here, but the build- ings are now almost in ruins. The view of land and water, on the top of the hill between Brigus and Cupids, is as fine a landscape as can well be imagined. The next place of importance is Spaniard's Bay. Here William DonnoUy, Esq., for many years carried on a large and profitable business, pre^ ious to his removal to Harbour Grace. Spainards' Bay has one Episcopal, and one Roman Catholic Church, and two schools belonging to the respec- tive denominations. At the head of Conception Bay are Holyrood and Har- bour Main, containing a population of about 800 each. At Chapel Cove, an abundance of Limestone is found. The lands are extensively cultivated, and large quantities of vegetables are raised. There is a Roman Catholic Church in each place with schools. ^ The original inhabitants of these places were from England and Jersey, and their descendants informed me that they had been brought up in the Church of England, but owing to their not being visited by any Protestant Minister they were induced to join the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Ezekiel, an English Jew, informed ine that he had joined the Roman Catholic Church for the same * Owners of fishing establishments are called planters. \ ' . r AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 123 reason. He is now dead, and, I believe, has left a numer- ous family. These places are now principally inhabited by persons from the " Emerald Isle " and natives. On the north shore of Conception Bay the principal places are Broad Cove, Black Head, Adam's Cove, Western Bay, Ochre Pit Cove, Northern Bay Island Cove, Bay-de-Verds, and Grates* Cove at Island Cove. Some years ago a mer- cantile business was carried on by Richard Bankin, Esq., an intelligent Englishman, who afterwards became the resident Stipendiary Magistrate at Bay-de-Verds. Thirty- three seal nets are employed catching seals. One Packet Boat plies from each of the harbours of Harbour Grace, Car- bonear and Brigus, to Portugal Cove, for the conveyance of mails and passengers en route to St. John's. A small steam-boat has taken the place of the sailing packets. The cod-fishery in Conception Bay commences about the beginning of June, and ends about the last of Septem- ber, after which the potatoes are usually dug and put in the cellar for the winter. From this period the great mass of the fishermen are idle five months, owing to the want of manufactures or employment other than the fishery. Single men usually become " winter dieters " (that is, they pay for their board until March), or they engage them- selves as winter servants, when they are employed hauling wood for fuel from the woods ; for which, in most cases, they only receive their board for wages. On the first of March all is bustle and animation, preparing for the seal fishery. Persons are seen coming in from all parts of the country, some by land, with their bats,- sealing-gun, and bundles of clothing over their shoulders ; others come in skiflfs, loaded with clothes, boxes, bags, guns, and gaffs. From the 1st to about the 10th of March, the streets of Harbour Grace, Carbonear, Bay Roberts, and Brigus, are crowded with groups of hardy seal-hunters. Some are employed bending sails and fixing the rigging of the vessel; some making oars and preparing the sealing-punts or '»>«»]» ii ~^ il ^ 124 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, skiffs ; others collecting stones for ballast, filling the water casks and cleaving wood ; while others are employed putting on board the provisions necessary for the voyage. The shouting, whistling, and clatter of tongues, presents almost a scene of Babel. In severe winters the harbours are frozen, when a channel through the ice has to be cut for the egress of vessels. Many men and vessels are lost in the prosecution of this voyage. Sometimes vessels are crushed between large masses of ice called "rollers," at other times they get in contact with islands of ice. The seal-fishery is a constant scene of bloodshed and slaughter. Here you behold a heap of seals which have only received a slight dart from the gaff, writhing, and crimsoning the ice with their blood, rolling from side to side in dying agony. There you see another lot, while the last spark of me is not yet extinguished, being stripped of their skins J and fat, their startlings and heavings making the unprac- tised hand shrink with horror to touch them. In the prosecution of the seal fishery the Sabbath is violated to a great extent. In pursuing this branch of commercial enterprise, some have been suddenly raised from compar- ative poverty to wealth and affluence. On the other hand, persons of means have embarked in the voyage, and have been as suddenly reduced to poverty. Several steamers are now sent to the seal fisheries from Harbour Grace. Fortune at best is but a fickle goddess, but she will always have devotees worshipping at her altars. For a more detailed account of the seal fisheries, see "Fisheries." A Magnetic Telegraph has been established from Concep- 1 tion Bay to St. Jjjhn's. In 1836, the population of Conception Bay was 23,215. The agricultural produce then was 746,869 bushels of I Eotatoes ; 4,184 bushels of oats and other grain ; 940 tons ay; acres of land in cultivation, 2,873. Of live stock there were 638 horses; 1,084 neat cattle; 1,632 hogs;| and 1,187 sheep. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. ' 125 According to the census of 1857, the population of Con- ception Bay was, — ^' 10,613 Church of England. In 1874, 13,738 13,345 Roman CathoUcs. " 15,340 : 9,345 Wesleyan Methodists. " 11,795 ^/ 6 Kirk of Scotland. ** 1 75 Free Kirk. ** 187 - 13 Congregationalists. ** ^ ' 33,396 Total. V ' ; .Total 41,070 ■ .f There were, — ' ; ' Churches of England 13 Roman Catholic 13 Wesleyan , ...16 Free Kirk of Scotland 1 - Total ^..... 43 There were also 80 schools, with 4,563 scholars ; and 5,493 dwelling houses. There were 12,043 acres of land under cultivation. Ship-building has been principally carried on at Car- bonear and Harbour Grace. Within the last few years, several large, substantial, and beautiful model vessels have been built at Harbour Grace by the enterprising mercantile houses of the Messrs. Ridley and Munn ; and at Carbonear by Messrs. Rorke, and others. In the mouth of the bay, about 60 miles from Carbonear, is the island of Baccahew (called Baccaloas) by Cabot when he discovered Newfoundland. This was the name Cabot gave to all the land he discovered, which signified cod-fish in the Indian tongue. The small Island of Bac- cahew has long oeen celebrated for it birds and eggs. This island is much frequented in the spring and summer for the purpose of procuring the eggs of the sea birds which breed there. Their eggs are obtained by letting J Sl» «• ' I 126 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, persons down from the top of the cliffs by ropes. The daring adventurers soon lose sight of their companions, as they pass down the perpendicular walls and overhanging parts of the cliffs, when they reach the terraces, which are often more than two feet wide, they cast off the rope, and having procured a load of eggs, they signify to their com- panions on the top their desire to be drawn up by pulling the rope. This occupation is attended with gi*eat danger and sometimes men nave been killed. A light house was erected not long ago at the north end of the Island. The following table will show the relative importance of the trade of Carbonear and Harbour Grace at the periods referred to : — 1 '■■ ..\:;i>^- 'J < EH % P \ 00 H i H 'A S m m > 'A » H. "A h .rH % (MO) Qoeoo lOOiH ;5! COTf<(M iftOJ ^3 (Ml -«1 'uaiv iM •SUOi ^ « t- «0 OO rH «0 rH "* t- CA (9 PS o n p< 'a9K S3 •BUOX 8I9889A 00 GO NOO •a9w j0OJ5gOJ •BUOX § rHOl ©J OO rHSSWrH 8I88B9A g5pHQ0i-"TH •J 6 p a « « ■ ^ s «s « ^ 09 ^ CO ^ w w ^ (N(Nt-C.ao ~ ■ c 09 a ig©25«COTf ©OOulQt^ ©iHtCC^OOO « ec o €(5 1- co ^ bo ^ 'Q »3 'O ^ A £J 0) a> V s^ a^ s- a> « V >4 l>l > I I .a i ■§ i .a % 9» •«f ! ; ! I ■.'I "V ,1 ! i * i 1-' ' ' ' 1 128 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ; [The foregoing statement was ascertained preparatory to framing a petition to his late Majesty William IV., to make Carbonear a free port. The privilege, however, was conceded to Harbour Graoe since then. The repeal of the navigation laws opened all the ports of the island to foreigners.] ■ , The following is the number of vessels employed in the seal fishery from Carbonear and Harbour Grace in 1836 1837 and 1838 : Ships. Tons. ' Men. Carbonear 80 6,889 1,918 Harbour Grace 32 2,611 741 In 1837. Carbonear 74 6,446 1,798 Harbour Grace 49 4,099 1,166 In 1838. Carbonear.... 72 6,312 1,855 Harbour Grace 47 3,887 1,152 The following is the number of seals manufactured at Carbonear and Harbour Grace in the years 1839 and 1845: In 1839. Seals. Carbonear.. 41,019 Harbour Grace 11,685 The number of vessels employed in the Seal Fishery throughout Conception Bay in 1834, was 218 ; in 1837, 206 ; and in 1838, 200 vessels. In the year 1869 Messrs. Ridleys fitted out a steamer for the seal fishery, which returned with 17,000 seals the first trip, and 6,000 the second trip. The following is the number of vessels fitted out for the seal fishery from Conception Bay, in the undermen- tioned years : Years. Vesseh 1839 174 1840 169 1841 157 1842 177 1843 180 1845 202 In 1873, I Harbour Gra ery, besides a seals manufai was 112,676 ; factured ; wh there were 12 place, in 182^ the whole of summer in th number of sm about 3,000 h ception Bay i wards of 200 At Kelly's : grained, grit-s tification and dressing, for about nine mi the island is a ted farms. Tl any other par yeai's several Carbonear anc of the United It is not ofter They are fond painful emoti( AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 129 Years- Vessels. Tons. Men. Years. Vessels. Tons. Men. 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1845 174 14704 4818 1846 175 15176 169 14036 4674 1847 161 13989 157 12440 4431 1848 148 13515 177 14655 5040 1849 149 14765 180 14877 5098 1853 184 19235 202 16971 5628 5214 4924 4842 5113 6964 In 1873, Ridley & Sons, and John Munn & Co., of Harbour Grace, employed three steamers in the seal lish- eiy, besides a number of sailing vessels. The number of seals manufactured throughout Conception Bay, in 1839, was 112,676 ; and in 1845 there were about. 50,000 manu- factured ; while at Carbonear alone, in the year 1832, there were 124,417 seals manufactured, and at the same place, in 1824, there were 101,316 manufactured. Nearly the whole of the sealing vessels are employed during the summer in the Labrador cod fishery. There is also a great number of smaller craft employed in the fisheries, besides about 3,000 large fishing boats. The foreign trade of Con- ception Bay employs about 100 vessels, from 90 to up- wards of 200 tons. At Kelly's Island, and Little Belle Isle, excellent, fine- grained, grit-stone is abundantly found, and from the stra- tification and natural cleavage is set, with scarcely any dressing, for building. The island of Big Belle Isle is about nine miles long and three broad. On either end of the island is a village. Here there are some well-cultiva- ted farms. The soil of Belle Isle is said to be richer than any other part of Conception Bay. During the past few years several families of natives and others belonging to Carbonear and Harbour Grace, emigrated to various paiis of the United States, many of whom have since returned. It is not often that Newfoundlanders leave their country. They are fond of home. The writer cannot describe the painful emotions he felt, when, for the last time, he saw ttfi J J J m ""I i I i ...» j -* .-. m4 !ll^ M15 'i 1 HI ill ! ' i! I III 130 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ the dim shores of his native land die away in the distance; a thousand fond recollections clustered around his heart, of home and distant friends. The number of emigrants annually arriving at Ne\p- foundland used to be between 300 and 400, principally from Ireland. A few years ago more than double the above number used to arrive in a year. Now none. *' The natal soil, to all how strangely sweet, The place where first he breathed, who can forget ; Whate'er the cause, man still adores The soil that gave him birth. And tho' awhile for distant shores He quits his native earth, He loves, gray-haired, to walk the shade . Where first he saw the sky, j And on the spot where first he played, i To lay him down and die." The following statistics are from the Emigration Com- 1 missioners' last Report : — " The great impulse given to emigration dates from the year 1847. In the forty-three years, from 1816 to 1857 inclusive,! there emigrated from the United Kingdom, 4,683,194 persons. | " Of these there went to — "The United States 2,830,687 " To British North America 1,170,342 " To Australia and New Zealand 613,616 " To other places 68,560 " Of the whole emigration, more than one-half, viz., 2,444,, 802, emigrated in the eight years from 1847 to 1854 inclusive. In 1855 and 1856 the emigration fell to 176,807 and 176,5541 respectively, principally in consequence of the demand for the army and navy, and the departments connected with them, dur- j ing the Russian war. In 1857 the numbers rose again to 212, • , 875. The increase was, to some extent, checked by ^he recruit- 1 ing for the army in India. During the first three months ofl 1858 the number of emigrants amounted to only 19,146 ; thisi being the smallest emigration for the same period in any year! since 1856. The decrease was ohiefly owing to the demand for| recruits." V ;^, ■ ■ . j ' '. / . \ '\ ■ . . ' ' ' ' ' ■ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 181 CHAPTER V. DISTRICT OF TRINITY BAY. ,N no part of the world are there more noble bays than in Newfoundland. Eighty and ninety miles the ocean is penetrated by those great arms of the sea, into the land, bringing the treasures of the deep to the very doors of the inhabitants. It is very probable that the whole of the earlier voyagers to Newfoundland visited Trinity Bay. The celebrated Captain Whitbourne, who went in a ship of his own against the Spanish Armada, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, visited Trinity Harbour so early as 1578, where he obtained poultry and fish. In 1762 Trinity shared the fate of all the other British settle- ments by being destroyed by the French fleet. Trinity Harbour (so called from being entered on Trinity Sunday) is the Capital of the District of Trinity Bay. It is one of the best and largest harbours, not only of Newfoundland, but of the world. It has several arms and coves, where thousands of ships may ride land-locked, secure from wind, tide, or sea. The N. W. arm runs in various direc- tions for a distance of three miles. The S. W. arm also flows in different branches to about the same distance, when both arms nearly meet, forming Rider s Hill (which is situated in the centre of the harbour, and at the foot of which stands the town) into a peninsula. It has a Swiss appearance. The scenery on all sides of both arms is ex- tremely picturesque, romantic and beautiful. The woods, in some parts, skirt the edge of the water, amongst which are seen the graceful birch, shining like a silvery column amid the dark evergreens and underwood. Towering piles of rocks, are seen tossed into fantastic shapes, from the fissures of which the fir, birch, and mountain ash t ' lit Hi ! ' i ■ ".■■;^l = 4 ■ ■•»» '■■^"1, ■- \ J ,M ■■■ J ' >m ' i i ■ iW * , if 1 i :f . '"• ■ l! t ■ ■ 'I 1 3 "• >i <% '^* \ V ■m I ■ ! : f • < •!' -I'll ': V •*• ■ ■ 1 , ■"'?! ■ ■ [ • ..a :: U 1 . .n.*. '-Ml i •^« i ;i i . , -J ' ^^ \ M». ?• i •;-i* ■ \ 1 ^,m \ ! "^m * ■ i h f ' 1? m \ ■ 1 ; ■ t iiUl 132 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS,*; spring, waving with the slightest breeze. *• Here also is heard the roaring of several large brooks thundering in solitude, and creating an ever varying succession of spray and foam, as they dance along their course from rock to rock in musical cascades. . . *• In 1842, Trinity was visited by the first -steamer, and which was the second that ever appeared in Newfound- land. She was called the John McAdamy arid had been previously employed running between Cork' and Liver- pool, and was sent to St. John's in order /fcQ be sold. Trinity was long the seat- of some of the oldest mercantile establishments in Newfoundland. The Messrs.' fGarlands and Slades, for a great number of years, carried on large and flourishing trades. The premises that formerly be- longed to Mr. Garland were afterwards owned by Messi-s. Brooking, Son & Co., of St. John's, who! carried o^ a large trade there, presided over by their agent. The executors of the late Robert Slade, also did a veiy extensive busi- ness. The venerable William Kelson, Esq., t^e Isaac Walton, of Newfoundland, resided here, who waivalways the unflinching a.dvocate. of the hook and line, over all other modes of catching fish. •• The Circuit Court sits at Trinity once a year. There is a Stipendiary Magistrate and a Clerk of the Peace, and also a Custom House Officer. There are also two medical gentlemen. In 1838 a ** Benefit Club" was established here which, since its organization, has paid? to-sick mem- bers, and the relief of widows $2,000; Trinity has three churches, which beldng to the Episcopalia '., Methodists,, and Roman Catholics. There is one English Church and one Roman Catholic School. The population of Trinity in 1836 was 1,253 ; in 1845 it was 1,268, and in 1857 it was 1,610. In 1833, Trinity employed thirty-seven ves- sels in the foreign trade, besides nineteen more iA the seal fishery. There are several populous settlements in the neighbourhood of Trinity, such asEughah'HJai*our,Trouty, and Bonaventure. These places, with Catdli^J^ and Bird .> ■ 1 i • AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 133 I Island Cove, are the only important settlements on the north side of the Bay. In 1857, over 0,000 pounds of soap were manufactured in these settlements. At Catalina is found the celebrated " Catalina stone," iron pyrites. A light-house has been erected on Green Island, at the en- trance of the harbour. Random Sound is a beautiful lake of water, the shores of which are well adapted for culti- vation. Here John Tilley, Esq., resides, who by indomit- able energy and perseverance rose from obscurity to eminence as a man of learning. Mr. Tilley taught himself to read and write at twenty-six years of age. He was the first to commence brick-making, and preserving salmon in tins m Newfoundland. The Rev. Henry Petley, Mission- ary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, thus describes his visit to Random Sounds in 1859 : " I had long wished to go round Random Island, and visit the people in the North- West A? m and Smith's Sound, as the two reaches of sea water on two sides of the triangle of Random are called ; the third side being that open to the bay, Trinity Bay. To visit these, I started about half-past nine A.M., ou tlie 22nd August, from Heart's Content, and got off Heart's Ease, across the bay about fourteen miles, about one. Upon nearing my port here, Gooseberry Cove, I saw a punt with two iiands making towards me, and slackened my sheets to allow it to come up ; it had my intended pilot on board, who welcomed me, and finding I was going the proposed journey, asked for a couple of hours to get his breakfast and split his fish, for he liad been fishing since dawn on an empty stomach. We were soon under sail, and a light br( ^e carried us up the North- West Arm of Random, to near Mr. Blundell's, Reekes's Harbour, when down came the rain, and we had to row a mile or so up to his house. Blundell and his wife were away in St John's, but his son received us kindly, and made up a blazing fire, which soon dried our wet clothes. After tea, at the request of young Blundell, I read some prayers, and explained the Gospel for the Sunday before, the Parable of the Unjust Steward.. Soon after we went to rest, and I slept soundly till about four A.M., wiien I was awoke by my worthy pilot going out and commencing .1 1 ■■■■•■%m m f ■ I .$ ■ n ■ 1$ m^ n ; is . i I I ! I » 134 NEWFOUNDIiAND, AS IT WAS, I > battle with some Indian dogs, used by the Blundells for hauling wood. The battle raged with fury whilst near the house, but as it got more distant slackened and died away. But it com- menced again more severely when the poor pilot though i to re- turn to the house ; stones and sticks flew about, and I was just starting up, fearing the dogs were on him, when the door open- ed, and the tumult ceased. Even the inmates of the houses here are in dread of these dogs. I have not heard of their at- tacks being fatal on men, but an Indian dog and three others were shot in Heart's Content, only a week or two, for killing a cow. They have a bad name, and deservedly. And yet some of these dogs must have been the ancestors of the noble dogs known in England as the breed of this island. The best are jet black, and of good size ; but the ordinary dogs, if not of the In- dian breed, are very curs, and could be made to walk under the English Newfoundland dog. There are here, • some miles in, remains of Indian gardens ; gooseberries, raspberries, and nuts are still growing there in profusion. Mr. Blundell has a saw- mill worked by water. From this harbour to Smith's Sound, across Random, the distance is only, in Eastern . phrase, a couple of hours. " Leaving early, after giving away a few books, I went to a place called Piston Mere, where another saw-mill has been set up ; this has a more convenient wharf than any of the mills, shallow water being found where the streams issue into the arm. A house was building here for the owner's brother, and the ground was good-sheltered and well cropped. It lies under a cliff, which receives the warmth of the sun in the day, and throws it back at night, thus causing an even temperature. Whilst here, the rain fell in torrents ; on its slackening a little, we started, refusing, for want of time, the friendly hospitality of the people. The weather soon appeared decidedly against us, so we were obliged to give up going to Maggotty Cove, Deep Bight, and Upper Shoal Harbour, places like those we had visited, occupied chiefly by Wesleyans, and similarly, each containing two or three families. After we had passed Foster'}^ Point, a dangerous shallow, with a rock, to take a skiff up about a third across the arm, we took to the oars, and rowed up under the shore till we got past Bound's Head, when we got sail on the boat, and ran across to Mr. Tilly's, of Lower Shoal Harbour. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 135 Here we threw out our grapnel in about eight feet of water, and waited for a ' flat ' to take us ashore. We were kindly enter- wined by Mr. Tilly, an old gentleman, who appeared to have found pleasure, and profit too, in scientific and learned pur- suits. He is a Wesleyan, and, as I was the firat clergyman, I believe, who had ' burst into this silent sea,' I did not feel dis- |)08ed, single-handed, as I am in this mission, to discuss the church question with him at any length, particularly when I found him recognising the Wesleyan teachers as a lay body, and jiving me leave to have service in his house. He had a Homer's Iliad in the Greek, which, as he did not want, he exchanged with ine, after Diomed's fashion, for Parker's National Miscellany. I haf] no time to visit his saw-mill, or to take a walk into the country to see the large pines, now only to be met with some three miles in. But I saw his farm, a good extent of land for these parts, bearing fine crops of potatoes, oats, and grass. There is an old Englishman here, who is his principal labourer, who is very careful over the potatoes. The next morning brought St. Michael's Day, and the service, Morning Prayer and sermon, was well attended. I soon after had to leave. My visit here gave me much pleasure ; the people were evidently more intel- ligent than the usual settlers ; and everything seemed to tell of prosperity following the track of industry and order. Mr. Tilly's JB about half-way between Trinity and the electric telegraph station in Bay of Bull-arm. " Nearing the shoal water of the Bar, a score or two of wild geese took to wing. Spurrell had a winter tilt near this, and once on a March morning walked with two others to Trinity, arriving there the same day about five o'clock. Marshes and ponds, with a few woods, are the character of the interior of the country. Leaving the Bar, we entered Smith's sound, and after a long sail came to Burgon's or Berrigon's Cove, where were three families. Opposite this, on the other side of the sound were several small settlements, Apsey Cove, with a good harbour. Lance Cove, Lalle Cove, Porridge Cove, &c., with from one to three or four families, as I understood, in each. The people have all come here within the last five years or less. The land is good in places, and the fishing has been productive this year ; but the people seem living too much for the day. The only one in these parts representing the * king of men ' i J I I I <«« •I I I s ■ n ' i 136 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, I a (I have been reading Mr. T.'s Homer), has been the eheriflFfrom Harbour Grace last spring ; whilst the sole visit of a pastor ^ they hav3 had has been my own. The next morning they " came over, and I was sorry to tell them I could do nothing for them in the way of church or school, their numbers being so few. Mr. Corbury, my host at Burgon's Cove, has an old Eng- lishman with him, the only man about here who can read ; he has been in the habit of reading part of the services on Sundays. Mr. Corbury wished to have a burial-ground consecrated, but as this was beyond my power, and as performing a partial ser- vice might have seemed to fix a station for a church, I thought it best to ask him to wait for the present. " After the service. Morning Prayer with two christenings and a sermon, we started again, and soon passed the slate quar- ries, now becoming useful to the colony, and rowed, under a hot sun, to near a tickle called the Thoroughfare, containing four or five houses, where a slight breeze relieved us, and brought us once more out into the Bay. Here we had to take to our oars again, and row to Bider's Harbour, where a poor fisherman named Bayly, kindly entertained us, and I gave him of such things as I could, holding a service in his house, and christening two of his children ; sponsors for whom, as well as the majority of the congregation, were found from some boats lying in the harbour. I ought to have mentioned the pleasure it gave me when a poor man, who had been grass-cutting, came alongside of me as I was ; coming in, and gave me for himself and his neighbours a kindly invitation to Island's Eye, or Ireland's Eye, a very primitive place, where there is a little school-church, in which, if report speaks correct, psalmody is unknown. But as this is out of my Mission, I could only say I had no time for such a visit. Here are great quantities of raspberries, and soon after arriving I had some with milk — very refreshing after the day's work* "Next morning we breakfasted about four, and were soon off, wishing to reach Heart's Ease before night. The distance was not great ; but the wind, blowing fresh, was right ahead. We rowed up to Deer Harbour head, when we hoisted sail, and beat up, standing off and on between the small islands which dot the coast here, and the main. We made our way up towards the Eastern Head of Random, a fine bold point where iron ore, or something unknown to Sinbad, attracts the compasses of passing AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 137 I, and renders them useless. My pilot once had the needle of his compass spinning here, in a gale of wind and fog, and by this he guessed where he was, just before the fog lifting showed the Head right above him. After passing the Eastern Head a of wind and rain came on, and if the little boat had not well up into the arm, as Spurrell said, we should have to run back again. One or two tacks brought us well into the arm, and under the Western Head, where the wind fell, and we had'to row into the tickle above Heart's Ease, where the wind came on smart again, and we beat up to Gooseberry Cove about five o'clock." The most important place to Trinity is Old Per- lican on the south side of the Bay, which is one of the oldest settlements. It had a population in 1857 of 793. The next populous settlements are Grate's Cove, Hants Harbour, New Perlican, and Heart's Content, each of which has a population of from four to six hundred, with churches and schools. At Old Perlican there is a Metho- dist church and school. Stephen March, Esq., carried on a mercantile establishment here, and is now a member of the Assembly, and a merchant in St. John's. There is also a Methodist church and school. There is a mercan- tile establishment, which is a branch of Messrs. Slade's, of Trinity. At New Perlican, there is an Episcopal church and school. There are also two mercantile establishments. New Perlican is celebrated as being the residence of the Astrologer of Newfoundland, the late Mr. Pittman, who was an Englishman, and formerly agent for Garland's house, of Trinity. New Perlican is famous for ship- building. At All Heart's Content there is an Episcopal church and school. There are several merchants resident here. A packet-boat runs from this place to Trinity once a week. Here are the buildings of the Atlantic Telegraph Com- pany. The next places of any importance are New Harbour m ■ I ! ''% t i s . ,3 ■■ ■'■»■.•''* ■/*■-■ ^^"^1 1 ; 1 j i ■1 i ■' '' M:m ink 2 ! 1 ! I di fillf \ 138 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, and Dildo Cove. At the former place *Mr. Nfewhook re- sided, a merchant and ship-builder. Dildo Cove is noted as being the residence of the late celebrated Tom Fitz- gibbon Moore, a poor fisherman, who was the represen- tative of Trinity Bay, in 1836, in the Second House of Assembly of Newfoundland. Trinity Bay is famous for ship-building. In 1836 the population of Trinity was 6,803. In 1857, the following was the population : — , ,^ 6,016 Church of England. 1,253 Roman Catholics. 3,460 Wesleyan Methodists. 4 Free Church of Scotland. 3 Congregationalists. ■S^-: Total 10,736 In 1874 , // 8,417 Church of England. 1,683 Roman Catholics. 5,653 Wesleyan Methodists. 8 Free Church of Scotland. 4 Congregationalists. 2 Baptists. Total 15,667 There were 12 Churches of England. 3 " Rome. 8 " Methodist. There were also 1,747 dwelling-houses ; 20 schools, with 1,035 scholars. There were 1,819 acres of land in cultivation, the annual produce of which were 916 tons of hay, 10 bushels of wheat and barley, 39,312 bushels potatoes, 205 bushels of turnips, 277 bushels of timothy and clover seed, 126 bushels of other root crops. Of live stock there were 1,352 neat cattle, 680 milch cows, 240 » V. ..■: '''■'k''t AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 139 I horses, 536 sheep, and 1,395 swine and goats. There ' were five saw mills, valued at $6,000. The quantity of butter manufactured was 10,136 pounds. The number^of vessels employed in the seal and cod fisheries was 37 boats carrying from 4 to 30 quintals of green fish and upwards. Nets and lines, 1,933. Quantity of fish cured as follows: — 86,723 quintals of codfish. 176 teices of salpaon. 1 ,072 barrels of herring. The number of seals taken was 6,100. Seal nets owned, 234. Quantity of oil manufactured, 95,562 gallons. The following are the number of vessels employed in the seal fishery at diflferent periods from Trinity Bay : — Year. 1834 . . 1844. 1847. 1848. 1849. 1853. Ships. .19.. .35.. .69.. .65.. .40 4,320 .25 Tons. Men. .1,539 418 .2,908 1,013 .6,060 2,101 5,889 1,922 1,149 Some of the above vessels were sent from St. John's to Catalina and Hant's Harbour in the Fall to be fitted out for the seal fishery. The above also include six schooners belonging to Bonavisto which sailed from Catalina. The number of seals manufactured in Trinity Bay during the years 1839 and 1845 was as follows : — In 1839.. :........ .;....:. 38,560 In 1845 14,350 ' At Trinity, the practice for a number of years had been to claim for the owners of the sailing vessels, a man's share beyond the number of persons engaged in the voy- age. In 1836, however, the hardy seal hunters determined I ■"(.>»>• ,.^.s i I am •0* :«)> i: I li 140 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, to submit to this iniquitous practice no longer, They held a public meeting and threw the "dead man over- board." Measures were taken to extend a submarine Telegraph across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland." The following is from Lieutenant Maury, of the U. S. navy : — ' "• ' ' " The United Statesjbrig " Dolphin," Lieutenant-Command- ing O. H. Berryman, was emp][oyed last summer upon special service connected with the researches that are carried on at this office concerning the winds and currents of the sea. " Her observations were confined principally to that part of the ocean which the merchantmen, as they pass to and fro upon the business of trade between Europe and the United States, use as their great thoroughfare. " Lieutenant Berryman availed himself of this opportunity to carry along, also, a line of deep sea soundings from the shores of Newfoundland to those of Ireland. " The result is highly interesting, in so far as the bottom of the sea is concerned, upon the question of a submarine tele- graph across the Atlantic, and I therefore beg leave to make it the subject of a special report. " This line of deep sea soundings seems to be decisive of the questions as to the practicability of a submarine telegraph be- tween the two continents, in so far as the bottom of the deep sea is concerned. " From Newfoundland to Ireland the distance between the nearest points is about 1,600 miles; and the bottom of the sea between the two places is a plateau, which seems to have been placed there especially for the purpose of holding the wires of a submarine telegraph, and of keeping them out of harm's way. It is neither too deep nor too shallow ; yet it is so deep that the wires, but once landed, will remain forever beyond the reach of vessels' anchora, icebergs, and drifts of any kind ; and so shallow that the wires may be readily lodged upon the bottom. " The depth of this plateau is quite regular, gradually increas ing, from the shores of Newfoundland to the depths of from 1,500 to 2,000 fathoms, as you approach the other side. « The distan^ I St. Lewis, in I from any poini land. 1 'Butwheth] I foundland or tend to considc time calm eno\ ashipbigenoi] in length; the uityof theage ready with a s; "I simply i far as the bott greatest practi reaching soun( sea. « I submit h according to tl board of vessel and according of Ordnance i the sixth editi «By an exi acquired by t depression be which underl that holds its " A wire 1 on this side a on that beau the waters oi rest as at th< " It is pro ence that tl agents at wc plateau. "I deriv< which I U bearings. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 141 " The distancebetween Ireland and Cape Si. Charles, or Gape St. Lewis, in Labrador, is somewhat less than the distance from any point of Ireland to the nearest point of Newfound- land. ' ■ \'^:^.y^:-\, ■,.'.,'':■ ■■;.■..; ■■ .„: ■; " But whether it would be better to lead the wires from New- foundland or Labrador is not now the question ; nor do I pre- tend to consider the question as to the possibility of finding a time calm enough, the sea smooth enough, a wire long enough, a ship big enough, to lay a coil of wire sixteen hundred miles in length ; though I have no fear but the enterprise and ingen- uity of the age, whenever called on with these problems, will be ready with a satisfactory and practical solution of them. " I simply address myself, at this time, to the question in so far as the bottom of the sea is concerned, and as far as that, the greatest practical difficulties will, I apprehend, be found after reaching soundings at either end of the line, and not in the deep sea. .('i'"''^' ' •'■ ' "■ ' ' '''-'' " I submit herewith a chaii;, showing the depth of the Atlantic according to the deep-sea soundings, made from time to time, on board of vessels of the navy, by authority of the Department, and according to instructions issued by the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. This Chart is Plate XIV. of the sixth edition of * Maury's Sailing Directions.' "By an examination of it, it will be perceived that we have acquired by these simple means a pretty good idea as to the depression below the. sea-level, of the solid crust of out planet which underlies the Atlantic Ocean, and constitutes the basin that holds its waters. " A wire laid across from either of the above-named places on this side will pass to the north of the Grand Banks, and rest on that beautiful plateau to which I have alluded, and where the waters of the sea appear to be as quiet and as completely at rest as at the bottom of a mill-pond. " It is proper that the reasons should be stated for the infer- ence that there are no perceptible currents, and no abrading agents at work at the bottom of the sea upon this telegraphic plateau. " I derive this inference from a study of a physical fact which I little deemed, when ' I sought it, had any such bearings. v■^■ . I ■ ^ ■«• . . ..« .^* •■^ I I ■i.i -•'rs •- ^ T-- ft i ! t ' I f Hil 1 i! 1 i m M 142 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ; *' It is unnecessary to speak on this occasion of the germs which physical facts, even apparently the most trifling, are often found to contain. "Lieutenant Berryman brought up with Mr. Brook's deep sea line sounding apparatus specimens of the bottom from this plateau. " I sent them to Professor Bailey, of West Point,' for examin- ation under his microscope. This he kindly gave, and that eminent microscopist was quite as much surprised, as I was to learn, that all these specimens of deep-sea sounding are filled with microscopic shells ; to use his own words, ' not a particle of sand or gravel exists in them.' " These little shells, therefore, suggest the fact that there are no currents at the bottom of the sea, whence they came— that Brook's lead found them where they were deposited in their burial-place after having lived and died on the surface, and by gradually sinking were lodged on the bottom. Had there been currents at the bottom, these would have swept and abraded, and mingled up with these microscopic remains, the debris of the bottom of the sea, such as oozle, sand, gravel, and other matter ; but not a particle of sand or gravel was found lying among them. Hence the inference that these depths of the sea are not disturbed either by waves or cur- rents. " Consequently, a telegraphic wire once laid there, there it would remain, as completely beyond the reach of accident as it would be if buried in air-tight cases. Therefore, so far as the bottom of the deep sea between Newfoundland, or the North Cape, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and Ireland is con- cerned, the practicability of a submarine telegraph across the Atlantic is proved." Bay of Bull's Arm, in Trinity Bay, has acquired great celebrity as being the place of landing of the first Atlantic Telegraph Cable. lilp:: ;'/ * <- ■*-v- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 143 i-^ '><4 CHAPTER VI. DISTRICT OP BONAVISTA BAT. •- , -.-J'- [HE first land discovered in Newfoundland by the Cabots, appears to have been about Cape Bonavista, and to which they gave the name of Terra Pimum Vista (the land first seen), happy sight or view. The celebrated navigator Jacques Cartier being recommended by Chabot, Admiral of France, was entrusted with a commission to form colonies. He arrived at Newfound- land on the 10th of May, 1534, and touched at Cape Bon- avista, thence sailed along the coast until he entered the the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1696, when the French fleet destroyed St. John's, and nearly every other settle- ment in the island, the British settlers in Bonavista sue- . sessfuUy defended themselves. In 1760 the celebrated Captain James Cook visited Bonavista and surveyed the coast. The French were allowed to fish along the shores of Bonavista Bay until the Peace of 1783, when their right to fish along this paiii of the coast was relinquished. Traces of the French occupancy are still to be seen, con- sisting of heaps of stones which were used for the purpose of curing fish on ; also several rude grave stones which marks the burial place of their dead. Cape Bonavista is dashed by the ocean billows, which seem to struggle for the mastery, as they attempt to scale the lofty cliffs which guard the shore. Here, in 1S43, an excellent light house was erected by the local Government. What is called Cape Bonavista is a narrow strip of land, jutting about three miles into the ocean. It is table land, and agricul- tural operations have recently been pursued there to some extent. Bonavista and its environs are quite level, all of which are well cultivated meadows and gardens. At ij.l i 1» I ...» ' »• ^ .-■" If i I ' I n m pi 144 III! iiili;;! NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, > \ Lance Cove, is the greatest natural curiosity in the neigh- bourhood of the Town of Bonavista. This is a grotto I formed by the action of th6 sea, and very inappropriately termed by the inhabitants " The Dungeon." It is about thirty feet deep and three hundred yards in circumference, situated about a hundred yards from the edge of the cliff. On one side of the botto/n of this cave are two channels, ' each about seven feet wiae, arched over with grit stone,, into which the old oceans thunders its milky foam. Dur- ing a heavy sea the sound is deafening, resembling the noise made by the working of the machinery of a large mill. On the other side is a small beach, formed by the action of the waves, on which the earth is constantly foundering from above. This roofless cavern — for it is all open to the light of day, except the channels at the bot- tom, and may be called a pit rather than a cavern — must enlarge very fast owing to the soft material which pre- sents itself to obstruct the progress of the sea. About forty years ago, m the winter season, a very singular and most extraordinary sound was heard in the neighbourhood of Bonavista. It commenced about three o'clock in the afternoon and lasted until the next day about noon. The men at Bird Island Cove were going about nearly all night, some with loaded guns, some with hatchets, and others with whatever weapon they could command. The sound is described as resembling distant thunder. It has also been compared to the growl of a bear, the bellowing of a cow, &;c., conveying a deep sepul- chral tone. What is most strange and unaccountable is that it appeared alongside of everybody, although at the time some were at a distance from each other of from one to five miles. Men hauling wood at the time thought the sound came out of the ground immediately under the slide or team, and, in some instances, were so alarmed as to leave the wood behind. Several females thought a bear had got into their chambers, and ran terrified from their dwellings. . ; Vp-m mi:: AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 145 This singular sound could not have originated from the rumbling noise made by the ice, because no ice, at the time, was near the coast — neither would the noise made by the ice be heard in the peculiar manner this sound was heard ; and it does not appear to have been symptoms of an earthquake, because no trembling nor the slightest motion was felt in the earth; and nothing remarkable occurred immediately after the sound passed away, except- ing that two days afterwards one of the heaviest ground- seas ever known took place. The origin of this sound could hardly be the eruption of some distant vulcano, the nearest of these being in Iceland, though Sir Stanford Raffles states that the detonations produced by the erup- tions of Tombora, a volcanic mountain in Sumbawa, were heard at a distance of nine hundred and seventy miles. This sound is termed by the inhabitants of Bona vista and Bird Island Cove, the " thunder-growl." At the time of the great earthquake at Lisbon, in 1755, the effects were felt at Bonavista. The sea retired and left the head of the harbour dry for the space of ten minutes, when it again flowed in and rose to an unusual height, overflowing several meadows, for about the same space of time as it had retired, and the waters on each side of the Cape were greatly agitated. Bonavista is the capital of the district of Bonavista, and in 1845 contained a population of 2,097. There is a very neat Church of England here, also a Methodist Church, and a Roman Catholic. The Rev. Henry Jones, a Church of England Minister was settled here in 1725. The first Methodist minister stationed here was the Rev. George Smith, who endured great privation and suffering. He, however received great hospitality from Dr.-Mayne, who afterwards removed to Harbour Grace. The writer has read an autograph letter from the celebrated Dr. Adam Clarke, addressed to Dr. Mayne, thanking '^him for his kindness to George Smith. The letter was accompanied by the Doctor's Treatise (just then published). " On the ^ J I I I I 111 .'Ml •T. W I I ! I ! lint i ' )i ■i';.; ■ 1 11 f! i 11 146 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, 1 if ill m Use and Abuse of Tobacco." Bonavista has a fine Court House and Gaol, and two well-conducted Public Schools. The Circuit Court sits here once a year. In 1857, two hand-looms were in operation here, from which were manufactured one hundred yards of common cloth. Soap and candles were also manufactured. Wm. Sweetland, Esq., (well known for his literary ac- quirements) was the late resident police magistrate. Cape Bonavista is celebrated for the great number of seals usually obtained there. During the early part of the sealing voyage, seals can always be obtained off this Cape. In the month of March the field-ice passes along the northern and eastern shores of Newfoundland, and some- times, for weeks, nothing is to be seen but the glittering surface of the icy ocean. This floating ice brings with it immense numbers of seals. Numbers of seals are taken at Bonavista in seal nets. The late Mr. Saint usually obtained from one hundred to three hundred during the winter and spring. In 1843 the number of seals taken at Bonavista, by persons who went off on the ice from the shore, was estimated at 20,000 ; and it was calculated that 40.000 were taken to the shore throughout the Bay ; and ill 1862 it is said 150,000 seals were taken a few miles from the shore on the ice, in this Bay and the Bay of Notre Dame. Some years ago the ice was packed and jammed so tight in Bonavista Bay for several weeks, that the seals on it could find no opening to go down, when numbers of them crawled upon an island, and some people happening to land upon the island discovered them. It is said 1,500 seals were slaughtered umong the bushes. Seals have been known, when pressed in with the ice, to crawl across Cape Bonavista, a distance of half-a-mile, to the water on the opposite side. The number of vessels employed from Bonavista in the seal fishery, is seven. These vessels, however, usually sail from Gatalina, owing to Bonavista being an unsafe har- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 147 bour for shipping. Agriculture is pursued very extensively in the village of Bonavista. Tne quantity of potatoes raised in 1843, were 45,000 bushels. Were it not lor their gardens, the fishermen of Bonavista could not live. Her- ring and potatoes are the principal food of the poorer class of the inhabitants. There is no part of Newfoundland where I have seen so much poverty as in Bonavista, in 1841 and ^842. ,• , '' There is much nourishment in fish, little less than butcher's meat, weight for weight ; and in effect it may be more nourish- ing, considering how, from its soft fibre, fish is more easily digested. Moveover. there is in fish a substance that does not exist in the flesh of land animals, viz., iodine — a substance which may have a beneficial effect on the health, and tend to prevent the production of scrofulous and tubercular disease, — the latter in the form of pulmonary consumption, one of the most cruel and fatal with which the civilized, highly educated, and refined are afflicted. Comparative trials prove that, in the majority of fish, the proportion of solid matter — that is, the matter which remains after perfect desication, or the expulsion of the aqueous part — is little inferior to the several kinds of butcher's meat, game or poultry. And if we give attention to classes of people, classed as to the quality of food they principally subsist on, we find that the ichthyophagus class are especially strong, healthy, and prolific. In no class, than that of fishers, do we see larger families, handsomer women, more robust and active men, or a greater exemption from maladies." The potato disease was a terrible calamity to the poor people of Bonavista ; yet notwithstanding the poorness of the diet, a hardier, healthier, or better looking race of men are not to be found upon the face of the globe. A great part of the poverty of Bonavista, is owing to the want of room to erect stages and flakes for the fishery. Half the fishermen, in consequence of their having no water-side premises, cannot " go on the plant," as it is called (all the fishermen who keep a boat and employ men, or even keep a skiflf and fish alone, are called " planters " in Newfound- m ■ i ■ !■■■ ' II I <« 1 I I i I 1 ;' 148 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ a land), they are therefore obliged'to go as sharemen, — that is, the planter finds every requisite for the prosecution of • the fishery, for which the shareman allows him half his catch of fish; but, unlike the sharemen of Conception Bay, the practice at Bonavista is for the shareman to pay the planter for his diet. The shareman of Bonavista Bay catches 50 qtls. of fish for the summer (which is beyond the usual catch), out of this, 25 qtls. only belongs to himself; and when the planter is paid for his diet, the poor shareman has about 14 qtls. to call his own, out of which he may have to support a family of from five to ten persons, from the beginning of October to the commencement of the fishery in June, unless he may catch a few seals in March. Vegetables, then, are indispensible to the poor of Bonavista, in order to a subsistence. The islands of ice which sometimes ground near Bonavista in the spring, no doubt has a tendency to check the progress of vegetation. These icebergs appear like crystal castles, with their high and glittering pinnacles, towering in soli- tary grandeur, and sometimes reflecting the most beautiful colours. Some of these icebergs are several hundred feet in altitude above the level of the sea ; it is calculated that seven-eighths are below the surface. Captain Ross saw several of them together in Baffin's Bay, aground in water 1,500 feet deep. One of these immense masses of ice ex- ploded in the summer of 1843, about a mile from Bird Island Cove, with a tremendous noise like the rumbling of heavy thunder. Several large streams of water were running ofi' it a long time before it burst. One side of it was covered with a quantity of earth and small stones. I have been informed by several persons that they have seen large trees embedded in them, which appeared as if torn from the earth by some violent force. It is said that many icebergs contain rocks arid earth, frequently exceeding 50,000 tons. Captain Scoresby de- scribes a large iceberg drifting along, locked with earth AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 149 and rocks, conjectured to be from 50,000 to 100,000 tons, and other observers speak of millions of tons of stone and otiier solid matter carried by the ice. They are, no doubt, agents in the production of shoals, as wherever thev [Tiound and are disolved, the earth and stones must sink to the bottom, thereby diminishing the depth of the water. " In this manner," says Lyell, " many submarine valleys, mountains, and platforms become strewed over with gravel, sand, mud, and scattered blocks of foreign rocks, of a nature perfectly dissimilar from all in the vicinity, and which may have been transported across unfathom- able abysses. If the bergs happen to melt in still water, so that the earthy and stony materials may fall tranquilly to the bottom, the deposit will probably be unstratified like the terminal moraine of a glacier ; but whenever the materials are under the influence of a current of water as they fall, they will be sorted and arranged according to their relative weight and size, and therefore more or less perfectly stratified. There can be little doubt that icebergs often break off the ]ieaks and projecting points of submarine mountains, and must grate upon and polish their surface, furrowing them or scratching them precisely the same way as the glaciers act on the solid rock over which they are propelled." By means of these icebergs a large quantity of water is returned to the ocean. If it were not for the movement of the glaciers, vast accumulations of snow and ice would be piled mountains high in the polar regions. Glacier . have had an important influence in the distribution of animals over the globe. The mammoth, elephant, and uiastedon have been found imbedded in them. There is scarcely any part of the world which at some time was not submerged, and where traces of the action of icebergs or of glaciers cannot be found. In parts now far removed from the icy regions, there are marks ploughed centuries ago by the passage of glaciers to the sea, or of icebergs dashing on the rocky coast-lines of the primeval world "? i I I I I • I i ; ( ""■^■n •'^'^9 ;l ii •.M.TJ'» , i • w-1 ;:3 ''i«i 9! ■•••ull i;:.:ft« •• n «^f 1 i" ■ ( : i I I I I 150 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, 'mJ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 151 Sir William Logan showed me some very beautiful slabs in the Museum in Montreal, marked with the (Tooves of the glacier grinding over them at some remote age. These islands of ice are supposed to be masses de- tached by the action of the waves from the vast glaciers descending into valleys terminating in the sea, which are known to abound in Greenland, Spitzbergen, and other high polar latitudes. Dr. Urville saw one glacier in the southern ocean, thirteen miles long, with vertical walls one hundred feet high. The great Humboldt Glacier, connecting Greenland and Washington Land, shows a solid glassy wall three hundred feet above the sea, with an unknown depth beneath, while its curved face bowed by pressure from behind, extends sixty miles in length. Dr. Hayes mea- sured an iceberg in Baffin's Bay, which was three hun- dred and fifty feet above the sea, and three-fourths of a mile long. Its total height was two thousand eight hun- dred feet. , ,L . During Captain Ross's Arctic expedition, he discovered land from 9,000 to 20,000 feet in height, perfectly cov- ered with eternal snow, and the glaciers descending from the mountain summit projecting many miles into the ocean, presenting a perpendicular face of lofty cliffs. These icy break-waters are undermined and excavated by the waves, and in proportion as the excavations are en- larged and the snow and ice accumulate above and be- come heavier, immense masses fall into the sea, whence come the icebergs which appear in the spring along the eastern and northern shores of Newfoundland. They are looked upon as dreadful engines of destruction by all mariners. Many vessels engaged in the seal fishery fre- quently come in contact with them, when sometimes ves- sels and crews are engulphed in the mighty deep. " As when in northern seas, at midnight dark. An isle of ice encounters some swift bark, And startling all its wretches from their sleep, By one cold impulse hurls them to the deep." ' '■JSfll' II' 1 i ' 1 i ! I i ; ■' 1 Ii i 1 1l « 1 ^ • "i * ■ N ^ i f ^ 1 ^ ! .'»; « • ' : 1 5 ^1 '•■4 ,; ! I 111 162 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, The next important place to Bonavista is Green's Pond, which is an island composed of granite, on the north side of the Bay. It contains a population of about 900. The principal merchants formerly were Booking, Son & Co., Wm. Cox & Co., and Burry & Carter. There is a custom house officer and postmaster, also a justice of the peace. A circuit court sits here once a year. There is a neat Episcopal Church and large congregation. In 1834 Green's Pond employed 12 vessels in the seal fishery. In 1847 there were 13 vessels employed, and in 1849, including a few vessels from the other northern harbours, there were 27 vessels employed, of an aggi-egate tonnage of 1,850, carrying 752 men. There is also a con- siderable foreign trade. The number of seals manufactured at Green's Pond in 1839 was 11,500, and in 1845 there were 4,800. The next populous places are Salvage, King's Cove, and Open Hall. At the head of Bonavista Bay there are numerous islands, and the scenery is interesting and beautiful. Considerable quantities of pine boards are sawed there in the winter season. In 1836, the population of Bonavista Bay was 5,183. The agricultural produce then was 62,287 bushels of potatoes and 184 tons of hay. The live stock consisted of 57 horses, 377 neat cattle, 693 hogs, and 60 sheep. In the year 1845 the population of Bonavista Bay was as follows : 4,684 Episcopalians. ; >• 1,809 Roman Catholics. iv : : ^ 727 Methodist; % "^ 7 Presbyterians. - . , . . .A:,-:- ,, ' ' ^\ 7,227 Total. The number of churches was : — V Episcopal H \ Roman Catholics 2 ^ Methodists 1 , - • . '• * \ - '' ■■•'-••' ■ * ■ ■ , , . ' . . ' • . \ :■■- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 153 There were 1,039 dwelling houses, and 17 schools, with scholars. There were 1079 acres of land in cultivation, producing annually 25,971 bushels of potatoes ; 272 bushels of oats imd other grain ; and 260 tons of hay. There were 121 horses, and 967 cattle. According to the census of 1857, the population of Bonavista Bay was as follows : — Church of England 5,714 In 1874—6,864 Roman Catholics 2,030 " 2,599 Wesleyan Methodists. .. 1 ,08:i ",; 3,531 Free Church, Scotland .. 9 " , 12 Congregatioiialists 14 " — 2 Baptists " 4 . Total 8,850 Total 13,012 \ The number of places of worship was : — • Churches of England 11 Roman Catholic . . 4 Wesleyan 1 There are 1,360 dwelling-houses, and 19 schools, with 812 pupils. There were 1,278 acres of land under culti- vation, yielding annually 604 tons of hay ; 49 bushels of wheat and barley ; 5 bushels of oats ; 66,407 bushels of potatoes ; 2,207 bushels of turnips; and 405 bushels of other root crops. There were 733 head cattle ; 258 milch cows ; 67 horses ; 873 sheep • 3,293 swine and goats. Quantity of butter manufactured, 2,661 pounds, and 16 pounds of cheese. The number of vessels employed in the seal and cod fisheries was 57. Boats carrying from four to thirty qutls and upwards of green fish, 783. Quantity of fish cured, 98,942 qutls of cod-fish ; 182 tiers of salmon ; and 160 barrels of herring. The number of seals taken, was 33,192. Seal nets owned, 1,357. Gallons of oil manufac- tured, 54,137. < I 1 1 t i 1 I , ..-.It ♦« > "A. 1 9 « •' -^ . , , ) « . .V r^ ^ ■ .•M- w ■ •t, ;ilt ;>:.:& ft » n I! ! 1 I ; 154 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, M -, CHAPTER VII. X ,' ^i DISTRICT OF FOGO AND TWILLINGATE. iA^ m I HE principal place in this district is Twillingate (originally Toulingate,) it is situate on an island of the same name, and contains a population of about 2,300. Twillingate is divided by the sea, forming the north and south side of the harbour into two islands. The principal part of the inhabitants live on the north side, which includes Back Harbour and Crow Head. The south side of the harbour, includes Jenkin's Cave, Durrell's Ai-m, and Farmer's Arm. Twillingate has two places of worship, one Church of England, and one Metho- dist. Many years ago a Congregationalist minister was stationed here. There are also two schools, and a Court House and gaol. There is a police magistrate, John Pey- ton, Esq., (celebrated for his endeavours to bring the Red Indians into a civilized state.) There is also a Clerk of the Peace, a jailor and Bailiff, and a Custom House officer. Wm. Stirling, Junr., Esq., is the physician and coroner of the district. Twillingate is an old settlement, the princi- pal trade of which has long been carried on by merchants connected with the trade of Poole, England. The prin- cipal merchants formerly were J. Slade Sm Co., Cox & Slade, J. Colbourne, Joseph Pearce, Lyte & Hayward, and Muire & Co. In 1845, Bishop Field for the first time visited Twillin- gate. The following account of the Bishop's visit will perhaps interest the reader : — " At Twillingate the arrival of the * Ship * was announced and welcomed by a splendid display of flags on every side of the harbour, and discharges of cannon from the establishments of AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 155 ')■ Slade & Co., and Messrs. Cox & Slade. The church 'as in this settlement is a beautiful St. George's ensign, pre- Ijented by three captains of vessels. A very substantial, capacious |ui(l handsome church, 80 feet by 45, with a lofty and character- tower at the western end, has lately been erected here ; Igndthe inhabitants were anxiously desiring the Bishop's presence, jtliat the fabric might be duly set apai*t and consecrated to God's I honour and service, with accustomed prayers and blessings. I The consecration took place on Thursday morning, commencing at 11 o'clock, and, though the fishery was at its height, a large congregation assembled to witness, and assist at the solemn service. It was very gratifying to see among them the grey heads of many respectable old planters, who still know how to I use and value an Apostolic ministry and the Church of their There was no collection on the occasion, for all the I work had been completed an< 1 paid for (to the amount, it is said, of £1,000, besides voluntary labour), by the contributions of the merchants and planters, assisted only with £50 from each of the itffo great Church Societies in England, and £\0 from the I Church Society of this Country. — The contributions of the in- habitants had been wisely made at intervals, and year by year, thereby lessening the pressure on their (in some cases) slender means, and keeping up their interest in the pi( us work ; and ' preventing the necessity of that most objectionable, not to say illegal, practice of selling the pews, and so giving to private persons a property in God's house. Nothing surely can more directly set at naught our Blessed Lord's injunction, " Make not my Father's house a house of merchandize." — (St. John, 2, 16.) The church, as it is now completed, is an honour and an ornament to the settlement ; and may it be a great and lastmg blessing ! The Bishop, is reported, offered to present a silver cup and paten for the Holy Communion, but found him- self forestalled by the liberality of R. Slade, Esq., of Pool, who had signified his wish to furnish funds for the purchase of a complete set of Communion-plate, to any amount which might be necessary. Another feature in the proceedings of the day is deserving of all notice and commendation — viz., the anxious desire of the inhabitants, many of whom had possessed pews in their former church, to prevent such acquisition of property in the new one ; for which purpose they made over the church by ■ ! 'HI ■1* •an I • •4 -•■* f • I ■I ■ • « 'M i.h ' I ! i U ! ■ ! ! i i f ; ! ; i u 156 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ lii-v a proper deed to the Bishop, in trust, for the perpetual use of I all the inhabitants. (The same method, we undorstand was I adopted, with the same laudable object in view,^at the consecra- tion of the church in Fogo.) The consecrn.tion service was con- 1 eluded by two o'clock ; after which many boats again put out ' for their fishing-grounds. The,day was fine, and the whole pixvl ceedings seemed to be conducted under happy auspices, and we humbly trust, with a special blessing from above. On the morning of quitting Twillingate (the 4th of July), forty ice-islands, we understand, were distinctly seen and! counted at one time from the deck, and others, some of thorn of | immense size, were met and passed every hour." The next important place is Fogo, which is also situate on an island of the same name. It contains a population of about 800 inhabitants. Here there is an Episcopal Church and School. There are also two mercantile es tablishments belonging to the Messrs. Slade & Cox. There is a Collector of Customs and a physician. Tilton Harbour ranks next in trade and population; here there is a Roman Catholic Church and School. It contains a population of nearly 400. The other principal settlements are Joe-Bats- Arm ; Her- ring Neck and Exploits ; Burnt Island and Tilt Cove, where an extensive copper mine is being worked. Fishing is the principal occupation of the inhabitants of the district. In 1857 the population of the district of Fogo was — In 1874. 1854. G,527 6,232 Episcopalians. 1,517 ...1,492 Roman Catholics. 5,081 2,03G Methodists. 10 7 Presbyterians. 7 ..... . .Congregatioiialists. ( 1 Baptists. 13,643 9,767 Total. ^ There were 17 churches ; 9 Episcopal, 4 Roman Catholic, and 4 Methodists. There were 1484 dwelling-houses, and . >. »■ ■'" ^''i AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 157 Mi: 16 schools, with 675 scholars. There were 1,183 acres of land in cultivation, producing 63,262 bushels of potatoes ; 1,497 tons of hay ; and 900 bushels of turnips. Of live stock, there were 37 horses ; and 592 cattle; 383 milch cows; 215 sheep and 2,063 swine and goats. Butter ma- nufactured, 16,454 pounds. Some three or four small vessels are sent at the seal fishery, and the number of seals annually manufactured is from seven to nine thousand. In 1857, there were 1,819 seal nets owned in the district, and 9,320 sails. There are probably about 20 vessels em- ployed in the foreign trade. There are 10 vessels employed in the fisheries, and 1,720 boats carrying from 4 to 30 quintals and upwards, of green fish. The quantity of fish cured was 72,655 quintals of codfish ; 75 tierces of salmon; and 893 barrels of herring ; gallons of oil, 63,360. Fogo and Twillingate Island lies at the mouth of the great Bay of Notre Dame ; or, as it is generally called, Green Bay. In this capacious bay are seven smaller bays, among which are Seal Bay, Badger Bay, Gander Bay, Hall's Bay, and Bay of Exploits, in the last of which three mills are in operation. This, part of the country during the summer season abounds with deer, and is celebrated as being the hunting-grounds of the Red Indians of Newfoundland. The Indians had fences erected about 18 miles into the interior, to entrap the deer, extending a distance of 30 miles, all which has long since disappeared. From the Bay of Exploits a small river extends about 70 miles, which reaches Red Indian Lake, which is about 40 miles long ; thence a chain of lakes extend to the Grand Pond in St. George's Bay, which is fifty miles long, and empties into the ocean. An inland water communication could be effected from the extreme north to the extreme west of Newfoundland, both of which are agriculturally or geolo- gically considered the most valuable portions of New- foundland. In the Bay of Notre Dame or Green Bay, there are some excellent forest timi)er, consisting principally of Birch, Pine, Spruce aad Fir. Mr. Gibbins, of St. John's, m I ■■J 1*1' "A 1 i I i I I .i ■ { i 1 Mi iM ■' 1 m : '1 • i «« : !<■ - ' ««l : ( « I 1 i i. 9 'I 11 I i f I II ^i.-^^:--^: 158 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \r erected a saw-mill here in 1844 ; the pine board obtained is closer grained and much wider than what is generally im-l ported from the neighbouring colonies. I The Messrs. Knights/ of St. John's, who carry on a trade! in this part of the country, usually take several cargoes ofl board and plank to St. John's in the summer season, which! always commands a higher price than any of the imported! lumber. There are now five saw mills at work, valued at! $15,000. Mr. Murray estimates that in Grand Baythere| are 720 square miles of pine and spruce timber ; manufac-| tured into lumber would be worth hundreds of millions of! dollars. The district of Tobo terminates at the northern extremity I of the Bay of Notre Dame, which is Cape St. John ; thence commences the French Shore, extending north; thence ',o| Cape Bay on the west. For an account of the French fish- eries, see Fisheries and District of Fortune Bay. Captain | Bennett, of H. M. S. Rainbow, in 1856, says : — " I was anxious to have revisited Tolinguet, but it would have been highly imprudent to have run the ship into the ! bight of the Bay in such a series of tremendous weather, attended as it was with incessant fo^. " I was fortunate enough to be in the harbour of Croque during the worst part of it, where I found the French King's ship the Giraffe, and saw several English fishermeu from dif- ferent parts of the coast, none of whom had any complaint to offer. " The French to the northward have been very successful in this fishery, so much so, that many have been obliged to desist from fishing, having used all their salt, and they are, even now, anxiously looking forward for vessels from France with a further supply." Some of the finest and most beautiful harbours of New- foundland, are on what is called the French Shore north. The following interesting account of this part of the coast, is given by Captain Loch, to the Earl of Dundonald, in 1847:— i , AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 159 " I sailed from St. John's for the coast of Labrador, July 23rd, with clear weather, and a moderate breeze from W.S.W., which lasted until we were abreast of Trinity Bay, when we met a fog from the southern coast, which generally fills that Bay, with wind between South and W. S. W. passing over the narrow Isthmus which joins the district of Ferryland to the great body of the Island. , . " The wind shifted to N.N.E. and threw up, as it increased^ a chopping sea ; but as the fog was light I stood towards Cape Freels, to see whether the valuable fishing grounds, extending round its extremity, were occupied by our own people. " This Cape is to be avoided in thick or heavy weather, oni account of innumerable rocks and shoals that surround it, both North and South. " It nevertheless is a good fishing station, and affords shelter for boats and small vessels — seventeen were in sight. "At noon we passed Funk Islands within a mile, leaving it. on the port hand. It is a fiat-browed Island, I should say not. more than sixty feet high, and cannot be seen at more thani twelve miles distance. ' "Parties repair thither in Spring and Autumn to collect eggs and feathers. At one time a very considerable profit. could be gained by this trade, but lately, owing to the war of extermination that has been waged against the fiights of Puf- fins, Gannets, Divers, Gulls, Eidar Duck, Cormorants, &c., &c., it has greatly diminished. One vessel of twenty-five tons, is said, once to have cleared two hundred pounds currency in a. single trip to Halifax. "July 26th, we passed between Groais and Belle Island (South), shortly after daylight, counted ten icebergs — some drifted about with the winds and tide, others aground, and two at the entrance of Oroque. Croque. " This harbour is a long, narrow indentiur©) slightly curving towards its head, where vessels may lay peufectly land-locked. " It is the head-quarter station for the^ French men-of-war employed for the protection of their fisheries. "I found at anchor the French hri^Qf war Maleagre, and i < 1» I i . I ... « ; ;l ...1 t.. '1% 4i 1 i ■'^Im m f ; i I i:i i ;i -Ji 160 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, two empty merchant vessels laying with their top-gallant-masts down, and hatches locked, their crews to a man were engaged fishing. Besides these, there was a small English schooner, the Jfari/ne, hound and belonging to St. John's, with a cargo of Salmon. " The French have two rooms in Croque, on opposite sides of the harbour. When they return home for the winter they leave them in charge of two fishermen named Hope and Kear- ney, only removing the canvas covering of the stages. " They also leave some of their boats behind them, turning them over on the beach, and thatching them with spruce boughs, in the same manner that our own migratory fishermen do theirs on the coast of Labrador, to protect them from the weather. " Their establishments are conducted upon the same principle as our own, and although their arrangements evinced a better system of discipline, I do not think that the same energy i^ displayed by their fishermen in the prosecution of their employ- ment — nor does it appear to me to be so thoroughly performed. I mean that, to my inexperienced eye, they neither seem to be so well cleaned, split, boned or cured. " The two rooms in Croque employ between them thirty seven-quintal boats, and one hundred and thirty men ; hun- dred afloat and thirty shore men (as they are termed), in the establishments, six of these boats were exclusively occupied in catching caplia and herring for bait, and were manned by crews of eight men. " Their fishing this year commenced the 5th June, and is considered good in point of quantity — although the fish are unusually small. The catch has been to the present date (July 27), seven thousand quintals, and they anticipate six thousand more before the close. They use seines principally, but they also fish with lines. '* Caplin had struck in very early, and in great adundance. They are now beginning to disappear, replaced by herring. '' Croque is by no means a first-class fishing station. Rouge, St. Julian's, Goose Cove, Creminallera, Braha, Quirpon^ besides others in the vicinity of Cape St. John, all harbour more vessels and send forth a greater number of boats. '< The French coast fishermen do not receive so large a bounty AND AS IT 18 IN 1877. 161 as their countrymen engaged exclusively on the banks. The risk and expense attending their occupation is much less, and consequently the insurance lower. "The coast fishermen sail from France in vessels of 150 to 200 tons, laden with salt and containing their entire fishing equipments, comprising men, boats, nets and provisions. When they arrive at the destined harbours they move their vessels, re- roof their last year's establishments, land their goods, lock up their vessel's hatches, and commence fishing. If the season proves prolific, traders connected with the planters will, perhaps, once or twice during the season carry away the produce of their good fortune and industry, preserving a sufficiency to freig^^t their own vessels back to France. " The French north east coast fisheries are prosecuted per- haps with greater vigour, and have increased more rapidly, than those to the southward. "This year there were upwards of 11,000 fishermen em- ployed between Cape Ray and Cape St. John, showing an increase of 1,500 men within two years. I had great difficulty in collecting information, not only from the superintendents of rooms, but also from the naval officers ; they evinced, I thought, great jealousy in their answers to my questions. " The northern and southern fisheries are opposing interests. The former are conducted by houses at Granville, St. Malo, Gampol, Bennick, Havre, Bants and St. Brieux ; the latter by merchants at Dieppe, Bayonne, and in one instance in connec- tion with a St. M^o house of the name of L'Guiller. I met, at the table of the Captain of the French brig-of-war, two superintendents of rooms, they had originally been masters of bankers ; they appeared to be men of energy and substance, and possessed very considerable general information. They spoke with pride of the sailors their bankers produced, and of the hardships and dangers they were exposed to while fishing on the banks, and that to deprive their country of these fisheries would be to lop off the right arm of her maritime strength. " I found, during my stay, the climate dry, the winds light and in the harbour (notwithstanding the proximity of eight or ten icebergs), the temperature mild and agreeable; but ■s I ■ m < % •I 1 ... CI ' ■*' '.* HI i^ P Ill n: ■ft. 162 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ \ outside the air was damp and chill, even with a clear sky over head. " Sailed for Belle Isle North, July 29th, and observed en my way there, one brig in Fish Shot Cove, one bark and ODe brig in Goose Cove, one bark, one brig and a schooner in Creminillera Cove, two barks and two brigs in Braha, one English brig in Griguot Harbour, one French brig in Degrat Harbour." The following is an account of Bishop Field's visit to this part of the coast in 1849. The number of British subjects inhabiting the French Shore North, from Pack- quet to Cape Norman, is about 1,200 : — " The attempt to cross the Straits was more successful to- day, and by the kind assistance of a French fishing-boat, the dangerous harbour of Quirpon was safely entered, and the Church Ship anchored among a crowd of French vessels and boats aboutv4 o'clock. *' A comfortable looking cottage on shore seemed to speak of natives or residents, and by enquiries made there it was found that eight families have settled in the place, chiefly from Har- bour Grace. One family has been resident 35 years, others 14 years, &c. No clergyman of our church had ever before visited them. Evening service was celebrated in one of the cottages the same day, and on the following day both the morning and evening service ; and at these services all the children of the settlement, and some from Noddy Harbour, were received into the Church. All the English inhabitants attended, and, notwithstanding their separation and seclusion, they are well-dressed and well-mannered people. Their catch of seals in the winter is probably as profitable as the summer fishery ; and wood is abundant at a short distance. They have the custody of the French rooms and gear in the winter, for which service they receive presents of clothes and other remuneration. The French fishery is conducted on a liberal and systematic scale. In this little harbour there are five establishments, numbering from one hundred to one hundred and thirty men at each. They fish with the bultow and enormous seines." AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 163 I I ^ CHAPTER VIII. DIHTRIOT OP FEftRTLAND. 'ERUYLAND was one of the earliest settled parts of Newfoundland. It is said to have been tne ren- dezvous of one Easton, a piratical adventurer, who, in 1578, commanded a fleet of ten vessels. This daring adventurer impressed a hundred sailors for his fleet, and levied a tribute from all engaged in the fisheries. In 1623, James I., by letters patent, gave his principal Secretary of State, Sir George Calvert, all the S. E. part of the island lying between the Bays of Placentia and Trinity, which he erected into a province under the name of Avalon. He planted a colony at Ferryland, and ap- pointed Captain Wynn as governor, who built a large dwelling-house, a granary, and some stores ; and in his communications the following year to Sir George, stated that on the 17th of August, wheat, barley, and oats were eared, and that the various garden vegetables had arrived at full maturity. These cheering accounts induced Sir George, who had now been created Lord Baltimore, to remove to Ferryland with his family, where he erected a splendid mansion, and built a strong fort, costing over $150,000. After remaining some years, and finding at length that the soil and climate did not come up to his expectations, and his estate being exposed to the attacks of the French, he returned to England, where he obtained a grant of lands in the Colony of Maryland, called after Charles's Queen. He removed thither, and founded the City of Baltimore, now one of the principal cities of the United States. In 1854 Lord Baltimore sought to establish his claim to the Province of Avalon, but in consequence of being so long out of possession, his claim was not allowed. ', mi I 1 I I % i I i I i ! il m ■Si'' 'Si ill' ./I 164 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, There is a tradition that St. Joseph, of A rimathea, took refuge in England. It is said he came to Avalon, after- wards called Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, and there founded a church, which was looked on subsequently as the cradle of British Christianity. A splendid Abbey was erected. There is an anqient Roman town, now called St. Alban's, but in ancient times called Verulam. The proto-martyr of Britain, St. Alban, there shed his blood for Christ. Calvert called his province Avalon, in honour of St. Joseph, of Arimathea, and his own town Verulam, in honour of St. Alban. Lord Baltimore,* it is said, was a convert to the Ro- man Catholic religion, and having relinquished his situa- tion at court, turned his attention to the establishment of the Colony of Maryland. About this time the Puritans had settled the Colony of Plymouth, and numbers of per- sons were emigrating from England to the unsettled wilds of America. The Puritans profe«sed to have fled from persecution in England, while they in a short time perse- cuted Churchmen, Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, Ro- man Catholics, and Indians ; they were, in fact, the most intollerant persecutors who ever set foot on American soil. There were no Methodists in those days, or they would have come in for their share of persecution. In 1737, John and Charles Wesley were missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in the Colony of Georgia, and whilst there, Wesley was de- nounced as a Papist, because he, like a true Puseyite, mixed wine with water at communion, and denied the •validity of non-episcopal baptism. This was not the first, nor the twentieth time, Wesley was accused of Popery. An account of these and other Popish tendencies of Wes- ley, when on his mission to Georgia, may be seen in Tailfer's Georgia, &c.f While the Baptists and Quakers were persecuted with * Bishop Mullock. t Dr.Coit. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 165 fines, banishment, imprisonment, and death, for their reli- gious opinions, in New England, " Lord Baltimore," says Bancroft, " invited the Puritans of Massachusetts to emi- grate to Maryland, offering them lands and privileges and ' free liberty of religion.' " It is said Lord Baltimore was the first in the western world to proclaim religious tole- ration. " What a marvellous contrast," says Dr. Coit, ** between the conduct of these outcast Papists of Maryland and the Puritans of New England, upon the grand subject of reli- gious liberty. Papists could tolerate : Puritans could not." According to Bancroft, the Roman Catholics were but a mere handful, surrounded by Protestant colonies. Tt was therefore a piece of policy on their part to afford an asylum to the persecuted. " This claim, however, of the Komanists, as being the first to proclaim religious toleration, is disputed by Professor Knowles in his life of Koger Williams. Maryland tolerated Christians and Trinitarians only; and even passed a law in 1649, mulcting all who should speak reproachfully against the Blessed Virgin, or the Apostles. Mr. Knowles correctly says, such a provision might be made a terrible engine of persecution — for a Protest- ant might say, e. ^., that the Virgin Mary should not be wor- shipped, and that would be a dismal reproach to her in the eye of a Papist. But Roger Williams, he says, granted toleration to every body. Bancroft says the law of 1649 threatened anti- Trinitarians with death. In Upham's Life of Vane, in Spark's American Biography, the priority appears to be claimed for Sir Harry Vane, as an asserter of liberty of conscience."* It is said the elder Lord Baltimore never settled in America. Stone type at various times has been picked up at Ferryland, supposed to have been brought there by Lord Baltimore. In 1762, Governor Graves fortified and garrisoned the Isle of Blois, at the mouth of Ferryland Harbour. Robert * Colt's Puritanism. '■■.,1 •1> I "■I • ■». ^ ' v. J 1 I ! I !: I ! ! I 166 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Carter, Esq., rendered essential service to Lord Colville, in repelling the French, who were at this period in posses- sion of all the settled coasts. Mr. Carter supported the garrison on the above island (where were also a number of the inhabitants of Ferryland) from the 24th of June to the 9th of October, by procuring provisions when they were scarce and dear. In 1833 twenty-five vessels entered and cleared at the custom-house. But within the last thirty years, the trade and population of Ferryland have very much de- clined. Ferryland is the capital of the district, and in 1845 contained a population of 486. In 1857 the popu- lation was 598. There is a court-house and gaol, a Church of England and a Roman Catholic Church, and two schools. The circuit court sits here once a year. There is a resident police magistrate, who is also the custom- house ofPcer and surveyor of crown lands. There is a clerk of ihe peace and constables. Here also resides the sheriff of the southern district, and several merchants. The next place of importance is B&y of Bulls, where the French landed their troops in June, 1762, who pro- ceeded overland and took St. John's. In 1796, vhe French commander, Admiral Richery, destroyed the village and shipping, took their fish and oil, and drove the ifthabit- ants into the woods. The population of Bay of Bulls in 1845 was 626, and in the year 1857 it w^as 721. The next important places are Cape Broyle, i^rigas, Witless Bay, Fermcuse, Renews, and Le Manche, whcrv a lead mme is being worked. Near Renews is Cape Ballard, off which is a celebrated fishing bank, eight miles from which is Cape Race, the southernmost cape of Newfoundland, in sight of which most of the American and European steamers pass, and on which a lighthouse is erected. An electric telegraph has been erected from Cape Race to Cape Ray, a distance of 380 miles long, at a cost of £20,000 or $100,000. Oft* Cape Race a suitable yacht used to be placed in order to AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 167 intercept the Atlantic steamers, which almost invariably sight that headland. Carrier pigeons were employed to convey the news from Cape Ray to the Island of Cape Breton, a distance of 70 miles, now conveyed by telegraph. In 1828, the exact position of the Virgin Rocks was as- certained by Mr. Jones, master of H.M.S. Nassau. There are dangerous I'ocks laying 18 leagues S.E. by E. from Cape Race in lat. 46° 26' 15" north, long, 50° 56' 35" west. " The rocks extend in an irregular chain or cluster S.W. by W., and N.E. by E. 800 yards, the breadth varying from 200 to 300 yards. The least water on a white rock is 4| fathoms, with from 5 to G^ fathoms about 100 yards all around it, the bottom distinctly visible. Towards the extremities of the shoal the soundings are from 7 to 9 fathoms on detached rocks, with deep water between them ; the current setting a mile an hour to the W.S.W., with a confused cross swell. To the S.E., S., S.W., W., and W.N.W. of the shoal, the water deepens gra- dually to 30 fathoms, half a mile distant; to the N.W., N., and N.E., one-third of a mile, and to the E.N.E, E., and E.S.E., a mile. " The bank upon which the shoal is situated extends E. by N. and W. by S. four miles and a quarter ; and two miles and three quarters across its broadest part, witii regular soundings of from 28 to 30 fathoms, until they suddenly deepen on its outer edge to 39 and 43 fathoms. " Lieut. Bishop, commanding H.M. Gun-brig Manly, writes, 9th July, 1829:— " ' The bottom was repeatedly seen by the officers of both ships, in from 7 to 4 J fathoms, apparently of a very white rock, with large particles of seawood on the sand around them. In addition to this, on the morning of the 7th, about 2 a.m., when rirUng wit> a whole cable and a heavy sea, 1 observed such violent breakers near the brig as to cause me to batten down the hatches ; and I am of opinion that, had there been a little more wind, no vessel could have passed over that spot, or re- mained there with safety.' " ,,.■■! 1 I i 4 f .1; «t i 1 ; i 1 Ill II )'HI ^m ii 168 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ The population of the District of Ferryland in 1846 was as follows : — 4,399 Roman Catholics. 181 Episcopalians. ^ 1 Presbyterian. 4,581 Total. '\ 1 There were nine Roman Catholic and one Episcopal Church. There were 780 dwelling-houses, and 22 schools, with 975 scholars. There were 1003 acres of land in cul- tivation, giving an annual produce of 28,596 bushels of potatoes, 591 bushels of oats and other grain, and 904 tons of hay and fodder. Of live stock, there were 176 horses and 607 cattle. The population of the district in 1836 was 5,111. It had, therefore, considerably increased in 1845. According to the returns in 1857, there were — 127 Church of England. 5,093 Church of Rome. 8 Wesleyans. In 1874— 5,239 Total. 173 Church of England. 6,246 Church of Rome. There were- 6,419 Total. 3 Churches of England. 8 Churches of Rome. 11 Places of worship. There were 885 dwelling-houses, 23 schools and 834 scholars. There were 2,131 acres of land under cultiva- tion, yielding annually 1,481 tons of hay, 306 bushels of AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 169 oats, 26,785 bushels potatoes, 27 bushels of turnips, and i30 bushels of other root crops. Of live stock, there were 831 neat cattle, 153 milch cows, 387 horses, 350 sheep, and 301 swine and goats. Quantity of butter made, D,944 pounds. V^ The number of vessels employed in the fisheries was 9 ; boats of from 4 to 30 quintals of fish and upwards, 708. Quantity of fish cured, 145,030 quintals of cod-fish ; 757 barrels of herring ; 2 tierces salmon ; and 22 barrels of other fish. Gallons of oil, 153,856. * I i l! I* I ■ « ■ • e i^ f i! \\- 170 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, CHAPTER IX. f DISTRICT OP PLAOBNTIA AND ST. MARY's. . 311, N Plaisance (beautiful place) or Placentia, the French founded a colony in 1660, which was a fiourishing settlement. At this period the French paid a duty of five per cent, on the produce of the fisheries to tho British Govx riunent. In 1692, however, Commodore ^.Vil- liams was .scut with a fleet against Placentia, which h partJy ,lestrc)\ ed. After Placentia was taken from the Frencli, i : bedtime a deputy-governorship under the Go^- ernm nt u Kova Scotia. But on the appointment of the first Lgiilar «. overnor of Newfoundland, Captain Henry Osborne, in 1728, Placentia was placed under his juris- diction. • In 1762, when the French were in possession of St John's, Governor Graves, who was convoying a fleet of merchantmen, was met on the banks by a sloop which was sent to inform him of the attack of the French on the British settlements. He instantly repaired to Placentia, and restored the ruined fortresses of Fort Frederick and Castle Hill. Bishop Mullock says : — " The great demilune which guarded the entrance of the port is now a shapoiess heap of rubbish, its vaulted brick case- ments have been all destroyed, and the remaii^s of a castle on Crevecoeur Hill are slowly perishing. It is rejiiarkable that several properties are still held in Placentia by virtue of the original French titles, and such importance did the government of Louis 14th, the Grand Monarch, attach to the possession of the plac^, that all the grants are signed by the King's own hand, and countersigned by his minister, Pliillippeau. Nor were the French oblivious of the necessity of religion in their AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 171 Lff settlement— a Convent of Franciscans, a branch of the Convent of Our Lady of Angels, of Quebec, was established there in 1689, on the site of the present Protestant Church and I burying ground, and a few French tombs of the date of 1680 1690 yet remain to mark out the place where it stood. Most I of the French tombstones were taken by the English settlers I after the surrender of the place by France, and applied to the loble purposes of hearth stones and door steps. Newfound- land was then under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec, I and in 1680 the second bishop of that See, Monseigneur St. Vallier, made a visitation of Placentia and the neighbouring parts, in company with Father Giorgieu and some of the Fran- (iicaii community of Quebec. The records of the foundation of the convent and of the episcopal visitation are in the archie- piscopal archives of Quebec. Thus we see two great and powerful nations established on the shores of Newfoundland, opposed in politics, in interest, in religion, and it is easy to imagine that the progress of the country must have been not only retarded, but absolutely impossible." Placentia is the capital of the district, and was once the principal place in the island. Hardly a vestige of its ancient fortifications now, however, are to be seen. The population of Great and Little Placentia in 1845 was 1,058, and in 1867, 1,250. There is a court-house and gaol at Great Placentia, also a police magistrate and custom-house officer, and clerk of the peace. The cir- cuit court sits here once a year. There is a Roman Catholic Church and a Church of England — there are so few Protestants in the place that the latter church is left without a minister. His late Majesty, William IV., when on the Newfoundland station, as Prince William Henry, presented a commvmion service to this church ; and a few years ago, Adelaide, the late Queen Dowager, relict of his Majesty, gave £50 towards the repairs of the church. Placentia is supplied with a commercial sc^hool The principal merchants formerly were Rodger Sweetman & Oo., an Irish House, and the Messrs. Murpheys. Mr. Sweet- man was a member of the first legislature of Newfound- land. '!■■•( lis I Vufnn) I I i '■f^''m%\ p ■ I I i j ;i ii i! I (1 , I 1.2 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS|IT WAS, \ Ml 'III' iOBOi 'i I'll PI I I ^ _ rf riSi-esiSSSiiiA r_ |; % 11 ' , - - 1 ^1 Wh 'ill And as it is in 1877. 173 Placentia Bay is one of the largest bays in Newfound- land. It is sixty miles broad and ninety miles long, rich in minerals and fisheries, with numerous settlements, har- bours and islands. The cultivation of the soil is rapidly progressing. Placentia Bay is separated from Trinity Bay on the north-east coast by a low isthmus about three miles long, across which the French, when in possession of Placentia, formed a road covered with logs, on which they hauled their boats from one place to the other, and the fishermen now frequently carry bait from one bay to the other. Between St. John's and Placentia there is a house of entertainment for travellers. St. Mary's is the most important place in the district, which is the chief place in St. Mary's. It has a popula- tion of 692. There is a courthouse and gaol. The circuit court sits here once a year. There is a police magistrate, who is also preventive officer. There is a Roman Catholic Church and school. Formerly Messrs. Slade, Elson & Co., of Carbonear, carried on a considerable trade here, which, however, has been long broken up. Mr. Martin, their agent, was returned a member for the district in the fii*st House of Assembly of Newfoundland. Placentia and St. Mary's are very flourishing agricul- tural districts. The geological structure of the district for the most part is composed of variegated slate rocks, which, next to the soft sandstones and coal regions, is the most fertile formation in Newfoundland. St. Mary's Bay has a number of settlements. From Salmonier, at the head of the bay, to Conception Bay the distance is ten miles, and from Colinet to Trinity Bay the distance is but eight miles. Trepassey is the next important place in the district, which is a good harbour situate in Trepassey Bay, near Cape Pine, where an iron lighthouse has been built by the British Government, said to be one of the finest in the world. Trepassey was formerly a place of some note, but is now a very inconsiderable fishing village. Its po- pulation in 1857 was 541. ■ « < w I ■H f i .... ' *A~ W ! I 1 ;i i ! 174 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAB, Not far from Cape Pine, at the entrance of St. Mary's Bay, is situate St. ohotts, which is the scene of nearly all the shipwrecks which occur on the Newfoundland coast. The tides along the shores of Newfoundland generally do not rise or fall more than six or eight feet. On the coant of St. Shotts, however, a strong current sets in from the I eastward at the rate of four miles per hour. It has been observed that the current runs faster during the spring tides, and owing to a proper allowance not being made for the force of the tide, vessels coming from Canada and the west are frequently wrecked upon the coast. Several of H.M.S. ships were lost here at different periods. In 1849, the steamer Kestrel, commanded by Captain Meagher, was lost hero, on her way from Halifax with the Newfound- land mail. Wm. Sweetland, Esq., and C. W. St. John, Esq., have written two very interesting papers on the probable cause of the shipwrecks at St. Shotts. The papei' by Mr. St. John is a masterly production. Cape St. Mary's is called the " garden of Newfound- land,' on account of its superior fishing ground as well as its agricultural capabilities. Formerly fishing boats used to assemble at the Kegs (two rocks about four or five miles off the Cape) from all parts of the country, and even now a great number of boats frequent the place from re- mote districts. The cod-fish is larger and better than what is usually caught in other parts of the island. During the summer months a dense cold fog usually at- tains here, hence a common saying among the fishermen, " Cold as St. Mary's fog." According to the returns of 1845, the following was the population of the District of Placentia and St. Mary's : 5,455 Roman Catholics. I 971 Episcopalians. ^ 37 Methodists. ^ 8 Presbyterians. 6,471 Total. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 176 The number of dwelling-houses in the district was 960, and 11 schools with 673 scholars. There were also 9 Ro- man Catholic Churches and 4 Protestant Episcopal. There were 2,200 acres of land in cultivation, producing 28,759 bushels of potatoes, 688 bushels of oats and other grain, and 1,573 tons of hay and fodder. Of live stock there were 45 horses and 1,618 cattle. In 1833, Placentia employed ten vessels in the foreign trade, now, however, it does not employ half that num- ber. A considerable coasting trade is carried on in the cod and herring fisheries. The census of 1857 gives the population as follows • 966 Church of England. 7,166 Church of Rome. 208 Wesleyans. 4 Kirk of Scotland. In 1874— 8,334 Total. 1,351 Church of England. 8,371 Church of Rome. 239 Wesleyans. 13 Kirk of Scotland. There were- — 9,974 Total. 6 Churches of England. 15 Churches of Rome. 1 Wesleyan. Twenty-five schools and 982 pupils. There were 1,291 dwelling-houses. Of land imder culture there were 3,806 acres, producing annually 1,547 tons of hay, 42 bushels of wheat and barley, 180 bushels of oats, 27,005 bushels of potatoes, and 730 bushels of turnips. Of live stock there were 1,540 neat cattle, 928 milch cows, 284 torses, 3,592 sheep, and 355 swine and goats. The quan- tity of butter manufactured was 24,083 pounds. '\4iJliWl I - «l I i Tf nig. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I Ui |2B |2.5 Ill 1.8 — "% llUil 7] ^ "% r /: 7 .«^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716)e72-4S03 M^ re 1^ ^^^ ■<^ 1^ 176 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, The number of small schooners and fishing boats carry- ing from 4 to 30 quintals of green fish, employed in the | fishery was 1,121, using 1,511 nets and selves, curing— 131,848 Quintals Codfish. 15,020 Barrels of Herring. 100 Tierces Salmon. v *•• The whole producing 128,248 gallons of oil. ' ii>r- Vt // // - \^ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. m 'I ■»' > .» J- 1 ..*is>' ■^^^'■1 . r CHAPTER X. DISTRICT OP BURIN. ^ URIN is the capital of the district, and situated on the west coast of Placentia Bay. In the year 1845 it contained a population of 1,653. It is now over 2,000. It has a courthouse and gaol, also a police magis- trate — the late Wm. Hooper, Esq., who was the member of the district in the first House of Assembly of New- foundland. The circuit court sits here yearly. There is a clerk of the peace and a custom-house officer. Burin has an episcopal, a Roman Catholic, and a Me- thodist Church ; there are also three schools. The prin- cipal merchants were formerly Messrs. R. & J. Falles (a Jersey house), and Mr. O'Neil, and others. Burin is sup- plied with three medical men. Many years ago a large and flourishing mercantile establishment was carried on here by Spurrier & Co., the ruins of which are still to be seen. The principal fishing ground is Cape St. Mary's, which is about 30 miles distant on the opposite side of Placentia Bay. In crossing the mouth of this wide bay, the fishing bats are exposed to all the fury of the storm. In a gale in 1847, eleven fishing boats and forty-four fishermen were lost belonging to Burin. Burin Bay is a beautiful inlet of the sea, it is nine miles long, and from a mile to a quarter wide ; along each shore the land is superior, the fishermen have some well- cultivated gardens here. The distance from this to Gar- nish, in Fortune Bay, is 17 miles. In the " Reach " some good lime stone is found. Mortier is the next settlement to Burin. At the head of Mortier Bay the land is good, red marl line the banks L '' , I i If- it , V"' ,1"' I I I I': ! i I. r [I 178 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, on both sides. The head of the bay is very narrow, and the tide here runs very rapid, from the Salt Ponds (ponds in the interior composed of fresh and salt water). In September, 1848, having been provided with a guide by my hospitable fiiends, the Messrs. Falles, of Burin, I walked through the country from Burin to Fortune Bay. We stopped a night at Samuel Merley's (cousin of the late Joseph Templeman, Esq.), at the head of Mortier Bay. Mr. Merley carries on a salmon fishery, as well as the cod fishery, and during the summer he killed fourteen seals in the salt pond near which he lives. At the time I was there I saw four seals in the pond. Mr. Merley had sev- eral well-cultivated gardens and some cattle, and his table was well supplied with sea-fowl. The whole dis- tance from this to Fortune Bay was at that time unculti- vated and uninhabited, although the soil is better than! any I have seen in either Placentia or Fortune Bays. Messrs. Harrison & Hooper formerly carried on a very considerable trade at Mortier, but, like most of the remote parts of Newfoundland, the foreign trade has declined. The population of the place is now about 400. At Andierac, or as it is now called Odearin, which is an island, the large house of Spurrier carried on an exten- sive establishment some years ago, the ruins of which were occupied by Mr. Farlong, who shipped his fish to Halifax. The population of Odearin is about 450. There are many other important settlements further up the bay, such as Isle of Valen, Marashan, &;c., &c. The principal places on the west are Corbin, St. Law- rence, Lawn, and Lamalin, each having a population ofj from 150 to 500. St. Lawrence is a beautiful harbour, about a mile from the Cape of the Bed Hat (Cape Cha- peau Rouge). Some years ago Newman & Co. carried on a large trade, which they afterwards removed to Little Bay, thence to Harbour Breton. The remaihs of New man & Co.'s premises at St. Lawrence, were, at the time of my visit, occupied by Mr. Thorn, son of the late Mr. s AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 179 Thorn, who was forty-nine years agent of Newman & Co., and on his retirement from the trade, was allowed by them a pension of £40 per annum, in consideration of his services. In the granite rocks which compose the coast about St. Lawrence, a small vein of lead has been dis- covered, containing silver. Lawn is one of the principal fishing stations on the coast, and during the summer, boats assemble here from almost every quarter. The principal inhabitants of the place at the time of the author's visit was Mr. Connors, an intelligent Irishman, who had a large family. He carried on a large fishery, and had a well-cultivated farm, with sheep and cattle, and was in very comfortable cir- cumstances. Here a copper mine has been discovered. At Lamalin there is a police magistrate and a collector of customs ; Messrs. Pittman, Cake and Hand have a large and well-cultivated tract of land, and keep from eight to twenty cattle each. These tracts of land at Samalin have been obtained by draining the bog which mostly com- prise the neighbourhood. Mr. Cake has a beautiful piece of meadow land which he reclaimed by draining the bog, after which he spread over it sanl, with a coat of manure of sea- weed. The whole coast from Lawn to Lamalin, and for many miles beyond it, is flat and very barren. The rocks are mostly sienite and porphry. Hardly a stunted tree is seen within miles of Lamalin, and most of the inhabitants have to procure fresh water from an island, owing to their houses being erected on the beach, which is also sur- rounded with bog. This bog forms excellent peat for fuel, heaps of which were drying at the time of my visit to Lamalin. A' considerable bait trade in herring, caplin, and squids is cJESried on between Lamalin and the French island of St. Pierre. The distance from each place is about seven miles. The French are allowed by treaty to fish half wst,y, or mid channel. A Church of England has for '■■•Milt ■■'-'.«♦ ■ -1% M W;. M'liKKf 1 ■■■;■.,■» i I i ; I ( i ! 11 L.k. >«■■*? / 180 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, some years been erected in Lamalin, and roads are being made to tbe different settlements. In 1833, tbe District employed 64 vessels in the Foreign trade, viz : Burin, 45, and St. Lawrence, 9. In 1845, the population of the District of Burin, was— | 1,951 Roman Catholics. 1,221 Episcopalians. 1,183 Methodists. 2 Presbyterians. 4,357 Total. There were 639 dwelling-houses and 11 schools, with 428 scholars. There were 1,046 acres of land in cultivation, giving an annual produce of 11,081 bushels of potatoes ; 20 bushels of oats and other grain ; 777 tons of hay and fodder. Of live stock, there were 85 horses, and 889 homed cattle. According to the Returns in 1857, the population was as follows : > : '^r: In 1857. In 1874. 1,366 Church of England. 1,633 2,354 Roman Catholics, 2,492 1,810 Wesleyans, 3,348 1 Kirk of Scotland, : . . . A 1 Congregationalist "^^ b 5,522 Total. '■ 7,478 Total. There were 858 dwelling-houses ; 12 schools, and 476 pupils : 3 Churches of England ; 5 Roman Catholic, and 3 Wesley an Methodist. There were 1,254 acres of land under cultivation, producing annually 794 tons of hay ; 50 bushels of oats ; 8,445 bushels of potatoes, and 200 bushels of turnips. Of live stock, there were 1,278 neat cattle ; 488 milch cows ; 86 horses ; 280 sheep, and 232 swine and goats. The quantity of butter made, was I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 181 |l6,656 pounds ; of soap, 4,820 pounds. The number of lall schooners and boats employed in the fishery was |l,004; nets and sieves, 1,188. Quantity of fish cured, 180,071 quintals of cod fish ; 5,723 barrels of herring ; 145 (tierces salmon ; 18 seals ; and 66,362 gallons of oil. There were 868 dwelling-houses ; 12 schools and 476 [pupils ; 3 Churches of England ; 3 Wesleyan Methodist ; and 6 Koman Catholic, "fliere were 1,264 acres of land under cultivation, producing annually 794 tons of hay ; 50 bushels of oats ; 8,455 bushels of potatoes ; and 200 bushels of turnips. Of live stock, there were 1,278 neat cattle; 488 milcn cows ; 86 horses ; 280 sheep ; and 232 swine and goats. The quantity of butter made was 1 6,656 pounds. Of soap, 4,820 pounds. The number of schoon- ers and small boats employed in the fishery, was 1,104; nets and selves, 1,188. Quantity of fish cured, viz: — 80,071 quintals of cod fish ; 6,723 barrels of herring; 145 salmon ; and 1 8 seals, and 66,362 gallons of oil. , r^ y • J •••■M(| ■ m .■;;.il i:: I / i i I ■ I ft 1 1 ! ! I i i .:MH| 182 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, H CHAPTER XT. HISTORY OP FORTUNE BAY, ST. PETERS, ETC., ETC. 'ORTUNE BAY in 1845, contained a population of | upwards of 5,000, and returned one member to the GTeneral Assembly. There were 229 acres of land in cultivation; 360 head of cattle, and 5 horses. The number of large fishing boats was 1,341. The population of Harbour Briton and Jersey Harbour, is about 500, which towns are the seats of two very large and flourishingmercantile establishments; the latter place might be more properly regarded as a branch of Harbour Briton, rather than a distinct harbour. The house of Philip Nicoll, jun., at Jersey Harbour, had been in exist- ence about a hundred years. There were several partners connected with it, comprising some of the most influential men in the Island of Jersey. The principal of the estab- lishment was Chief Justice of the Island of Jersey. It is said Sir William Gossett, late Serjeant-at-arms in the House of Commons, was also a partner. There were two other establishments belonging to this firm on the west- coast at Bargea and La Poile. The agent of this large and respectable establishment at Jersey Harbour in 1856, was John Chapman, Esq., an Englishman, who came to Newfoundland a poor boy, an apprentice to a fisherman ; but by perseverance, honesty and industry, he rose to be the head of one of the largest mercantile establishments in Newfoundland. His successor was Clement Mallett, Esq., a Jerseyman. The House of Newman & Co., at Harljour Briton, is one of the oldest and wealthiest in Newfoundland. One of the partners, Mr. Hunt, was a Director of the Bank of England. Messrs. Newman & Co., had four establishments in Newfoundland, viz :— ot. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 183 Vy John's, Harbour Briton, Burgea and Qaultois. The St. John's branch has been closed ; Sir Robert Newman was the principal. At Gaultois, the whale fishery was carried on to some extent. Newman & Co. employed two vessels and eight whale-boats. They have the necessary appar- atus for manufacturing the whale oil. The number of whales annually captured was between forty and fifty. The quantity of |whale oil manufactured by this firm in 1830 and 1834, was about 200 tuns. In 1857, the quan- tity was not more than 50 tuns. The harpoon gun is generally used. The species of whales taken are the Hump Back and Sulphur Bottom. The latter yield from 4 to 12 tuns of oil, but are seldom taken ; the former are more abundant, and yield from two to five tuns. The New Bedford Mercury says : — " We had an opportunity on Saturday to witness some inter- esting experiments performed under the direction of Mr. C. A. Heineken, an intelligent merchant of Bremen, Germany, now on a visit in this city, illustrating the effect of electricity to facilitate the capture of the whale. The subject was first brought to the notice of Mr. Heineken by the discourses of Dr. Somers- burg, Professor of Natural History, and Mr. Kuckstan, in Bre- men, as presenting important advantages over the mode hitherto employed in the whale fishery. The most prominent features of the new mode proposed, may be briefly enumerated as follows : The electricity is conveyed to the body of the whale from ar electro-galvanic battery, contained in the boat, by means of a metallic wire attached to the harpoon, and so arranged as to reconduct the electric current from the whale through the sea to the machine. The machine itself is simple and compact in construction, enclosed in a strong chest weighing ahout 350 pounds, and occupying a space in the boat of about three and a half feet long by two feet in width and the same in height. It is capable of throwing into the body of the whale eight tremendous strokes of electricity in a second, or 950 strokes in a minute — paralyzing, in an instant, the muscles of the whale, and depriving it of all power of motion, if not actually of life. '^■C :£'" J I I 1 I tt n-'-Wt ■1% r I hi ' i i !! ill M > i 184 NKWPl)lTNI>l.ANI>, AH IT \VA«, \ " That ovory whalo at tho moment of Iwing struck with tlu> harpoi>ii ia nnidonnl powoHosa, m by a stroke of lightning, ai\tl thcn»fon> hia aubatMpiont oacapo or loss, ox*joi»t by aiuking, i8 wholly iiu^>ractioublo ; and tlio proooaa of huicing and aocuriiig him ia ontindv lumttondod with dang(>r. Tho anhioua Inhuur involvini in a long chase in tho capture of tho wliah^ ia 8\l|H>^ aoiiod, and consequently the inconvenience and danger of tlu» bi>ats losing sight of or becoming senarated f^om the ship, ia avoided. One or two boats only wouKl be requirtnl to bo low- ered at a time, and therefore a less number both of otKoers and seamen than hert>toforo employed, would bo luiiple for the pur- pose of the voyage. *' Mr. Heineken, although not at first inclined to idace much reliance upon the proposed advantages to bo derived from this discovery, lias subsequently l>ecomo in a peat measure a con- vert to the theory, and at the urgent solicitation of practical whalemen in his employ from the port of Mreiuen, baa ivcentl} placed the apparatus on boanl of two whaleshipsin which hois interested as owner, from that port He is desirous of sub- mitting tlie subject of the discovery to the consideration of practical whalemen and others in this city, with a view of pro- curing further tests of its efficiency." It appears fix)!!! evidence given by Henry Butler, bofon^ a eomniittee of the House of Assembly, in 1840, that tho wliale fishery %vas carried on by the Ainericans to ii ^rcjit extent in Hennitaa^^ Bay, Bay of Despair, and Fortune Bay, during the yoai-s 1790, 1797, 1798, and 1799 ; that during the thi'ee fii'st yeara, twelve vessels were eiiiployed by them, manned by fifteen men each ; that all of the vessels returned nearly loaded ; that they carried on tlie whale fishery in this part of the country until about the yeai' 1807, when it was discontinued, owing to some dis- pute arising between Great Britain and the IJnited States; that three years after this a schooner was fitted out by the Americans, which arrived at Burin, but on account of a man-of-war being stationed there, the schooner pro- ceeded to St. Maiy's Bay, where she remained until the month of August, and had nearly completed her load AND AH IT m IN 1877 . 186 wlion hIio wiiH tttk(ifi by a BritiHh nloop-of-war, and onUjnjcl to Si, ilolitiH ; hut ihi) ci'uw Ixjitig too Htrong for tlio prize- iiiaNtnr, till) Nchootior HliapfHl her coiirno for America, and arrived in Hafety at Capo Ood. With thin (;nded the Am- oilcan whaK» fiHhury on the weHtorn slioroH of Newf(iund- land. Mr. ihitler Htated that a whalo tiHhory commenced in Hermitatfu J3ay, under tlie firm of Peter LemeHHuirer iiCo., which continued for four yearn only, when the pai*t- nornhij) dinHolved; that the nativcH of Hermitaj/e Hay, huving Home idea of tlie fiHhery, he^an a whale fiHliery on a very HUiall Ncale ; that a person of the name of McDon- ald ha< I made a lari^e pro])erty by it; that the house of Newman & Co. being aware of thcHo proceedingH, pur- chased the premiHcH that had been Peter LemcHMuirer & Co.'h, and began tlie wlmlo tiHiiery on a large Hcale. The manner in which thcHo mercantile eHtabli.shmentH were conducted, throWH one back upon the olden timcH when Newfoundland wan entirely under the dictum of the Mer- cantocracy or "Codfish Aristocracy." These esttiblish- nients had their cook rooms, cooper's sliop, sail loft, car- penter's shop, blacksmith's forge, &c. All the persons em- ployed were sent from England and Jersey, and engaged for one, two, and three years. They were found in diet and sleeping apartments, and at the expiration of their term of servitude were sent home if they desired it. Jn traversing Fortune Bay the mind will revert to Ireland, " The mother of tears.' Newfoundland has been chroni- cled on the historic pages of the country as the " Ireland of America." First, on account of its being an island and about the same size; secondly, the adaptation of the soil to the growth of the potato ; thirdly, the absence of venemous reptiles of every kind ; and lastly, on account of its popu- lation, half of which are essentially Irish. If, however. Fortune Bay is not much like Ireland owing to the few Irish settled along ita shores, yet it is more like Ireland than any other part of the island, on account of its rich J I I I ■1 m 1 I I m :\\ I i , i ! I 1 r m i m m I V 186 NEWFOXJNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ <* absentees, for all the merchants of this bay are absentees living in England and Jersey, and their business here carried on through agents. These establishments, however, give importance to the bay, and are of considerable ad- vantage to the population in affording them facilities for obtaining a livelihood. The late agent of Newman & Co., Andrew Ellis, Esq., is a highly intelligent Englishman, now residing near London, Ontario. The agents of the mercantile establishments have been brought up in them from their boyhood, and have consequently imbibed those naiTow and contracted views whicn have always been inculcated by the merchants of Newfoundland in days of yore. A compact was entered into between the houses of Newman & Co. and Nicoll, that they would not sell any article of merchandise to the dealers of their respectivo establishments, that is, Messrs. Nicoll would not sell an article to one who is accustomed to deal with Newman & Co., and vice versa, so neither would these establishments sell goods to persons who were accustomed to purchase in St. John's, or any other place. By this system of des- potism, they managed to monopolize nearly the whole trade of the south-west coast. These establishments in 1848 prayed for license to the Government for the sale of spirituous liquors. The miserable supplying system gives great power and influence to the merchants of Newfound- land — it makes him a despot and the poor fisherman a vassal. One man, a supplying merchant, who knows little, it may be, about anything excepting pounds, shillings and pence, will direct the actions of thousands — in many in- stances, not one of his dealers will dare to exercise his own judgment upon matters that deeply concern his own welfare. There is not, and cannot be, a more baneful, soul-enslaving, despotic influence exerted in any country than the system of supplying on credit which pervades this country. I have the motioi his agent, then nat i of tlour, » lasses. E more to b fishermen humble t are bettei who, it B provide f during th all his V winter's measure, ^TheB « It is have caui exposed, and deat f^ulph of has earn men cut from th€ that I & men thi of their erman ] his fam dence s ions bi us for \ stand i remark passes, A swii an api AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 187 I have seen men waiting, watching, and scrutinizing the motions and features of their supplying merchants or his agent, that they might find him in a good humour, then nat in hand present themselves to ask for a barrel of flour, a few pounds of butter, or a few gallons of mo- lasses. Even the former slaves and serfs of Russia were more to be envied than some of the poor down-trodden fishermen of Newfoundland, who are thus compelled to humble themselves before their fellow-man. The former are better clothed, better fed, and have less to do than he who, it may be, has a family more or less numerous to provide for, and who, after toiling and sweating and en- during the hardest bitings of wind and weather, finds that all his voyage will not pay his account and lay in his winter's stock of provisions. The ocean is, in a great measure, the home of the Newfoundland fisherman. ^ The Rev. Mr. Brewster, Wesleyan, says : — " It is the fishermen, the hardy, storm-beaten fishermen, who have cause, if cause there really be, to complain. His life is daily exposed, above the ordinary and common exposure, to danger and death. He draws his means of subsistence from the very gulph of death. His wife and children, in eating the bread he has earned, feel something as David felt when his three mighty men cut through the host of the Philistines and drew him water from the well of Bethlehem. He said, * My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing : Shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy ? for with jeopardy of their lives they brought it.' 1 Chron., 11 : 19. The fish- erman prepares his gear, and early in the morning he leaves his family and home, and commits himself to the God of provi- dence as he hoists the sails. The morning he and his compan- ions bid us farewell, is fair and beautiful. They expect to leave us for a fc days at least, and we bid them God speed, and stand idling '^ minute or two on the beach to see them sail away, remarking, * What a fine time away they have ! ' The day passes, the night comes, and with it signs of gathering storms. A swift passing cloud and howling blast come like heralds of an approaching foe. The howling wind increases in strength. 'Jim I ¥??"■» 'ii r..' I I ' m f I I "It ■■■■.a •1' » ! I I : I ! i i ! ! I : 188 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ii ' m i b:- •« hH^h m»K k 11™' 1 HI ■Ik '^''' H \ ill and the night is darker. But the fisherman's wife is not yet alarmed. A dreadful blast now strikes the cabin and every timber shakes. * Children,' she remarks, ' father will have to lie to to-night, he will not be able to fish,' and this with great calmness. But hark ! A deep hollow noise is heard. 'lis not thunder ; nor ' the sound of abundance of rain,' as ' The rattling showers rise on the blast.' . ,« What noise is that 1 'Tis the first growl of old ocean who is at length roused from his slvmbering calm. Those hollow blasts which swept singly and swiftly along at first were messengers from the vast body of ' waters above the firmament ; ' and that distant roar, booming in a thousand caves, spoke of the oper- ation of a law by which the two mighty bodies sympathize and move in unison. How speedily a clap of thunder followed ! As if each wing of the two invincible hosts fired royal salutes on their meeting. Hark, again ! Oh, another booming sound from the sea ! Now look at the fisherman's wife. Fear takes hold upon her. Perhaps at that moment a little one has been awoke from his sleep by the thunder, and he calls out * Father.' She goes and takes him up, ' Thy father is gone child, and if God be not very merciful this night thou wilt see him no more.' She kneels ; her children are around her on their knees. Now the fierce elements rage. She hastens with her child to a neigh hour's house. Other alarmed and terrified mothers are there, equally anxious for the fate of them they love. All night the storm rages, and if for a moment the watcher is overcome with anxiety and fatigue as to sleep a moment, in her visions she sees her loved sons and husband struggling in the storm, or on a broken spar, or hears the last call to God for help. Morning comes, the day passes, yet the storm rages as if it would * Confound and swallow navigation up.' \< But they come not. At length a solitary boat is seen plough- ing its way round the breakers, another follows, and soon they drop their anchor secure once more. She hastens down with others to enquire the likelihood of the fate of those th^y have left behind. Encouragement is held out ; and she returns. The night again passes, and morning comes, and the calm after the storm. Yet they come not. * Perhaps he has sheltered in governmen relieve the ♦Ne^ 'Stri because w have not i harbours i what a fei to the d( course of youi fath father die to sea % * die]' * grandfatl going to when, as enables \ The \ to the in 184e "The v\ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 189 8ome harbour.' Hope buoys her up ; the week passes, and yet they come not, and then the overwhelming conviction strikes her to the ground — * They are lost ! ' Who supports the widow 1 Who provides for the fatherless babes 1 He who has said * Leave thy fatherless children, and I will preserve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in Me.* Our colonial government is most humane in its character, and its efforts to relieve the destitute are most prompt and ample. Such a faint picture as the above, leads you to the chief cause of Newfound- land's misfortunes. 'Tis not its climate, the healthiest in the world ; 'tis not the barrenness of its soil, for the ' treasures of the deep ' greatly compensate. It is the risk and exposure of its ocean sons to daily danger and premature death. Perhaps the words of England's greatest bard would be too strong an application to the above : — -each new mom ' New widows howl, new orphans cry ; new son'ows ' Strike heaven in the face.' because when we consider this daily exposure the wonder is we have not more shipwrecks and loss of crews. Our bays and harbours are commodious and safe. But it is astonishing with what a fearless and reckless spirit our fishermen launch out in- to the deep. They often remind me of the sailor who in course of conversation was asked by a gentleman, * Where did youi father die 1 ' ' At sea.' ' And where did your grand- father die ? ' * At sea.' * Then are you not afraid of going to sea 1 ' * No,' said Jack. * Pray where did your father die ? ' * In bed,' said the gentleman. * And where did your grandfather die ? ' ' In bed.' * Then are you not afraid of going to bed ? ' asked Jack. Such is the force of habit, and when, as in many instances, it is founded on faith in God, it enables the hardy fisherman to sing — ^ . ' If a storm should come and awake the deep. What matter? I still can ride and sleep.' " The following is an extract of a letter which I addressed to the Hon. James Crowdy, the then Colonial Secretary, in 1848: Dated Fortune Bay. "The state of things which exists here, is subversive of that Ill; "i" 111! I i: ■^*- .1 ,8 i •i ^ 1 I J "•-.!%, I JK,i l^f ^m^ ■ 'muni , . ' '■■■■■ ".i I ■ w. r i i ! i ! ' i it :l.:1 Wl i i 190 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ independonce of mind which every man ought to possess. In order to see the influence of the agents of the mercantile estab- lishments, you must become a resident. Each is regarded as the sovereign in his own territory, and when you take into ac- count the manner in which these establishments are conducted, and the extreme ignorance of the mass of the people by which they are surrounded, the power of these men seems to be almost unbounded, added to which, is the power which the government has thrown into their hands." The Rev. A. Gifford, clergyman of the Church of Eng- land, writes from Portugal Cove, in 1861 : — "It must be remembered that the great bulk of the population has arisen by very slow degrees under the auspices of a small knot of merchants, living in the capital, who have increased in number and wealth at their own centre, by successfully nego- tiating the common product of the people's labour in their country's only staple ; while the toiling fishermen themselves, scattered along the wild shores of their rock-bound coast, reap but a mean subsistence, without the prospect of having their lot sensibly aflfected by the prosperity of their employers. Though at the present day of this colony's long and tedious his- tory, a few larger groupings of fishermen have resulted in com- munities of something like numerical importance, yet the original character of the colony as a fishing station, with St. John's as its head-quarters, is unchanged by those marks of advancement and civilization which are obvious in the progress of other coun- tries. With the multiplication of fishermen, and the extension of the line of coast occupied by them, and even the increase of little settlements, there has been no introduction of that powerful element in human society, so beneficial in many of its workings — the admixture of class. If we have an aristocracy in the merchants, they are local, and their influence rarely reaches even the nearest of the dwellings of their poor operatives ; while the want of any variety of resource in the country calls no middle class into existence ; and the prevailing poverty of the fishermen seems to forbid the hope of seeing more than one in a hundred rise from their ranks to supply the want. Trades- men there are but few out of the capital, and of shopkeepers, in Them the custc 40, besid craft. 1 or $140, was abo oil, 800 derable enne at Thes tune Bi seals. and P. St. Lax hallibu month years c ^.\ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 191 the English sense of the word, still fewer ; the population get- n ting not only * provisions' in food, but most of the necessary manufactured articles, from the stores of the merchants against. their account in fish. Shopkeepers, as a respectable class, are ' only now gaining ground in St. John's ; while almost the only attempt elsewhere takes the form of a petty barter trade, car- ried on between the more successful fisherman and his poorer , neighbours, in which the illicit sale of ardent spirits forms the strong characteristic. Farmers and gardeners are at still greater premium— perhaps I should not exaggerate if I were to say — not more than five-jind-twenty families in a circuit of ten miles round St John's, and not more than fifty or sixty in the whole island, being supported solely by agriculture. Add to these features of Newfoundland society a few more of the peculiarities of the trade of catching and curing fish, and of the winter life of the fisherman, and a type of British colonists, at once solitary in its kind, and alone in its isolation from the surrounding pro- gress, is the result. "Of such are the people of the settlements of this itlission, numbering over eight hundred Church members, not so many Roman Catholics, and a few Wesleyans." The number of vessels which annually used to enter at the custom house at Harbour Briton was between 30 and 40, besides which there were a number of small coasting craft. The imports in 1847 amounted to about £28,000, or $140,000. The quantity of cod-fish yearly exported was about 70,000 quintals, and 140 tuns cod oil and whale oil, 800 cwt. salmon, besides furs, berries, &c., to a consi- derable amount. Fortune Bay paid to the colonial rev- enue at the same time £2,500 or $12,500. The seal fishery had never been prosecuted from For- tune Bay until 1846, when one vessel returned with 1,000 seals. In 1848 Messrs. Newman & Co. sent two vessels, and P. Nicoll one vessel, to the seal fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which were successful. Cod-fish, turbot, hallibut, brett, &c., are to be caught here in almost every month throughout the year. Many boys from six to ten years old are employed in the fishery during the spring M^ |l!;l^"'-''*«ji„, w If : I I !# jfci 192 1:/ NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, and summer months, some of whom catch from 20 to 50 quintals of cod-fish. A few women also fish during the summer months, and not unfrequently catch from 20 to 30 quintals of fish. The hardships the men endure fishing during the winter months are very great. Many of them have the appearance of old men at thirty years of age. In Hermitage Bay, the fishermen have a novel way of securing the fish when it falls from the hook in drawing it into the boat. A dog is kept on board who is the daily companion of the fishermen, and is so well trained, that he immediately jumps into the water and secures the fish. The winter fishery for the most part is prosecuted m punts or skiffs — frequently you might see one man rowing cross-handed in a punt (and if the breeze is favourable his little sail assists him), until he is reduced by distance to a mere speck ; he is now several miles from land, when he lets go his grapnel, or more commonly his kellick, and commences fishing in from 80 to 120 fathoms of water, regardless of the keen frost and furious snow storm, while the spray from the motion of the boat falling on him is instantly converted into ice ; he still works his lines until the day is far spent and it is time for him to " haul up." All the fishermen I have conversed with informed me that they never suffer any cold except when there is no fish to be caught, but when there is any fish going they are as warm and comfortable as they wish, even in the frostiest weather. The quantity of fish caught per man for a year is from 80 to 180, and sometimes 200 quintals. Fortune Bay abounds in herring of a fine quality, and which can be taken at all seasons, but are more abundant in the winter season. About 100,000 barrels are annually taken. Harbour Briton is the residence of several public functionaries. There is a stipendiary magistrate, who is also the custom-house officer ; a doctor, who is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London ; a clergyman, and clerk of the peace. The maki tural pursui and in som the face of appearance. of this dist; bours and a the country travel roun would be ferry woulc fore, the Le ment of five the district Owing to its of this (Hsti the establis ther countr in St. Job elapsed beJ given by 1 packet boj which is b( mail comm bay and SI part of th( not more running b( mails, &c. communic would be I probably, hope soon every dist deratum. land stan( M AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 193 The making of roads has given an impetus to agricul* tural pursuits hitherto unknown in this part of t^o island, and in some localities already has the spade garnished the face of the country and given it a new and inviting appearance. One great drawback, however, on the roads of this district, is the want of ferries, owing to the har^ hours and arms of the sea flowing such a distance into the country ; in some places it would be impracticable to travel round them, and in other places the walk roimd would be from twenty to fifty miles, but to cross in a ferry would be only from two to four miles. If, there- fore, the Legislature would give a grant for the establish- ment of five or six ferry boats, it would render the roads of the district what they are intended to be — ^a public benefit. Owing to its great distance from the capital, the inhabitants of this district are deprived of the advantages arising from the establishment of steam communication with the mo- ther country — frequently letters remain at the post-office in St. John's six months, and sometimes a year has elapsed before they are received here. If a grant was given by the Government for the establishment of a packet boat between Harbour Briton and St. Pierre, which is between thirty and forty miles distant, a regular mail communication would at once be opened between this bay and St. John's, via Halifax, and of course every other part of the world. The resident French population is not more than 4,000, yet they have a regular packet running between St. Pierre and Halifax, for carrying the mails, &c. A necessary appendage, however, to a mail communication between St. Pierre and Harbour Briton, would be a local post-office ; the letters and passengers, probably, would pay the expense of the packet, &c. I hope soon to hear of local post-offices being established in every district in the island — ^this would be a great desi- deratum. In respect of postal communication, Newfound- land stands alone amid all the colonies of the British II' i- ■j'l 1 1 ■■'» lilii*'i v- i:"' '^^- ^ «•*,..:&» Kill.iSi i I i • i ! 194 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ W'li I'i?' Empire in having but one poat-ofjice throughout the country* At the head of Fortune Bay, during the winter season, | herds of deer are seen, numbering many thousands— sometimes two or three are killed at one shot. A party of ten or twelve persons kill from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty deer during the winter. I have seen the deer ofiered for sale at Harbour Briton at from one to two cents per pound. Oats are cultivated in many parts of Fortune Bay, and those who have sowed small quantities of wheat have found it to ripen well. John 'Chrutt, at Belloram, when I was there, kept a number of cattle, made a considerable quan- tity of butter, and during the year 1846, manufactured nearly 300 cheese, weighing from four to ten'poundseath; I have seen tobacco which grew in the garden of Newman & Co., at Harton Breton, which was very good. At Frenchman's Cave, Stephen Chuett had a number of cat- tle and a small farm. At this place I saw what I observed in no other part of Newfoundland — sea beaches extend- ing about a mile into the woods ; these beaches have the appearance of three or four waves chasing each other to- wards the shore, and establishes the fact that Newfound- land is gradually rising out of the sea; a remark fre- quently made by my friend St. John. The following is an extract of a letter which I addressed to the Secretary of the Agricultural Society during the time of my visit to Fortune Bay in 1848, but which had reference to St. George's Bay, Bay of Islands, and the whole west coast, as well as Fortune Bay : — " On the western part of the country the deer congregate in i almost incredible numbers, and as they are identical with the reindeer of Lapland, it is very probable that they could be naturalized, and might become of considerable importance, to * Since writing the above, local post-offices have been established through- out the country, and small steamers employed for mails and passengers. ibe country. Agricultural oftwoorthr Bay is not so and the nort less ruffled b; owing to the eral minor oi breakwater waves. I lo the granary ing resourceJ bat also on i abilities. S that grain ri ling this circ or five wee that the soul of the north of spring on very little d become a m existence of the neighbo were it not tending froi be very stei —viz., lime large propo know that i wheat. If John's, wit fertile land fore me, 1 1 can never 1 that in the able than i the therm( below zero turns of Yi 1 •\ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. ' 195 .*(,. the country. I have thought something might be done by the Agricultural Society by offering a reward for the domestication oftwoor three of those animals as an experiment. Fortune Bay is not so exposed to the cold north-east winds as St. John's and the northern parts of the Island, and its waters are perhaps less ruffled by the ^storm than any other Bay of the country, owiDg to the Islands of St. Pierre, Miquelon, Langley, and sev- eral minor ones, stretching across its mouth, forming a great breakwater which resists the swelling surges of the Atlantic waves. I look upon the western coast as destined to become the granary of Newfoundland, not only on account of its fish- ing resources being greater than in any other part of the Island, bat also on account of its mineral wealth and agricultural cap- abilities. Several old Englishmen residing here informed me that grain ripens equally as well as it does in England. Coup- ling this circumstance with the fact that the spring opens fouf or five weeks earlier here than it does in St. John's, and that the south-west coast is not exposed to the chilling effects of the northern ice which tends so much to retard the progress of spring on the eastern and northern coasts, I think there is very little doubt that the western part of the Island will yet become a most extensive grain-growing district. Owing to the existence of old red sandstone, conglomerate, and gritstone in the neighbourhood of St. John's, the soil is very barren, and were it not for a belt of slate rocks in the rear of the town— ex- tending from Quidi Vidi to Waterford Bridge, the soil would be very sterile indeed. That which is so essential to fertility —viz., lime — the soil is entirely deficient of, while it contains a large proportion of iron. From this naturally barren soil, we know that some individuals raise a considerable quantity of wheat. If wheat can be raised from the barren soil of St. John's, with what greater facility could it be raised in the more fertile land of the west. When I have such facts as these be- fore me, I am surprised when I hear it said, * Newfoundland can never become an agricultural country.' Everybody knows that in the arctic regions, the summer is shorter and more vari- able than in Newfoundland ; yet in these polar latitudes, where the thermometer often stands in winter thirty or forty degrees below zero, and the mercury freezes, the land yields ample re- turns of wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, &c. Of course all soil is a ■*W»«fc '4 • •>..■>! i n ' W 1 ■ \ IM' 196 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, m fonned by the decomposing or gradual wearine away of .„, neighbouring rocks, and as Mr. tfuke's geologicfu report don'l embrace Fortune Bay, perhaps a passing notice of its geological structure may serve to show what kind of soil we might expecti to find here." On approaching Harbour Briton, which is situate onl the nortn-west side of Fortune Bay, towering cliffs o{ sienite, some hundreds of feet in altitude, appear in alll their wild sublimity, against which the ocean billows rollj wrapping their base in sheets of spray and foam. ThisI primitive rock forms one of the heads at the entrance ofl the harbour, then comes coarse granite, against this massl of unstratified rock is seen resting limestone extending! about a quarter of a mile, flanked by beautiful whitel granite, blocks of some of which are seen lying at the foot of the cliff as exactly suited for building as if dressed by the tools of masonry. The limestone is covered with a blooming vegetation, whereas the sienite presents a naked] and withered appearance. Wherever limestone, soft sand- stone, marl, shale, and gritstone are found, we have the I richest soil in Newfoundland ; and if a similar system of cultivation was pursued, and the same amount of capital employed as in Great Britain and Ireland, the land on the western part of Newfoundland would probably be as equally productive as in those countries. For we must remember, that while the various countries of Europe, year | after year, were being upturned by the plough, and en- riched with manure, until fifteen hundred years had rolled away, Newfoundland slept in its primeval state, untrodden I by the foot of man, save the savage, and unknown to the civilized world. At Lagona Harbour, on the Island of Lagona, situate at the entrance of Harbour Briton, is a very extensive and beautiful slate quarry. Mr. Gordon 'had a small farm at Harbour Briton, on which he raised hay, oats, potatoes, and other vegetables. Dr. Clinton had also a small farm, and was quite a prac- vv .% AM^ AS IT IS IN 1877. 1»7 farmer. In 1849 Newman & Co. commenced the leultivation of a large tract of land at the head of Har- Ibour Briton arm. Hay, potatoes, and wheat were planted, but I have not been informed of the produce. Near Newman & Co.'s brick store, in the middle of the road, a stamp of the foot produces the finest echo I ever heard. Of course the weather and the time of day have a great influence on an echo, dull weather deadens the sound, and sunshine renders the air thin ; the finest echo is produced on a dewy night. Echo has been personified by the poets and turned into many, a fictitious tale. The most popu- lous place in Fortune Bay is Grand Bank, situated on th^ south side of the bay, although not in the electoral dis- trict of Fortune Bay, it being annexed to the district of Burin. It affords no security for shipping, the entrance being barred ; small vessels, however, drawing from six to eight feet of water, can pass over the bar at high tides. To the westward of Grand Bank is Ship Cove, where there is good anchorage for shipping in eight or ten fathoms water, sheltered from the south, west, and north-westerly winds. Men-o'-war and other large craft always anchor there. Grand Banks derives its name from the circumstance of its having the appearance of a beautiful green bank. It has been inhabited about 180 years. Mr. Jonathan Hickman, the oldest inhabitant, died in 1848, at the ad- vanced age of 100 years. He piloted the celebrated Cap- tain Cooke along this part of the coast during the time he surveyed the coast of Newfoundland 100 years ago. For- merly Wm. Evans, Esq., the late stipendiary magistrate, carried on mercantile business to a considerable extent here ; but owing to the want of a harbour for shipping, he was obliged to send his vessels to load at St. Jacques, on the opposite side of the bay. A mercantile establish- ment is still carried on here by Edward Evans & Co., sons of Mr. Evans, one of whom is in the commission of the i t ^ ^^\ : \ .■ • •! ■ ,; '< » i " ii. ' s8 ■ ' ■ M •« « i • ^ 1 . ■ "* .l F' "''""IS*., w ' 1 ■ v m 1 • ■^ , , ■ ■< «• t' :■ H ^ J 5^1. ■^ .1 « • :i ^ 1 'r^^wm K, .; ^;, :'■■•>■«• [:■■' ■ ■■in ^ i "U. o» , 1 ; " V 1^ ''£«.^il<» Mri'f ■ ii - 1 ■; • 1 i 1 , ! ; ■ 198 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, iv^ '• , t ill ..■iiMB, -• peace, and the other a member of the House of Assembly. Agriculture is more extensively pursued at Grand Bank than in any other part of Fortune Bay. Some individuals keep from 20 to 30 head of cattle. About 10 cwt. of but- ter IS manufactured annually here. There is a stipen- diary magistrate, a constable, a lock-up house ; a doctor also resides here, and a Wesleyan missionary. There is only one place of worship, which is Wesleyan. There is one school under the direction of the Wesleyans, and a small annual grant is given by the Qovemment in aid of its support. According to the returns made to the Government in 1844, the population of Grand Bank was 392 ; acres of land in possession, 123^ ; barrels of potatoes raised, 1,308 tons of hay, 102 ; neat cattle, 127, all bred in the inland sheep, 63 ; pigs, 54 ; horses, 1. Number of schooners, 4 fishing boats from 4 to 15 quintals, 22; from 15 to. 30 quintals, 18 ; 30 quintals and upwards, 21. Fortune is about four miles distant from Grand Bank, and is a place of considerable importance. At a meeting of the Newfoundland Methodist Mission- ary Society, held at the Rev. S. Bushby's house at Car- bonear, the 15th of January, 1816, John Gosse, Esq., in the chair, it was resolved — "That this Meeting having heard that there were about 5,000 inhabitants in Fortune Bay, nearly all Protestants, who are now, and ever have been, without a minister or preacher of any denomination, it is the wish of this meeting that a mis sionary should be sent there early in ensuing spring." The first Wesleyan minister appointed to the place was the Rev. Dr. Richard Knight, in the year 1816, after- wards chairman of the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick I Districts for twenty-four years, and county delegate of the Methodist Conference for Eastern British America. The next person who succeeded Mr. Knight was the Rev. John Haigh. The following isan extract of a letter from AlO) AS mS IN 1877. 199 Mr. Haigh to the Missionary Committee in London, dated Green Bank, July 19th, 1819 :— " There is one thing in this country which militates much against the work of Cfod generally, but it extends more parti- colarly to this part of it ; that is, the fishery. With us it com- mences much sooner, and continues much later than in the northern parts of the country, and consequently the people are much longer from home. We have what is termed the spring fishery, which commences in the latter part of March, or the beginning of April, in which they are away for the space of geven or eight weeks before they go to sea to the northward ; and we have the fall fishery, which is for about the same space of time, and does not close till near Christmas, so that we have the fisherman at home but for the space of three or four months - in the year ; besides their occasional visits with fish, and to take a fresh stock of provisions and salt ; so that if any impressions are made upon their minds during the winter recess, unless 'they are deeply implanted, they wear away ; for having no means of grace, and perhaps exposed to much bad company, their con- victions are liable to die away, and they relapse into their former state of carelessness. But the principal cause arises from the removal of many to England ; there are several, who I believe, have received good to their souls, who, when they have exper- ienced it have removed to England, where they could enjoy greater privileges ; three removed from this place last fall, so that if our usefulness does not as fully appear now, we hope that it will be found in the last day, that the labours of your Missionaries have not been unsuccessful. "There are two or three places across the Bay which I occa- sionally visit, three or four times a year, and remain two or three weeks, where the merchants' looms are established ; Har- bour Briton, Jersey Harbour, and Little Bay ; but my labours being only occasional, they are regulated according to the then existing circumstances ; so that I can give you no regular plan ; and while here, we have an opportunity sometimes of preach- ing to many persons who come from more distant parts, either for provision or for the purpose of settling their accounts ; so that many, who would not otherwise have an opportunity, hear the gospel preached. I have it in contemplation to pay a visit .5 1 ■■■, „ r-v'-!-. ^f HI i\ "il 200 ■■ Hi •■■■'■J \ NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, to Hermitage Bay, a place where I suppose no ever yet visited." gospel minister From the year 1816, Grand Bank has been regularly supplied with aWesleyan Minister, who frequently visited the various destitute parts of Fortune Bay and Hermitage Ba^. I shall, therefore, make a few extracts from letters written by them to the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London, which will show the moral condition of the pait of the island at the time referred to. In 1827, the Kev. Mr. Noall says : — " On my return to Gaultois, I found Captain Michell, (as he calls himself), the Chief of the gang of Indians from Whitc- Bear-Bay. On seeing me he instantlv dropped on one knee, putting his right hand to his head. He was a very tall man, and looked the savage if provoked. He addressed me in moct vociferating language, and gave me to understand that he con- sidered himself a Catholic. He said, * I see minister, London,' (it appears he had been in England,) * St. John's, Halifax ; you ministers and priest all one ; all same God Almighty.' Refer- ring to a circumstance that happened last Saturday night, he said, * They dance two times, Saturday night, Sunday morn- ing, that's bad ; Sunday night, God bum their stage : ' a cir- cumstance by which property to the amount of 100/. was de- stroyed. In the evening I met Soolian again, and told him that Christ is now in heaven, and that, if he prayed to Him, He would make him a good heart and take him there, and then said, * You tell them ; ' pointing to some young men standing by. He began talking to them in his own language, pressing his breast, and then pointing to the sky, as I had done, while one of the young Indians, in such an emphatic way as I shall never forget, expressed his mingled emotions of astonishment and pleasure. I am informed by those who know their habits well, that the Indians belonging to Bay Despair (of whom there are eighteen families, and about a hundred persons) are still under the bondage of the vilest habits ; very indolent^ and false in their dealings ; and there is too much reason to fear that they murder a great many of the Aborigines, or Bed Indians, who inhabit the interior. After all, I think them an interesting AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 201 race of men, and who, if they could hn properly instructed, might emerge from that darkness in which they are now en- veloped. At present they are only the dupes of those priests by whom they have heen baptized, but never instiacted. Al« though they are bound together by som(> social oi /ler, and have a 8ort of cantonment,or rather rendezvous m Bay-Despair,yet they enjoy very few of the comforts of civilized life. They spend the summer chiefly in the woods, procuritie fur ; and, in the winter, from want of economy, have sometimes to endure the severity of hunger. It is impossible to calculate on the advan- tages that might follow, could their conversion be effected. It would at once open a religious intercourse between much greater numbers at White-Bear-Bay ; and is perhaps the only posssible way of gaining access to the Aborigines of this island, of whom, notwithstanding what has been said to the contrary, it appears great numbers still exist. " There are some other places in this Bay (Hermitage Bay) which the inhabitants wish me to visit. Indeed, I received the most pressing invitations to remain among them much longer ; but as I have now been so long from the people of my charge, and am expecting to make another little voyage to Lamilin, in Placentia Bay, soon after my return, I cannot possibly stay longer. There are about 100 persons in this Bay, altogether destitute of Christian ordinances." Extract of a letter from the Rev. Adam Nightingale in 1829: " Aug. 23rd (Sunday). — To-day I preached two sermons at Lamalin, with considerable liberty. The people heard the word with deep attention. In the evening we had a profitable sea son in another house, where some were assembled. When I was at this place last spring, the people engaged to build a place in which they might worship God, and one person of respect- ability told me that he would give ten pounds every year while he lived towards supporting a missionary, should one be sent. " Sept. 28th. — This day. Sir Thomas Cochrane, the governor of the island, came on shore at Grand Bank, accompanied with several gentlemen. After his Excellency had walked about the place, and asked several questions, he returned to his yacht, ■- * i ! ft 210 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, H ■ii'1 boy, who, luckily had not left the punt, and by means of a ropo got his father out. In the meantime the elder had sunk to rise no more. I endeavoured, both in my conversation and in my discourse in the service, to lead them to the only true and solid source of comfort and support under their bereavement, and urged them to profit by the warning they had just received, lest death should come upon them unawares, as it did upon this young fellow, and find them unprepared." The following is a copy of a letter which I addressed to a friend now in England, during my visit to Fortune Bay, in 1857:— " The lone majesty of nature here predominates j yet in the midst of this solitude there is a sublimity, fdr you can scarcely conceive of any thing more grand than the long range o^ lofty and precipitous cliffs immediately in front of where I live, whose tops are at this moment covered with snow, and where nought is heard to disturb the solitude save now and then the notes of the ptarmigan, while sometimes the timid hare might be seen bounding along the rugged steep ; all else is shrouded in frimeval silence. But while I admire this sublimity of solitude, feel pained when I think of the moral gloom which prevails — the living death — hundreds living without life, without light, and passing to the eternal world \vithout the renewing and sanctifying influences of God's Spirit. The stillness of the Sab- bath morning is frequently broken by the sound of the hatchet and the hammer, and many heads of families pursue their ordi- nary avocations on the Sabbath, as on any other day of the week, because, as they say, they have no time to do it on the week days. * HaU Sabbath 1 Thee I hail, the poor man's day, The pale mechanic now has time to breathe The morning air pure from the City's smoke, While wandering slowly up the river side, ' » He meditates of Him whose power he marks In each green tree, that proudly spreads the bough. As in the tiny dew, bent flowers that bloom, Around the roots ; and while he thus surveys With elevated joy each rural charm ; He hopes (yet fears presumption in the hope) To reach those realms where Sabbath never ends.' The pop branch of I been erecte magistrate a minister, came here the 'New Belloram, gone to E yet been a ordained s atGrole,i] place. Tl is about 5j which are leyan Mis arrived h place, I i the Sabb« private d from two ten in nui here; I 1 with this] ' its solita pating th moral atr the world gloom, tl circulatii messenge whose fs trumpet, no mean many hs one to tl ual thin many o knowlec to what m !■:*;• AND AS IT IS IN 18?7. 211 The population of this place and Jersey Harbour (which is a branch of Harbour Breton) is about 500. A neat little church has been erected here through the exertions of the merchants and the magistrate ; it belongs to the Episcopalians ; they are expecting a minister, but no person has yet been appointed. When I first came here there was an ordained school-master, belonging to the ' Newfoundland School Society,* living at a place called Belloram, distant from this about thirty miles : he has since gone to Englsuid on account of ill health and no successor has yet been appointed to supply his place. There is also another ordained school-master, belonging to the same society, residing atGrole, in Hermitage Bay, about thirty miles distant from this place. The population of the electoral district of Fortune Bay LB about 5,000 ; this does not include Grand Bank and Fortune ; which are on the opposite side of the Bay, and where a Wes- leyan Mission has been established for many years. When I arrived here last May, seeing the spiritual destitution of the place, I immediately commenced holding religious service on the Sabbath and sometimes during the week evenings, in a private dwelling ; the congregation has been small, averaging from two to twenty, besides the family of the house, who are ten in number. There is a great scarcity of the word of God here; I have, however, gratuitously supplied many families with this inestimable treasure. The Bible, then, is travelling in ' its solitary grandeur' in the * far west' of Newfoundland, dissi- pating the clouds of darkness, and pouring a flood of light on its moral atmosphere. The Bible is the great moral light-house of the world, pouring refulgent corruscations on the surrounding gloom, the * heaven-lent geography of the skies to man.' I am circulating tracts in every direction, and many of these silent messengers of mercy are finding their way into gloomy solitudes, whose fastnesses never echoed with the sound of the gospel trumpet. Oh ! think of those who are living where there are no means of grace, where all is a moral wilderness. There are many harbours along the shores of this bay, where only from one to three families reside, who are entirely ignorant of spirit- ual things ; most of them are the children of English emigrants ; many of them remember hearing their parents speak of the parish church of the land of their fathers, with little more knowledge of a place of worship than this ; and, when asked — to what religion do you belong ? they reply the * English reli- ■Kil.,,1 ■ SB- , ( 1 1 i! ! ^12 NEWFOtWDLAND, AS It WAS, gion/ meaning the Protestant. I am exerting myself for the benefit of sailors. On Monday evening, for the first time within the memory of man, was the Bethel flag seen at the main royar mast of the St. George^ fluttering in the breeze amid the hills of the western shores of Newfoundland, the well known signal for divine worship among sailors. Since T have received the flag, I have held two Bethel meetings, and flent two loan libraries to sea, each containing about 30 bound volumes, besides a number of tracts and magazines. Since my arrival here in May last, I have held 124 religious services afloat and on shore ; distributed 763 tracts (50 of which were French) ; 466 religious books ; 25 bibles ; and 42 testaments. I think great good might be done amongst the maritime population of this country, and that eflbrts might be made to establish a sailoi-s' cause in St. John's. The moral claims of seamen are beginning to enlist the sympathies and efforts of all classes of the communi% ii< England. Of course you saw the account of Prince Albert's laying the foundation stone of the 'Sailors' Home' last summer, at Liverpool. And not long since Her Majesty transmitted a noble sum to aid the 'British and Foreign Sailors' Society' on behalf of the young Prince of Wales. The President of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society, the Eight Honourable Lord Mountsandford, died in October last. It is rather re- markable that the first president of this society. Admiral Lord Gambier, was Governor of this island in the years 1802-3." In 1848 the Right Rev. Dr.Mullock,Roman Catholic Bis- hop, visited Fortune Bay and the west coast, where he held several confirmations, and baptized a number of persons. \The Roman Catholics had no place of worship in the District of Fortune Bay at that time — ^they talk, how- ever, of erecting a chapel at Harbour Breton. A Catholic clergyman from Burin annually visited, the District of Fortune Bay. According to the census of 1845, there were in Fortune Bay— 4,640 Episcopalians. \ ? '':'''^^^:'''7-''tl.y ' 392 Roman Catholics. ' ^ : ' ' r 68 Wesleyans. 5,100 Total population. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 213 I i « i^ ••■rs villi liivti 3S. *iiif \ • 114 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, "'s Seventy Miomac and Mountaineer Indians reside in Bay Despair, they subsist by hunting during the winter ; they also spear eels and salmon, make hooks, &c Thero are 4 Churches of England, 10 schools and 726 dwelling- houses. According to the census in 1857, the p<^ulation o! Fortune Bay was as follows : — In 1867. In 1874. 2,787 Church of England . . . . 4,391 X 647 Church of Rome 1,887 30 Wesleyan 9 29 Other Denominations 3,493 Total. 6,787 Total. Burgeo and La Podle which belonged to the district- In 1845. In 1874 3,172 Church of England ... ... 4,216 189 Church of Rome 125 282 Wesleyans 731 2 Kirk of Scotland 15 3,646 Total. 6,087 Total. In the district of Fortune Bay there were 518 dwelling houses, 10 schools and 259 pupils, 3 Churches of England. 317 acres of land were cultivated, produdnff 264 tons of hay, 6,628 bushels of potatoes, and 76 bushels of turnips. Of live stock there were 344 neat cattle, 167 milch cows, 5 horses, 610 sheep, and 133 swine and goats. The quan- tity^of butter manufactured was 1,670 pounds. The num- ber of vessels engaged in the fisheries, 14 ; boats carrying from 4 to 30 quintals of green fish and upwards, 726 ; nets and seines, 1,642. Quantity of cured : — 5S,454 quintals cod-fish, 91 tierces of salmon, 58,968 Barrels of herring. Oil manufactured, 29,220 gallons. The returns of Burgeo and La Po61e were — 655 dwell- ing-houses, 5 schools and 197 pupils, 4 Churches of Eng- land and 1 Wesleyan. 161 acresof land were cultivated, pro- AND AS ITI8 m 1877. tn ducing annuaUy 58 tons of hi^, 4,690 bushels of potatoes, and 125 bushels of turnips. Of live stock there were 46 neat cattle, 31 milch cows, 2 horses, 74 sheep, and 6 swine and goats. The number of vessels engaged in the fisheries, 15 ; boats carrying from 4 to 80 qmntab and upwards of green fish, 6(>7 ; nets and seines, 1,717. Quin- tAls of fish cured— 67,833 of cod fish, 614 tierces of sal- mon, 81,077 barrels of herring. Gallons of oil manufac- tured, 33,866. The Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon are situate at the entrance of Fortune Bay, seven miles from the main land. These islands were ceded to France by the treaty of Utrecht, and are the only possessions of the French in America. By the terms of the treaty they are not al- lowed to make any fortifications, nor to have more than fifty soldiers at a time. St. Peter is a mass of unstratified rock of a reddish colour, mostly covered with a few shrubby fir and alder trees. A lighthouse was erected by the French Govern- ment in 1845. It is built on Galantry Head, near Cape Noir. It is a substantial edifice, built of brick, and cost 80,327 francs. The light is a fixed one, and bums at an elevation of about 210 feet above the level of the sea. It may be seen (in passing by the S.) from W.N.W. to N.N.E, at the distance of 25 miles in clear weather. In passing by the N., it is shut in by high land from N.N.E. to W.N.W. A small light is also situated on the Gun point within the Roads, at the entrance of St. Pierre's Haroour, St. Pierre is a place of considerable trade. According to the official returns made to the French Government in 1847, the population of St. Pierre was — Resident 1500 Floating 520 Total 2,030 The population of St. Peter's when the bankers are there is 10,000. The number of vessels fitted out for the ! I V • r 216 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Grand Banks and other banks is between 300 and 400, averaging from 50 to 300 tons. The quantity of cod-fish taken is estimated at 400,000 quintals. But this does not include the Northern French fishery on the north coast of Newfoundland. Two Eomau Catholic Churches (one of which is on Dog Island), two priests, four monks, nine nuns, and two schools. The population of Miquelon was 625. There was also one Roman Catholic Church, one priest, and two schools. Last year a very elegant hospital was erected at St. Pierre ; it is built of brick, and is the only good building on the island, save the lighthouse. It is 150 feet long and 60 feet broad. It has sixteen spacious rooms in it, besides a number of smaller ones. It will accommodate upwards of 100 sick persons. The Govern- ment House is a very plain old-fashioned wooden build- ing, with a small garden surrounding it. All the houses that compose the town are built of wood, and, for the most part, small and ill-constructed. The streets are very narrow, phort and dirty. Altogether the place has the appearance of a large fishing establishment. A Gov- ernor resides here, Commissary or Minister of Marine, harbour master, two doctors, and several other public functionaries ; there are also about thirty gensdarmes. A small armed brig, called the guard ship, is stationed at the entrance of the harbour. There are also three small armed schooners which occasionally visit the west coast. A sloop of war and also a schooner frequently call here. A sailing vessel is employed in carrying the mail once a fortnight between St. rierre and Halifax. The quantity of fish exported to Guadeloupe and Mar- tinique, two of the French West India Islands, in the under-mentioned years, was as follows : — Quintals. r In 1840 56,954 1841 71,785 V 1842 50,549 . 1843 72,873 „. . . ^ . . , ■ . .. V ■ - ■ - . " " " ■ ■ "'.]''' ' ' ■ '- '';: '. i "■ - . : ■ ' *■■-■■"' ■' ■' ' ' (For a ^'Fisherie AtMiq where al great nun market a sago for now conn ered with number o St. Lawr( strewn w When French w ing coals of-war. what St. outlet or During t there fro Breton, t It is a I trade anc and the St. Petei in catch ahout $6 islands ii reddish i about fi\ twenty i AnE] Newfou: Captain addressi and 183 « I ha AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 217 [For a more detailed account of French Fisheries, see '^ Fisheries") At Miquelon and Langley there are a number of farms, where all kinds of vegetables are raised. There are a great number of cattle and sheep kept, from whence the market at St. Peter's is supplied. There was once a pas- sage for ships between Miquelon and Langley, which are now connected by low flat sands, for the most part cov- ered with coarse grass, and which is the scene of a great number of shipwrecks, principally timber vessels from the St. Lawrence to England. The whole coast is frequently strewn with timber for a distance of three miles. When I was at Sydney, C.B., in September, 18.58, two French war steamers were plying from St. Peter's, carry- ing coals there, and making a depot of it for their men- of-war. St. Peter's is to the western part of the island what St. John's is to the northern part, viz., the great outlet or market for every production of the island. During the time of my visit to St. Peter's, I saw vessels there from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, the United States, and various parts of Europe. It is a most thriving place, and rapidly increasing in trade and population. The inhabitants of Fortune Bay and the south-west coast have for years been supplying St. Peter's with herring, caplin, and squids (used for bait in catching cod-fish), amounting in value annually to about $65,000, besides firewood, &c. The land of these islands is mostly composed of variegated slate rocks and reddish sandstone, seinite and goit stones. St. Pierre is about five miles long, and Miquelon and Langley about twenty miles long. An English man-of-war is annually employed on the Newfoundland coast for the protection of the fisheries. Captain Bennett, of Her Majesty's Ship Rainbow, in addressing Captain Prescott (the then Governor), in 1836 and 1837, says:— " I have reason to believe there never has been a year in isiniim * «e itl!iS;«i'„ ■, 218 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ M*' which the bait has been so well preserved, or the French so completely kept over upon their coast ; for no instance has come to my knowledge of a single French boat having succeeded in taking bait on the South coast of Newfoundland, except in one, as a reward for having saved the lives of five of the Eaivhovfs officers. I had given permission to a person belonging to St. Pierre's, named Leon Coste, to take as much caplin as would serve himself for two trips to the Great Bank, but in my ab- sence, Frenchman-Mke, he filled his vessel and sold them to great advantage at St. Pierre's ; but in his second attempt to do so he was captured by one of the Rainbow^s boats. Latterly some of the boats from St. Pierre's have endeavoured to encroach beyond the limits ; one was taken after a hard chase, and she is now in possession of my officer at Lamelin, and used as a tender. " I have had a variety of correspondence and some interviews with the Governor of St. Pierre's, and I really believe that he means well ; but from the very great number of bankers which now yearly come out from Europe to the fishery, I believe this year they exceed three hundred, it is impossible for them to be supplied with bait from the French islands, and of course during the caplin season, very large prices are held out to our fisher- men to bring them over, and I believe they have not succeeded in carrying much this year, yet they very candidly say that next year they intend to enter into that trade, and if they escape with one cargo out of three their profit will be handsome, and as the run across is so short it is next to impossible to prevent them, except by the employment of a coast guard. I am sorry to say that many respectable persons about Fortune Bay, who were extremely active in getting up the petition which I be- lieve to have caused the passing of the late Local Act, were themselves deeply engaged in the caplin trade to St. Pierre's, and therefore some part of that Act is as unexpected by, as un- palatable to, them. *'■■ I have now to call the attention of your Excellency to the smuggling trade with St. Pierre's, which is carried on by the inhabitants of nearly the whole of the south coast, where jthey are out of reach of the officers of the Customs, and I am satis- fied that it is of very great magnitude. When I arrived at St. Pierre's ir Apiil, there were eleven boats from difierent parts of Newfoucdland there, which had brought over wood, W AND AS IT IS I^ 1877. 219 game, and other things, and in exchange they returned with tea, sugar, brandy, different articles of clothing, &c., &c. In- deed, they did not attempt to disguise the fact. As I before remarked, the distance across is so very short, that it is next to impossible to capture them, an hour's run taking them above the Lamelin shelves. " Another mode in which the colonial revenue suffers is by vessels coming from Halifax, Quebec, and other places, and going into different unfrequented small harbours, exchange their cargoes of spirits, flour, bread, clothing, &c., for fish. I have heard that this has been done on the west coast by American vessels, who have got rid of entire cargoes ; and when I was at St. George's harbour, a person from Halifax was residing there, retailing the cargoes which he had brought there, and which of course had paid no colonial duties. " At Ingarachoix there are resident some five or six hundred French, from whom the colony derives no benefit. If they are permitted to act so far contrary to the treaties as to reside there entirely, they ought certainly to be amenable to the taxes laid upon the inhabitants of Newfoundland. This is the place most frequented by the French, and I regret that bad weather pre- vented me from going in there, because I believe that they not only cut and export wood for constructing vessels, as well as for fuel, but that they actually build vessels of considerable size there. " I have already (last year) pointed out to your Excellency the manner in which the revenue is defrauded by articles of every description being smuggled into the outports, not only from the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, but also from Halifax, Quebec, and even from America. This is in a great measure the consequence of there being no collectors of the revenue, or even persons authorized to demand or to receive the colonial or custom-house dues. " Vessels are constantly coming over from the above-named places exchanging brandy, rum, sugar, tobacco, tea, molasses, clothiug, furniture, &c., for fish; of course they confine their voyages to places where they know they are not likely to be disturbed by ships of "v/ar or agents from the custom-house, and your Excellency, can have no idea to what an extent this trafiic is carried on, to the piejudice of the English merchant, and the serious loss to the colonial revenue. •I ..1.1 ■■■*•■■' 1911 Hi'*' i i i ! !i '! 220 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ " With respect to the smuggling from St. Pierre, I regret to say that this year it has been quadrupled ; the ruinous system of supplying caplin to the French fishermen at St. Pierre is pro> ductive of serious diminution to the Newfoundland revenue, and undoubted loss to the British merchant, and operates in every possible manner to favour the French fishery, and to de- press that of the English ; in point of fact, nothing could be conceived more likely to aid the French fishermen in their com- petition with our own people. " Last year the French bankers, in consequence of our vigi- lance in preventing them from hauling caplin upon our coasts, were constrained to lay for weeks at St, Pierre before they could procure their necessary quantity of bait; this year they have had nothing to do but to purchase bait from the English boats in exchange for tea, tobacco, brandy, &c., and when com- pleted with water, to proceed to the Bank in prosecution of their voyage ; in short, nothing could be devised more likely to for- ward their views. I cannot understand the policy of permitting this traffic, as it appears to me a sort of convmerdal suicide, put- ting into the hands of our opponents the means of successfully competing with our fishery, already by far too much depressed." In 1838, Captain Polkinghom, of H.M.S. Crocodile, says: — ' _ .-;^,.s.,.■-^':,■:^^--.•.,■ - ,; -.v.- .>:■■.,., " While laying at anchor at St. Pierre's, I was informed by an English fisherman belonging to Fortune, that a French fish- ing boat was then hauling caplin in Danzick Cove, near Fortune ; on learning this I thought it most advisable to visit Fortune Bay before I proceeded westward to the neighbourhood of the Bourgeo Islands, and sailed accordingly on the 19th, to ascer- tain the correctness of the complaint made to me. On passing Danzick Cove, within two miles, I could not perceive any boat or boats employed as reported ; in the evening of the 19th I anchored at Grand Bank Bay, and at daylight the following morning sent an officer to Fortune to obtain information, while I placed myself in communication with the most intelligent persons I could find at Grand Bank, a considerable village, and similar in situation and population to Fortune. The two vil- lages are about four miles distant from each other, and can mus- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 221 ter from 200 to 250 fishermen, a number fully equal to their own protection from the encroachments of the French fishermen. At these villages I heard not a complaint of any act of aggres- sion on the part of their neighbours at St. Pierre's, on the con- trary I found there was too good an understanding between them — all the fishermen at these villages acknowledged without leserve that they caught caplin, and sold it to the French ; and this I have since discovered to be a general practice along the whole coast opposite to St. Pierre's, from Grand Bank to Burin Island. It appears that the French, at the commencement of the caplin season, give a good price for this bait, but at a later period the value is much less, and our fishermen get goods for it, and more frequently spirits. The bad effects of this traffic will, I think, soon be apparent — our fishery will be injured from scarcity of bait, and our industrious fishermen demoralized under the baneful iofluence of French spirits." In consequence of the extensive supply of bait to the French, the Local Government passed an Act imposing a duty of 75 cents the cwt, upon pickled fish exported from the colony. The passing of this Act tended to increase the smuggling, for immediately the French were made acquainted with the duty on herring, the price was ad- vanced to 45 francs per barrel, and sometimes eight or ten hogsheads of salt were given into the bargain. The passing of the " Pickled Fish Act " amounted to a prohibition to vessels from the neighbouring colonies, which, previous to its passing, used to visit Fortune Bay and other parts of the coast and purchase about 20,000 barrels of herring in bulk, giving in exchange flour, pork, beef, butter, coal, lumber, &c., &c. This was severely felt by the poorer class of the inhabitants. The Act, however, only continued in operation three years. In 1846 and 1847, the Local Government employed a small armed schooner to collect duty under the provisions of the above mentioned Act, as well as to prevent smuggling generally. Mr. Oke, the Commander, in his Report in 1846, says: — '"'■'I Ml ! ■«■■« tit 1« I i I i ! I ^ i' m 3 {^5 ■ ^BTlSy j4 222 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, 1: V = " Tlio flret doinand for tho oiipUii tluH HcnHou ni St. Piom^ W)U3 on tho 1st J uly, and thou but two franoH por barix^l couKi bo obtained. But foi*our prosonoo, and tho ubo mado of the cruiser's l)oats, 1,500 or 1,600 barn^ls would on that day havo found their way to St. Peter's from Lowrey's Oovo (near Point May), we having at tliat place fell in with seventoen boats (be- longing to Grand Bank and Fortune), the crews of which wore engaged in hauling caplin ; ten had not commenced loading ; two, whidi had on board 150 barrels, and had not entered at the Custom House, we det»iined. From this period imtil tho caplin had disappeared, this tratlic was, J believe, abandoned." ' Tho following is the oxpcudituro for the support of the Revenue vessel during the operation of the Local Act, 8 Vic, cap. 5. 1 ^ 1846. ' ^ -^^"^>^^-----''-"^.l^''- •■ -'^ -■■'-£ ^^ j^ July 20.— To tlie Collector of Her Majesty's Customs, to defray the expenses ■ ' of the hired Schooner, Caiecio?j/'ia 582 17 8 1847. Aug. 25. — To Thomas and Henry Knight, for hire of Schooner Caledonia 508 Aug. 25. — To Robert Oke, Commander of £1,143 1 C Or..., $4,672 00 -w Amount of Revenue Collected. Yeai* ending January 5th, 1847 £ 8. d 326 11 4 60 5 5 £386 16 9 Or $1,547 00 r AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 223 3 10 1 G Siriiulfcnnoously with tho omploymont of a Revenue vcsHoI, a (JuHtoin Houho Ofticcr was appointed to OaultoiH in Horniitage Bay, where Newman &• Uo. had a mercan- tile oHtablishment. OaultoiH is about fourteen miles distant from Harbour Breton, and contains a population of 320. The following is an extract from the Report of Captain Lock, of Her Majesty's Ship AlarTti, employed for the protection of the Fisheries in 1848, addressea to Earl Dundonald : — " My Lord, — I sailed from Halifax in H.M. sloop under my command on the 14tL June, and anchored in the harbour of St.' Pierre's tho afternoon of the 17th. I found the outer roads HDd tho inner harbour filled with shipping. There were one hun- dred and thirty-three French vessels, averaging from one hun- dred to three hundred and fifty and four hundred tons — one hundred of these were bankers, chiefly brigs, lately returned with cargoes. They had taken in their salt, amd were waiting for bait (caplin), which they told me would strike into the bays of St. Pierre's and Miquelon in a day or two. This prophecy (whether likely to prove true or not) was merely mentioned to deceive me, as it is well known the supply afforded round their own islands is insufficient to meet the great demand. The next morning I observed boats discharging caplin into the bankers, which I ascertained had been brought over from our own shores during the night in English boatst The bait is sold in the har- bour of St. Pierre's either by barter for piece goods, provisions, or for money. " In every way this transaction is illegal. First, by vessels trading to foreign ports without a custom-house clearance, in violation of Act 3 and 4 Wm. 4, chap. 59. Secondly, by sail- ing without registers ; and thirdly, by defrauding the colony of a branch of its revenue. " Their only excuse is, that if they were not in self-defence to sell their caplin, the French would take it as they formerly used to do, in defiance of all remonstrances and opposition. For it is, they say, impossible to guard every particular point where the caplin may strike along so extensive a coast, so as to pre- vent the robbery, or in most cases even to see, the French fish- i j % If* Mil i m n ■ ! H' ffl . I i to I U., f^ \ ] ! i i i i i Hi 'i.* (■» ii V ■•■ M lif ':r 224 ermen. NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, in consequence of the frequent and dense fogs. This traffic has now become so systemised and general, and so pro- ductive to all parties engaged in it along the coast, that it will be a matter of great difficulty to put it down. ''I waited on the commandant, Monsieur Delecluse (Capitaine de Corvette), and after mentioning the object of my visit, I strongly urged him to aid me in the support of the existing treaty. " He said he would, and always had endeavoured to do so, in conjunction with my predecessors, but it was an uphill task, owing to the proximity of the island to the main, and the fre- quent fogs which often enveloped all surrounding objects, some- times for many days together. " As a means of checking this great evil, I would propose establishing one or two magistrates at central positions, say Fortune, Lamaline, and Burin, and supplying four swift low boats attached to a colonial tender, during tibe fishing season, and swearing in their coxswains as special constables. " Some of the local authorities entertain an idea that they cannot exercise jurisdiction over men embarked in boats, but in this I ventured to assure them they are mistaken, and that when boats are fishing in creeks, harbours, or along the coasts, within three miles' distance of the land, the same law extends to the persons of the individuals in them, as to a settler on the shore, and that they would be fully borne out in exercising any legitimate authority they may possess, for an infringement of a local or imperial law by parties so situated. " The fishing season commenced in the beginning of June, and will close the first week of October. They do not consider it will be a favourable one — however, fishermen are as hard to satisfy as farmers — ^their catch will probably average one million quintals. " The government bounty is eleven francs per quintal, a sum / equal to the value of the article itself. Owing to the embar- rassed state of the French finances at home, and the failure of all their commercial establishments in the West Indies, there is comparatively no sale for the. bank fish this year. No accurate calculation can be formed of the value of the whole quantity of fish caught by the French, as many vessels carry their cargoes to France green. The fish are dried aad salted there, and ex- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 225 ported thence to the West Indies, and some to the Mediter- ranean. " I am assured that three hundred and sixty vessels, from one handred to three hundred tons burthen, are engaged in the bank fishery, employing from sixteen to seventeen thousand seamen (exclusive of the coast fishermen). All these vessels return to France every winter. Their crews spend the money they make there ; buy the filments they require there, sell their cargoes for the use of their countrymen at cheaper rates than the Newfound- landers can to the Colonists, and are knit together in a body by the regularity and system of their duties, and man their country's navy if required. " The French annual Great Bank Fishery averages a catch of a million, two hundred thousand quintals ; and nearly the en- tire quantity is sent to the West Indies. Guadeloupe and Mar- tinique consume two-thirds, and the remainder is exported to other islands. "The islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon are admirably adapted for the purposes to which they are applied ; no expense to Government— they ofier the best possible centre for all com- mercial operations, a depot for their stores, secure harbours for their shipping, and at the same time, owing to their proximity to the shores of Newfoundland, their inhabitants are equally well supplied with bait, and fish; as the British settlers them- selves in their vicinity. " The French authorities, however, do not deny that the sole object of their Government in supporting these fisheries at so great a cost, is to form seamen for their navy. Monsieur Filleau, the intelligent Commissary at St. Pierre's, candidly told me this, and added that no private companies could of themselves support this commerce, unless the market price of the article rose to double its present amount. " Monsieur Delecluse, the Governor, had also the honesty to affirm that the supply of caplin by the English from their Bays and Coast alone enabled the Bankers to prosecute their fishings, and he believed that to this traffic with his islands our poor settlers were alone enabled to support their existence. "It is obvious that by witholding from the French the supply of bait from our own shores, their success upon the Grand Bank would sensibly diminish, and the advantages the fish merchants '''!'■■ ^ ■■ 'at '\'i§! 1 •»» •t.! J ' ^ ill ^ii|ii*' [ ! 226 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ •i'.'' iliB; h: I in I I IB '' ! m m. m ■ •i-jS- at present derive from their bounty, granted by their Govern- ment, over other competitors, could not increase the trade beyond the limits controlled by the comparatively very scanty supply of caplin afforded by their own coasts and islands. " If, on the other hand, it is the large payment of bounty by the Government that alone upholds the tisheries, and which has advanced them to their flourishing condition, the present is surely the period for our merchants to exert themselves to re- gain their lost ascendancy, while the French are paralysed by the failure of the French West India markets, and general loss of credit, consequent upon the emancipation of the blacks by the Revolution of February. >, . '; . '' It is wonderful to observe the inhabitants of a nation, cer- tainly not addicted to maritime pursuits, surpass a seafaring people in the prosecution of an avocation natural to them, and in which it is necessary to display more science and perseve- rance to be successful than in any other branch of a sailoiPs trade. " In consequence of this anomaly, I cannot but believe there must be some flagrant want, either of industry or skill, on the part of the people of Newfoundland, admitting even that the existence of the French Banker is entirely dependent upon the bountv money. " However this may be answered, the fact is very apparent that the French had established and systemised a large fleet of vessels, which now no unaided individual enterprise can success- fully compete with. " The capital advanced by the French Government (at the commencement of the competition with the English Bank Fishermen) at once lowered the market price of fish to almost the cost attendant upon the sailing of the English vessel, which the French bounty alone war, and : still, equal to defray. " A French vessel of three hundred tons has a crew of at least forty men (worse fed and paid than Englishmen), and is found with from seven to nine heavy anchors, and upwards of eight hundred fathoms of hemp cables. She would also have from four to five large boats, capable of standing heavy weather, and numerous nets and fishing tackle made in France, at one-third the expense our Colonists can procure theirs. \\ r " Th« boats above-mentioned are capable of laying out from ^ve to six thousand fathoms 6f line, to which hooks and weights J:^ff i l' AKD AS IT IS IN 1877. 227 are attached at certain distances and secured by anchors. These are termed Bultows, and are generally shot on each bow and quarter. They are enabled, with the number of hands belonging to each vessel, to lift those lines and take the fish off frequently, both during day and night ; while the smaller English vessels, manned by a weaker crew (consequent upon the greater expense), and only possessing common anchors and cables, are under the necessity of using the ordinary trawl line. Not only are the fish attracted away from the latter by the miles of bait spread over the bottom by their rivals, but when heavy weather occurs they are obliged to weigh, while the French remain securely at anchor, with two hundred fathoms of cable on end, and ready to resume their employment immediately the weather will permit them. " While we yield to the French the advantages of independ- ent ports and unmolested fisheries, we are on the other hand hampered by circumstances unfelt by them. "For example, their fishermen arrive from the parent state, ours belong to a thinly- peopled and dependent colony ; they have their drying-grounds close to the fisheries, i s we have, on the shores of this very co- lony, deriving every advantage from it, and untrammelled by any expenses or local taxes, to which our people have to contri- bate in addition to the aforesaid disadvantages. "The distance from France is of no moment; instead of adding to, it is the means of diminishing, the expense attendant on the conveyance of fish to Europe, for a great portion of the season's catch not sent to the West Indies is carried away by the large fleet of steamers upon their return home for the win- ter; while our fish merchants have to collect the produce of the season from numercis stations, distributed over a great range of coast, and then a^ ^n to tranship it into larger vessels to cross the Atlantic. " It may also be said that our people are working for exis- tence ; the French are sent forth by capitalists, and supported by large bounties paid from their Government. Hence (as I have endeavoured to show), the great reason of their success over our colonists in their expensive mode of fishing on the banks. " It is not surprising, then, that they have been thrown back upon the coast of the Island, and have abandoned their vessels for "li**' i!<,NiiMi k 1S( . 1* ■■ '-t I i ■ n tar •■'«<■' "^ ' 'M^\ ! ;t. 1 228 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ ( small boats, only adapted to fish close to the shore, and in thp creeks and harbours. " Fortunately, the cod — the staple wealth of these seas- seems inexhaustible, so that a large revenue is still made, but the nursery for seamen has ceased to exist, — while our rivals number 16,000 well-trained men belonging to the Bankers, ex- clusive of 12,000 others attached to their fishing stations on the coasts granted to them by Ti aaty." The Hon. C. F. Bennett, in his examination before a Committee of Her Majesty's Council, in 1849, says :— " I received a letter yesterday sti\ting that French fish had been ofifered to be sent and delivered in Valencia at six shil* lings per quintal, which ofifer had caused the refusal by the dealers to purchase a cargo of English fish then there, and the English vessel was forwarded to Leghorn. The usual fre:jrht of fish from this to Valencia is 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. sterling, per quintal." ■ " ^ ; ' In 1849, that part of the Pickled Fish Act imposing duty on fish exported to the British Colonies was repealed, but the duty on fish exported to the French continued as before. • ' The repeal of the Navigation Laws and Free Trade policy of Great Britain, I presume, now enable the French to purchase bait themselves at any of the ports of New- foundland, by paying the duty. The inhabitants, from Cape La Hune to Cape Eay (about 2,000), did not vote m 1849, and consequently they were not represented in the Legislature of New- foundland, although they paid their proportion of taxa- tion. There is a Custom House officer, who is also an honorary Magistrate and a Justice of the Peace. Burgeo, La Po^le and Port-aux-Basques are the three principal settlements, from Hermitage Bay to Cape Ray, where there is a telegraph station. The coasts about these places are mostly composed of granite, mica, slate and gneiss, all primary or igneous rocks, and very barren. Captain Polkingham, of H.M.S. GrocodAUt visited this part AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 229 of the coast in 1838, and, in addressing Captain Prescott, the then Governor, he says : — " On the 2l8t I sailed for the neighbourhood of Bourgeo Islands, but on arriving off them, on the 23rd, I found the Pilot ignorant of the anchorage, and from the report of the natives of their small, narrow harbour, I deemed it advisable to proceed to La Po^le Bay, a central situation between the Bourgeo's and Cape Ray ; I anchored in La Podle Great Har- bour on the 24th, and found there Mr. Reid, a Collector of Customs, also a Mr. Antoine, a merchant from Jersey, carrying on a lar&e fishing establishment, from both these gentlemen I obtained ^the best information ; it appears that neither the Bourgeo Islands or their neighbourhood have been molested by the French fishermen during the last two years ; and our fishermen at Bourgeo and near it are now become so numerous, that they would not suffer any encroachments similar to those complained of in former years ; I therefore came to the con- clusion that an ofiicer and boat's crew were quite unnecessary ou this part of the coast. At La Po^le I learnt that many French fishing boats did, in April and May last, touch at Port- aux-Basques, in the neighbourhood of Cape Kay, and to the great annoyance and injury of the inhabitants, haul herring with very large nets, and in one or two instances, forcibly took up the nets of our fishermen, and appropriated their contents to their own use ; on this subject I addressed a letter (No. 2) to the Governor of St. Pierre's respecting the suggestion of Commander Hope, of H.M.S. Bacer, that His Excellency would cause all his fishing boats out of St. Pierre's to be numbered on their sails ; at La Po^le the cod fishery is general, and said to be most successful in summer and winter, some salmon are caught, but not in considerable numbers." In 1849, Captain Loch, in his report on the Fisheries, says: "BuRGEo Islands. — June 24. "The fishing is carried on throughout the year. It was good during the past winter, but indifferent in the spring. On the whole they have had a fair catch — 6,000 quintals since Octo- ' " ' 'Mil J 4 I I i i 1 1 'V. 230 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ ber. The fish are not so plentiful as they were five years ago. There are about 700 inhabitants residing on these islands — they are increasing in numbers — fourteen years since there were only two families. i ? ^ ^' " The French do not interfere with their fishing, or appear on their coasts. The caplin had not been at all plentiful, but were beginning to strike into the harbours in great numbers, and would, they expected, remain on the coast for several weeks. " They trade principally with Spain and Portugal, sending their largest fish to Cadiz, and generally commanding the early markets of both those countries, in consequence of their abiUty to prosecute their employment throughout the year. " These enquiries were principally answered by Mr. Stephens, Agent to Messrs. Newman, Hunt & Co. There was, besides this establishment, a Jersey room, belonging to Mr. NicoUe, who has another fishing station thirty leagues east, and one ^t La Po^le. During my visit tliere were two vessels in the port. One of them was receiving cargo for the Levant, and the other col- lecting fish from the difierent stations along the coast. " Most of the fishermen belonging to the settlement were hired by one or other of the above-mentioned houses, and they received 4s. 6d. for every hundred fish delivered ; but unfortu- nately they are dependent upon their employers for the supply, not only of their boats, nets, clothes, and other articles, but also for their food, so that by what I could ascertain I fear that a very pernicious system of usury is prosecuted. If this should continue the merchants may be enriched, but the settlers will certainly never improve in civilization or prosperity. ** The inhabitants, with but few exceptions, are all Protestants. There are two churches, but, at the time of my visit, no clergy- man, the Rev. Mr. Blackmore having been removed to a better living, and Mr. Cunningham, his successor, not having arrived. The magistrate was a Mr. Cox, at present in England. There is also a School-house, to which the fishermen contribute a small annual sum for the education of their children. " The appearance of the settlement itself is, without excep- tion (considering the reputed value of the fisheries), the most disreputable and wretched I have hitherto seen. True, the ground is a bog, with granite boulders and rocks rising from its centre, upon which the huts and cabins can alone be planted, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 231 but yet no attempt seems to be made to drain the filth and bog water away from their doors, or even to make pathways by which to pass from house to house without having to wade through black mire. The only causeway in the settlement is one formed of deal boards from the Church to Mr. Stephens' residence, nev- ertheless, to my surprise, I must own that the people seem happy in their state of filth, and I heard no complaint of disturbance, or of any crime having been recently committed." The following is from an account of the visitation of the Right Rev. Edward Field, D.D., Lord Bishop of New- foundland, in 1849 : — " On Sunday J July 8, the fog cleared, but on the vessel draw- ing near the land the wind entirely failed, and it was necessary to' drop the anchor near a large rock, which afterwards proved to be the Colombe of Rotie, within seven or eight miles of La Po^le. Had the position been known before, the Church Ship might easily have reached La Polle on the Sunday morning, and the Bishop and his companions might have given and received much comfort by joining the Rev. Mr. Appleby and his congregation in the Church which his Lordship consecrated last summer in that settlement. A boat, which was acciden- tally lying in the Bay of Rotie, came off in answer to a gun fired from the Church Ship, and shewed among the rocks the way to a safe harbour. The Church Services were celebrated that day on board, and the friends who directed the ship into the Bay of Rotie gladly accepted the invitation to attend in the evening. There are no settled inhabitants in that Bay. " On Monday, July 9, the Church Ship was safely moored at her old resting place (which she visited twice last year) in La Po^le Bay. The Bishop was welcomed by the Rev. Mr. Ap- pleby, by the much-respected agent of Messrs. Nicolle & Co., and the other inhabitants, with their accustomed kindness. " Tuesday, July 10. — The Bishop celebrated the Holy Com- munion and preached. It was his Lordship's intention to have proceeded from La Po^le direct to Port-aux-Basques ; but hear- ing that the two Cemeteries at the Burgeos would be ready for Consecration, he was induced to retrace his steps. " On Sunday, the \^th of July, the Graveyards were duly con I '^■'li 1 1 I i i 232 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ secrated, — that at Lower fiurgeo in the morning, before the Prayers in the Church ; and, in the afternoon, after the ser- vice, that on the Sandbank at Upper Burgeo. The Holy Sac- rament was administered at each Church. The enlarged Church at Lower Burgeo was well' filled ; and the Schools both on the Sunday and working days are numerously attended. ^^ Monday y July 16th. — The Church Ship left Burgeo with a fair wind. It was the Bishop's intention to call off La Po6le in order to carry the Rev. Mr. Appleby to Port-aux-Basques, at the southern extremity of his mission ; but before reaching La Po6le the weather became thick, with a strong breeze, and it was necessary to stand off. La Po^le was passed in the night ; the next day, with some difficulty (the wind still blow- ing strong), the Church Ship was piloted through Grandy's Passage into Burnt Island's Bay. Here the Church Ship was detained three days, but every day services were performed on shore to the great gratification of the inhabitants, who had never before enjoyed the privilege of their Bishop's presence. At Burnt Islands the settlers (chiefly from Dorsetshire), are numerous and thriving, and their chief want and chief desire appear to be the means of instruction and religious ordinances. *' On Friday y July 20, the Bishop was enabled to return to Ros^ Blanche, where he was met by the Rev. Mr. Appleby. On Saturday his Lordship visited on foot the neighbouring set- tlement of Harbour le Cou. " Saturday J July 22. — The services of the Church were cele- brated at Rose Blanche in a store : — the Bishop preached at each serviced On the following day a piece of ground was marked out and measured for a graveyard ; and in the evening, after Prayers in the store, the Bishop again addressed the people. The great need of a resident teacher was felt and expressed here, as in the Burnt Islands ; and the Bishop was reminded of a promise given four years ago to endeavour to supply that need. It is feared that the prospect of the Bishop's being en- abled to gratify their wishes and his own in this matter is still very remote. ^ .^.;:.. ^;. -,-^«--i^ -^:.'.. * ^ ^ -».;* ^* On Tuesday, July 2ith, the Church Ship sailed to Port-aux- Basques, and Wednesday (St. Matthew's day) the Bishop, at the request of such of the inhabitants as were at home, cele- brated the service in the building lately erected and furnished AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 233 at Channel for divine worship ; but which, in consequence of the absence of the principal settlers and planters, could not be conveyed to the Bishop for the purpose of Consecration. The building erected and furnished by the inhabitants of the place, is substantial and commodious, and fitted up in good style ac- cording to the prevailing fashion in that part of the country. It is greatly regretted that this populous settlement still de- pends upon the Missionary at La Podle (30 miles off), for the Church's ordinances and means of grace ; and there is no other Minister of Religion within a much greater distance. The population from La PoSle to Channel cannot be less (the latter place included) than seven hundred souls." !i 1 <"' v i t ere cele- l at each marked g, after people, pressed aded of \y that ing en- is still rt-aux- [iC'p, at e, cele- nished ' 'lit 'i I I- ;• i i'f,;iniia,- "■" i , Ii: !»ii;fc 234 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, , \ CHAPTER XII. , {. ST. oeoroe's bay, bay of islands, etc. '», I ; I HE French profess the right by Treaty, of catching and drying fish from Cape Ray on the west through the Straits of Belle Isle as far as Cape St. John northward, though they are not allowed to make any fortifications, or any permanent erections, nor are they permitted to remain longer than the time necessary to cure their fish. This line of coast is as follows : — From Cape St. John to Cape Quirpon .... 100 miles. Cape Quirpon to Cape Norman 15 " Cape Norman to Sandy Bay 40 " Sandy Bay to Point Riche 45 " Point Riche to Cape Anguille 180 " Cape Anguille to Cape Ray 18 " (( « « « (( . , ' 398 miles. The whole line of shore in exclusive use of Great Bri- tain, is 535 geographical miles.* The number of inhabi- tants on the west coast is about 2,300, principally Acadians, descendants of the French, from Nova Scotia and the Is- land of Cape Breton, interspersed with English, Irish, Scotch and Canadians. The coast is fast settling. Hither- to the Government of Newfoundland has exercised no control over the inhabitants of this part of the country, and of course they have not been represented in the Legislature. In 1849, the Government appointed a gen- tleman in the two-fold capacity of Stipendiary Magistrate and Collector of Customs to reside at St. George's Bay, but after a short residence there he removed. ■ ^ Petums, 1857. ' I , \ /■ v " Whilst I was in Nova Scotia I visited Pictou and the coal districts in its vicinity. The present railway system of Nova Scotia consists of the railway system from Halifax to Truro, with a branch to Windsor, at the head of Minas Bay. The Nova Scotia Government are now constructing, as a Govern- ment work, an extension of the railway from Truro to Pitfto i, which will be completed in about a year from this time. This railway runs through the coal district. There are two principal coal mining companies now at work — one, the General Mining Association, has been in operation for a considerable time, and has at present three mines in actual operation, and one more which they are opening out. The shafts of these mines vary from 200 to 600 feet in depth. The seam of coal which is be- ing worked is 40 feet in thickness, of which about 36 feet is solid coal. In these three mines there are at present employed between 800 and,900 men and boys — the average pay of the col- liers during the last 3'ear having been about 98. 4 Jd. currency a day ; ordinary labourers getting from 4s. to a dollar. The mines are being worked very extensively with steam-engines and all proper appliances. The General Mining Association have a rail- way about seven miles in length, which has been in operation for upwards of twenty years. The gauge of this railway is four feet eight and a half inches, and they have upon it six engines and five hundred and seventy trucks. These trucks are loaded with the coal at the mouth of the pits, and are taken to a point on the river where ships of the largest size can come alongside the wharf. The quantity of coal which has been shipped by the Mining Association for some years past has amounted to about 200,000 tons annually. The price of the steam coal at the III Jife AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 237 Doint of shipment is about $2.50 per ton, and of small coal about ll.SO per ton. " Freight from Pictou to Boston would range from $2.50 to $3 a ton, the same rates, or thereabouts, being charged to Montreal. This company owns four square miles of coal land, and they have also, in the vicinity, land containing very large quantities of iron ore, as well as lime. " The other mining company, which has lately be started, is called the Acadian Mining Company. They have one seam six feet thick now opened, out of which they are getting coal, and they have just opened another seam which they will begin im- mediately to work, and which has a thickness of 20 feet. They own a very large property in the neighbourhood of New Glas- gow. They are about to make three miles of railway, to con- nect their shafts with the railway now being constructed from Truro to Pictou. The quantity of coal appears to be inex- haustible, and there seems to be no reason why this coal, which is of excellent quality for steam purposes, should not be deli- vered in Montreal for five dollars a ton. I was so satisfied with the excellent quality of this coal, from the reports I heard of it, that I ordered several cargoes to be sent to Montreal for the use of the Grand Trunk Company, so as to have it tho- roughly tested for our purposes. There can be no doubt that the coal which exists in Nova Scotia, in the neighbourhood of Pictou, and also at Cape Breton, where large mining operations are going on, will prove, when proper means gf communication are supplied, to be of great importance in the future history of the Confederacy." Professor Sedgwick, of the University of Cambridge, recommended J. B. Jukes, a graduate of that university, a member of the Geological Society of England, and after- wards a professor of Geology in Trinity College, Dublin, and author of several works, as a competent person to make a geological survey of Newfoundland. Mr. Jukes was accordingly employed by the Local Government for two years, 1838 and 1839. He was but poorly provided however for making the survey, he had no geological probe, and few instruments for boring, &c. Mr. Jukes merely '% .| W '■ «'.m ■ *■ :':i*;:;i ; I ! I I: ,' 238 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ made a partial survey of the sea coast, and went nowhere into the interior, except a line from Bay of Exploits to St. George's Bay. His Greological Report, however, laid be- fore the Legislature, is exceedingly interesting, and gives more information respecting the geological structure of the Island than was ever known before. Respecting the coal formation of Si George's Bay, Mr. Jukes says : — " This interesting and important group of rocks resembles in its higher portions the coal formation of Europe, and consists of alternations of shale and clunch, with various beds of gritstone and here and there a bed of coal. Interstratified with those rocks, however, there occur in Newfoundland beds of red marl ; and as we descend to the lower parts of the formation, there come in alternations of red and variegated marls with gypsum, dark blue clays with selenite, dark brown conglomerate beds, and soft red and white sandstones. This inferior portion of the Newfoundland coal formation so greatly resembles the new red standstone of England (which in that country lies over the coal formation), that it was not till I got the clearest evidence of the contrary that I could divest myself of the prepossession of its being superior to the coal in this country also. That nothing might be wanting to complete the resemblance, a brine spring is known to rise in one spot on the south side of St. George's Bay, through the beds of red marl and sandstone. It is certain, however, that in Newfoundland the beds containing are above these red marls and sandstones, with gjrpsum and salt springs, the whole composing but one formation, which it is impossible to subdivide by any but the most arbitrary line of separation. The total thickness of this formation must be very considerable. I by no means have any reason to suppose that I have as yet seen its highest beds, while the thickness of those which I have seen must amount altogether to at least one or two thousand feet. " The Humber Limestone. — This group of rocks lies below the Port au Port shales and gritstones, and in the Bay of Is- lands it is the one next inferior ; as however their junction was not exposed, I cannot say whether the one graduates into the other, or whether other beds may not be interposed between AND AS ir IS IN 1877. 239 the two in other localities. The highest part of the Hum- ber Limestone which was visible, was a thin bedded mass, about 30 feet thick, of a hard, slaty limestone of a dark grey colour, with brown concretions that, on a surface which, had been some- time exposed, stood out in relief. Below this are some thin beds of hard subscrystalline limestone, the colours of which are white or flesh-coloured with white veins. These would take a good polish, and would make very ornamental marbles, and from the thinness of the beds are especially adapted for marble slabs. This series of beds has a thickness of about 200 feet. Below these are a few feet of similar beds of black marble, which rest on some grey compact limestone, with bands or thin beds and irregular nodules of white chert ; and these latter beds pass down in a large mass of similar limestone, without chert, and in very thick beds. This mass of rock forms liills four or five hundred feet high, in nearly horizontal beds. Its upper part continues to be regularly bedded, but in its lower portion all distinction into beds is lost, and the limestone becomes perfect- ly white and saccharine. This great mass of white marble is frequently crossed by grey veins, so that I cannot say that I saw any block pure enough for the statuary. There is little doubt, however, that in so large a quantity, some portions might be discovered fit for statuary marble, and ior all other purposes to which marble is applied, the store is inexhaustible. " The hills about the head of St. George's Bay, though rarely exceeding one thousand feet in height, are of a mountainous character, rugged and precipitous ; and this continues to be the nature of rather a wide band of country, that runs from the east of St. George's Bay across the Humber River, at the head of the Bay of Islands, and thence for a considerable distance still farther north. About St. George's Bay this ridge of hills forms the water-shed of the country ; the brooks on one side run- ning down into the Bay — ^those on the other emptying themselves into the Grand Pond, a large lake in the interior. This lake commences at about fifteen miles in a straight line N.E. from the extreme point of St. George's Bay. In the first seven miles the lake spreads out to a width of about two miles, and runs about E. S. E. ; at this point, however, it bends round, divides into two branches, each from half a mile to a mile wide, which enclose an island about twenty-one miles long and five across in iifflfy! m 1 i* mm m tm 'm \ itt'^ : I ! ir 1 ■ !• ill'' 1^: .J, ,j,v,. 240 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ the broadest part. In this part of its course the direction of the lake is E. N. E. The remainder of the lake, which is about twenty-five miles long and four or five across, gradually tends round to the N. E. and N. E. by N. The whole length of the lake is about fifty-four miles. At its S. W. extremity it is en- closed by lofty hills with precipitous banks, and is of great depth, no bottom having been found with three fishing lines, or about ninety fathoms. Its depth is further proved by the fact, of the truth of which ray Indian guide assured me, that its S.W. half is never frozen over in the hardest winters. Towards its N. E. end it gradually becomes shallow, and the hills slope down into a flat country which extends, as far as the eye can reach, to- wards the N. and N. E. The lake receives on all sides many brooks, and at its N. E. extremity a very considerable river, fifty yards wide and several feet deep, comes in, which is called the Main Brook. Three miles W. of the mouth of this river, an equally considerable one runs out of the pond ; this latter is full of rapids for five or six miles, when it is joined by another river of about the same size, which flows from the North- West. These united rivers run towards the S. W. and in about six miles enter Deer Pond, a lake about 15 miles long and 3 or 4 across, running in a direction about N. E. and S. W. The S. W. end of this lake is again encircled by the hills, through which the united waters force their way by a narrow and pre- cipitous valley, forming the River Humber, and running out into the Bay of Islands. The part of the river between Deer Pond and the sea is about twelve miles long, from about 50 to 100 yards across, and several feet deep ; its navigation is, however, impeded by two rapids, one about three miles from its mouth and three quarters of a mile long, and another, shorter but steeper and more dangerous, about half a mile below Deer Pond. The river which, above Deer Pond, comes in from the north and joins that running out of the Grand Pond, is likewise encum- ; bered with rapids, our progress up each branch being stopped half a mile from their junction by rapids utterly impracticable with our boat. I afterwards interrogated the Indians respect- ing the course of the river in those parts into which I was not iable to penetrate myself, and they informed that the north branch, which I shall call the Humber, rises in the country near Cow Head, passes down to the east through several lakes, ; * AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 241 ivfo of which are 8 or 10 miles long, and gradually bends round to the S. or S. W., to the spot I have before described. The main brook which runs into the N. E. end of the Grand Pond, is navigable for a canoe for a distance of some miles above the place where I turned back. It is there found to run out of a lake 8 miles long ; on the other side of the lake the river is again met with, and passing up it three more lakes are crossed, each above six miles long. The extremity of the last of these is about 18 miles from Hall's Bay, a branch of the Bay of Notre Dame ; and crossing half a mile of land another brook is met with, down which a canoe can proceed to the waters of that Bay. It thus appears that the country drained by the Humber is upwards of one hundred miles from N. to S., and fifty or sixty from E. to W., by far the most extensive system of drainage in the Island ; it approaches the sea on three points, namely. Cow Head, Hall's Bay, and St. George's Bay, and the united waters force their way out at a point nearly equidistant from each, having either formed for themselves or taken advantage of the narrow pass between Deer Pond and the South branch of the Bay of Islands, called Humber Sound. The Indians likewise in- formed me that if they proceeded from the east side of the Grand Pond, opposite the east end of the Island, aday's journey to the east brought them to the South end of Red Indian Pond, a lake between forty and fifty miles in length, and from that point another day's march to the South-east brought them to the middle of another large pond of about the same size. Each of these ponds empties itself by a brook into the Bay of Exploits. They each run about in a parallel direction with the Grand Pone, or about N. E. and S. W., and the S. W. end of the third large pond is within a long day's walk of White Bear Bay. It thus appears that there are two easy methods of crossing the the country from north to south with a canoe. The first by proceeding from St. George's Bay, through the Grand Pond to Hall's Bay ; the second from White Bear Bay, through the third pond to the Bay of Exploits. *' In the cliffs near Codroy Island is much red and green marl, with bands of white flagstone. The white flagstone and the greenish marl contain many veins of white fibrous gypsum, and ioterstratified with these and the red marls are some thick beds of white and grey gypsum, of a singular character. These mm J 1» ".4 1 I ;i Jl' . I w I "m Of. I ! i }' I i 242 I .1 ■J NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ gypRum beds are not hard, compact sulphate of lime, but arc composed of white flakes of that substarce, regularly laininatetl and interspersed with small flakes and specks, or sometimes thin partings of a black substance, apparently bituminous shale. The whole mass is soft and jiowdery, thick bedded, and in con- siderable abundance, and it might be carried away in boats with great facility. " I was informed by some Indians of Great Codroy River that they had seen a bed of coal two feet thick, and of a con- siderable extent, some distance up the country. Their uccount of the distance, however, varied from ten to thirty miles ; and I could not induce any of them to guide me to the spot. I pro- ceeded up the river about twelve miles from the sea, and some distance beyond the part navigable for a boat, without seeing anything but beds of brown sandstone and conglomerate, inter- stratified with red marls and sandstones, gradually beconing more horizontal and dipping towards the S. E. I believe, how- ever, that a bed of coal had been seen by an Indian on the bank of a brook running into Codroy River, about thirty miles from its mouth, but that the person who saw it was not in the neigli- bourhood at the time of my visit. •• About the middle of the south side of St. George's Bay, in the vicinity of Crabb's River, the lower part of the coal forma- tion, consisting of alternations of red marl and sandstone, strikes along the coast, the beds dipping to the N.W. at an angle some- times of 45 degrees. About three miles from the coast, how- ever, an anticlinal line occurs, preserving the same strike a3 tlie beds, or about N.E. and S.W., and causing those to the south of it to dip to the S.E. Thus the rocks which form the country along the coast, to the width of three miles, with a N.W. dip, again occur to the same or a greater width, according to the angle of their inclination, with a dip to the S.E. before we can expect to find any higher beds than those in the sea cliffs ; so that at least six miles of country formed of the lower beds must be crossed directly from the coast, before we arrivfe at the higher beds in which the coal is situated. " In ascending the brook next above Crabb's River I found on the sea coast beds of soft red sandstone and red marl, and, half a mile up the brook, red and whitish sandstones, inter- stratified with beds of marl, chiefly red, but also occasionally AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 24n whitish, green, or blue ; beyond that were beds of marl, contain- ing massive grey gypsum, similar to that at Codroy, and a b^ of blue clay, containing crystals of selenite. Similar rocks, with now and then a bed of brown or yellow sand- stone, occurred throughout the first two or three miles, all (lipping N.W. at various angles of inclination. Beyond this point the dip was invariably S. or S.E., and for two or three miles further the character of the rocks was precisely similar to those I had already passed. As, however, the banks of the brook were occasionally low, the section observed was of course not perfectly continuous, and beds which were hidden on one side of the anticlinal line, formed cliffs, and were bus ex- hibited on the other side. Thus, as I continued to asc md the brook, T came on a cliff of red marl, fifty feet thick, with some thin grey soft micaceous sandstone, beyond which were some beds of grey hardish rock, with nodules of sub-crystallino lime- stone, the banks of the river being likewise covered with a crust, a foot thick, of tufa. Some distance above this the red sandstones become more scarce, the colour being generally brow* or yellowish; grey clunch, too, with bituminous laminas, wis frequent. " In one bank of brown sandstone, a nest of coal with a sand- stone nucleus was seen. The shape was irregular and was about two feet long. It most probably was a vegetable remain squeezed out of all semblance of its former shape. Over this mass of sandstone there was again a good thickness of grey clunch, and brown or yellow sandstone and conglomerate interstratified with red and brown marl, all dipping gently to the S.E. Over these were some thin beds of red sandstone with red marl, and a little beyond some hard light brown or greyish yellow sp*'.1 .one with small quartz pebbles. This rock formed ledges stretching across the river, producing a fall of two oi' three feet. " About one hundred and fifty yards above iliis, on the west bank of the brook, was some grey clunch &ad shale, on which rested a bed of hard grey sandstone, eight feet thick, covered by two or three feet of clunch and irosistone balls, and two feet of soft brown sandstone, with ferruginous stains, on which reposed a bed of coal three feet thick. The dip of these rocks was very slight towards the south, in which direction the bank became low, as it was also on the opposite side of the river, which pre- KMIMI ^ l*.lWj ';ii:ii3W 1st ^t»^^ •» ^;■f:•! mi- i in^ If '« § i Wk iiiiii 244 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \-^ vented my tracing the coal further ; neither was the bank above the coal high enough to bring in any of the beds over it and thus give its total thickness, since it is evident the portion here seen may be only the lower part of a bed instead of the whole. The quality of the portion thus exposed was good, being a bright caking coal. The distance from the sea shore is about eight miles ; the only harbour, however, is that of St. Greorge, which is about twenty miles from this spot. A few very rude and im- perfect vegetable impressions were all I could see in any of these rocks. Many of the gritstones in this section might turn out good freestones. In the next brook to the east of the one I as- cended, was formerly a salt spring, which, however, I was assured, had lately become quite dry ; but several of the little rills which I tasted in the neighbourhood were brackish. As regards the extent of country occupied by this bed of coal, or others which may lie above it, the data on which to found any calculation are but few. If, hawever, the upper rocks follow the course of the lower, without the intervention of faults and irregularities, the tract so occupied would probably be an oval, forming the centre of the country, bounded by the sea coast on the north and the ridge of primary hills on the south. From the top of the highland at Crabb's River, this ridge bounded the horizon at the distance apparently of about twenty miles. Allowing half of this width to be occupied by the lower beds, the tract yielding coal would probably be twenty or thirty miles long by ten miles wide. Gypsum again appears once or twice in the cliff between Crabb's River and St. George's Harbour. The north side of St. George's Bay, between Cape St. George and Indian Head, is occupied entirely by beds of the magnesian limestone mentioned before, all dipping at a slight angle to the N.N.W., and thus passing under the great mass of shales and gritstones which forms the country about Port au Port. " As regards the external character of the district now under consideration, I have already spoken of its physical geography, and have only to add a few words on its agricultural capabili- ties. The coal formation, on account of its alternate beds of marl and sandstone, and its low and undulating surface, is everywhere admirably adapted for cultivation. On the south side of St. George's Bay, along the sea cJiflfs, on the banks of the rivers, or wherever the surface is drained and cleared of AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 245 trees, it is covered with beautiful grass ; and the few straggling settlers scattered along that shore exist almost entirely on the produce of their live stock. The aspect of their houses put me in mind of the cottages of small farmers in some parts of Eng- land. There is every reason to believe that the same fertility would be characteristic of the country round the N. E. of the Grand Pond. The whole of the district, even the primary hills, is covered with wood of a far finer description than the gener- ality of that on the east side of the island. Groves of tine birch and juniper are scattered among the fir, and pines are met with here and there in the interior of the country. On the bank of a brook between St. George's Bay and the Grand Pond, my Indian guide pointed out several fine ash trees. The Bay of Islands, has, I believe, long been celebrated in Newfoundland for its timber ; and I can safely assert, that tlie Banks of the Humber, as far as I ascended it, did not deteriorate in that respect— every portion of the country being densely covered with fine wood." Alexander Murray, Esq., in his Report of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland, in 1866 and 1867, says : — " The coal formation is probably the most recent group of rocks exhibited in Newfoundland (excepting always the super- ficial deposits of very modern date, which are largely made up of the ruins), and there may have been a time in the earth's history when it spread over the greater part of the land which now forms the Island ; but a vast denudation has swept away much of the original accumulation, and left the remainder in detached patches, filling up the hollows and valleys among the harder and more endurable rocks of older date, on which it was unconformably deposited. One of the most important of these detached troughs or basins of coal measures is in Bay St. George, where the formation occupies nearly all the lower and more level tract of country between the mountains and the shores of the Bay ; and another lies in a somewhat elongated basin from be- tween the more northern ends of the Grand and Deer Ponds, and White Bay ; the eastern outcrop running through Sandy Pond, while the western side probably comes out in the valley of the Humber River, near the eastern fiank of the long range I ■ ^ »■■'# '•fli ^fl'lii-: iW?to Ir I! it' ft' if ! i •I i \r ^1 .- J ■ 246 NKWFOtTNDTiANT), AS IT WAS. X\ I 1^ I i m ^ W *\ V .11 of niomil^iiuM. Thon^ wriviHoii also to miRpoct tho proHoiuM^ of a siniillor tn>uj!;li of tlio Hamo rocks, Uofcwoon l*oi*t-a-Porfc and Mimr Head towanis i\\vi Hay of Islands, t.ho jafroator part of wlnoli, howovor, is prol)al)ly in tho soa ; a>id from local infonniiiiou I received fi*on\ tho Indians, as well as some residents at tlic M«y St. George, 1 think it not iniprohahle I hat anobh(;r trouj^li of (Jio formation may occur in the region of the Hay of rslands." (Captain Loch in hia report to tho Vice A.tlniiral, tho Hij»lit Honourable the Karl of Duudonahl, in l«S4!),8peak- injif of St. George's Bay, says : — "There are two hundred reaif ihe treaty witli Franco. Under i\uw. circuinHtancos I would rcooram. IS?- s M'~ 1 (Am IlilWi^l ill;. ', \U' ■1'; l?H(i..; 'H ih. ^ PUT*'*? ' I I i I i I sr mm 250 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, is some good thins; toward the Lord God of Israel. He has long been a regular and serious worshipper in our congregation, but. low he has, and ^ that in spite of urgent solicitation and offers of some value, renounced for ever his former employment, and, as far as he knows it, determined to pursue the narrow way ; but, in general, it is uphill work. " You would be greatly surprised at the peculiar circumstan- ces of this strange place : they are unlike every other even in Newfoundland. There is a great deal of abject poverty, mixed up with a fondness for dress and appearance, that is very pain- ful. White veils and parasols adorn females who are seen at the herring pickling ; indeed, there is scarcely an idea of any distinction in society, and it is almost impossible to impress the folly and absurdity of such contradiction to all that is becoming on them. Yet these ladies are found at the balls, to which they are so much attached, mixed up with Indians, Acadians, Fren^jh, little children, and an indiscriminate collection of all sorts and conditions. Oh, how we are often pained and tried ! but never so much, T think, as on last New Year's Day, when, after T had preached the most solemn and pointed sermon I could write (and I would send you the M.S. but for the expense of postage), the congregation went out of church to a dance, which continued till twelve at night, when, being Saturday, it was discontinued. Surely I slept not that night, and went to church next day with a heavy heart, and a cry, * Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech !' ** We are greatly indebted to Miss Haydon, of Guilford, for a box of clothing, partly for the poor, and partly to relieve the wants of my own family, in consequence of last summer's catas- trophe. It serves to reassure and help us on in our solitary course, that friends so far off remember and sympathise with us ; and we hope that, upheld by their prayers, we shall be enabled to hold on our way, and witness a good confession, and that still we shall continue in church and school to teach and preach Jesus Christ. "It will be a long time before we can hear from you again, or from anybody : remember how much we need your prayers when we sit down alone in this solitude, surrounded by so many who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cold we can bear, the snow we can wade through, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 251 but the dreiidful apathy and insensibility around freezes up the soul. Alas, how different is the missionary's life to what the youthful listener in a London public meeting imagines ! and no- where, r think, is it more tried than in Newfoundland. But I must commend myself, Mrs. M., our five children and our charge, once more to your prayers and sympathies. I have been more than nineteen years at work here and am forty-seven years of age ; I feel that the night cometh, that I have a trust to fulfil, . and an account to give, but He that has helped me hitherto will help me all my journey through." The Rev. Mr. Meek removed from St. George's Bay to Prince Edward Island, and was succeeded in the Mission by the Rev. Thomas Boland. "In March, 1856, he went to visit a parishioner a short dis- tance from Sandy Point, the place of his residence ; and, not returning when expected, search was made for him, and he was found dead within a mile of his own house. It is presumed, that having incautiously gone alone, he had lost his way in a drift ; and, yielding to cold and fatigue, had sunk into that fatal sleep in which the vital powers are soon extinct. "The Rev. Thomas Boland had, before his ordination, been for several years a Scripture Reader in the Parish of White- chapel, and was highly commended to the Society by several clergymen to whom he had been favourably known in that part of the town. The Rev. W. W. Champneys, in particular, tes- tified to * his genuine piety, decided ability, and the soundness of his views.' He went to Newfoundland in 1849. The obitu- ary notice characterises him as a person of much learning, abil- ity, and zeal ; and adds, tha this ministry appeared to be much blessed in the remote settlements — first of Channel, and after- wards of St. George's Bay, to which he was sent as the Society's Missionary by the present Bishop of Newfoundland, by whom he was ordained both deacon and priest." The Rev. H. Lind succeeded Mr. Boland in the Mission of St. George's Bay. The following incident is related by Mr. Lind : " An Indian mountaineer had been hunting, and had killed a deer, the skin of which he had wrapped about his person, when IK MM lb ml im I m I '=!*- p. I Sir,.-: »P i|j6|i VS.- ■J 4.. iM IB ^ m'!^ :.■ i i j ; I • 252 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ • i I * 1 -'Sti a bear met hira, and, no doubt, tempted by the smell of blood, knocked him down, and would have torn him to pieces, when his daughter, seeing the danger of her father, crept quietly to him, and, at the risk of her own life, took his hunting-knife from his belt, and plunged it into the body of the infuriated beast, which fell dead at her feet, and thus liberated her parent."* In 1849, Bishop Field made an episcopal visit to this part of the Coast. The following is an extract from an account of the Bishop's visit : — " Leaving Port-aux-Basques the same evening, the Church Ship was anchored in Codroy Roads early on Thursday morn- ing, July 26th. Here two services were held in the house of a respectable planter ; and in the evening service (at 6 o'clock) several children were admitted into the Church. These people had seen no Clergymen among them since the Bishop's Visit four years ago. Between the services the Bishop, with two of his Clergy, went over to the great Codroy River, (six miles) and there baptized three children. The Bishop then returned to hold the promised service at Codroy, but the Clergy pro- ceeded six miles further to the Little River. Fifteen years ago Archdeacon Wix visited these settlements, and baptized there ; but no Clergyman has been seen, no service of our Church per- formed there since. The worldly circumstances of the inhabi- tants are in direct contrast to their spiritual and religious con- dition, for they enjoy the produce of the land as well as of the sea in abundance. They have numerous flocks of fine cattle, and grow various kinds of corn with a little labour, and a large return. " The wind being fair it was thought prudent to proceed the same night to Sandy Point (Mr. Meek's mission), at the head of St. George's Bay. At the time of the Bishop's visit to this mission last year, Mr. Meek had unfortunately just sailed for St. John's. On this occasion he was prepared for and anxiously expecting his Lordship. " The Church Ship remained in this Harbour three days, and on Sunday the Bishop celebrated the Holy Communion in the morning, and gave Confirmation in the afternoon service * Vide Report S. P. G. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 253 Four long years had elapsed since either of those Holy Servi- ces had been celebrated in this settlement, and years of pecu- liar trial to the Missionary and his flock. During the Bishop's stay, the Welksley, Flag Ship, with the Admiral, Earl Dundon- ald, on board, arrived, and remained two days in the harbour. " On Tuesday, July Slat, the Church Ship sailed for the Bay of Islands, which was reached and entered in safety early the following day. Here is the place, and here the people whose condition, as reported by Archdeacon Wix fifteen years ago, excited so much commiseration. It may readily be supposed that as no Minister of Religion, and no teacher of any name or persuasion, had visited them in the long interval, their moral state can only have become more wretched and degraded. The people are settled in most picturesque and fertile spots on either side of the Humber Sound, which for beauty of scenery, size and variety of timber, and richness of soil, is perhaps the most favoured locality in Newfoundland. The condition of the in habitants in moral and social circumstances stands in strong and unhappy contrast ; and they do not generally appear to know even how to turn to account their natural advantages. Several families were found in a state of deplorable destitution. Others, more prosperous or more careful, were not less ignorant and unmindful of any concerns or interests beyond the provi- sion for this life. The Church Ship remained the rest of the week, four days, in the Bay ; and every day was fully occupied in visiting the people from house to house, baptizing and ad- mitting into the Church the children under fifteen years of age, and giving to young and old such exhortation and advice as seemed best suited to their unhappy state. " It was a melancholy thing to leave them to their former darkness and destitution, but there was too much reason to ex- pect that others would be found in a similar condition, along the shore. " The Church Ship left the Bay of Islands at midnight, on Saturday, August 4th, and at 9 o'clock the next morning called off a settlement at Trout River, were, without coming to an- chor, the Bishop and his Clergy celebrated Divine Service on shore. Morning Service was celebrated on board after the Bishop's return. By four o'clock the Church Ship was an- chored in Rocky Harbour, at the mouth of Bonne Bay, and, af- i . '■■* I&. "« :!? 'il'.f.tiV. ill*'' ' ■:■ illlWi'P"" ■'\H'ii II ! t * I ■i W'"f'. ■. n.M . 1^*1 254 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, u ter holding Evening Service on board, the Bishop and Clergy went on shore, and baptized and received into the Church a large number of interesting children : — and thus four full Ser- vices were celebrated on that Sunday, two on board, and two on shore. No Clergyman of our Church had ever before visi- ted these settlements : but in each of them the patriarch, or head of the settlement, was an Englishman, and could read, and had brought and used both his Bible and Prayer book, and the difference, in their favour, between them and their neigh- bours at the Bay of Islands, was very perceptible. " Monday, August 6. — The Church Ship reached Cow Cove, another settlement never before visited by a clergyman, and too much resembling in moral misery and degradation the Bay of Islands. On the Tuesday such religious services were performe»l as were required, and could properly be allowed under the cii- cumstances of the people. The settlements of Cow Hadboui, Bonne Bay, Trout Cove, and Bay of Islands, would together afford abundant occupation for a diligent and devoted Mi8- sionary. They number at least three hundred souls. " Wednesday morning, August 8. — The shores of Labrador came in sight, and the same evening the Bay of Forteau again saw and received the Church Ship, according to promise given last year. " Thursday, August 9th. — ^The Bishop with his whole party visited L'Anse Amour and L'Anse k Loup, and on the follow- ing day consecrated a grave-yard in the first named settlement. Here the Rev. Mr. Gifford was introduced to his mission, and was most kindly welcomed by Mr. Davies, and provided imme- diately with a comfortable lodging. It was the Bishop's wish, however, that he should visit some other chief settlements in his mission in the Church Ship, to have the benefit of a pro[)er introduction. ' * . ^ ■ "Saturday, August 11. — The Church Ship sailed to Blanc Sablon, where the Messrs. De Quetetville, of Jersey, have a large establishment. Here a small river divides the dependen- cies of Newfoundland on this coast from Canada, and, of course, limits the Bishop's Diocese. It was said to be the first limit or end of his Diocese his lordship ever saw. In a store kindly fur- nished by the agent (who seemed desirous to promote in every way the objects of the Bishop's visit), divine service was cele- \ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 255 brated twice on Sunday, August 12. The Holy Coramuniou WHS administered. The Bishop preached in the morning, and Mr. GifFord in the afternoon. The congregation was large on each occasion, and consisted almost entirely of the men con- nected with the establishment, and employed on the room." Recapitulation of the Population of the Districts, 1849 :— No. 1.— District of St. John's 25,196 « Conception Bay 28,026 Trinity Bay 8,801 Bona vista Bay . 7,"227 Fogo 6,744 Ferryland 4,581 " Placentia and St. Marya' 6,471 " Burin 4,357 " Fortune Bay 5,100 Cape Hay, St. George's Bay, Bay of Islands, &c 2,200 2.— 3.— 4.— 5. — 6.— 7.— 8.— 9.— Total of Population 98,703 Population of the Districts in 1857 :- No. 1 . — Saint John's East « 2.— " " West " 3. — Harbour Maine " 4. — Port-de-Grave " 5. — Harbour Grace " 6. — Carbonear " 7— Bay-de-Verds " 8.— Trinity Bay " 9. — Bonavista " 10.— Twillingate and Foga " 11.— Ferryland " 12.— Placentia and St. Mary's " 13.— Burin \llll]stJol.n' s 5,386"^ 6,486 10,067 5,233 I 6,221 J 10,736 8,850 9,717 5,228 8,334 5,529 Concep- tion Bay. III' % -„.,« '■■A i [ft:,i M ' '*'!'>' I Mil '■'■'•t'lWW I M [I '■' , I 2.50 NEWFOUNPr.AND, AS IT WAS, No. 14.— Fortune Bay 3,493 " 15. — Burgeoand La Po^le 15,545 ToUl. . 119,394 French Shore 3,545 * Labrador 1,650 GrandTotal 124,499 The following was the number engaged in the various professions, in Newfoundland, in 1857 : Clergymen or Ministers 77 Doctors and Lawyers 71 Farmers 1,552 Mechanics 1,970 Merchants and Traders 689 Persons catching and curing fish 38,578 Able-bodied Seamen and Fishermen 20,3 1 1 Persons engaged lumbering 334 School Teachers 310 In 1874 the population of the Electoral Districts : — St. Johns, East 17,811 St. Johns, West 12,763 f Southern Division 7,174 %^ I Port-de-Grave 7,918 fq ^ Harbour Grace 13,055 Carbonear , 5,488 [BayDe Verds 7,434 Trinity 15,667 Bonavista 13,008 I Twillingate and Fago 13,643 Ferryland 6,419 Placentia and St. Mary's 9,974 Burin ,.... 7,678 Fortune Bay 5,788 Burgeo and La Poele 5,098 o d o O Total 148,919 AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 257 French Shore 8,651 Labrador 2,416 Twillingate and Fogo undertaken 1,450 Grand Total 161,436 The census taken in 1869, show the following returns Population, 146,596, consisting of, Catholics, 61,040 Church of England, 55,184; Congregationalists, 388 Wesleyans, 28,900 ; Presbyterians, 974 ; other denomina- tions, 10. The number of churches was 235. No less than 136,378 of the population are returned as born in the Colony. Of the children, 16,249 are reported as at- tending school, and 18,813 as non-attendants, but this would include many of very tender years. The census also shows 37,259 to be engaged in the fisheries, 20,617 as seamen, and 1,784 as farmers, while 99 are clergy- men, 24 are lawyers, 591 merchants, and 2,019 mechan- ics. The land under culture amounted to 41,715 acres ; the growth of turnips to 17,100 bushels ; of potatoes, to 308,357 bushels ; of other roots, to 9,847 bushels ; of hay, to 20,458 tons ; and of butter, to 162,508 lbs. The vessels numbered 986, with a tonnage of 47,413 tons ; boats, 14,- 755 ; nets and seines, 26,523 : seal nets, 4,761 ; persons engaged in the fisheries, 37,259 ; and seamen, 20,647. The horses numbered 3,764 ; horned cattle, 13,721 ; sheep, 23,- 044 ; goats, 6,417 ; and swine, 19,081. The product of the fisheries was given in the census of 1869 as follows : — Cod, 1,087,781 quintals ; salmon (cured), 33,149 tierces ; her- rings 97,035 barrels ; other fish (cured), 10,365 barrels ; fish oil, 840,304 gallons ; and seals, 333,056. The manu- factures, on the other hand, amounted only to $72,675 in value. 'Him • * H tt.. I» 11: ■ H f i t*! i^< \ ■ ! M 258 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \'. CHAPTER XIII. LABBADOA. i^i^ 'I! I 'lin, herring and lance in rotation. Although the latter may be procured throughout the season, they use he caplin when it can be had which is frequently from June until the end of August. They can place no reliance upon the strike of the herring. They con sider the climate during the summer and autumn months dryer and of more equal temperature than upon the north-east coast of Newfoundland. " They say that they are much disturbed by the French and Americans. The former coming over from the other side in squadrons of batteaux, sweeping all their best fishing grounds AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 261 -while the latter enter their harbours in schooners of about 60 tons, catching their fish, and drying them close to their own stages, which they boldly assert they have a right to do by treaty. " I examined several of the planters separately, and all agreed that there are about 600 Frenchmen employed in fishing vessels of different sizes, between Forteauand Red Bays alone. There is no agriculture, if we except a few cabbages and turnips planted round the door of their huts, which they use with their common diet of fish and salt pork. The fishermt^n are paid principally in bills of exchange given by the merchants, and re- ceive from £18 to .£25 currency a year. Those employed for the summer season only, generally receive half their catch. " The planters of the harbour expressed so much dissatisfac- tion at the encroachment of the French, who, they assert, are encouraged in their depredations by some of the principal Eng- lish inhabitants residing in the bays to the westward, tliat I have thought it advisable to give the evidence of the three prin- cipal parties I have examined at length : " What are your names ? "Robert Ash, of Carbonear, and Francis Watts. We have been fishing eleven years out of this harbour. Watts has resided on the coast of Labrador for the last two years, and would continue to do so if not so much interfered with by the French. " Benjamin Coomes came straight from England. Has been residing between Black and Red Bays, and on the coast of La- brador, for twenty-five years, cod-fishing and sealing on his own account. They all asserted that their fishing is very much injured by the encroachment of the French — fishing on the coast to the westward in Black Bay and Forteau Bay, &c., ' hich prevented the fish from passing down the coast, but more particularly are they injured by the French sweeping all the caplin off the ground, which otherwise would remain a month longer if they were not so disturbed and cleared by them. To give an idea how much we suffer by these encroachments, and how much the French benefit by them, there are parties em- ployed purposely to catch and cure caplin to supply the Great Bank fishing vessels. "Q- — Who are the principal people in Black Bay 'i " A.— One family, Mr. Odell's. lar 'P' 1 i-ij-, , > ' ^ ! iW ■ j • ' * • 1 1 ;l fnum 'mm ! I I i! si I ! 262 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \\ " Q. — Do they agree to the French going there ] " A. — Yes, they encourage them, and lend and build stages for their accommodation, and receive the livers of the fish in payment, " Q. — What may this be worth to them ? " A. — A quintal of fish produces a gallon of oil, which sells for 2s. per gallon. '* Q.— Have you ever remonstrated with the English residents at the bays to the westward, and stated how prejudicial their encouragement of the French was to your interests ] " A. — Yes, and they are well acquainted that the French fishing must injure ours. " Q. — What do you suppose is the reason why the French are enabled to surpass our fishermen in cheap fishing on our own coast 1 " A. — Their fit-out is in the first place much cheaper -not one-fourth the prime cost of ours. Secondly, they receive a large bounty from government. Thirdly, the wages are not one-half those we pay our fishermen. " Q. — How many Frenchmen do you suppose are fishing be- tween Red Bay and Forteau ? " A.— From 1,000 to 1,500 men. " Q. — In how many boats or vessels 1 " A. — About 200, large and small. " Q. — Do you think the Government of Newfoundland could make any arrangement that would effectually prevent the en- croachment of the French on the coast of Labrador ? " A. — Yes, c cruiser stationed in the straits from the 1st July to the last of August ; or resident magistrates, say at Black Bay or Forteau, and perhaps Chateau. " Q. — W^ould the planters on the coast of Labrador think it worth their while to pay £300 a year in support of the salaries of magistrates to clear the coast of the French 1 " A. — We think we pay taxes enough, and we imagine that the Government of Newfoundland ought to defray such a charge for the benefit of its subjects and its own commerce. " Q. — Are you aware if there are individuals residing be- tween Red Bay and Forteau Bay who have made sums of money by their encouragement of French fishing t "A. — Yes, Samuel Toms, formerly residing at Great St. Mo- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 263 deste. Last year he went to Quebec, having cleared £1,000 in the last few years by thd sale of oil from the cod livers. "Q. — Do the residents of Labrador receive any assistance from the Government of Newfoundland during the winter 1 " A. — No, none. Last year, for the eight months, which is the usual length of the winter, we were hard put to it in conse- quence of the French having deprived us of our means of living by plundering ou" coasts. Many of the poorer inhabitants were alone supported by the charitable assistance of those in better circumstances. " Q. — You say that certain parties have had to give up trade in vessels in consequence of the French encroachments — state who these were ? " A. — Francis and Claudius Witts, William Udel, and Mr. Pike. These parties had to give up their vessels, finding that thr catch of fish was so much reduced from what used to be be- fore the French came in such numbers, that none of the parties could procure even half cargoes by the close of the season. " Q.' — How do you know that the French fishing interferes with yours 1 " A. — Because on the Monday our catch is double what it is any other day of the week, owing to the French not fishing on the Sunday, thereby permitting the fish to pass up the coast. "CARROLL COVE. " This is a small fishing station, five miles west of Red Bay» where there are only two rooms belonging to a Mr. Lardragan. He employs thi rty men, six of these reside there during the winter to trap seals. They catch them in frame nets, which are laid do'vn the 20th November, and taken up the last of Decem- ber ', then again put down the 1st of June, and taken up the middle of July. 300 seals a year is the average catch. " They send their cod to a Jersey house in Blanc Sablon. " There are three seal fisheries between Chateau Bay and Car- roll Cove, fished by men from Red Bay, who abandon them in summer for the cod fishery. Their average catch is 350 sei^ls. " Black Bay, or Pinware, Is a wild open roadstead, but a good fishinc; station, and cap- lin are always to be found in great abundance during the sea- n Ik 1*1 ■m t«. ■ : '■'1 i I'XM 1 ' ■■ ; ■ ! I.M m - , 1 ;;iii^ * ■| 'f\% ' '.'"; S'JjI; i >'fkii)i j 1 ''i^mi, 1 I!' if '""(liKII, -'••Sl liiiit, > I III. ??^f li 264 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \^ son inside the bar formed by the river at its head, and which the French are said entirely to appropriate, by dropping nets across the channels, and placing watch-boats to guard them. This intelligence caused me to despatch an officer in the barge from Red Bay, who might be enabled to take any intruders by surprise and give me accurate information. He counted twen- ty fishing boats at anchor under Ledge Island, and boarded sixteen vessels at anchor inside Little St. Modeste belonging to Nova Scotia, one American, and three French from St. Pierre's. " These latter had been fishing on the Labrador shores, and according to my directions he took away their registers. '* At ' Shipbroad,' on the western side of Black Bay, he boarded the French brig 'Novelle St. Pierre, of St. Malo, win(i bound from * Quirpon,' bound to ' Port-au-Clioix/ laden with salt and a small quantity of fish, which apparently had liOt bi on taken on this coast. He also boarded two French H; :zts fishing for vessels at ' Port-au-Ohoix,' which he ordered 8.wn,y lie observed twelve or thirt een French boats off" Cape Diable to windward of him but these he could not reach as it blew too strong." "FoRTEAu Bay Is almost an open roadstead to the south and south-east, but safe even with winds from those quarters, owing to its depth and the protection it receives from the opposite coast of New- foundland. " It is surrounded by table lands of sand stone covered with the usual moss, the dwarf spruce, birch bash and some moun- tain ash. A salmon river of some size enters the sea at the head of the bay. Seals, salmon, cod, and remarkably fine her- rings are very plentiful. The fishings are carried on with con- siderable profit by five establishments, four connected with Jer- sey, Poole and St. John's, are in the bay, and the fifth is planted upon the eastern point, belongs to a Mr. Grange, a wealthy colonist from Anchor Point, Newfoundland. Upwards of four hundred people are employed by these various planters, but their catch this year has not been (in proportion) so good as that of their rivals of Red Bay. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 265 " The resident agents and partners are Messrs. Ellis, em- ployed by Mr. Bird of Poole, and Leroux, a Jersey merchant, and agent for Mr. De Quetteville the most extensive planter on the coast of Labrador. He has besides this, other establishments (one of Blanc Sablon) and supplies most of the winter rooms and resident fishermen with goods, clothes, and stores much to his own profit. Messrs. Young and Janeaut, and George Du Heaume and David Janners are the remainder. " There are nine fishing stations between Red Bay and For- teau — namely, Carroll Cove — East St. Modeste — Black Bay — West St. Modeste — Captain Island — Lance Dialla — River head of Lance k Loup and Lance Amour. Except at Lance k Loup where a Mr. Crockwell, of Torquay, has a room,all these stations are fished by colonial fishermen, who send their produce to St. John's by vessels from that port, and to the Jersey houses in Forteau Bay and Blanc Sablon. " These small stations employ about two hundred and twenty men, and average a catch of twenty-five thousand quintals throughout the year. " Cabbages and Turnips are grown at every station for the summer consumption of the inhabitants. " Those who reside upon the coast during the winter shoot deer, partridges, ducks, geese, curlew and other wild fowl, amply sufficient for their support. They have, nevertheless, stores of pork, flour, tea and molasses supplied by traders from Quebec, Halifax and St. John's. "Much of my time was occupied during the ship's stay at For- teau in settling innumerable disputes between the rival firms and fishermen, and in trying an action brought by Philip Lan- dragan, of CaroU Cove against Messrs. George du Heaume and Daniel Jan vers for having taken a schooner belonging to the former, under pretence of purchasing her, and having used her for nine months ; and in consequence of the collector of cus- toms of St. John's declaring the register to be incorrect re- turning her to the plaintiff who accepted a bill of thirty pounds as an equivalent for her use, and for having boarded her after delivering her over and taking out gear belonging to the vessel. " A case of a much graver description was brought before me by a man named Charles Dicker, a planter, resident on liij '■•It *! '.mm m li'i Ufa I 'I"! M .?•> |T! 266 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \\ Grant Point, three miles west of Blanc Sablon, and a settler of twenty-four years, who, upon hearing a man-of-war was at Forteau, walked across the country to lay a charge against a stronger party for having torn up his seal and salmon nets, as he asserted they prevented his own catch being so great as it otherwise would be. The poor man was thus deprived of his season's profit, and probably his winter's subsistence. I was enabled fortunately, to succeed in restoring his rights to him. "Blanc Sablon Is seven miles west of the Western Point of Forteau Bay. It is open to the eastward, nevertheless the westerly winds are those most feared, as they throw in heavy cross swells between Wood and Greenly Islands, and vessels are not unfrequently driven on shore by them. • " It is the principal fishing station on the Labrador 'coast. There are four Jersey establishments — two belonging to Messrs. Philip de Quetteville (under the charge of Thomas Leroux),and the other to Philip Bray — and Leroux — there are upwards of three hundred inhabitants during the season, and only four families reside there during the winter. They all arrived this year in June, and commenced fishing on the 18th, and found both cod and caplin very abundant — they had never seen fish so early before and greatly regretted not having arrived sooner. Besides the cod, they fish seal and herring, the latter they use for bait when caplin is scarce. They commonly find the caplin on the coast by the middle of June, and it generally remains till the end of July. "DeQuetteville's establishments both at Forteau and this Bay, cure and export caplin. They also extract oil from the herring as well as from the cod liver. Twelve Jersey vessels and eighty boats were in use, employing altogether three hundred hands. Bray trades to twelve different ports in the Mediter- ranean and occasionally to their own island, Jersey. " The fish is sent away as fast as they can load the vessels ; the first sailed this year, 7th July, and another will sail to-day (9th August), and four in September. There were sixteen vessels at anchor in Blanc Sablon harbour, namely — one barque, three brigantines, and twelve schooners. They were all waiting for cargoes. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 267 ior 'coast. ;o Messrs. roux),and pwards of I onlj four rived this md found ' seen fish 3d sooner. r they use bhe caplin y remains this Bay, e herring isels and hundred Mediter- vessels ; il to-day sixteen 5 barque, [ waiting " Notwithstanding the abundance of fish at the commence- ment, they consider they have only had a fair catch— 15,000 quintals — owing to their late arrival, and the fish leaving early ; they consider from 15 to 16,000 quintals a good season. Last year their fishing did not terminate until the end of August. This year it closed 25th of July. " The fogs lay longer against this portion of the coast than further to the eastward, owing to its being at the entrance of the straits, and more exposed to the southerly winds which drive them out of the estuary of the St. Lawrence. Blanc Sablon is sometimes enveloped for a week at a time, while a few miles beyond the sky is clear and dry. This is much against the planter's interests. Americans occasionally spread their nets, and fish early in the season, on their way through the straits towards Cape Charles ; but they do not disturb the settlers. There were about ten this year — they used to appear in greater numbers. Four French brigs had been fishing off Green Island for three weeks or a month — they left the day before yesterday, when they heard we were on the coast. They fish along the Labrador coast throughout the season, and only retire upon the appearance of the man-of-war. All the small planters complain grievously of this intrusion ; while the more wealthy encourage it, for (as I have already stated), the liver oil they receive for stage room. The Americans carrj'^ the fish away green. "The people are supported, as at the other stations, by sup- plies from Jersey, Halifax and Quebec, and all the large estab- lishments pay the men £2 sterling a month, instead of giving them half the catch. " There are no resident fishermen in this particular harbour, but a few along the coast to the westward at Grand Point, Bra- dore, and Esquimaux Harbours, but no regular rooms are main- tained. " The river running into this port separates the dependency of Newfoundland from Lower Canada. The harbour is always completely blocked up by ice from November until June, oc- casionally to the end of the latter month. At this station all the fishermen are Protestants, and from Jer&ey. " The fishery is much whjit it has been for the last fifteen years ; but people are commencing to pass up the coast, and nil It >>il«» 'I" leiiit m 'll| MW llipl'tl* ;|i| li^iii, liii ijBt Pi,', ' ■ i I j ™ 268 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ they anticipate a gradual supply of permanent settlers from the south of Newfoundland and Canada. " When on the point of sailing, the son of Mr. Grange, of Anchor Point, Newfoundland, came on board to compkiii that the French had stopped his father fishing a salmon riicr that has been in his family for upwards of a century ; that after much opposition on his father's part, he had to yield to the French one-half, and afterwards two-thirds of the produce of the river. This year they had taken it from him altogether. " As I could find no definite instructions relative to the as- sumed right of the French over the river, as well as the sea fishings, and as this question bears so gravely upon the interests of so many settlers, and dignity of Her Majesty's colony ; and feeling that any inquiry on my part, after ascertaining the state- ment to be true, without forcibly expelling the French from property which has been in possession of English colonist^ for so long a period, would be ineffectual, I advised Mr. Grange to draw up a memorial for the consideration of the Colonial Gov- ernment, and promised to lay the facts of the case before His Excellency the Governor. " The inhabitants of any particular bay or station along the coast of Labrador have not the right or power, in my opinion, to permit the Frer ch to lay out their nets along the coasts or in their harbours, for bv so doing the rights of other fishings are naturally interfered with, by stopping the passage of the fish along the coast, and after fair warning, I think they should be subject to the same punishment for ' aiding and abetting,' as the intruders are themselves. " In my opinion it would be most advisable, nay, absolutely necessary for the prosperity of the British subjects that magis- trates should be appointed from St. John's, to administer justice and control the society resident at the various fishing stations in the Straits of Belle Isle during the season. " This extensive coast, commencing from the estuary of the St. Lawrence, and stretching far north to the regions of per- petual snow, is one of the most barren and desolate in the world ; and it seems that nature has removed the means of sup- porting human life from its surface to the waters which surround it, the abundant production of which offer the inducements, and reward the industry and perseverance of thousands of adven- turers who resort to it from both Europe and America. V'^ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 269 " The portion fonning the northern boundary of the Straits of Belle Isle is not so well marked or grand in feature as where it recedes from the Island of Newfoundland, either to the north or south. From the sea the country has a green and alluvial appearance, and it is not until close to it that this is lost, and nothing is seen but bare granite rocks, partially covered with moss and stunted shrubs ; juniper, birch, and poplar trees grow in valleys where the soil is of sandy clay, the temperature much higher, and the fog less frequent than upon the coast. Here (leer, bears, wolves, foxes, martens, otters, beavers, and a great variety of will fowl take up their abode until driven to the coast by the snow-drifts of approaching winter. The ice does not usually leave the bay free for vessels to er • before June, and it begins to form again in the shallow bay^ kud pools in the beginning of September." About a hundred years ago, the Moravian missionaries extended their mission from Greenland to the Labrador Coast, where they now have several flourishing settle- ments. The principal one is called Nain. A very inter- esting volume has been published, giving an account of the Moravian Missions at Greenland and Labrador. In 1824, the Rev. Thomas Hickson, one of the Wesleyan Missionaries at Newfoundland, was appointed to ascertain the state of the Esquimaux on the Labrador Coast, in order to establish a mission among them. The following is an extract from Hickson's Journal : — " Visited the only resident family in the place, an English- man, who has been united with an Esquimaux, by whom he had three children. She died about three years ago. I spoke to him on the all important concerns of his soul. We bowed our knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the poor man expressed his warmest thanks ; "having been so long with the natives, he possessed much information respecting them. He said, he believed they had but very confused notions of a Supreme Being, if they had any ; they had some notion of the existence of the devil, whom they suppose to be the author of all pain ; and that in cases of dangerous illness, believing him to be the cause of it, and also supposing him to be present, the iir '-1 III IllMH "J |ii ffK- M C-^lli i i ii;i»P I'te |^|«. I i r /a IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I |50 ^^" li^H ■^ lii |2.2 2.0 US mil m Photographic Sciences Corporation |!^|u 16 < 6" — ► 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. USSO (716)S72-4S03 I'.it'' ^ .''V li? " C' J 270 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, oldest person in the place hangs all the pot-crooks, or old hoops, or any such articles about him, and taking a poker, he turns over all the skins in the wigwam, intending to drive him away. I am also informed that they frequently strive to appease him by sitting in profound silence, insomuch that a child is not allowed to go quick across the floor. When this is ineffectual, they have recourse to sacrifice, which is generally that of killing their best dog. I have only heard of one instance of their having recourse to human sacrifice. About three years ago, an Indian man, supposing himself to be in dying circumstances, but believing that the devil would spare his life could he only accomplish the death of another, fixed upon a neighbour's wife who was pregnant, and he imposed the bloody task on his own wife; she showed some reluctance, but he enforced his com- mands by seizing a hatchet and threatening to take away her life. She then prevailed upon another female to assist her- by whose help she hung up the poor unfortunate woman. Bu't this did not prevent the death of her deluded partner, and she her- self has been almost frantic ever since. " When an Esquimaux departs this life, his remains are carried away immediately, wrapped up in skins, and laid upon the surface of the ground, and a large pile of stones Is raised over it ; with the corpse they bury the canoe, darts, kettles, &c., supposing that the deceased will have need of them. ''The Esquimaux are generally lowin stature, their complexion of a dusky yellow, with broad foreheads, high cheek bones, small eyes, wide mouth, teeth white and regular. The chin, the cheek bones from the nose to the temples, and the fore- heads, of the elder females were many of them tattooed. " This is performed by pricking through the skin with a small sharp instrument and rubbing some dark substance into the wounds. This, it appears, is a custom only in use among those of riper years, as none of them in early life bear the marks. Their cassock, or upper garment for the summer, is made of swan-skin, which they procure from the merchants for seal- skins, &c. They are curiously wrought, and trimmed with different colours of thread and cloth. The females have a larger hood, in which they carry their children, &c. In the front, that part of it which serves as a very small apron is trimmed with pewter, cast in a small mould for that purpose. AND AS IT;IS«IN 1877. 271 Behind, they have long hair reaching to the ground. They also, as well as the men, wear small clothes, made of the same materials as their upper garment. They make their own boots of seal skin, after they have taken off the hair and dressed it. In the winter, their dress is principally of seal- skin, which they make in a manner which shows them to be possessed of con- siderable ingenuity. " The morning and evening examinations of the candidates for baptism were seasons of much consolation ; and the im- provement they make far exceeds my most sanguine expecta- tions. I married six couples, and the1|deep seriousness of the poor Indians on these occasions would have reflected honour on long experienced Christians. " 24th. — I had a good congregation in the morning when I expounded a portion of God's word, and questioned the candi- dates for baptism. A few other families came from distant parts of the Bay ; among them were three Englishmen, who had families by Esquimaux women, and who desired to be mar- ried. They afterwards got so much intoxicated that I fear their shameful conduct wUl prove very injurious to the natives, as they are in danger of supposing all to be Christians who come from Christian countries. " 25th —This has been a day much to be remembered. At the morning prayer we were much crowded ; deep seriousness rested on every countenance, and I believe all were in a state for receiving good, excepting a few drunken Englishmen. Our house was far too small for our forenoon congregation. I first preached to as many as were able to understand me, and among these were English, Irish, Canadians, and Labradorians, who heard with attention. I had then to remove the Europeans to make room for the poor Esquimaux^ to whom I preached through the interpreter. Their cheeks were soon bedewed with tears, and I was much interrupted by their expressions of ap- proval. Some having come with expectations of being baptized, I explained to them the nature and obligations of that ordin- ance. On examination I found that two of them, father and son, had each of them two concubines. It was not difficult to convince them of the evil of their doings ; and though it was generally supposed that the senior adulterer would have parted with his life rather than give up either of his concubines, the IllUr 111*. H 1119111 iliiW '¥ : I I- i > 272 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ ^ cfl*. '•! ' 1 T t Lcrd applied what was spoken to his conscience, which caused him to tremble exceedingly, and he expressed a willingness to act in any way that I should direct. This person was taken by Captain Palliser to England, about forty-five years ago, with his mother, who had a gown presented to her by the Queen. This gown, richly trimmed with gold, and very fresh, was worn by one of the women. The man bears the name of the above- mentioned Captain who took him. I had much comfort and enlargement in preaching to the same mixed crowd in the after- noon. After much deliberation, I admitted a few of the adults to baptism, whose minds I judged to be in a prepared state, with their children. It was truly pleasing to witness not only the adults, but the elder children, conducting themselves with so much propriety. Many of the Indians joined us again about 9 o'clock p.m., at our family altar, with some Europeans. May the good resulting from the Sabbath's labours be seen't after many days ! -^ ; " 26th. — Preached to an attentive congregation in one of the wigwams. The gratiuade of the natives was very great, and expressed in the most feeling manner. When I questioned them whether they continued the use of family prayer, they an- swered in the affirmative. The Lord teach them to pray the effectual prayer ! " 28th. — A few of them assisted me to ascertain the probable number of the inhabitants of the Bay, which is as follows : Real Esquimaux adults * Real Esquimaux children Half Esquimaux . European settlers . Canadian settlers . • « 100 60 60 90 16 (■ ,i Total number, exclusive of any other part of the coast. 326 ' « The connection between the English and Moravian Church has been remarkable from the beginning of the Reformation. Huss was the founder of the latter, and Wickli£fe of the former. It was from Wickliffe's writings that Huss derived his know- ledge of the true faith, and Wickliffe's protest against the sen- tence of burning pronounced upon the Hussites by the Arch- bishop of Prague first excited persecution against himself. ■4- H . Hence, and man and it is prosper© faithful of many self to b titled hei « This but it is set forth «Avo British 1749.' 1 ties from ment of in Amen the chara derwent fidence w I been Hand. T< vouchers, 1 of the Di Unity, ad Idal Con\ which act I Bishop C I and com][ "Inth I the Bohe most sev Komish ^ it was sii expire, si I up in the spirit, ob '"Thj [ watered I Prague, i I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 273 Hence, it is not strange that a strong sympathy should be felt and manifested by these Christian bodies towards each other, and it is delightful to observe the noble liberality which the prosperous Church of England has shown to her afflicted yet faithful sister at various periods of their history. This is one of many aspects in which our mother church has proved her- self to be the protectress of the ' Protestant religion,' and en- titled herself to the love and gratitude of the Protestant world. " This subject has been briefly alluded to on a former occasion, but it is believed that the facts are worthy of being more fully set forth. " A volume is still extant which contains ' the Acts of the British Parliament touching the Moravian Brethren, A.D. 1749.' The occasion of these * Acts' was a petition of Depu- ties from the United Brethren, for the Sanction and Encourage- ment of Parliament to their Settling in His Majesty's Colonies in America, especially in Georgia. Before leave was given them, the character and claims of the Brethren and their church un- derwent a severe investigation. Among other grounds of con- fidence which the deputies alleged, was, that the said church had been already countenanced by the King and State of Eng- land. To support this assertion, the deputies produced twelve vouchers, among which was a document containing an Account of the Distressed State of the Ancient Church of the Fraternal Unity, addressed to the Church of England, given in the Syno- dal Convention of Lyssa in Great Poland, Feb. 10, 1683 which account was recommended by Archbishop Sancroft, and Bishop Compton, of London, to * the consideration of all pious and compassionate Christians.' "In this address it was set forth (among other things), * that the Bohemian Church had been free from her infancy, for al- most seven hundred years, from the encroachments of the Romish See ; but that crushed at last by its prevailing power, it was sinking apace with death and ruin ; when being ready to expire, she brought forth a Benoni, a progeny which, growing up in the several parts of Bohemia, animated and acted by one spirit, obtained the name of Fraternal Unity.' " * That this church, the heiress of the truly ancient faith, watered and enriched by the blood of Huss, and Jerome of Prague, taking deep root in Bohemia, spread its boughs as far as K A. rli ! I It' * ^ li "] h ''^ I it 274 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, w Poland, renouncing the growing errors of Popery, and pre- served the succession of Episcopal orders. " That King Frederick of Bohemia being routed and dispos- sessed of his realm, this church shared the same fate. " * That this church in Poland continued for many years pros- perous, under several privileges granted and confirmed of diverse kings and princes, but nothing able to contend with the more potent strength of the Roman CatholicSj she was bereft of her former protection, languishing ever since under the rage and furv of those who violate all faith. " * THat it was through the bounty of the English Chv/rch they were formerly saved from a fatal ruin, but that after so great suffering they have scarce recovered their spirits.' The depu- ties also produced an account of the sufferings of the Episcopal Reformed Churches, and an address to the Church of England, by the encouragement of George the First, and the solicitation of Archbishop Walker and Bishop Kobinson, of London, A.D. 1715-6. - - " So that on four different occasions, viz., at the dates of those two documents, 1683 and 1715, at the -former' period here referred to 1736, and again on occasion of this very appli- cation, 1749, substantial aid was given to the Moravian Bre- thren by the Anglican Church, together with the highest testimony to the validity of their claims, and again at the date of this very application, A.D. 1749. '"Tlcir petition, on this last occasion, was presented and strongly supported by General Oglethorpe. It was under con- sideration from FebiMaiy to May; in March it passed the House of Commons unanimously, and in the House of Lords, after a speech by the Earl of Halifax, and one by the Bishop of Worcester, in which he declared the approbation of the whole Episcopal Church, the Bill passed mm. con. The Venerable Bishop Sherlock, of London, at first objected, but after full considwation withdrew his opposition, and ever after became a a firm friend of the Brethren. " Again great calamities were experienced in their Continen- ' tal settlements during the campaigns of 1803 and 1812-13, at which times large sums were remitted from England for their relief. Another fact is worthy of notice in this connection. Archbishop Potter, the well-lmown writer on Church policy, ■ I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 275 was waited on by a committee appointed by the Board of Con- trol for the Colony, to desire his opinion concerning the Moravian Brethren, to know whether anything in their doings were so far repugnant to those of the Church of England as to make it improper to employ some of the brethren in instruct- ing the negroes in Christianity. On this occasion the Arch- bishop was pleased to declare : " ' That he had been long acquainted, by books, with the church of the Moravian Brethren, and they were Apostolical and Episcopal, not containing any doctrines repugnant to the Thirty-nine Articles, and that he was confirmed in this opinion by the conferences he had lately had with Count Zinzendorf.' "The Archbishop addressed to Count Zinzendorf, on the occasion of his election to the office of Bishop in the Moravian Church, a congratulatory Latin epistle, of which the following is a translation : " * John, by Divine Providence, Archbishop of Canterbury, to the Right Rev. Count Nicholas Lewis, Bishop of the Mora- vian Church, sendeth greeting : " * Most sincerely and cordially do I congratulate you upon your having been lately raised to the sacred and justly celebrated episcopal chair of the Moravian Church (by whatever clouds it may be now obscured) by the grace of Divine Providence and the plaudits of the heavenly host ; for the opinion we have conceived of you does not suffer us to doubt it. It is the bur- den of my ardent prayer, that this honour conferred, and which your merit so justly entitles you to, may prove no less benefi- cial to the church, than at all times acceptable to you and yours. For insufiicient as I am, I should be entirely unworthy of the high station in which Divine Providence has placed me, were I not to show myself ever ready to use every exertion in my power for the assistance of the universal churcli of God ; and especially to love and embrace ycmr church, united with us in the closest bond of love, and which has hitherto, as we have been informed, invariably maintained both a pure faith and primitive discipline, neither intimidated by dangers, nor seduced by the manifold temptations of Satan. I request, in return, the support of your prayers, and that you will salute, in my name, your brother Bishop, as well as the whole Christian flock over which Christ has made you an overseer. Farewell. " ' Given at Westminster, July 10, 1737.' " »'!';< j'.;l f ft i'llil t > ^ 276 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \\ In 1825, another of the Wesleyan Missionaries at New- foundland, the Rev. Richard Knight* visited Labrador. The following is an extract from his letter, addressed to the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London : — " We sailed from Brigus. on the 6th of July, in the schooner Sv/rprise, belonging to C. Cousins, Esq., who himself formed one of our company, which I hailed as a most favourable circum- stance. 11th. By noon we arrived abreast of Cape Charles, the south extremity of the coast of Labrador. We had designed to anchor in Battle Harbour for the night, in order to get some instructions respecting the coast, as all on board were strangers to it, and the numerous islands make the navigation very dan- gerous ; but we could not efifect our purpose. The wind came ahead and blew so violently, that we were obliged to bear away for Cape Charles Harbour. To this place, the Ii^dians some years ago resorted much ; at present, however, there is but one female there. I hoped to be able to gather the few Protestants in this harbour for Divine service, but found it im- practicable. 12th. — Visited Battle Harbour. This place has derived its name from a battle which was once fought here, between some Europeans and the natives. Tradition reports that the Indians were at that time numerous on these parts of Labrador. We could only stay here a few hours. During this time we distributed some tracts, these were much wanted, and I trust by the blessing of God, will be of use to those who have received them. 17th. By noon we arrived at the Seal Islands. Here we did not intend to tarry, our object being to proceed to Batteau Harbour, where many of the inhabitants of New- foundland prosecute the fishery, and at which place we had contemplated holding divine service. I was much pleased to find them resting on the Sabbath-day, as most of them are my stated hearers when in Newfoundland. I went on shore, and in the evening preached to about fifty persons, who heard me with much attention, and with few exceptions manifested by their presence, that they were glad to embrace an opportunity of hearing the word of God, on the desolate shores of Labra- dor. After the public service I baptized a child of European * Afterwards Go-Delegate of the Eastern British' American Conference. t* AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 277 parents. Batteau is a fine harbour well adapted for fishing, and abounding with excellent sea-fowl. The land is barren, and though an island, it abounds with hares, wild geese, foxes and deer. On Monday morning, I visited Black Tickle. To this place I was under the necessity of going for my boat, which had been taken thither by Mr. Nathaniel Mun«len, of Brigus, our own schooner being too small to take it on her deck. At this place I fell in with the first Indian family I had seen, con- sisting of the Indian, his wife and a fine boy, they were about to leave the harbour when I first saw them ; but anxious to hold an interview I ran and called to them. The Indian could speak a little English. The wife and child either knew nothing of this language, or would hold no conversation in it, for I could get no reply to several questions I put to them. The Indian had been informed who I was, and was very glad to see me. Before my return to Batteau, I visited a place called Domino. Here is a mercantile establishment, but no settlers. I found Mr. Smith, the agent of this establishment, exceedingly kind. The Indian above-mentioned is well known to this gen- tleman. He supplied him the last fishing season with every- thing necessary for the fishery, and in the fall, at the time for adjusting the accounts, it was found that the Indian had a balance in his favour. Mr. Smith showed me his account, and I am happy in being able to say that no advantage had been taken of the Indian's ignorance of the transactions of trade. He was charged fair prices for all he had taken, and credited in current price for all he had remitted. Such merchants would be a blessing to the poor Indians of Lab- rador. The case of this Indian may be viewed as a fair specimen of what the Esquimaux (to say the least), are capa- ble of being brought to. Here is a family purely Indian, who by dint of their own industry, support themselves without the savage desultory mode of living which characterises their tribe in general. " 24th. — Left Batteau Harbour, and had a safe and speedy passage to Sandwich Bay. We arrived at half-past three o'clock at a place called Handy-Harbour. One of the people residing here came on board, and I proposed preaching to them in the evening. About forty were present, partly English and partly American, all of whom manifested much attention. In Handy-' Haw I i j I 'm i\ ', V ■ ■I 278 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \* Harbour are no Indians, nor any settlers ; it is merely visited by some fishermen from Newfoundland and America. I was pleased to find that the former were so far regarding the Sab- bath as to rest from labour. On returning from this place we saw the Aurora Borealis, and entered into the beauty of the description by^Thomson : .^ ' * Silent from the north A blaze of nteteorn Hhoots : enaweeping first The lower skieH, they all at once converge High to the crown of Heaven, and all at once RelapHing (luick, au (luickly re-ascend, And mix and thwart, extinguish and renew All ether coiu'sing in a maze of light.' ** Without seeing those lights under similar circumstances, no one can properly appreciate the descriptive excellence of these lines. I ** 29th. — We put out for Esquimaux-Bay, but the wind soon came a-head, and we were obliged to put into Partridge-Har- bour. Here are no Indians or settlers, but several families visit this place from Brigus. All was hurry : the people being engaged in what is called the heart of the fishery ; I could not therefore publicly perform divine service. I visited and prayed, however, with some of the families. They were very desirous for me to stay with them the ensuing Sabbath, which I should gladly have done had not my passage been already so long, and the necessity of my being in Esquimaux-Bay so urgent. " 80th. — Put out from Partridge-Harbour. Soon after the wind came against us ; but the weather promising to continue fine, and the tide not running very strong against us, we deter- mined on staying out all night. " 31st. — This morning we had the entrance of Esquimaux- Bay in full view ; but it took up the greatest part of the day to get as far as Tub-Island, at the entrance of the bay. We arrived here about three o'clock p.m., and soon after I was visited by Mr. Craze, from whom Mr. Hickson received much kindness during his visit to this bay last summer. I found him equally kind to me. He appears to take much interest in the projected mission, and will, I am fully persuaded, render all the aid he can to the Missionary who may be appointed. I re- quested the favour of holding service in his house, a proposal AND AS IT IS IN 1877 270 to which he most readily acceded. About six o'clock I repaired thither, with Mr. Cousins, and as many of the crew as could be exempted from duty. We had a congregation soon collected, amounting to about seventy, half of whom were Indians. On seeing the latter orowd into the house, their strange attire, brown complexion, and method of huddling themselves to- gether in one corner of the room, as if conscious that they could not presume on mixing with Europeans — and, more especially on reflecting upon their moral destitution, feelings were excited within me which altogether elude description. Their attention was at once fixed on me, while I addressed the congregation from, * God so loved the world,' &c. But though I felt much comfort in speaking to those of my audience who could under- stand me ; yet when I reflected, that, to one-half of my hearers I was as a barbarian, and they as barbarians unto me, my mind was pained. I could give them no instruction from the want of some one to interpret. I found that the Indians had been anxiously expecting me ; yet that some of them had left the harbour under the impression that I should not come. Some were present who were not in the bay last summer ; those had lately arrived frou. the north, having heard that a missionary was coming to reside in Esquimaux-Bay Two of them could read the Esquimaux language, and could sing some of the Mo- ravian hymns. I gave them to understand that I would visit them next morning. " Aug. 1st. — According to promise, I went with Mr. Cousins to the Indians, who had erected their wigwams on the opposite side of the harbour. They were in anxious expectation of my coming. I entered the first wigwam I came to, which I had no sooner done, than the Indians flocked in. The place was excessively warm, and the efliuvia of the seal skins was very offensive. I made a sign to them to lift the coverings of their wigwams at the bottom for the circulation of the air ; they saw at once what I wished, and readily complied. I had an Indian with me who knew a little English, and, for the want of a better, I employed him as my interpreter. Having been informed the preceding evening that some of this group of In- dians were good singers, I requested that they should sing a hymn. They replied that they could not sing in my tongue. I told them I did not expect that. The few who could read then U ^ W\ 111! lit KHUI ! I ¥}'• i 280 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ' i.t 11 illilii. i V took their books, handed one to me, and made a sign for me to come and sit down among them. This I did, and they then burst forth with one sweet accord in praising God. This con- stituted an event in my life which I shall never forget. I have heard singing scientifically performed, but this exceeded all. Such melody I never before heard ; from the most aged to the child of four or five years old all moved in the sweetest unison. I have often heard tunes, the harmonies of which were delight- ful — here, was one solemn tune which quite overcame me ; the air was most affectingly plaintive. They sung ten verses, and I am compelled to say, that I thought it the best singing I had ever heard — of this I am sure, it was to me the most affecting. " In this opinion I am not singular, for Crantz, in his his- tory of Greenland, says, he was so pleased with some of the Esquimaux singers in that country, that he thought they ex- celled some of the congregations in the civilized parts of the world. He describes, with the greatest accuracy, in that ac- count, the manner of the singing he heard. Like the Green- landers, the voices of the men are low, and rather hoarse ; the women's soft and clear ; and they sing so regularly and har- moniously, that at a distance the whole seemed as if it were but one voice. I felt desirous of ascertaining how they had thus learned to praise God ; and found, on enquiry, that two of the females had been at the Moravian settlement ; these had learned to read the Esquimaux language, and had books given them by their teachers. These females had married two Indians further to the southward, and had taught their hus- bands and children some of the hymns, and the tunes to which they are set. Brown, in his * Propagation of Christianity among the Heathen,' observes, relative to the Labrador Mis- sion established by the Moravians, that the missionaries com- plained, ' A number of the baptized, particularly from Hope- dale, were seduced to the south, where they purchased fire-arms, associated with the Heathen, and plunged themselves, not only into spiritual, but into temporal ruin.' This, to the minds of those holy men of God, must have been exceedingly grievous ; but the circumstance I have mentioned would, in a great measure afford them consolation were it known to them. The Indians alluded to above were not baptized by them ; yet the books they gave are used, the hymns they taught are sung, and I 1 ' AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 281 the excellent music to which these hymns are set vibrates its melodious sounrlg in those wild wastes of Labrador to which their pious labours have not extended. " I conversed with the Indians as well as I could through my imperfect interpreter, and, as I knew that, though they could not fully understand me, Ood would hear prayer on their behalf, we bent our knees, and supplicated the throne of mercy. In short, on parting, I feel no hesitancy in saying, I couUl reflect on the past hour as one of the most happy and in- teresting of my life. But this group of Indians must not be taken as a sample of what they are in general in Esquimaux- Bay. These are an exempt company, and are indebted to the Moravians for what they know above the rest. I went on the evening of the same day to Cuff Harbour, where I found Indians and half Indians, eighteen in numl)er, but could s^y nothing to them for want of an interpreter. One of them, an old female was sick. I was told that she knew a little English, but could not prevail on her to converse. From her husband I learned she was bom near the Moravian establishment at Hopedale, and was the first scholar that went to the school in that place. I received very kind attention from Mr. Langley, from New- foundland, who has a summer establishment here. ** 3rd. — We arrived this evening at Cullingham's Tickle, the place of Mr. H.'s residence last summer. But, quite contrary to my expectations, and much to my regret, the Indians had left the place. About twenty had gone for the North Point, a place ten leagues distant, and the remainder had gone up the Bay. Having expected my arrival, they had waited for nearly a fortnight, and had left the place, thinking my coming hopeless. T should have been just in time for them had not our passage been about four times the usual period. 4th. — Went up the Bay in search of the Indians, and fell in with about thirty, and obtained information of the residence of twenty besides these. I requested their attendance as soon as they could co - f;niently come. I conversed with those I saw, though very ii^p'^rfectly ; my interpreter having a very defective knowledge of the English language." Subsequently the Rev. George EUidge visited Labrador, and remained a summer and winter. A Wesleyan Mis- iim, I Km I* m- "Hi 1 1 ! ! 282 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, I' «M ■» sion was, however, not established, and no minister of that dencmination visited it again until the summer of 1858, when the Rev. J. S. Peach spent a few months there, and, in 1859, the Rev. Charles Cornben was there for a few months. In 1849, a minister of the Church of England in Newfoundland, the Rev. Mr. Gifford, was stationed at Labrador. The following is an account of the Bishop's visit during the same year : — " Monday, Aug. 13th. — The Chwtch Ship sailed to Red Bay, which is the limit of Mr. Gifford's mission to the north, as Blanc Sablon is to the south. These places are thirty-three miles apart, and as many miles, or more, of the opposite New- foundland coast will be included in this mission. The settled inhabitants number about 400 souls. The Church Ship was detained in Red Bay by fogs and contrary winds four (days, during which services were regularly performed on shore) and the children baptized and received into the church. It was the first visit of a clergyman of our church to the settlement. Here Mr. Gifibrd was left to begin his ministry single-handed, hut *not alone,' on Friday the 17th of August, when the Church Ship sailed from Battle Harbour. " Saturday, Aug. 18th. — On approaching Battle Harbour, the wind failed and the Church Ship was towed in by five fish- ing boats, in gallant style. 19th. — Divine Service was twice celebrated in the same store as last year, which, as before, was on both occasions quite full. On the following day, after Prayers in the store, the Bishop explained to the inhabitants in what manner he expected, through the liberality of the merchants (Messrs. Hunt & Co., and Messrs. Slade), and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, with their own contributions, to establish both a clergjrman and schoolmaster in this Harbour ; the former to have his head-quarters here, and to visit from thence the whole shore from Henley Harbour to Seal Islands, ninety miles ; the schoolmaster and schoolmistress to be per- manently resident, and to receive boarders from the neighbour- ing settlements. The inhabitants cheerfully engaged for their part £75 a year ; and the same sum is expected from the other settlements on this line of coast. The chief difficulty in estab- lishing the Mission arises from the necessary buildings, and particularly of a suitable residence. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 283 ip# Red Bay, north, as iirty-three site New- he settled Ship was our days, hore) and t was the 5nt. Here ided, but he Church Harbour, ' five fish- v^as twice )fore, was r Prayers 3 in what lerchants jciety for itions, to larbour ; isit from Islands, ) be per- ighbour- for their he other in estab- igs, and "Duriug the summer and autumn months of 1857 the Bishop accomplished another of his long and perilous voyages of visita- tion along the coasts of Newfoundland, and up to the Missions in the Labrador. In one place — St. Anthony, where the Hawk was detained by fog and contrary winds — many services were performed on board, and the people were visited in their houses. There was a great demand for Bibles and other religious books, and some of the largest and most expensive were bought and cheerfully paid for. A lay-reader was also appointed for the people living at too great a distance to come within the Mis- sionary's ordinary circuit. " At Battle Harbour the Church was consecrated, and a con- siderable number of candidates 'presented for Confirmation ; among them five Esquimaux Indians, the first, it is supposed, of that race ever confirmed by a Bishop on the coast of Labrador. " Several persons were baptized and received into the Church; some of them from Quirpon on the northern coast of Newfound- land ; and an earnest hope was expressed that the Bishop would be able to visit that settlement and others in their vicinity, on what is called the French shore. No clergyman of our Church had ever been among them. " Tuesda/y^ Aug. 21. — The Bishop had not intended to extend his voyage beyond Battle Harbour, having many settlements to visit and services to perform along the eastern coast of New- foundland ; but hearing that his presence was much desired at 8t. Francis' Harbour, it was determined this morning, the wind being fair, to proceed. The same evening, during Divine Ser- vice, his Lordship baptized the child of the respected agent (Mr. Saunders)j and three Esquimaux children. On the following morning, his Lordship baptized and received into the Church a family of Esquimaux Indians (four adults and three children), and celebrated the Lord's Supper. The graveyard, which was consecrated last year, had been enclosed with a neat and sub- stantial fence ; and a strong desire being now expressed to erect a Church in the settlement, the Bishop selected and set apart a convenient site. After these services the Church Ship began her homeward course, leaving St. Francis' Harbour about four o'clock on Wednesday, August 22. *' Thursday, Avjg, 23, and Friday (St. Bartholomew's day), were spent in Henley Harbour, and on each Divine Service 1^ < 284 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, *i * 'i^' was performed on board the Chwrch Ship for the benefit of the inhabitants, who attended in considerable numbers, particularly on the Holy-day — and several children were received into the Church. There are not more than four or five resident families in this and the neighbouring Harbour of Chateau Bay, but many families visit the place every summer to fish, and traders from Nova Scotia and the United States. The fishery appears to be prosecuted with success. " Saturday^ August 25. — An attempt was made to cross the Straits, in order to pass the Sunday at Quirpon on the Newfound- land shore, but the wind failed, and the Church Ship returned to Chateau Bav. "On Sunday^ August 26, Divine Service was celebrated publicly on board the Church Ship twice, and in the morning the congregrtion, with the ship's company, numbered sixty-three persons, who were all conveniently accommodated in the 6abin. Most of the strangers were from Carbonear. The Bishop preached on each occasion ; in the evening his Lordship visited a sick person on shore. " The Rev. A. Gifford, having been call3d by the death of his father, and his own failing health, to leave his lonely Mission late in the autumn of 1856, spent three months in Newfound- land, supplying the vacancy caused by the lamented death of the Rev. J. G. Mountain. " With regard to his own Mission, he states that, by the ex- piration of the lease of lands purchased by the Mission, and held hitherto by a Dissenter, there is a prospect of the establishment of a school, to be supported in part by the contributions of the people. He speaks in grateful terms of the liberality of his little flock, which, in spite of hi? absence in the winter, has ex- ceeded its former measure. Mr. Giflford has good hope of see- ing the Church (the foundations of which have been long laid) at Red Bay, * finished this season.' At this, and another Sta- tion, there are indications of an increased * attachment to the soil,' and a prospect of a settled population. The Bishop, dur- ing a fortnight's visit to these distant shores, confirmed fiifteen young persons, and consecrated the Church at Forteau by the title of St. Peter. " The Mission of the Rev. A. Giflford includes twenty-one harbours on Labrador, and nine on Newfoundland. The dis- W;. ! v\ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 285 tance travelled in visiting them in succeBsion is seventy-seven miles of water and eighty-seven of land. Tha population varies from 450 in winter to 832 in summer, more than half being members of the Church of England. From October to May Mr. Gifibrd's ministrations are necessarily confined to Labrador; but as soon as tht> sea is open he sails to the opposite coast of Newfoundland, and visits the Stations in order, celebrating Divine Service, and if possible gathering a congregation in each house in which he lodges. His attempts to establish a school in the Mission have not met with permanent success. The Mission contributes £51 annually to the Diocesan Church So- ciety."r,)-: : -;:: r ,••-'-: . . • _. ■ -:; /- ■:.;•,. ■■■ The Rev. Mr. Gifford states, that during the winter of 1857-8, he travelled twice to the settlements of Forteau, and thrice to those in the West, the five journeys com- prising a distance of 235 miles, performed over snow and ice, with the aid of dogs and a sleigh (comitique). Many visits were paid to less remote places. The congiogation at Forteau improved in numbers and steadiness of atten- dance. The Chapel at Red Bay was not then begun. Some communicants have been added to Mr. Gifford's list, but he is still unable to acquire the influence which he desires for the good of agents and men in some of the Jersey fishing establishments. The following extract froni his journal will give a fair notion of his labours : "December 3lst. — Weather being fine (glass — 10°), we set out at 10 a.m., on my proposed journey to the west. The dogs running well, in scarce ten minutes we reached the oppo- site side of the Bay. I visited and read prayers for the sick child, and think him much worse bodily than upon my last visit. We walked up the steep acclivity of the western hUl, en- couraging the good dogs by kind words, to draw up the comi- tique : for the renewal of their better speed at the top, gave them and ourselves a few moments' breathing time, and then proceeded with comfort and speed another stage of about ten miles. In crossing the plateau between Forteau and Beau St. Glair, we pass over a series of fine 'ponds,' (our most magnifi- cent sheets of fresh water are always thus humbly described), m I mi' ir i Pi NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, and tracts of underwood, which but for the snow and ice of winter would be utterly impassable. The weather was somewhat too severe t6 be quite agreeable, yet upon reaching L'Anse au Cotard, at about one, and remembering the shortness of the last day of the year, we took some slight refreshment, ap- pointed a part of the coming Sunday, if God will, to be spent here, and proceeded again, calling at Blanc Sablon, and reach- ing Grand Point at 5 p.m. At this point I suppose we had travelled about eighteen miles, and I was very glad to see the poor dogs (eight in number) untackled and led to supper — that is to their only daily meal. At this place I found C. D. quite well and very glad to see me. Poor fellow ! in August last, I attended him, as I thought, on his death-bed. He seems deeply thankful for his restoration to health, and is, I hope, drawn nearer God by sense of his mercies. The other family, close neighbours, I was grieved to find were holding a social n^eeting, of such a character as to prevent iny having public worship as I had hoped and intended. I spent the evening with C. D., and concluded it, as 1 always do wherever I lodge, with family worship, comprising the reading and explanation of scripture and pruyer." ^ f,-'-' V •V . '. >■■; !:! m '\ %. '^ -^{^ lit • ..J AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 287 and ice of w somewhat L'Anse au iness of the shment, ap. to be spent and reach- ►086 we had d to see the ipper— that C. D. quite igust last, I eems deeply lope, drawn imily, close ial n^eeting, worship as with C. D., with family )f scripture ^. . • \'y CHAPTER XIV. THE FISHERIES. ^T EWFOUNDLAND (says Mr. Morris) was a depen- k*^ dency of England, her only colony a century before Massachusetts, New York or Virginia, emerged from barbarism. When the 'untutored Indian,' uncontrolled by civilized man, roamed through these now busy marts, redun- dant with wealth, population, and all the advantages of civilization, Newfoundland was resorted to by thousands of British, Spaniards, French and Portuguese ; and millions were drawn from her mines — the fisheries — far more valuable than those of Mexico and Peru." McGregor, in his British Americd, says : — " Newfoundland, although occupying no distinguished place in the history of the New World, has, notwithstanding, at least for two centuries sed an example of two cloth manufacturers, having warehouses for the sale of their wares at Cheapside, one had a bounty of 5s. per yard for every yard of cloth he manufactured, the other no bounty ; the competition could not be maintained without a ruinous sacrifice on the part of the latter. This is not an inapt simile to show the ruinous competition which the British in the Newfoundland Fisheries have to maintain with their foreign and more favoured rivals." The following Return of the French bounties was ob- tained by the British Ambassador at Paris, in 1848 : — " For each man fitted out for the fishery on the coast of Newfoundland, at St. Pierre, Miquelon, or the Grand Bank (dried fish) 50 francs. For the fishery in the seas surrounding the Island (without drying) 60 do. On the Grand Bank (without dryiug) - - - 30 do. On the Dogger's Bank 15 do. Bounties on exportation per 100 killoggrammes (220^ lbs. avoirdupois.) Dry Codfish, of French catch, exported direct from the coast of Newfoundland, St. Peter's, or Mique- lon, or warehoused in France and exported to the French Colonies 22 do. Dry Codfish exported from French Ports, not having been warehoused for exportation, to the French Colonies - - 16 do. ^ H •■%,.^ ■••*»* tt',„ *i|'!, 1... 292 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, V Dry Codfish carried direct from the localities of the Fishery to Ports of France, and exported to Foreign Ports in the Antilles, or of America on the Atlantic Coast where there is a French Consul, or into Spain or Portugal, or into Foreign Ports on the Mediterranean, or into Algeria Dry Codfisli carried direct from the localities of the Fishery to the Ports of France, and imported into the Ports of Italy Dry Codfish imported into Spain overland Cod-liver oil imported into France, the produce of the Fishery . - . . _ " Total Bounties Paid in 1844, '45, M6. 18 francs. »,•> 12 10 do. do. 20 do. 1844 1845. 1856. Bounties to men. 517,370f. 533,615 558,110 Bounties on expor- Bounties on tatlun of fish to all importation destinations. of cod-liver. 3,559,468f. 2,422f. 4,221,405 10,526 3,903,910 19,511 (4,489,631 francs=£l 80,941 16s. 3d.) Total. ' 4,079,260f. 4,765,645 4,481,532 '* And the following immunities : — " Drawback of all duties on salt used in the curing of the fish, except 50 centimes (H^* '^^S*) P^^ ^^^ kilog. on foreign salt im- ported for the coast or Newfoundland, St. Pierre and Miquelon fishery. " Drawback of all duties on all the outfit for the fishery, in- cluding vessels employed and all utensils." In May, 1830, the Chamber of Commerce of St. John's sent Mr. Sweetland to the French shore on the northern coast of Newfoundland, who laid before the Chamber a report of his proceedings, from which the following is taken : — " The number of ships employed this season by the French in this fishery were 266 in all, viz. — From Granville, 116; St. Malo, 110 ; Paimpol and Bennick, 30; Havre, 4; Nantes, 6. Total 266, from 100 to 350 tons burden, having 51 men and boys each, amoimting in the whole to 13,566, one tenth portion AND AS IT IS IN 1877. ' 293 of whom were boys. This number snrpasned considerably the Governor's estimate, a very good one, which was assigned to me by the French gentleman from whom I received the in- formation. Each establishment had two, some four, cod seines from sixteen to thirty fathoms deep, and 200 fathoms long. Their caplin seines were from twenty -one feet to fifty in depth ; two were held bv each establishment. The cost of a cod seine crew amounted, for the season, to 6,000 livres, and the catch thereof to 1,200 quintals. The allowance for each man for the season, commencing at the first day of May and ending on ar- rival in France, on or about the first day of November, 35 lbs. pork, 35 lbs. butter, 3J cwt. bread, 40 lbs. peas, 6 gallons of brandy, | tierce cider— in all equal to about £8. sterling ; boat- masters, or principal men, are paid about £10 as wages, an ordinary fisherman £7, and boys £3 less, a sum equal to £2 10s. allowed on each man as a bounty by their government. In 1829, their catch of fish amounted to 360,000 quintals — 45 quintals for each person employed — an average catch and good voyage. " At this period their bounties were extremely liberal, there- fore, supposing the merchants were allowed on each man employed 60 livres, or 508. each on 13,566 men, £33,915. " That they caught in the sea- J son, for their catch was par- > 450,000 quintals. tial. ) "Of which was consumed in j France and no bounty granted > 150,000 on it. j do. 300,000 quintals for bounty. " Viz., Shipped to Martinique \ at 20 livres, or IBs. 8d. ster- V 120,000 quintals. £100,000 ling. j " Ditto to Italy and Spain, at 5 ) , q^ ^«^ , «_ ^^^ livres, 4s. 2d, sterling. } 180,000 do. 37,000 300,000 quintals. £171,415 " £171,415 sterling paid in bounty, besides materials granted the fisherman in addition. In fact, the fishery is for the pur- li' 11 i, I m 294 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \\ ■I pose of training seamen for their navy, and conRequently is a national undertaking rather than the pursuit of private indi- viduals." \ ' ■ : • i* L . \ ' I The following account of the French fisheries is given by Commander Fortin to the Canadian Government in 1862:— . \ - " France looks upon the Newfoundland fisheries as the true school for the French marine, and it is here that she forms the nursery of hardy sailors whom she requires to man her fleets ; and of so great importance does she consider them to be, that she every year employs for their protection three steam war vessels and two armed schooners. " Numerous laws, regulations and decrees of the command- ant of St. Pierre regulate the French fisheries at Newfoundland; but I do not consider it necessary to dilate here upon any of them except those which relate to the cod fishery carried on on the coast of that island, and the possession of the land necessary for the working of this branch of industry. " The vessels which are fitted out in France for the New foundland fishery are divided into three classes : " 1st class. - " 2nd " - "3rd " - -Vessels over 158 tons and under 400 tons. « 100 " " 158 " under 100 " « (( I « " The proprietors of the vessels of these various classes draw lots every five years for the right of occupying the various fish- ing settlements on the coast ; the best numbers select the best fishing posts, and so on to the least advantageous. "This system of distributing the fishing posts has been found to be the most satisfactory to the fishermen, although it is not unattended with inconvenience ; for instance, it prevents rich outfitters from making large well-fitted establishments, be- cause, at the end of five years, they would run the chance of seeing them pass into other hands ; for no fisherman is allowed to remove anything from his establishment when the drawing of lots takes place. " The last drawing took place this spring, and there were one AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 295 iWI hundred and eleven vesRelB in the first class, and nearlj as many in each of the other two. " Vessels of the first class should have a crew of at least sixty-five men and boys; of the second, forty -hvf^ and of the third, thirty ; which give a total of ten or twelve thousand fish- ermen employed in the French fisheries on the coast of New- foundland, from Cape St. John on the east to St. George's Bay on the west. " The principal regulations which relate to the cod fishing are those which forbid the use of deep sea or trolling lines in the taking of that fish, and only allow the use of cod fish nets afloat; all fishermen are strictly forbidden to draw or land a cod fish net, or even a caplin net on the shore, without doubt, in order that those fish may not be disturbed while engaged near the shore in the reproduction of their species. " The French do not make much use of the line in the cod fishery on the north coast of Newfoundland. They use chiefly very large nets which are nearly all 150 fathoms long and 30 fathoms wide. Nearly forty men are required to handle them successfully ; they are very costly. But on the other hand vast quantities of fish are taken with these immense nets ; 60, 100, and even as many as 200 quintals of cod, or 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 fish. " But it is a necessary condition that the fish should run in shoals and be plentiful on the fishing grounds ; unless this is the case, the net fishing yields but little, and the outfitter's loss is then enormous. " The cod this year was not plentiful on the coast of Quirpon, and the fishermen of that place, including Messrs. Robinot and Durand, had in consequence suffered a proportionate loss, as they have but little cod to export, and will accordingly receive but a small sum as premium. " There are at Quirpon seven fishing establishments belonging, for the most part, to St. Malo and St. Servan ; these employ eighteen ships of from two to five hundred tons. We saw one of them, a fine ship of 500 tons, sail with a cargo of dried cod fish for the Bourbon Islands and the Mauritius, which are in great part supplied with fish by the French. " The French fishermen are compelled to bring from France almost everything which they require in carrying on their busi- ! i mP,- 'I ,1 . / h ' ' 1 * ■ ^ % 1 ' i 1 ■ I ■ 1 I ' "1!I S* f :*•» !:■*■ 296 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \i ness ; lumber, boards, planks, pieces of elm and oak to repair their boats and vessels, flour, pork, butter, &c., &c., the island of Newfoundland not producing any of these articles. ** And of these they consume every year a very large quantity, and the cost of such articles in France is generally much greater than in Canada ; and it certainly would be greatly to the ad. vantage of the French fishermen to come and buy of us the greater part of the supplies which they require. " But it may be asked : if there is any profit to be made, how is it that the French shippers have not before now taken advan. tage of the low prices in our market, and why, on the other hand, Lave not the Canadian traders entered into commercial relations with the French fishermen, and despatched to them cargoes of flour, provisions and wood, suitable to supply their requirements ? . " To this I reply that it results from two principal causes. In France little is known of the varied resources of Canada, and here, until late years, the nature, extent, importance and requirements of the French fisheries at Newfoundland have been ignored. ** For more detailed information on this subject, my report of 1858 on St. Pierre and Miquelon may be consulted. •* I do not pretend, and I do not wish to be understood, to say that very important commercial relations could be established between the Canadian traders and the French shippers and fish- ermen of Newfoundland ; but what I consider quite possible, and what I am desirous of seeing realized for the mutual benefit of shippers and traders, both Canadian and French, in New^ foundland, is that Canada, and principally Quebec and Gasp6, should supply the latter with the wood and the provisions which are indispensable to them, and should in return receive French products, especially French cordage, which is of superior quality, and of which the consumption on our ships would be very great. " This trade would give employment to ten of our schooners to begin with, and at a later period that number would in- crease. The French annually employ about 560 vessels in the Newfoundland fishery, of from 100 to 500 tons burthen, il: Ii AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 297 manned by upwards of 20,000 fishermen. About half of this number prosecute the Bank fishery from the French Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, on the south-west coast ; the other half at the French shore on the northern coast. The quantity of fish taken by them is estimated at over 1,000,000 quintals annually. The amount of boun- ties paid in 1828 is said to have been $625,000 ; in 1832, ^300,000; and in 1846, $905,000. (For an account of the fisheries of St. Peters', see Fortune Bay). The British Fisheries of Newfoundland, in some places, commence in May, and at other places, not until the mid- dle of June. About the beginning of June the vessels sail for the Labrador Fishery. The manner of catching and curing the fish has been so often described, and is now so well known, that it is unnecessary for me to repeat it here. The price of fish is regulated by the demand of the foreign markets. Large merchantable cod fish is from.., Small Madeira " West India" Inferior " 100 quintals of cod fish will yield about two hogsheads of oil. tt tt tt u « it it . 16s. to £1 Os 14s. to 16s . 12s. to 14s . 10s. to 14s 8s. to 12s ■ i , I ■ i I i \\\ I ■ I i i 11 i i ' — ■!■" IB Tl Wi— 208 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ ' )l The following is the produce of the British fisheries of Newfoundland at different periods, all of which were exported : ♦.• :i ^ ^«1»ifV. j^1»>v u-^* Year. Dried Fish. Quintals. Oils. Tuns. Seal Skins. No. Salmon. Tierces. Herring. Barrels. 1763.... 1785.... 386,274 591,276 1,200,000 948,468 972,921 755,667 619,177 882,536 763,187 890,354 724,515 915,795 1,007,980 1,000,333 1,175,167 1,138,544 1,980,082 4,900 694 3,700 '"'i'ooo' 1814.... 8,225 12,371 156,000 300,681 534,378 559,342 442,003 384,699 360,155 384,321 375,361 631,385 344,683 352,202 306,072 444,301 266,624 1830.... 1852.... 1831.... 4,439 4,048 3,606 2,924 3,256 3,.369 1,847 4,408 3,396 4,715 3,540 5,911 4,917 3,822 1,083 42,715 1,799 1832.... 1833 10,010 1,814 3,039 1834.... 1836.... 1838. . . . 1840. . . . 1842. . . . 1845.... 1849.... 1860. . . . 1862.... 9,030 9,485 8,591 12,724 8,976 8,260 8,916 9,892 16,637 1,823 1,534 a.>,276 20,806 13,839 20,903 11,471 9,907 13,872 The following Table will show the state of the British fisheries at different periods, given by the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, dated Whitehall, 19th March, 1793 :— AVERAGE OF YEARS. 1699, 1700, 1701 1714, 1715, 1716 1749, 1750, 1751 1764-5-6-7-8-9, 1770-1-2-3-4 1784-5-6-7-8-9, 1790-1-2 . . . >M <4-l o o Is. hen ips. S-S ■S'^ ;3a2 303 ^ pq 192 7,991 161 9,198 288 33,512 516 40,691 480 48,950 Z 6 3,039 19 1,823 7 1,534 >8 il.-.,276 16 20,806 13,839 20,903 ■1 11,471 [7 9,907 J2 13,872 the British )mmittee of .9 th March, n h - 0) foa. IS. ck-fish. luring the They take 'test quan- a one year )6, Messrs. md whale 50 tuns of assumed a sanguine the entf , sources o'i ndividual enterpris- ing individual, that, with spy-glass in hand, paces his wharf, sweeping ever and anon the distant horizon for the first view of his returning argosy, to the emaciated little broom-girl that creeps along the street, hawking her humble commodity from door to door." The return of a 'Seal Hunter" reminds one of Sou- they's beautiful poems, " Madoc," and " Roderice, the last of the Goths." " The Return to Wales " is thus de- scribed : — " Fair blew the wind, the vessel drives along, Her streamers fluttering at their length, her sails At full ; she drives along, and round her prow Scatters the ocean spray. What feelings then Fill'd every bosom, when the mariners, After the peril of that wary way, Beheld their own dear country ! Here stands one Stretching his sight towards the distant shore ; And as to well-known fonns his busy joy Shapes the dim outline, eagerly he points The fancied headland, and the cape and bay, 'Till his eyes ache o'er straining. This man shakes His comrade's hand, and bids him welcome home. And blesses God, and then he weeps aloud : Here stands another, who, in secret prayer. Calls on the Virgin and his patron Saint, Kenewing his old vows, and gifts and alms, And pilgrimage, so he may find all well. * * * • Fair smiled the evening, and the favouring gale Sung in the shrouds, and swift the ready bark Kush'd roaring through the waves." In the commencement, the seal fishery was prosecuted in large boats, which sailed about the middle of April ; and as its importance began to be developed, schooners of from 20 to 40 tons were employed in it. These sailed on the 17th of March. The vessels employed in this fishery are from 50 to 160 tons, manned by from 25 to 40 men each, according to the size. They sail from the 1st to the 10th of March. The length of time spent on the voyage is from three to eight weeks, sometimes, however, a " trip" is taken in a fortnight, of 5,000 seals, amounting in value to nearly £3,000. The owner supplies the vessel with provisions and every other necessary. One half the pro- 304 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \v •' i* 'K - * ''. ^> 3 duct of the voyage is equally divided among the crew, the other half goes to the owner of the vessel. The crew have to pay from ten to thirty shillings each for their " berths." A hired master receives from four pence to six pence per seal, and sometimes five pounds per month be- sides. A man's share is allowed to the master, which, however, goes to the owner of the vessel. What is called the seal is the skin with the fat or blubber attached, the carcase being thrown away. Some yeara back these pelts were sold for so much apiece, varying in price according to the size and quality ; but in consequence of the prac- tice of leaving behind a portion of the fat, it became necessary to purchase them by weight. The price of the young seals is usually twenty-two shillings, and the old twenty shillings per hundred weight ; the price, however, is regulated by the value of oil in the British miirket. The sailing-vessels have now been mostly superseded by steamers. The following account of the seal fishery is very truthfully and beautifully given by Mr. Nugent, formerly Member of the House of Assembly, and late High Sherifl' of Newfoundland. " The Seal Fishery of Newfoundfand is confessedly one of the greatest sources of wealth of which this country can boast, and in its prosecution are combined a spirit of commercial enterprise, a daring hardihood and intrepidity without parallel. "Towards the close of the month of February, and in the beginning of March, the seal usually whelps, and in the northern seas they gatheraround the ice fields and deposit their youngjupon the ice in myriads. In order, therefore, to arrive at the haunts of the seal at a time when the cubs are some three weeks old, for then are these animals easiest caught, and their fat is, at the same time, purer and in greater quantity than when they are more grown — the sealing vessels leave our southern ports about the first of March, and proceed to the northward to seek those ice- bergs and floating fields of ice, which by all other mariners are looked upon with terror and dismay, and, once coming up to the seals, they plunge into the midst of the ice. ** The intrepid seaJ-hunters now pour forth upon the expanse AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 305 of ocean, and rush upon their prey far away from their vessel, bounding from mass to mass along the glassy surface of the frozen deep. Here you see one leap across a chasm where yawns the blue wave to engulph him. There, another, amid the mist, mistakes a mass of slob or soft snow for an ice-pan and is buried in the ocean, whence, sometimes, he is rescued from his peril by the timely aid of his associates, if they be near, at others, he sinks to rise no more. Anon comes the thick freezing snow- drift, that shuts out all ken of neighbouring objects, and the distant ship is lost. The bewildered sealers gather together, they try one course, then another, but in vain, no vessel appears: the guns fired from the vessel are unheard, the lights unseen : night comes on and with it hunger, and the blasting wind, and the smothering snow overwhelm the stoutest, and many, very many, yielding to fatigue and mental misery, sink into despond- ency, and the widow's wail and the orphans' cry, are the only record of the dreary — of the dreadful death of the sealer. " We speak not of the peculiar tempestuous season in which they are engaged — the Vernal Equinox. We speak not of the vessel crushed between the icebergs, consigning all to a tremen- dous fate, or of the thousand other disasters to which even these iron-bound ships are liable, but may say, in a word, that scarce a season passes that we have not to deplore the loss of ves- sels, of crews, or of individuals, leaving many a bereft mother, a widowed wife and orphaned child, to heave a heart-rending sigh o'er the memory of the sealing voyage. " But, even when death, in its most fearful form, puts not a sudden period to the sufferings of the sealer, the toils, and hardships, and perils of this voyage are indescribable ; while he has nought to sustain him, nought to buoy him up, but the fond hope of being able, by the produce of his industry, to real- ize a temporary provision for an affectionate wife and children. " Never, indeed, was there an adventure in the prosecution of which are combined more of commercial enterprise on the one hand, and oi nerve, of strength, of vigour, perseverance and intrepidity — manly and dauntless daring — on the other. The merchants adventurously contribute the outfit— Kjonsisting of the vessel with all her materials fully equipped and victualled. The fisherman contributes his toil, his dangers, his life— all the hopes, the fortunes, the fate of his family. Thus is th«3 Seal T mm 806 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ Wms^l Im'-'m mm Fishery a lottery, where all is risk and uncertainty, but still, the risk, we must confess, is not equally, or even proportionally distributed. "We shall take for instance one vessel of about 120 tons. In her success is involved the success of one merchant — he may gain £1,000 or more, if the voyage prosper. In her success is involved the success of some thirty fishermen — they may gain each from £20 to £30 if the voyage succeed. The merchant to run the chance of gaining £ 1,000 has risked a capital of per- haps £2,000. The sealer to gain from £20 to £30 has devoted an incredible amount of toil and suffering — he has risked ali- bis life. If the voyage fail, the merchant has still his ship, &c., he has suflFered an actual loss of the provisions consumed on the occasion. If the voyage be unsuccessful the poor man returns with the loss of his labour, pennyless. If the vessel founder, or be dashed to pieces in the ice, the insurance oflBcer relietes this one merchant by compensating him for his actual loss. ' if thft vessel founder, thirty valuable lives are lost — thirty widows, and perhaps one hundred orphans shriek their curses upon a fishery that brought upon them miseries that cannot be com- pensated — the grave of all their hopes — the dawn of every misfortune. " Thus, then, is the risk to all great — to the p^jor man im- mense. The property of the merchant is perilled, the life of the fisherman, infinitely more valuablej than any amount of Eroperty ; and in this, principally, consists the disparity of the azard at both sides. Let us, now, enquire after what manner each party is compensated for his respective risk. " Upon the return of the sealing vessel, one half of the pro- ceeds of the industry of the men is handed over to the merchant, in remuneration for the capital he had advanced in the first in- stance. The other half is divided amongst the men, whose toil and daring procured it ; but then, the merchant's half is given perfectly clear and unencumbered of all charges, of every de- duction — the poor man's half is clipped and curtailed— he is, first, obliged to pay hospital dues ; and, further, beside giving the merchant a full and undiminished half of the entire voyage, he is still further taxed by the merchant, to whom he is obliged to pay a sum of money, not only for the very materials used in its prosecution, but actually, a further sum for the privilege ^ ,»'(>,. V' AND AS IT 18 IN 1877. 307 i of being allowed to hazard his life to ensure a fortune for the merchant, and both of these latter charges combined are here botli technically denominated ' Berth Monky.' " The question of the amount of berth Money has agitated the sealing population for many years, and still, was its ten- dency rather to increase than diminish ; but, at length, the sealers determined to procure a reduction of the charge, and, in order to effect this, they, on Monday Inst, held a meeting on the Barrens, and passed a number of resolutions pledging themselves to * the adoption of every constitutional means ' to 'defend their rights' — to refrain from entering upon the voyage until the merchants should consent to reduce the Berth Money from £3 lOs. per man, to £2 for common or ordinary hands, called bat's men, £1 for after gunners, and bow gun- ners free ; and to this they added a resolution pledging them- selves ' not to use any coercive means ' for the operation of their object. " From that day forward the whole body, probably, amount- ing to from 1,000 to 2,000 men, as fine fellows as could be seen in any country, marched through the streets cheered by a fiddle and drum, and with colours flying, and so far was there not the slightest infraction of the law, and the exemplary so- briety that distinguished them, gave hope to all who felt an interest in them, that the peace and order of the community would not be disturbed." The meeting of the sealers referred to in the preceding article by Mr. Nugent, took place in St. John's on the 18th March, 1842. The berth money that year had been raised by the merchants and owners of vessels to three pounds, and three pounds ten shillings currency for " batmen," and one pound for bow or chief gunner, who had hitherto gone free. Some of the parties committed a trifling breach of the peace and were imprisoned for a short time ; the berth money, however, was lowered, to two pounds for batmen, one pound ten shillings for after gunner, and the bow gunner free as l)efore. The batman is the person who kills the seal with a long handled gaff similar to a boat hook. The number of vessels i I 308 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, w •'.'■; usually employed in the Seal Fishery is about 350, from 60 to 180 tons, manned by 10,000 men. The number of seals taken per annum is 500,000, amounting in value to 1,500,000 dollars. ^' The following tables will show the number of vessels employed in the Seal Fishery throughout Newfoundland from 1834 to 1849, and in 1853. In 1866, there was a great falling off in the outfit for the Seal Fishery. The Messrs. Grieve, and Bearings, of St. John's, and Messrs. Ridley &l Sons, of Harbour Grace, sent a steamer each, which returned well filled. In 1834. Shipe. St. John's 125 Conception Bay 218 Trinity Bay 19 Green's Pond, &c 12 Total. Total Tons. 11,020 17,785 1,539 972 / In 1844. Shipp. Tone. St. John's 121 11,088 Harbour Grace 48 4,857 Carbonear 52 4,567 Brigus & Cubits 43 4,002 Port-de-Grave 10 860 Bay Roberts 11 944 Spaniard's Bay, &c 9 851 Trinity H 918 Hant's Harbour, &c 5 443 Cotalina 19 1,447 Green's Pond, Salvage, &c 19 1,408 Twillingate, Fogo ) jq ^^^ Tilting Harbour, (fee ) Men. 2,910 4,894 418 264 374 31,316 8,486 Men. 3,775 1,377 1,469 1,385 m 302 253 334 165 514 503 171 368 31,924 10,527 CO to i 00 00 ii - , V ANT) AS IT IS IN 1877. 309 fc 350, from number of GT in value ' of vessels i^foundland outfit for hearings, of )our Grace, \5 9 2 16 [18. 18 7 7 »2 4 1 8 7 8 Men. 2,910 4,894 418 264 8,486 Men. 3,775 1,377 1,469 1,385 279 302 253 334 165 514 503 171 10,527 3 X) 00 ■73 OS 00 00 s 4> -^ in 01 i ^ O f-ISC s2 2SSS CO I -. 55 5b '5< iQ Q '♦t Oi 1-1 8 S^SSJ^Sj^"'^ s; a» C5 rH 5*5 O) 00 to 00 00 COi i i-t © ( i(MCC< HHQrHM© 10 1-.. >A ic in in >9 w o-* CO o CO o 10 00 8 00 I O 00 03 :pq 03 O) > c3 o ■t* S " (3 O ««'!: 2 >- 0. c3 43 o H .3 n « H -^ -fH 4ii2i5 &i«8 ^j5 * c o ^ i^3 loor-) « go t-^ta o o •s n vs CO CO CO CO CO dS. SfeS g g 2i3 •^coco ■* M* 02 1: IS • ?3 li ■ o •s ■ '■h 7s O iQ t« « t« a« t» C0«O(O >iH |>iH P O -a •i-t 0) 0) o O) ■3 o •s ■s I d O I OB IS o o i 00 OB CO ws •^ tn ^ ,So»o© eS ^ Q lA B »k «« fs pco CO d COOiO r-tO lOOiO CftCOTti »0.©(N t^.o6 t«co iHH o o /!'' AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 315 The produce of the fisheries in the District of Gaspd, and the Magdalen Islands in 1836, consisted of Cod, 100,542 quintals ; Cod oil, 37,162 gallons ; Whale oil, 25,120 gal- lons, besides salmon and other fish, the whole amounting in value to £86,624, or $336,496. Captain Fair of H.M.S. Champion, in 1839, says, when speaking of the Magdalen Islands, — " We found the herring fishing had commenced, and was in active operation in the several parts of the Bay (chiefly in the little harbours of Amherst and House Harbour) by about 146 sail of American fishing schooners, of from sixty to eighty tons, and each carrying seven or eight men. Among them were not more than seven vessels belonging to the British possessions, and they chiefly from Arichat. The quantity of herrings was very great, exceeding that of any former years, and the expert- ness and perseverance of the American fishermen were far beyond that of the Arichat men. It is computed that the American fishing schooners average nearly 700 barrels each, and the barrel is valued at one pound sterling, making, for the 146 sail then in the Bay, a presumed product of 100,000 barrels, value £100,000 sterling ; the tonnage employed about 10,000 ; and the number of men about 1,000. " Between the last end of Prince Edward Island, to within seven leagues of the Bay of Chaleur, we passed through a fleet of from 600 to 700 sail of American fishing schooners, all cod fishing ; it had not been a fortunate season for them and great numbers had gone towards the Straits of Belle Isle for better success. '* The house of Janvrin & Co., at Gasp^, exported in the year 1836 from 15,000 to 20,000 quintals of Cod-fish, chiefly lor the Brazils and South America. Other minor establishments export largely also — perhaps from Gasp6 and its neighbourhood the whole export may be about 40,000 quintals." The following is the total quantity of fish exported from the Magdalen Islands in IS-l-S : — Value in pounds Sterling. 34,448 quintals, dry Cod-fish £20,956 1,513 barrels, pickled Cod-fish 920 W}^.- Urn W ^t^i&i 316 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ Value in pounds sterling. 13,765 barrels, pickled Herrings £5,511 41 " smoked do ) r^rvo 6,009 boxes ■* do. j 2,255 barrels Mackerel 2,431 16 boxes, smoked Mackerel 5 According to the returns made to the Canadian Go- vernment in 1861, the following was the product of the fisheries at the Magdalen Islands : ^^ 9,134 quintals Cod-fish, @ S3 $27,412 6,150 barrels Herring,® $3 18,450 1,271 " Mackerel, @ $7 8,897 21,672 gallons Seal oil, @ 65 cts 14,087 4,990 " Codfish oil, @ 45 cts. ... 4,?70 Value of Seal skins 2,834 Total value *75,950 In the District of Gaspd, Cod-fishing is divided into the summer and fall fishing. The former begins in May, and last till the 15th of August. The fall fish is either dry, salted or pickled in barrels, the greater part of which is sent to the Quebec Market. The following is the product and value of the fisher- ies in the District of Gasp^, and the north and south Shores of the Lower St. Lawrence in the year 1861 : — Cod-fish, summer fishing, 150,000 quintals..$45O,O00 fall fishing, 15,000 quintals 45,000 * Herring, spring fishing, 48,000 barrels 72,000 Herring, fall fishing, 5,000 barrels 15,000 Mackerel, 1,400 barrels 11,200 I Salmon, 2,619 barrels 30,000 Coal Oil, 90,000 gallons @ 45 cts 40,500 Seal Oil, 62,513 do @ 65 cts 37,508 701,20b / ■ ■ • AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 3lT Whale Oil, 36,600 gallons 27,680 200 barrels trout, @ $12 . 2,400 200 " halibut, @$6 1,200 200 •' Cod sounds and tongues, @ $5... 1,000 Value of Seal skins 7,200 Total value of the fisheries $740,688 According to the Official Report made by Pierre For- tin, Esq., Magistrate, in command of the expedition for the protection of the Canadian Fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the following is the product of the fisher- ies in 1862 :— a. 5 2535 O > 75959 Quantity op Fish taken. ^ 0) 5044 •^4 O P 169463 1066 II 509 ^^ § ccW 2331^ ti I CQ o 97832 Number of Seals taken in nets on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1862 : — Number of Seals taken in during the fall of 1861 696 Number of Seals taken in duing the spring of 1862 1,293 Number of Seals taken in during the summer of 1862 213 Total in nets 2,202 Number of Seals taken in Magdalen Islands' schooners 9,194 ! ! Mi'' 1 ■. ..J n '%' * ! »^* 1 !*n 318 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ Number of Seals taken in Schooners from North Shore of the St. Lawrence 13,195 Shot with guns, by white men and Indians... 2,000 . . Total 26,591 producing 208,439 gallons of oil, valued at $120,463. Number of schooners employed 33, manned by 300 men. When the writer arrrived at Paspebiac in the Bay of Chaleurs, District of Gasp^, in 1864, he found over a dozen ba.rques, brigs and schooners, most of them taking in fish for the foreign markets. Here is situate two of. the largest fish establishments in Canada. The business is conducted in the same man- ner as the large out-harbour establishments in Newfound- land in the olden times. Here is the well known ^rm of Charles Kobin & Co., of St. Helier's, Island of Jersey, which was established in 1768. They have branch es- tablishments at Perc^, Caraquette and other places. They export from 40,000 to 45,000 quintals of dried codfish, to the various markets of Spain, Portugal, Brazils, West Indies and Mediterranean Ports, besides 30,000 gallons of oil, herring, salmon, etc. The Messrs. Le Boutillier Bro- thers have also branch establishments at Bonaventure Island and Labrador, and export altogether about 25,000 or 30,000 quintals dried codfish, besides herrings, salmon and furs. Here is also the firm of Daniel Bisson, and several minor establishments. Besides the Canadian ocean fishery, a very extensive fishery, in salmon trout, white fish, pickerel, pike, bass etc., is caried on in the Canadian .great fresh water lakes and rivers. The Canadian codfish is small compared with Newfoundland and neither so firm nor so fat, and the reason of the Gasp^ fish commanding a higher price in the foreign market, is because it is taken and cured in smaller quantities, and less salted than the Newfound- land fish. > ' '} 1;;^ *' AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 319 The river fisheries carried on off the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and of the Lower St. Lawrence, at the island of Anticosti, at the Magdalen Islands, and on the Gasp^ coast, form an extent of over 900 miles of sea coast, inhabited by a population of over 35,000 English, Scotch, Irish, Jerseymen, and French Canadians; the last named predominate. The coast is frequented each year between the opening and closing of navigation by more than 1,500 fishing schooners from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the United States, manned by at least, 20,000 sailors, 'who go there for the purpose of carrying on the cod, herring and mackerel fisheries.* The amount of fishing bounties paid by the Canadian Government in 1863, was 9,769 dollars. The fishery expenditure from the 1st July, 1864, to 30th June, 1865, was in Lower Canada 17,500 dollars, in- cluding a sum of 6,938 dollars paid for fishery bounties for the year 1864 ; and in Upper Canada, 1,053 dollars. The collections made in Lower Canada (from fishery licenses), during the same period amounted to 4,854 dollars; and in Upper Canada, 816 dollars. According to returns for 1872, the Fisheries for the Province of Quebec were as follows: — 163,810 cwt. Cod, summer fishing @ $5 00 $491,430 OQ 53,963 " " autumn fishing ....@ 3 00 161,889 00 16 bbls. Ling @ 5 00 80 00 7,638 " Mackerel @ 10 00 76,380 00 27,353 « Herring @ 3 00 82,069 00 2,335 boxes " smoked @ 25 568 75 1,649 bbls. Sardines @ 5 00 8,245 00 320 " Halibut @ 5 00 1,600 00 47 " Tunny @ 5 00 235 00 3,728 " Salmon @ 16 00 60,648 00 65 « Trout @ 10 60 650 00 311 « Sturgeon @ 5 00 1,555 00 137,148 fish Eels at $10 per 100 13,715 80 I _ I __^^ ^ ^^ ■■__ ,. . , - "11 ~" ' ' — ♦Official Report. I i ; 1 1 •* It !f -m ^'«*(»S^: 320 289 604 26,425 18,000 2,122 160,055 106 4,356 1,072 26,359 14,372 116 9,042 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, bbls. Cod, tongues and sounds @ $7 00 $2,023 00 " <* roes @ 6 00 3,624 00 galls. Seal oil @ 80 14,820 00 " Whale oil @ 80 14,400 00 " Porpoi?e oil @ 50 1,061 00 " Cod oil @ 50 80,027 50 bbls. Haddock @ 5 00 530 OO doz. Bar and White Fish @ 2 00 8,712 00 bbls. Mixed Fish @ 4 00 4,288 00 fish Shad @ 10 2,635 90 bbls. Fish used as manure @ 25 3,593 00 fish Porpoises @ 40 00 4,600 00 ♦* Seals @ 6 00 54,252 00 $1,003,611 95 Districts of Quebec, Three Rivers, Montreal, and St. Francis — no returns— estimated at 100,000 00 Total $1,193,61195 Vessels used : 83 vessels, 2,602 fishing boats, 1,664 flat boats. Men employed : 359 sailors, 5,466 fishermen, 2,568 shore- men ; total, 8,393. ' Province of Ontario, 1872. 13,317 bbls. Whitefish, 7,477 ** Trout, 5,875J « Herrings, 179* « Sciscoa, 110 bbls. Maskinongey 205 *' Pike and Bass, 521 " Pickerel, 785 J " Coarse Fish. Total Fish caught, 28,560J barrels. Value— Fresh Fish $88,721 Pickled Fish 96,353 u « Total value .$185,074 Boats, nets, and material employed. .$127,398 i Number of men employed, 1,959. M. H. Porley, Esq., Her Majesty's British Commissioner for the Fisheries at St. John, New Brunswick, very politely sent me a copy of his Report on the Fisheries of New Brunswick, from which I make the following ex- tracts: — AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 321 $2,023 OO 3,624 00 14,820 00 14,400 OO 1,061 00 80,027 50 630 00 8,712 00 4,288 00 2,635 90 3,593 00 4,600 00 54,252 00 1,003,611 95 100,000 00 11,193,611 95 564 flat boats. 2,568 shore- Qongey id Bass, »1, Fish. $88,721 96,353 n 85,074 U27,398 Dmmissioner swick, very Fisheries of oUowing ex- " Just within Shippagan Gully, on Shippagan Islanil, in a well sheltered and very convenient position, is the fishing 'room ' of Messrs. Wm. Fruing & Co., of Jersey, of which Cap- tain George Alexandre, of Jersey, wasTound in charge. A.t this place there were sixty boats engaged in fishing, averaging two men and a boy to each boat. It was stated, that each of these boats would probably take 100 quintals of fish during the sea- son, but that the boats belonging to the firm, manned by Jer- seymen, would take more. On the 2 1st August there were at this 'room' 2,500 quintals of dry fish, exceedingly well cured. On the day it was visited there were 600 quintals of cod spread out to dry ; they were exceedingly white and hard, of the finest quality, and were about to be shipped to Naples, for which market the very best fish are required. They are ship- ped in bulk, and the manner in which they are stowed in the holds of the vessels is very neat and compact. It requires great skill and care to stow them without breaking, and in such a manner as to prevent their receiving damage on so long a voyage ; but long practice and experience have conquered these difficulties, and cargoes are rarely injured by bad stowage. "The ling cured" ai. this establishment are sent to Cork for the Irish market ; and the haddock to the Brazils. The first quality cod cured here in 1848, instead of being sent to Naples were shipped to the Mauritius ; it was not stated what success had attended this adventure. " Nearly all the fishermen at this establishment were French settlers, who had small farms, or patches of land, somewhere in the vicinity, which they cultivated. It was the opinion of Captain Alexandre, that the fisheiiiaen could not live unless they possessed land, and obtained sdnething from the soil ; if they did not, they » early starved. Those who are too poor to own boats hire tli ^ of the firm for the season, that is, until the 15th of Augus*^^, when the summer fishing ends. If the boats are used for f,he autumn or ' fall * fishing, there is, of course, another hiring. "The fishing usually continues until the 15th October, and it was expected that the whole catch of the season of 1849 would amount to 3,500 quintals — if the weather proved favour- able, probably 4,000 quintals. " The boats come in here directly to the * stage head,' upoa V 322 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ■K ^^ which the fish are thrown ; they are at once split and cleaned by the fishermen, on tables provided for the purpose ; and 300 lbs. of fish fresh from the knife, are weighed off as sufficient to make a quintal of dry fish, with the allowance of one-tenth for the curer. If the fish are split and salted in the boats, and lay one night, then 252 lbs. are weighed as a quintal. The fisher men are allowed for a quintal of cod thus weighed, ten shil- lings, and for ling and hadd'»ckj five shillings, — the amount payable in goods at the store of the firm, on Point Amacque, where a large quantity of foreign goods is kept of every variety. Here were found Jersey hose and stockings — Irish butter- 1 Cuba molasses — Naples biscuit, of half a pound each — Brazi- lian sugar — Sicilian lemons — Neiipolitan brandy — American I tobacco — with English, Dutch, and German goods, — but no- thing of Colonial produce or manufacture, except Canadian | pork and flour. " Some of the residents at Shippagan, who are in more inde-l pendent circumstances, prosecute the fisheries in connection! with their farming, curing the fish themselves, and disposing of them at the close of the season to the Jersey merchants, or to[ others, as they see fit. " The number of boats and men engaged in the Sea fisheries,! and the quantities of dried fish caught and cured in 1849, in| the district north of the Miramichi, may be thus summed up: •'H:!**, LOCALITY. Portage Island . . . Tabusintac Gully, Tracady Shippagan Point Miscou Caraquette Grande A nee Petit Rocher Totals... Number of Boats. Number of Men. Number of Boys. 33 19 10 60 40 200 30 40 80 57 30 120 80 400 60 80 20 60 150 23 432 903 250 Estimated I Catch, in quintal! I 900 500 200 6,000 3,000 lO.OOO 2,250 1,200 24,050 AND AS IT 13 IN 1877. 323 lit and cleaned pose ; and 300 1 as sufficient to )f one-tenth for 3 boats, and lay " The fisher- ighed, ten shil- , — the amount 'oint Amacque, f every variety. -Irish butter- d each — Brazi- idy — American joods, — but no- :cept Canadian I 'e in more inde- in connection I ind disposing of erchants, or to he Sea fisheries, ired in 1849, in| us summed up; limber Boys. Estimated Catch, in quintal) 20 '60* " ihb" "2ii"' 900 500 200 6,000 3,000 10,000 2,250 1,200 250 24,050 All the men engaged in this fishery are also part farmers ; khey cultivate some portion of land wherever they reside ou the coast. Of the quantity of dried fish above stated, it is es- timated that 15,000 quintals were cod, and the rest haddock »nd ling. " The ling is a fish known in the Bay of Fundy by the name of * Hake.* In the Gulf this fish is taken of very large ^ize, especially by fishing during the night. In appearance it corresponds precisely with the drawing in Mr. Yarrell's ad- Imirable work on British Fishes, (vol. 2, page 289,) and its jdescription is the same as there given of the forked hake ; or jhyds furcatus of Cuvier. Owing to the length, breadth and [thickness of the ling when split, they are, at the best ' rooms,' Idried on large flakes, raised about eight feet from the ground, [which have a greater circulation of air underneath. The cod |of larger size are also dried on these flakes. " Of the quantity of fall herring taken on this coast, it is [quite impossible to give any estimate which may be relied up- |on as accurate. The principal fishing ground is at Caraquette, [and the whole quantity taken there in 1849, would probably [amount to two thousand barrels, or perhaps exceed that quan- [tity. The catch at other localities along the coast, would per- s, amount to one thousand barrels more. "The quantity of mackerel caught and cured, is so small as [scarcely to be taken into account, in giving an estimate of these [fisheries. It was said that mackerel had at times been imported Ifrom Arichat for the use of the inhabitants on this coast, near [which thousands of barrels, of the same fish, are annually [caught by fishing vessels from Maine and Massachusetts." 324 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, i " Return of the quantities of the various products of the fishJ eries, exported from the district of Gasp6, during the yed ending 5th January, 1850. DESCRIPTION. Dry Cod Pickled Cod Do Tongues and Sounds Salmon Mackerel Herrings Halibut Cod Oil Whale Oil Seal Oil Weight or Measure quintals barrels . quintals barrels . do do do do gallons . do do From the Port of New Carlisle. 28,230 •• 24 15 573 From Total the Port from the of District Gaspe. ' in 1849. 52,109 80,339 4,920 4,920 817 841 6 21 290 290 126 126 219 219 50 50 50,220 50,793 21,720 21,720 120 m Total in 1848. " The value of all ir" ports at the port of Gasp6 in 1849, wasi £32,286 currency ; the value of exports the same year, wasl £51,880 currency. At New Carlisle, the value of imports fromi abroad, in 1849, was £12,511 sterling; the value of exports! was £37,250. The imports and exports to and from Quebec! are not stated in the return from New Carlisle. The exports | include birch and pine. "Commercial Value of the Gulf Fisheries in 1849. " The following Tables, compiled by Jthe writer from the Custom House Returns, exhibit the trifling value of the pro- duce of the sea and river fisheries, exported from the gulf ports of New Brunswick, in 1849. The quantity of each article, at each port, is here exhibited ; and it Will be observed, that the w^hole quantity of pickled fish exported, was 3,380 barrels only, and that 2,110 barrels were imported. It will be seen that mackerel were imported, at Miramichi, from another Colony ; and at Richibucto, near which fish are so abundant, 575 barrels of pickled fish were imported from abroad and 110 barrels only, were exported. The whole value of fish exported during the past year is £15,117 sterling, against which there cts of the fislij uring the yearl Total from the District in 1849. 80,339 4,920 841 21 290 126 219 50 50,793 21,720 m Total ill 1848. 89,931 3,97? 1,074 160 277 31,0:!8 6,960 600 p6 in 1849, was! same year, of imports froml due of exports! id from Quebec! . The exi RIES IN 1849. writer from the alue of the pro I from the gulfl lantity of each vill be observed, rted, was 3,380 •ted. It will be li, from another! 'e so abundant, abroad and 110| of fish export ist which there! AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 325 i the value of the fish imported, amounting to £2,269, leaving balance of £12,848 sterling only, in favour of the exports of lie gulf fisheries of New Brunswick. * " It must not be forgotten that the season of 1849 was one of unexampled abundance in the sea fisheries ; and the folio w- kng tables therefore furnish a severe, but, it may be hoped, a Lost useful commentary upon the provincial fisheries within the iGulf of St. Lawrence : — ' Exports of the produce of the fisheries from the several ports of New Brunswick, within the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, dur- ing the year 1849 : — PORTS. lichi. Dalhousie . Bathurst . Caraquette Kichibucto Bhediac . . . Totals. Dried Fish. Quintals. 130 720 16,056 16,906 Pickled Fish. Barrels. 2,306 344 42 578 110 Smoked and Preserved Fish. Boxes. 531 3,380 531 Fish Oil. Gallons. 455 7 572 Oysters. Bushels. 2,304 240 8,027 2,544 'Imports of the produce of the fisheries at the several ports of New Brunswick, within the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, during the year 1849 : — PORTS. Dried Fish. Pickled Fish. Smoked and Preserved Fish. Fish Oil. Oysters. Miramichi Quintals. 382 1,153 Barrels. Herrings 1,130 Mackerel 35 370 Boxes. I Gallons. Bushels. )alhou8ie J 21 772 Jathurst ^araquette 4ichibucto 138 575 260 ihediac Totals 1,673 2,110 21 1,032 I SIS '. -y I 1 326 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, V " Return of the estimated value, in pounds sterling, of all arti- cles, the produce of the fisheries, exported from the several! ports of New Brunswick, within the Gulf of Saint Lawrence during the year 1849, distinguishing the countries to which! the same were exported : — The following are the returns for New Brunswick in 1872 :— 1,608,496 lbs. Salmqn, fresh 1 ,050 cwt. Pollock 24,227 " Mackerel 143.731 lbs. Bass 4,515 bbls. " 28,070 " Trout 150,871 *' Herrings 485,100 " Smelt 25,170 " Ale wives 30,000 " Eels 6,495 cwt. Codfish, dry 60,050 bbls. Mixed Fish 1,566 bbls. " pickled 224,500 cans Lobsters 6,566 bbls. Shad 39,450 bush . Oysters 20,190 cwt. Hake 66,556 galls .Oil 3,813 " Haddock 900 lbs. Pumice 13,600 " Halibut • Great Britain. British Colonies. United States. Foreign States. Total Sterling £4,774 638 440 8,991 274 \ : ' PORTS. North America West Indies Else- where Export Miramichi 132 27 2,820 611 440 3,291 274 1,822 Import Dalhousie Bathurst Th( triflin Caraquette Bichibucto 1,148 1,190 3,362 Shediac ', '» ' Total Exports.. Total value of Fish imported at the same Ports in 1849 . 1,307 7,436 2,269 1,190 1,822 3,362 £15,117 £2,269 Th State prose 350,0 F: ing, of all arti- )m the several aint Lawrence, atries to w! Foreign States. Total Sterling I £4,774 638 440 3,362 8,991 1 V ' 274 3,362 £15,117 £2,269 Brunswick inl Pollock Bass Trout Smelt Eels Mixed Fish Lobsters . Oysters .Oil Pumice AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 327 " Comparative statement of the total quantities of articles the produce of the fisheries, exported and imported at the seve- ral ports of New Brunswick, within the Gulf of Saint Law- rence, during the year 1849 : — 1849. Exports Imports Dried Fish. Pickled Fish. Smoked and Preserved Fish. Fish Oil. Quintals. 16,906 1,673 Barrels. 3,380 2,110 Boxes. 521 21 Gallons. 8,027 1,032 Oysters. Bushels. 2,544 The whale fishery of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is very trifling, only about 40,000 gallons of oil obtained annually. Fl3Z^.RIES OF THE UNITED STATES. The number >* ..rsons employed in the New England States before the revolution was about 4,000, which was prosecuted in small craft. The quantity caught was about 350,000 quintals, of the value of £200,000, " The Americans follow two or more modes of fitting-out for the fisheries. The first is accomplished by six or seven farmers or their sons building a schooner during the winter, which they man themselves (as all the Americans on the sea-coast are more or less seamen as well as farmers), and after fitting the Tessel with necessary stores, they proceed to the banks, Gulf of St. Lawrence, or Labrador, and loading their vessels with fish, make a voyage between spring and harvest. The proceeds they divide, after paying any balance they may owe for outfit. They remain at home to assist in gathering their crops, and proceed again for another cargo, which is salted down and not after- wards dried — this is termed mud-fish, and kept for home con- sumption. The other plan is, when a merchant, or any other owning a vessel, lets her to ten or fifteen men on shares. He finds the vessel and nets. The men pay for all the provisions, i> i ; m • ''V >»F ' ' i ] <• • ' ^* Y-^''«jy 328 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, hooks and lines, and for the salt necessary to cure their propor- tion of the fish. One of the number is acknowledged master, but he has to catch fish as well as the others, and receives only about twenty shillings per month for navigating the vessel ; the crew have five-eighths of the fish caught, and the owners three eighths of the whole." The total quantity of the produce of the fisheries of the State of Massachusetts in 1837 (the largest fisheries in the United States) was as follows ; — Fisheries of Massachusetts in 1837. Vessels. 1 Dry Cod- fish. Barrels MackereL Bushels of Salt used. Hands employed. Total value in dollars. Capital in- vested in dollars. 1,290 76,089 510,554 234,059 837,141 11,146 $ 3,208,559 $ 2,683,176 Besides the above, there were large quantities of whale oil and other fish oil, and whalebone amounting in value to about a half million dollars. The following is the number of barrels, halves and quarters of barrels of mackerel and other pickled fish in- spected in the State of Massachusetts in the year 1850. Barrels. Mackerel 242,572 Salmon 2,422 Alewives , 1,629 Shad 705 Herring 900 ^ Sword-fish 144 Tongues and Sounds \ 777 Salmon-trout 14 Halibut fins 156 Menhaden 137 i the owners 1 Capital in- vested in dollars. 1 ,559 2,683,176 AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 329 > ' Barrels. Cod '. 465 Blue Fish 153 . Haddock 29 Total 250,1C3 21,000 barrels of the above were re-inspected, princi- pally mackerel from Nova Scotia. For a more detailed account of the fisheries of Massa- chusetts and the United States, see " A Peep at Uncle Sam's Workshop, Fisheries, &c.," by the Author. The annual quantity of cod-fish exported from the United States is about 200,000 quintals, which is princi- pally sent to Cuba, Hayti, West Indies, and Madeira. In 1851, 502 ships, 24 brigs, and 27 schooners of the aggre- gate tonnage, 171,971, were employed in the whale fishery of the United States. An important fishery is carried on in the interior lakes of America, principally on Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Mackinac and Detroit River. The kind of fish caught is sturgeon, salmon-trout, Maskinonge, pickerel, mullet, white-fish, bass, pike, perch, &c. Some of these fish weigh from one to 120 lbs. The quan- tity of fish taken on these lakes in 1840 was 35,000 bar- rels, amounting in value to 256,040 dollars. Mr. McGregor, in his " Progress of America," says : — " The British whale fishery, formerly so very extensive, has, from causes which have developed their effects during the last ten years, declined rapidly ; and there is every probability that both the northern and southern British whale fishery will be discontinued from the ports of the United Kingdom. The substitution of vegetable and lard oils, and stearine from lard, the great outlay of capital in the southern whale fishery, the long period which must expire before any return can be realized for the expenditure, constitute the chief causes of the decline of the whale fishery from British ports. The Dutch whale fishery disappeared in the early part of the present century ; the French whale fishery is only maintained by bounties taken .r\ li; Ml 380 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, f * wi E lit I Iff from the national taxes, and we can scarcely hope that it can ever be revived so as to constitute a profitable pursuit from any port in Europe. The bounties paid in support of the British whale fishery, acccrding to McPherson, from 1750 to 1788 amounted to £1,577,935 sterling; and Mr. McCuUoch esti- mates that more than £1,000,000 has been paid after that period, so that more than £2,500,000 sterling have been paid by the nation for bounties to the whale fishery." The number of ships engaged in the northern and southern whale fisherib? during -the years 1843, 1844 and 1845 were as follows : — NOETHBEN FiSHEEY. Years. No. Ships. 1843 24 1844 32 1845 34 SOUTHBEN FiSHEEY. Years. No. Ships. 1843 1844 1845 50 47 \ 44 Twenty-one ships are engaged in the southern fisheries from the Australian colonies. Six ships from St. John, New Brunswick, and one ship from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The next important fisheries to those of America are those of Norway in Europe. " The fisheries of Norway supply an important branch of ex- portatioii, and for these pursuits, their extensive seas and deep, commodious bays afford unlimited opportunities. In the neigh- bourhood of the Lofoden Isles more than 20,000 men find employment during the months of February and March in taking herrings and cod. At that season the fish set in from the ocean and settle on the West Fiord banks, which run from three to ten miles out into the water, at a depth of from sixty to eighty fathoms. Such swarms collect for depositing their spawn, attracted by the shelter, or perhaps some special circum- stances in the temperature, that it is said a deep sea-lead is frequently interrupted in its descent to the bottom through these shoals (pv fishehierg, mountains of fish, as they are called) which are found in layers, one over the other, several yards in thickness. From North Cape to Bergen, all the fishermen who have the means assemble at the different stations in January. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 331 Every twenty or thirty of these companies have a yacht or large tender to bring out their provisions, nets and lines, and to carry their produce to the market. Their operations are regu- lated by statutes contained in several ancient codes, and, more lately by that of the 4th of August, 1 827. These laws prescribe the order and limits to be observed in fixing the stations, the time for placing and removing the nets, and also for preparing, salting and drying the fish. Nets, and long lines of 120 hooks at five feet distance are used, but there is a difference of opinion which of the two outfits is the more advantageous. The period when the season ends is appointed by law on the 1 2th of June, when Lofoden and its busy shores become deserted and deso- late. The fish are prepared in two ways. They are cured as round or stock-fish until April, after which they are split, salted and carried to the coasts above Trondheim, or other places. There are large flat rocky mountains, with a southern aspect, upon which they are spread and exposed to the sun to dry. This preparation is called klip fish, and in fine seasons is com- pleted in three or four weeks. The livers are used for oil, one barrel of which may be the produce of from 200 to ^00 fish ac- cording to their fatness. The number taken is immense. In a medium year (1827) there were 2,916 boats employed in 83 different stations, accompanied by 124 yachts, with 15,324 men. The produce was 16,456,620 fish, which would be about 8,800 tons dried ;|there were also 21,530 barrels of cod-oil, and 6,000 of cod-roe. Sir A. Brooks reckoned the quantity taken in a year at 700,000, worth about £120,000, but other writers value them at £250,000 or even £300,000. An English lobster company was established some years ago on the west coast, and twice or thrice a week their packets sailed from Ohristiansand to London. In 1830 the number of these animals exported was 1,196,904 ; of roes, 21,682 barrels; of dried fish, 425,789 quin- tals ; and of salted fish, 300,218 barrels. The herring fishery is also an important and thriving branch of industry. In 1819, the exports were 240,000 tons. But in 1 835, whifch was more productive than the five or six preceding years, they amounted to 536,000, an increase the more remarkable considering that the population and the internal consumption had both been augmented during that period."* * " Edinburgh Cabinet Library." ; 332 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Considerable fisheries are carried on at British Colum- bia, Puget's Sound, Alaska, and adjacent places. Hudson Bay, at some future day, bids fair to rival the Newfound- land fisheries. For several years past, American vessels have resorted there for cod fishing. Salmon, herring, caplin, and other varieties of fish abound there. At Two Rivers the Hudson Bay Company carried on porpoise fishing for sevt al years, where 7,749 porpoises were taken, giving an aggregate of 193,689 gallons, or 768 J tons of oil, worth in England upwards of £27,000 sterling * A new market has recently been found for herring in Sweden, several cargoes having been shipped there from Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S., and found remunerative. * Walter Dickson, in the Toronto Globe, July 7th, 1876. \\ ^^■t>':-'r-\:z :,\-.^:^'^: rr^^ ,' .■^v. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 333 CHAPTER XV. OOVERNMBNT, REVENUE, TRADE AND SFiPPINO. I HE first military Governor appointed to Newfound- land was Major (afterwards Lieutenant-General) Sir John Harvey, in 1841 ; he was also the first Governor who had a private secretary. Sir John Gaspard Le Marchant assumed the Government in 1847, and also brought with him a private secretary. The Governor of Newfoundland is not Lieutenant-Governor, like the Gover- nors of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. The only authority to which he is subordinate is the Queen aud her Ministers. The following amount of salaries was at that time paid out of the revenue of the Oolony: — Private Secretary of the Governor $1,000 Clerk of the Council 1,000 Two Clerks in Secretary's Office 2,000 Office-Keeper. 300 JKiessenger .......•..•........•••••••• ouu Treasurer of the Colony 2,500 Surveyor-General 2,500 Clerk of the Supreme and Central Circuit Court 1,750 Clerk of the Northern Circuit Court ... . 1,000 ' ' Southern " .... 1,000 District Surgeon 750 Hospital " 750 Physician of Lunatic Asylum 1,250 Collector of Customs 2,500 Attornev-General, in lieu of fees 1,250 V Solicitor-General " " 1,000 . Sheriff of the Central District 3,250 Northern " 1,250 Southern * 1,000 SI .lill , 'A' f I ' i '} M,« mmtn 11^:' fliit ^K III ^B ^^^^_^^ ■ u?^^" i^S 334 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ^ The following salarioH were paid out of the Colonial Revenue under Acts 2nd and 3rd William IV., cap. 78, called the reserved saluriea. ,, Governor £3,000 or $15,000 Chief-Justice 1,200 " 6,000 First Assistant- Judge.... ... 700 " 3,500 Second " 700 " 3,500 Attorney-General 450 " 3,250 Colonial Secretary 500 " 2,500 X6,550 $32,750 The post-master wtis paid $1,000 by the Imperial De- partment, which also paid the following officers of Cus- toms who were still retained : — y Comptroller of Customs 'and Navigation Laws .' $1,500 First Clerk and Searcher 1,250 Second " " 1,000 The Customs Department was not placed under the control of the Local Government until 1849, previous to which the Imperial salaries amounted to £3,703 7s. 7d., or $78,516. The Colonial salaries amounted to £1,864 16s. 5d., or $9,323. The Imperial Government pays the Bishop of the Church of England an annual salary of £500, or $2,500 per annum, and the Roman Catholic Bishop, £300, or $1,500 per annum. The amount of pensions annually paid by the Colony then was £159, or $795, which was paid to six persons. The " Royal Newfoundland Com- panies," which was a stationary regiment, was under the command of a colonel with the usual staff of officers. The Company of Royal Artillery were relieved every seven years from England. The Royal Engineers were under the command of a captain and subordinate officers. There was a civil department, with clerks. The ordnance store- keeper and tlie barrack-master had their deputies and AND AS IT LS IN 1877. 335 clerks.* Tho naval estahlishmunt has for a long time been removed from Newfoundland to Halifax and Ber- muda. One or two men-of-war are usually on the station for the protection of the fisheries. There is no militia in Newfoundland, but there are two volunteer companies. The war establishment in Newfoundland costs Great Britain over $200,000 annually. The Chief -Justice was also Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, which made his salary considerably more. The fees of the Attorney-Gene- ral were very small, and the Legislature thought proper to allow him $1,250 per aimum in lieu of these fees, mak- ing his salary $3,500 per annum. The fees of the Solicitor- GenertJ were about $200 per annum, in lieu of which the House of Assembly voted him a salary of $1,000, besides which he received $500 a year as Master-in-Chancery, the duties of which were merely to take a few messages from the Council to tho Assembly, accompanied with two or three bows. The salary of the Surveyor-General was raised from $1,500 to $2,500, besides the allowances. The office of Private Secretary to the Governor was attempted to be abolished when the term of the then Governor expired, but it is still retained. In addition to his salary of $2,500, the Secretary of the Colony in 1854 received as Clerk of the Council $1,000, and a further sum of about $500 for receiving the amount of sales of Crown Lands, &;c., making his salary altogether upwards of $4,000 per annum. The Treasurer of the Colony, in addition to his salary of $2,500 received $500 more as Cashier of the Savings' Bank. It had long been the practice to exact for every commission issued from the Secretary's oflSce from one to five guineas. The writer paid one guinea for the first commission he received. For the second he was asked five guineas but refused to eubmit to so unjust a tax, the commission was, however, given. The Collector of Customs received, in addition to his salary, $1,000 as ! i All the military have been withdrawn from the Colony. 336 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, i ' #'X •il»V *■ «*i '^.;»I1 ^tki i?3r' Speaker of the Hou.se of A.SHembly. Previous to the year 1847 the salary of the Sheriff of the Northern District, averaged from 200 to 350 dollars per annum, whikt the salary of the Sherift' of the Central District was nearly $4,500 per annum — the disproportion. The salary of tlie Sheriff of the Central District, for a population of 25,000, now receives $3,250, while the Sheriff for the Northern District, for a population of 50,700, receives $1,250, and the Sheriff ot the Southern District, for a population of about 16,000, receives $1,000. There should be a sheriff for every district. I know of no colony or country in America without a sheriff for every county or district except Newfoundland. The salary of the Clerk of the Southern County Court some years ago was $500 ; it was afterwards rained to $1,000 per annum. The duty of the office was to attend the judge on circuit once a year, which occupied nearly two months. The remaining ten months of the year the clerk remained in a remote and almost inaccessible part the district ; until within the last two years (owing to the want of roads). The colony annually paid $5,750 per annum for the hire of two vessels to take the Court on circuit, in addition to which a saloon was fitted up and a well-supplied table of the edible and potable. The sitting of the Court in some places was a mere mockery, and in other places it did not sit at all, although it would have been previously announced to do so by the Governor's proclamation. This state of things strongly reminds one of the good old days of the Fishery Admirals and Float- ing Surrogates. In 1847, the acting Judge refused to take a prisoner from Harbour Breton to Burin Gaol, be- cause it would lessen the dignity of the Court by making the ship a prison, in consequence of which the following expedient was adopted to get rid of the prisoner : A fish- ing boat was bound to Hermitage Bay, on board of which he was put, the master of the boat receiving strict injunc- tions to conceal from the prisoner the place of destina- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 337 tion, but, as soon as they arrived at Hermitage Bay, to tell the prisoner to make off as fast as possible. There ought to be District Judges, as there are in Canada. One of the clerks in the Secretary's office, in addition to his salary of $1,000, received $1,000 more as Clerk of the Legislative Council, and an additional sum as Marshall of the Court of Vice- Admiralty. The other clerk of the Secretary's office received a further addition to his salary as clerk of the Building Committee, &c. Of all the fore- going offices, there are but four filled by natives of the colony, one of whom was appointed Treasurer of the Colony in 1849. ' It was exceedingly trying to the minds of respectable, intelligent natives to see men from afar filling offices un- der the Government of their own country, and receiving large salaries, which they would be glad to fill as effi- ciently for half the amounts the incumbents were re ceiving. The following is an extract from the editorial of one of the Conception Bay Heralds (1853) : — "None but vagabonds are encouraged in Newfoundland. The selfish, unscrupulous pretender is just the sort of plai t that thrives best in our soil The man who, in addition to an incorrigible stupidity, can bring his conscience to acquiese in anything touching his own gain, or that of his own patron, is what we want here. Are there any such in the adjacent Pro- vinces? Let them come hither, and we will -^^sure them success. Nay, have not many of them come hii'v ;: already and reaped their harvest 1 Let the public answer." Since that time, and consequently since the introduc- tion of Responsible Government, soiii^: of the highest offices in the Government are filled by Newfoundlanders (a number of stipendiary magistrates, Custom-house offi- cers, and numerous others), so that now Newfoundlanders have no cause to complain that they are, left in the cold shades. I if' rt;j mi ¥:% % 338 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, On the introduction of Responsible Government, in 1855, the salary of the Governor of Newfoundland was reduced from $15,000 to $10,000 per annum (it is now $12,500). There was also a reduction made in the sala- ries of all the other Departments. The following are the salaries of the other North-American colonies : — Canada $50,000 per annum Nova Scotia 12,000 " New Brunswick 12,000 " " Prince Edward Island 8,000 " British Columbia and Vancou- ver's Island 8,000 " Manitoba 8,000 " North West 6,500 " " Quebec 12,000 " " Ontario 12,000 " The salaries of the officials of the Government of New- foundland were paid in sterling morney — or nearly five dollars in the pound. Before the introduction of the Responsible Government of Newfoundland, the Council consisted of nine mem- bers, who were appointed by the Crown, who were both Executive and Legislative ; all the members of which be- longed to St. Johns. Of these, live were merchants, one a barrister, and the remainder officials of the Govern- ment. Five were Episcopalians, one Roman Catholic, two Congregationalist, and one Presbyterian. Six were Englishmen, one Irishman, one Scotchman, and one Nova Scotian. ' The House of Assembly sat quadrennially. It was composed of fifteen members : Three for the district of St. John's. Four " " V Conception Bay. One " " Trinity Bay. One " " Bonavista Bay. ■'. One " " Fogo. One " " Ferryland. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 339 ■; ,' Two for the district of Placentia and St. Maiy's. One " " Burin. One " " Fortune Bay, Having the following occupations: — Merchants, 4; trades, 3 ; lawyers, 3 ; editors, 2 ; doctors, 1 ; lieutenant, R.N., 1 ; surveyor of roads, 1. Eight were Roman Catho- lics, five were Episcopalians, and two Congregationalists. Six were natives, three Irish, three English, one native of Prince Edward Island, one of the Island of Jersey, and one Nova Scotian. The following were some of the annual expenses of the Legislature at that time : — Legislative Council. Pay of members at $210 $1,.580 00 '• Clerk 1,000 00 " Usherof the Black Rod 500 00 " Master in Chancery 500 00 " Door keeper and Messenger 350 00 • S3,930 00 House of Assembly. Pay of Speaker $1,000 00 " 6 out post members at $315 each 1,890 00 " 8 St John's members at $210 each 1,680 00 " Sergeant-at-Arms 500 00 " Chairman of Supply 250 00 " Clerk , 1,000 00 " Assistant Clerk 500 00 " Solicitor 750 00 " Two Doorkeepers and Messenger 700 00 " Librarian 250 00 " Reporting and Publishing 1 ,200 00 " Printing 3',500 00 " Council 3,930 00 Total $17,150 00 I;M 340 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ i,53^i«. 4:5 V!,!, m4 i« The following is the length of Session of the General Assembly: — Year. 1833 1 1834 1 1835 1836 1837 1838 1 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 Do. ) Special ) 1846) 1847) 1848) 1849 J 1850 From Jany. 1 . July 12 . Jany. 29. Aug. 26 . Jany. 8 . Jany. 7 . Jany. 3 . June 20 . Aug. 20 . May 17 . Jany. 3 . Janv. 2 . Nil Jany. 17. Jany. 10. Jany. 15. Jany. 15.. June 16 . Dec. 1 . Dec. 14. Jany. 28. To July 9... Aug. 1 . June 12 , Sept. 20 , May 12 , May 6... Nov. 18 . Aug. 13 . Oct. 25 . Oct. 12 . April 29 . April 26 . May 22 . April 29 . April 23 . April 28 . Aug. 4 . Jany. 14. April 23 . April 30 . Days in Session. } 240 I Remarks. 161 115 ni 139 122 149 118 116 126 111 99 104 50 44 150 93 Includes an adjou] days, from May 9th. ent of 38 ih to July Met in consequence of the city of St. John's having been de- stroyed by tire. 9 Acts passed. 22 Acts passed. 19 Acts passed. Owing to the irresponsible system of government, the Governor of Newfoundland, on his arrival, is always sur- rounded by the same men who composed the little coterrie, or "family compact," — who held office, time immemorial, as an hereditary right, which had been regularly trans- mitted from father tu son. Of course the policy of the Governor was in a great degree influenced by the irre- sponsible persons that composed his Council, who were adepts in state craft and diplomacy. The reader will per- ceive that the Legislature of Newfoundland is based on professed Liberal principles, but which in reality is a little castle of despotism, which had already been scattered by the lightning of public opinion, and only wanted the AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 341 the General thunder of a free press, to make it totter, fall, and become a ruin. What is called "Responsible Government," had been conceded by the Home Government to the neighbouring British Colonies* This system of Government is composed of two district Councils, an Elective and Legislative, and all heads of Departments are appointed from the majority of the political party of the Representatives of the people, from whom also the Executive Council is selected. Every Government ought to be the mere exercise and reflection of the public mind, ^and the public will. The people should be the father, the government the child. During the last Session of the amalgamated Legislature in 1847, Mr. Kent, a leading member of the House, intro- duced a series of resolutions, embodying the principles of Responsible Government, which passed the Legislature by a majority of one vote. Subsequently a petition was sent to the Home Government, praying that the same privi- leges of Responsibility as had been given to the neigh- bouring colonies, may be conceded to Newfoundland. But Earl Grey, the then Secretary of State, thought it inexpe- dient for the present, so far as Newfoundland was con- cerned, to test the truth of the political axiom, that " Free- dom is the only certain cure for the evils of Freedom." In order to carry out the system of Responsible Govern- ment in Newfoundland, an increase of Representation was absolutely necessary. In the first Legislature in 1834, Mr. Kough introduced a Bill to increase the Representation to 25 members, which, however, did not pass. In 1844, the late Mr. Barnes, one of the most talented natives of the country, brought in a Bill, which contemplated a division of the Districts, as well as an increase of Representatives. This Bill met with a most determined opposition from the Roman Catholic members of the House, because it divided the Roman Catholic districts, and very justly apportioned members according to population, instead of extent of territory. In all countries Representatives are ill ■ U ' ! ' m [!!■■ St ' \l ■ 1 I! i.V'"!ll1 V \ 34^ NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, given according to fopulation, not extent of territory, and the reader will see the justice of Mr. Barnes's division of the Districts, by observing that Placentia and St. Mary's for a population of 6,471, returned two members, while the District of Trinity, with a population of 8,801, returned only one member. It is said Mr. Barnes had a majority to carry his Bill through the House, but consented to withdraw* it on the promise of Sir John Harvey, the Governor, that the Bill should form the basis of the new Constitution of Ne^r- foundland, which would take place at the termination of the amalgamated Legislature. The promise, however, was not fulfilled. A Bill was brought before the House of Assembly in ] 852, for the increase of Representatives to 25 members, leaving the divisions and districts as at pre- sent. After some time, an Act passed, making the number of members of the Assembly 30, and the Legislative Council 12, with an Executive Council of 7. The follow- ing are now the divisions of the districts : — District of St. John's East 3 members. " West 3 fl f " Harbour Grace 2 " ■^ I v>'ai oonear ••.•••«•*••* ••••••.. x g-^^ " Harbour Maine 2 §^ I " Port-de-Grave 1 " Q [ " Bay-de-Verds 1 Trinity ..., 3 Bonavista 3 Twillingate and Foga 2 Ferryland 2 " Placentia and St. Mary's.... 3 " 1 " Burin 2 Fortune Bay 1 •' BurgeoandLaPo^le 1 " The terms of Whig and Tory, are scarcely applicable to Newfoundland. The struggle has always been between AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 343 . . 3 members. the Roman Catholics and Protestants. The former voting for the Roman Catholic candidate, and the latter, with but few exceptions, voting for the Protestant candidate. The Protestants are called Conservatives, and the Roman Ca- tholics, Liberals. The introduction of Responsible Govern- ment met with great opposition. The old oligarchy were very tenacious of life, hence their cries of " innovation " — old paths well enough — departed glory — and "Ichabod." But theSe hostile demonstrations to the march of enlight- ened public opinion, were but the spasmodic death-throes that precede expiring life. Responsible Government is nothing more or less than the principles of the British Constitution, referring to which, the celebrated statesman, Fox, said: " The greatest innovation that could be introduced into the Constitution of England was to come to a vote that there should be no innovation in it. The greatest beauty of the Constitution was that in its very principle it admitted of perpetual improve- ment, which time and circumstances rendered necessary. It was a constitution the chief excellence of which was that of admit- ting a perpetual reform." The Protestants were opposed to Responsible Govern- ment, on the ground that Roman Catholics would monopo- lize all the offices of trust and emolument. But this was impossible, if the Protestant voters did their duty, there being a majority of 10,000 Protestant votes in the dis- tricts. It was not until the arrival of Governor Darling, in 1855, that the system of Responsible Government was fully inaugiirated, when the Hon. John Kent became the Premier, and Philip F. Lyttle, Esq., Attorney -General. Although Newfoundland is not at present a pprtion of the Dominion of Canada, yet we hope, at no very distant day, to see this, the only unconf ederate British possession in North America, united to Canada. Her amalgamation would develop her great resources, especially her minerals and fisheries. Lines of steamers for the conveyance of ; I 5 344 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, goods and passengers would run from Quebec to St. John's, calling at the intermediate ports of St. George's Bay, Bay of Islands, &c. New life would be diffused into the \ arious fisheries, and agriculture and manufacture would receive a fresh impetus. The principal objection to con- federation is the erroneous notion to make no change, to keep things fixed just as they are. Dr. Arnold says : — " There is nothing so revolutionary, because there is nothing so unnatural, and so convulsive to society, as the strain to keep things fixed, when all the world is, by the very law of its crea- tion, in eternal progress. And the cause of all the evils in the world may be traced to that natural, but most deadly, error of human indolence and corruption-that our business is to preserve, not improve. It is the ruin of all alike, individuals, schools, and nations." The following are the Governors of Newfoundland from the earliest period : — 1728 Osborne 1786-88 Elliott 1731 Clinton 1789-91 Milbanke 1737 Vanbrugh 1792-93 King 1740 Lord Graham 1794-96 Sir J. Wallace 1744 Sir Charles Hardy 1797-99 Hon. W. Walde- 1749 Rodney grave 1750-52 Drake 1800-1 Sir 0. M. Pole 1753-54 Bonfoy 1802-3 Gambler 1755-56 Dorrill 1804-6 Sir E. Gower 1757-59 Edwards 1807-9 Holloway 1760 Webb 1810-12 Sir J. Duckworth 1761-63 Graves 1813-15 Sir R. G. Keats 1764 68 Palliser " 1816-17 Pickraore 1769-71 Hon. J. Byron 1818-25 Sir C. Hamilton 1772-74 Shuidham 1825-34 Sir T. Cochrane 1775 Duff 1834-41 Prescott 1776-78 Montagu 1841-46 Sir John Harvey 1779-84 Edwards 1847-52 Sir J. G. LeMar- 1782-85 Campbell cha,nt AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 945 1853-55 Sir Buillie Hamil- 1864-66 Anthony Musgrove ton 1867-75 Col. Sir Stephen J. 1855-57 Darling Hill, C.B. 1857-64 Sir Alexander Ban- 1876 Sir John Glover, nerman In Newfoundland there is no direct taxation, the reve- nue is principally derived, from duties on imported goods. The following is the Newfoundland Tariff, 1870 :— " According to Revenue Act passed 1875 : Horses, Mares, &c., each . . . . $ 2 30 Pigs and Calves 23 Oxen and Cows, the $100 .... 5 00 Ale, Porter, Cider and Perry, the gallon . 10 Apples, the barrel 30 Bacon, Hams, Tongues, Smoked Beef and Sausa- ges, the cwt 2 00 Beef and Pigs' Heads, salted and cured, the brl. of 200 lbs 60 Biscuit or Bread, the cwt. . . . . 07 Butter, the cwt 112 Cheese, the cwt. ...... 1 60 Chocolate and Cocoa, the lb . . . . 04 Cigars, 5 per cent, ad valorem and the M . 2 64 Coffee, the lb 06 Coal, imported or brought into the port of St. John's, the ton 25 Confectionery, the cwt .... 3 50 Feathers and Feather beds, the lb . . . . 05 Fish — salted, dried and pickled, the cwt . 1 32 Flour, the barrel . ' 20 Fruit, dried, the lb 04 " Other descriptions, (except Apples) the $100 5 00 Lumber, the M 1 00 Molasses, the gallon 06 Oatmeal, the barrel 20 Indian Meal and Pease, the barrel . . 15 Pork, the barrel of 200 lbs ... . 1 00 I i l|: N * ^ '■ I \i 'If 346 NEWFOtJNDLANB, AS IT WAS, Salt, the ton ...... Shingles, the M Shooks and Staves, (manufactured and dressed) the $100 Spirits, viz. : — Brandy or other Spirits, not herein defined or enumerated, and not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's Hydrometpr and so in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon All other Spirits, of greater strength than forty- three over proof, shall be deemed to be undefined Spirits, and subject to duty accordingly Hum, not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's Hydrometer, and so in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon .... Gin, not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's Hydrometer, and so in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon .... Whiskey, not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's Hydrometer, and so in proportion ■ for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon .... Cordials, Shrub and other Spirits, being sweet- ened or mixed, so that the degree of strength cannot be ascertained as aforesaid, the gallon Sugar — Loaf and refined, the cwt " Unrefined, the cwt " Bastard, the cwt Tea — Souchong, Congou and Bohea, the lb " All other sorts, the lb Tobacco — Manufactured, the lb " Leaf, the lb " Stems, the cwt Timber, the ton .... Vinegar, the gallon Wines, viz.: — Champagne, the gallon Port and Madeira, the gallon ^ 20 40 20 00 1 60 1 00 1 20 1 50 80 3 50 2 00 2 50 05 12 12 07 50 30 10 2 00 1 50 AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 347 Sherry and Mazanilla, 12J per cent, ad valorem, and the gallon Spanish Red, Denia, Sicilian, Figuera, Red Lis- bon, Common, Cape and Malaga, the gallon Claret, the gallon Hock, Burgundy and Light Rhenish Wine, the gallon ....... All other wines, 12 J per cent, ad valorem^ and the gallon Ready-made clothes, viz.: — Coats, jackets, trow- sers, waistcoats and south westers, the $100 Stockings, shirts and drawers, (made by hand and not woven) the $1 00 Mantles, dresses, cloaks, sacks, the $100 Candles, the $100 Manufactures of wood, (except cabinet wares, musical instruments, and agricultural im- plements) the $100 Empty casks of all kinds, not containing mer- chandise — including fish boxes and returned casks, the $100 Packages in which dry goods are imported, $100 Fresh meat and poultry, the $100 Anchors and chain cables, copper and composi- tion metal for ships, viz. : — Bar bolt, and sheathing ; nails ; iron, viz. : — Bar, bolt, sheathing and sheet ; wrought nails ; cord- age and hemp cables ; oakum ; canvass ; corks and corkwood ; pitch, tar, resin, raw turpentine ; fishing tackle, masts and spars ; sheet tin and soldor; machinery and parts of machinery, imported for the use of foun- dries, factories, mills, or other purposes; staves, undressed ; oats, rice, indian corn, bran, barley, medicines, the $100 Goods, wares and merchandize, not otherwise enumerated, described or charged with duty in this Act, and not otherwise exempt, the $ 90 70 40 50 80 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 00 20 oa 20 00 13 00 5 00 8 00 13 00 ll:: 1 . 5V MH NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, i i " LOCAL DISTILLATION. Brandy, not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's Hydrometer, and so in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon Gin, not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's Hydrometer, and so in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon Whiskey, not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's hydrometer, and so in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon ..... Rum, not exceeding the strength of proof by Sykes's Hydrometer, and so in proportion for any greater strength than the strength of proof, the gallon "TABLE OF EXEMPllONS. 1 20 1 00 1 00 75 Printing Presses, Printing Paper (Royal and Demy), Printing Types, and all other Printing Materials. Printed Books and Pamphlets, Maps and Charts. Coin and Bullion, Hemp, Flax, Tow. Fresh Fish, Bait. Wheat, Eggs. Plants, Trees, Shrubs. Unmanufactured Wool and Raw Cotton. Specimens illustrative of Natural History. Works of Art, viz. : Engravings, Paintings, and Statuary, not intended for sale. Articles imported for religious purposes and not intended for sale. Manure of all kinds. Agricultural Implements and Machinery imported by Agricul- tural Societies for the promotion of Agriculture. Arms, cloth and provisions for Her Majesty's land and sea forces. Passengers' baggage, household furniture, and working tools and implements, used and in the use of persons arriving in the island. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 340 Refuse rice, seeds for agricultural purposes. Vegetables of all sorts. Hides and pieces of hides, not tanned, curried or dressed. Coals (when not imported or brought into the Port of St. John's). Articles of every description imported for the use of the Gov- ernor. Donations of clothing specially imported for distribution gra- tuitously by any charitable society. Cotton Yarn. Pig Iron, Coke. Bark for Tanning Leather. Sulphuric Acid, when used for the manufacturi^ A manure. Twines, to be used in manufacturing nets in this colony. Dye Stuffs. Junk, Old Iron, old copper, and composition-metal. Articles for the official use of Foreign Consuls. Steam engines, boilers, propellers, water wheels and saws, when used in the original construction of steam boats built in this island, mills or factories, also crushing mills for mining purposes. Philosophical instruments and apparatus, including globes, when imported and for the use of colleges and schools, scientific and literary societies. Materials for sheathing the bottoms of vessels, such as zinc, copper, and composition-metal, together with nails, paper or felt, which may be used under the same. Live sheep, sand, woollen yarn, and corn for the manufacture of brooms. "It shall not be lawful for any importer of dried fish to ware- house the same in any of the ports of this colony or its depen- dencies, without the payment of the duty hereinbefore imposed ; and the provisions of any Act of this colony with regard to the warehousing of goods on the first entry thereof, or to the allow- ance of drawbacks upon exportation, shall not in either case apply to or be construed to apply to such fish. Provided, that the section shall not apply to such fish of British catch and cure, unless otherwise declared by proclamation of the Gover- nor, published in the Eoyal Gazette. "All yachts sailing under warrant of the Lords of the Admi- m 1 i^A •:1 ■ ■■■> ■ % ' ■'% 350 NEWFOUNDLAND. AS IT WAR, ralty, or belonging to the Royal Yacht Club, shall be i xcmpted, on view of the said warrant, from payment of all local duties whatsoever." The Reciprocity Treaty between the United States and the British Colonies expired in 1865, and has not yet been renewed. The revenue in 1853 amounted to $400,000. Revenue and expenditure in 1856 : — Revenue. Customs revenue £91,023 17 Lightdues 6,034 15 6 Rents of Crown lands, &c 814 7 3 License fund — fines and forfeitures .... 930 5 Fees from public officers 543 13 10 North American clergy estimates 300 Consolidated Stock 17,941 5 4 Patents 15 Postal revenue 565 2 Telegraph (labourers) 56 6 8 Duties on spirits distilled in the colony 305 19 8 Unappropriated penitentiary funds 150 6 6 Premium on Consolidated Stock 465 19 6 Miscellaneous 688 2 Total £118,831 15 8 Or $574,158 00 Expenditure. , Civil Department £7,456 13 4 Customs establishment 5,458 9 1 Judicial Department — salaries and con- tingencies 5,847 10 9 Police and magistracy 5,721 Ecclesiastical establishment 300 Legislative department 5,720 5 9 AND AS IT TS IN 1877. 351 :91,023 17 5,034 15 6 814 7 3 930 5 543 13 10 300 17,941 5 4 15 565 2 56 6 8 305 19 8 150 6 6 465 19 6 688 2 18,831 15 8 $574,158 00 67,456 13 4 5,458 9 1 5,847 10 9 5,721 300 5,720 5 9 Pt*n«ona and gratuities Printing and stationery Gaol expenses Coroners Repairs of court-houHo and gaols Relief of the poor, including sick paupers, lunatics, &;c. Postages and incidentals Roads and bridges Light-houses Fuel and light Education Interest on loans Public institutions St. John's Rebuilding Act Election expenses and registration Crown Lands Act, including Government house Loans paid off ; Ferries and packets Shipwrecked crews Steam communication Public buildings Breakwater and public wharves ..." Postal Act Construction of pumps, &;c Electric Telegraph Company Quarantine Act, &;c Protections of fisheries, &c St. John's Hospital Insurance on public buildings Penitentiary Commissioners Night watch Jury Act Miscellaneous Total . • • • • • • £1,257 5 4 1,122 18 2 1,178 3 1 142 8 6 298 9 11 15,725 8 41 3 11 7,567 9 10 3,473 15 10 050 18 10 8,227 10 8,437 12 9 300 1,192 11 11 13 4 1,399 9 6 ■'i ^ 9,591 12 I 286 2 6 1 I 1 107 14 11 . 1 300 t 1,576 16 1 • ! 86 14 2,119 17 9 ' 279 5 2 • 2,000 ■ 20 6 10 * 451 2 6 2,513 13 i ■ 185 15 4 j • 1,305 14 2 . 1 ; 102 4 5 ,''.■',/' 45 7 4 3,343 10 11 f ■ ]%■ ■ .' £105,845 16 5 Or $529,225 , ''i 1 1 i 1 ' i 11 1^'; 352 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ' Statement showing the total amount of the Revenue and Expenditure of the Colony of Newfoundland, from all sources, for the year ended 31st December, 1875 : — ' Revenue. Customs, less drawbacks and bounty on shipS built in the colony $784,553 79 Crown lands 3,160 70 Postal revenue ... 12,750 00 License fund 5,532 87 ■ Fees from public offices 4,373 15 Lighthouse dues 28,216 73 $838,587 24 Loans received under Acts of the Legislature and included in the present debt of the colony for public works, hospital, school- houses, &c 110,000 00 $948,587 24 Expenditure. Amount of expenditure, as per Financial Sec- retary's statemenlj .* 861,646 92 Interest on debenture debt $61,436 36 Ditto on floating debt 2,065 10 63,601 46 Customs expenditure 46,235 53 • ■ ■ - $971,383 91 The staple articles of commerce in Newfoundland are fish and oil. The following is the value of imports and exports in 1862 ; — Imports $5,035,410 Exports 5,858,815 Qumtals of dried cod-fish exported in 1862 1,080,069 Tuns of oil . " " 16,637 Seal-skins ". "j^r'""' 268,624 -'. • AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 353 (From the Commercial Journal, September 19.) "TABLE OF EXPORTS; From August 1st to September 16th. Codfish, qtls. Portugal .. Spain Italy British West Indies . . ... Brazils Scotland Other parts Seal Oil, tuns To United Kingdom Other parts Cod Oil, tuns To United Kingdom Other parts. Seal Skins To United Kingdom Salmon, trcs , . .. Mackerel and Herrings, brls. Molasses, pun Sugar, cwt Salt, tons , 1875. 1876. 4,392 2,100 7,220 11,566 9,870 10,146 2,149 4,162 20,542 22,457 ,3 2,134 1,987 804 339 9 700 114 30 1 870 277 400 798 505 3,400 100 301 53,096 840 590 542 TABLE OF IMPORTS. From January 1st to September 10th. 1875. 1876. Bread, cwt 17,416 13,726 Flour, brl 112,784 : 177,310 Corn-meal, brl 3,210 1,841 9,464 Pork, brl 19,224 Beef, brl Butter, cwt Rum, puns 963 Molasses, puns 11,633 W • •• • ■ • 18,370 1,149 2,703 12,370 565 7,554 I • » • • » » ! 'ji\ '%''>' \ I lar? **#••••«• 8,912 703 334,198 429,568 8,539 816 25,920 17,589 354 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Sugar,cwt 11,918 Coffee, cwt 540 , Tobacco, lbs 21-3,254 Tea, lbs 481,915 Soap, boxes 9,636 Candles 1,144 Salt, ton 21,146 Coals, ton 27,777 Pitch and tar 2,168 2.549 Potatoes, brls 7,846 7,655 Oats 27,668 22,'971 Kerosene oil, brls 3,125 2,973 Oxen and cows 1,853 2 811 Sheep 2,413 2',170 The exports of Newfoundland, just before the close of the last war, were as follows : — ' 1,200,000 quintals of dry Codfish, at £2 per quintal £2,400,000 5iO,000 quintals, pickled Cod-fish, at 12s. per quintal 6,000 tons of Cod-oil, at £32 per ton 156,000 Seal-skins, at 5s. per skin 4,666 tuns of Seal-oil, at £36 per tun. . . . 2,000 tierces of Salmon, at £6 per tierce 1,685 barrels of Mackerel, at £1 10s. per barrel 4,000 casks of Caplin, sounds rnS tongues 2,100 barrels of Herrings, at £1 ,%. per barrel. Beavers' and other furs Pine timber and planks 400 puncheons of berries 12,000 192,000 89,000 167,970 10,000 2,527 2,000 2,625 600 800 2,000 Total amount ,. £2,831,528 Or $14,155,640 The value of the imports from the United States m 1849 amounted to £229,279. - 3 ' AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 355 .. 8,912 703 .. 334,198 .. 429,568 .. 8,539 816 .. 25,920 .. 17,589 .. 2.549 .. 7,655 .. 22,971 .. 2,973 .. 2,811 .. 2,170 ►re the close of Der 2s £2,400,000 12,000 192,000 39,000 167,970 10,000 2,527 2,000 2,625 600 800 2,000 .. £2,831,528 3r $14,155,640 ited States iu rce )er les 3er Number of vessels that entered inwards and cleared out- wards of the Island of Newfoundland during the year 1856. COUNTEIES. Inwards. Outwards • No. Tons. Men. No. Tons. Men. United Kingdom British Possessions . . France 191 626 23 93 112 11 32 2 174 48 • 4 1 33,302 59,494 491 11,508 14,824 1,816 6,094 411 23,782 6,462 3,120 338 1,822 3,909 65 805 916 95 316 19 1,181 405 167 16 114 614 5 71 93 36 17,316 68,512 85 8,320 12,211 4,424 1,033 4,216 13 Spain 617 Portusral 784 Italy 295 Germanv Denmark 1 76 30 98 120 9,330 4,479 20,447 7 United States Spanish West Indies . . Brazils , . . 508 253 1,134 Austria St. DominsTO 2 550 19 Total 1327 161,640 9,716 1140 145,849 8,879 Ships entered in 1860 1,421 Ships cleared " 1,290 The amount of coin in circulation in Newfoundland is said to be usually over £200,000 sterling, or $1,000,000. Silver coin from almost every country is in circulation ; the principal part of the silver, however, is Spanish coin. £ s. d. One pound sterling is equal to 1 3 4 currency. A shilling " " 12 Sixpence *' " 7 1 he rule is : to convert sterling into currency, add one- sixth, and to convert currency into sterling, subtract one- seventh. Dollars and cents have never beon substituted as the currency. The following will show the state of the Savings' Bank, which is under the direction of the Local Government; — 356 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, , Assets and Liabilities, 31st Dec, 1856. Assets $617,496 Liabilities 545,425 Surplus of Assets $71,071 There was a Branch Bank of British North America established in St. John's for about seventeen years. The first draft of this Bank was drawn on London, December 14th, 1836. It was closed in 1853, and the building occu- pied as a Bank was purchased by the Commercial Bank- ing Company of Newfoundland. There is now, besides the Savings' Bank, the Commercial Bank and the Union Bank. These, with a branch of the Savings' Bank estab- lished at Harbour Grace, in Conception Bay, are the only banking establishments in Newfoundland. The following is the number of vessels entered and cleared in the various harbours of Newfoundland, engaged in the Foreign Trade, during the year 1833, exclusive of those entered and cleared at Labrador : — St. John's, entered and cleared vessels - 455 Harbor Grace, &c. - - - - 105 Burin - - 45 Trinity Bay 37 Fortune Bay 34 Twilingate and Fogo, &c. - - 30 Ferryl -nd 25 Placentia 10 St. Lawrence 9 Bay of Bulls 3 Of these vessels — 753 298 To Great Britam. 193 Foreign Europe, and Brazils, 182 British America. v. 72 West Indies. 8 United States, 753 AND AS IT IS IX 1877. 357 imercial Bank- is now, besides md the Union ;s' Bank estab- y, are the only )h entered and idland, engaged 13, exclusive of Number of registered vessels that cntere 2 9 3 40 37 Tons. 10 79 11 11,230 1266 126,862 699 2,2.56 1,321 2,518 2,911 21,172 1,022 111 737 213 3,146 4,874 Men. 1,284 5,779 704 175,609 7,356 43 112 81 156 16(5 1,256 60 9 45 13 207 30(5 92 458 .52 10,412 i i : S ; i V ■■■:* ■ ■■:! ■ 1 : "^ ''■i I- to; ■■%w .S58 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Number and tonnage of Spanish vessels that loaded with fish since 1834 : — ^ uintals fish. -S 1 ' 3 o J 3« !>H > H :^ O* >^ > 2,841 s •y 1834 10 1,48!) 105 2,5881 1841 24 262 55,141 1835 11 1,505 140 3,1103 1842 28 3,344 313 67,:i06 1836 13 1,792 147 3,5944 1843 42 5,049 472 96,994 1837 19 2,(J18 220 5,1062 1844 46 5,470 494 106,;i58 1838 18 2,196 200 4,2705 1845 82 9,740 849 180,682 J8;il» 25 8,459 294 6,1395 1846 28 3,146 279 55,9()9 1840 1 ^« 1,987 236 4,2697 1847 44 5,682 431 96,673 SHIPS BUILT IN THE COLONY. No.. Tons 1840. 1841. 1842. 1843. 1844. 1845. 1846. 1847. 1848. 31 1659 33 1783 32 1553 24 1192 25 1281 32 1607 31 1723 17 854 19 794 i 1857. 68 3377 SHIPS OWNED AND REGISTERED IN THE COLONY. On 31st Dec, 1844 844 On 31st Dec, 1845 907 On 31st Deo. 1847 .... ...950 On 31st Dec, 1848 954 On 31st Dec, 1857 1115 There are twenty-six light-houses on the coast of New- foundland, besides the iig- it-houses en the French island of St. Pierre. The following is a description of the lights : — " St. JohrCs. — Two red Hghts are exhibited, intended as lead- ing marks for vessels entering the narrows. " Fort Amherst. — This is a stationary light, on the southern head of the entrance of St. John's harbour, first established in 1813. AND AS IT IS IN'1877. 350 that loaded 262 313 472 494 849 279 431 55,141 l{MJ,;i58 180,682 96,673 17. 1848. 1857. 17 19 68 54 794 3377 COLONY. 548 ..m 357 1115 oast of New- i'rench island )tiou of the «nded as lead- tlie southern established in " Cape Spear. — This is a powerful revolving light, burning at (in elevation of 275 feet above the level of the sea, and showing ii brilliant flash at intervals of one minute. In clear weather it may be seen from sea, in any direction, at the distance of thirty-five miles. " Harbour Grace. — This is a powerful fixed light, situate on Harbour Grace Island, in Conception Bay, extending easterly or seaward, in a direction by compass from north to south-west. " Bonavista. — This l^jht revolves every two minutes, showing a red and white flash alternately ; and it is elevated 1 50 feet above the level of the sea. "St Peter* s. — A light house has been erected by the French Government on Galantry Head, near Cape Noir. Tlie light is a fixed one. It burns at an elevation of about 210 fecit above the level of the sea. It may be seen (in passing from N. N. W. to N. N. E.) at the distance of eighteen or twenty miles, in clear weatlior. In passing by the north it is shut in by high land from N. N. E. to W. N. W. " Ferryland Head Light. — First exhibited on the 1st October, 1871. From sunset to sunrise, a steady white light of the 3rd order, burning on a brick tower 200 feet above the level of the sea, visible in favourable weather sixteen nautical miles. It is situated in lat. 47° 00' 58''' N, and long. 52° 51' 07" W. The tower is of red brick ; the ke-^per's dwelling, detached from the tower, is painted white and the roof red. " Cape Fins. — This light-house was erected by the British Government. The building is of iron. It is situated 246 feet above the sea, and the light is 74 feet from the ground, making it in all 320 feet above the level of the sea. Tlie contractor was A. Gordon, Esq., Civil Engineer, Greenock. The building and light are similar to that erected by the same gentleman on the south-eastern end of the Bermuda Islands, and which is said to be one of the finest in the world. The following are the light dues : — One shilling per ton on all vessels entering any port or harbour of the colony, except coasting and sealing vessels ; but not to be levied more than once in any one year. Six pence per ton on registered vessels of forty tons and up- wards. Under forty tons, fifteen shillings per annum, or three dollars. No greater sum than £25 sterling is to be levied in any one year for light dues on auy one steamer or vessel enter- ic I i. 360 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, i-'ti-f """H, Z^***! ing any port in the colony ; and no steamer plying between Europe and North America, and entering any port of the colony, as a port of call, to be liable to pay any light dues, or other port charges, except pilotage. " Harbour Grace Beacon Light — This is a harbour light, placed on the Point of Beach, at the entrance to Harbour Grace. " Green Island Light, at the entrance of Catalina Harbour, Trinity Bay. Situate in lat 48° 30' 16" N., Ion. 53° 2' 4" W. This is a fixed white light, burns at an elevation of 92 feet above high water, and in favourable weather will be seen E. N. E. seaward, to S. W., 15 nautical miles. Vessels bound north- ward, by keeping this light open with the north head of Cata- lina, until Bonavista light opens with Cape St. Jean, will give the Flower Rocks an ample berth ; or, when coming from the northward and bound for Catalina, by giving the N. Head a moderate berth, you will clear the Brandies Rocks by steering for Green Island Light. It was first exhibited in 1857. ^^Gape Race exhibits a revolving white light. From sunset to sunrise the light is visible to seaward, from N. E, by E. round by the S. E. and S. to W. The light is elevated 180 feet above the mean water level of the sea, and may be seen in clear wea- ther r9 nautical miles from a ship's deck. The tower is striped red and white, vertically. It stands close to the old beacon, which has been cut down. The lighthouse is in lat. 46° 39' 30" N., Ion. 53° 4' 30'' W., and was first exhibited in 1856. " Cape Race Steam Fog Alarm. — A powerful steam whistle has been placed on Cape Race, about 520 feet south of the lighthouse, which is sounded during thick or foggy weather, or snow storms, for ten seconds, with intervals of silence of fifty seconds in each minute. The whistle will probably be heard in calm weather, 20 miles ; with the wind, 30 miles ; and in stormy weather, against the wind, from seven to ten miles. " Doddinghead, Great Burin Island, Light. — This light was put in requisition on the 3rd August, 1858, and is exhibited every night from sunset to sunrise. It is revolving cato-dioptric of the second order, producing a brilliant white light every minute, burning at an elevation of 430 feet above the level of the sea, and in favourable weather can be seen 20 miles. Situ- ated in 47° 0' 26'' north lat.,. 55° 8' 43'' west Ion. I"'l Ir AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 301 " 1872 — Puffin Island, (treenspoyiL- The. lighl-lioiiso on thifi island is built of granite, with the tower and keeper's dwelling attached. The illuminating apparatus is dioptric of the 4th order, and a fixed red light is exhibited from sunset to sunrise. It is 85 feet above the level of the sea, and in clear weather should be seen a distance of 1 2 miles. The light is visible from N. by E. through S. to W. by N. by compass, and is situated in 49° 3' 37" N. lat., and 58^ 32' 27'' W. Ion. "No. I, 1873 — Belloram Fortune Buy. — A fixed white light is exhibited nightly at this place from sunset to sunrise, at an elevation of 35 feet above the level of the sea, and in clear weather should be visible seven miles. The building is a wooden tower, painted white, and is situated in lat. 47° 29' N., and 55" 27' 15" W. Ion. The apparatus is dioptric of the 8th order, with a single argand burner, and illuminates an arc of the ho- rizon of 270°. In entering the harbour the light must be kept on the port hand. "No. 2, 1873 — Rose Blanche Paint. — This light-house is built of granite, up on the eastern head. The tower and keeper's dwelling are attached. The illuminating apparatus is dioptric of the 4th order, and a fixed white light is exhibited from sunset to sunrise, at an elevation of 95 feet above the level of the sea, and should be seen in clear weather 13 miles. Shag Island, Black Rock, bears west from the light, and distant about one mile ; Rose Blanche shoals, W. S. W., half a mile ; and Petite Black Rock, E. by S., 3 miles. "No. 3, \S73—Fort Point, Trinity.— A fixed light is exhibited nightly, from sunset to sunrise, upon a wooden tower, painted white, and at a height of 75 feet above the level of the sea, and should be visible in clear weather for 1 1 miles. The erection is situated in 48" 21' 55" N. lat., and 53'' 20' 51" W. Ion. The apparutUi^* is dioptric of the 8th order, with a single argand burner, and illuminates an arc of the horizon of 320.° In enter- ing the harbour the light must be kept on the port hand. " Offer Wadham Island Light. — Was first exhibited on the 4th October, 1858, and is lighted every night from sunset to sun- rise. The light is a steady, fixed lens-light, burning on a cir- cular brick tower, 100 feet above the level of the sea, and can be seen in a favourable state of the atmosphere 15 nautical !• i ti I .S02 NKWFOUNDT.ANT), AS FT WAS, t 1 I •I •I 1 I 3*; miloH. Sitnatod in latitiulo 49'^ IW 0" North lonfiitudo 53° 45' n West. " lUuralU'u hlaml Li(/hf. — This li^ht is cxhihiU'd overy iii<,'ht from tlu» }j;oin^ jiway of daylij^ht in tho evening to the return ot daylight in the morning. Tlie liglit-house situated on the northern ent l/ujht — Was put into requisition on the 20th September, 18G0 ; it is a revolving cato-dioptric light of the first order, producing alternately every minute a brilliant red and a white light, burning at an elevation of 300 feet above the level of the sea, and will be seen in a favourable state of the atmosphere 20 niuitical miles from the vessel's deck ; situated in 4()^' 40' 30" N. hit., 54" 11' 34" W. long. The tower is of brick, and on eacli side of which stands the dwelling of the keeper and assistant, the sities of which are painted white, roofs red. " Brunei Mand Light, Mercer's Head, Fortune Bay. — First ex- hibited 27th June, 18G5. It is a powerful flashing white light, and attains its greatest brilliancy every ten seconds. It burns at an elevation of 408 feet above the level of the sea, and in clear weather may be seen at a distance of 35 miles, and be visible in every direction from Noi th, round East and South, to W.N.W. Mercer's Head is a bold headland, and situated in long. 55° 50' 30" W., and lat. 47" 16' N. ** No. I, 1874. Cann Island, Seldom- come-hy. — A fixed white light is exhibited nightly at this place, from sunset to sunrise, at an elevation of 85 feet above the level of the sea, and should be visible 12 miles. The tower and dwelling are of wood and attached, and are situated in latitude 49° 35' 05" N., and longi tude 54 ' 10' 33" W. The apparatus is dioptric, of the 8th order, AND Art IT Irt IN 1877. nnn udo r)T 4r)' f, witli ii siiij^lc arj^and burnor, and illiiniiimt<'s »\\ arc. of tlu^ iKtrizoii of .'i27 '. " iVo. 2, IH74. Hour 14(111(1, nunjco. — A Jixed nil Vv/,hl\Hr.x- hil)it€Hl nightly attliiH placo, iVoiii HttiiHi^t to Huni'iH<', iit an uU*- viition of 210 feet al»oV(» tho wm, atiq »o eo 52 r-( >2 CO JS w I !S 152 •^ poo '*'e9» UJ COM >00 (N O © rH to 'rfaaiio tCooffl«OiO'*eoeot^rHi«osoBrtb. 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J3'§ ^M * S,B.S u eu Sh c M ^•i; fi " s eo'*»a©t-fla.7!haC-efi' ^9ouo6 ao^gsasss fl s « o o ■s ,£3 a £ 4) a 1 "3 a e CO 3 a I •s CO s o 1 s Q a: O i I '; I ■ ! , I* II' mV'JM !»**• I i 368 newfoundland, as it was, Population, &€., in 1869. 146,536 — consisting of Roman Catholics 6 1,040 ; Church of England, 55,184 ; Presbyterians, 974; Congregationalists, 338;Wesleyan Methodists, 28,990 ; other denominations, 10. Number of churches, 235. Population in 1874. The Electoral Districts 148,919 French Shore 8,651 Labrador 2,416 Twellingate and Fogo Undertaken 1,450 Total 161436 The following is a brief sketch of the rise and progress of the different religious bodies of Newfoundland: — Church of England. Mr. Aikins says : "The missions of the Church of England in the present British North American Provinces were set on foot, and 'sup- ported principally by the agents of the Society for Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This Society, originating in the pious efforts of Dr. Bray, was incorporated by Royal Charter, from William III., in 1761, with the avowed object of provid- ing for the maintenance of ministers of the Church in the dif- ferent * Colonies, Plantations and Factories ' of Great Britain, by means of gifts and contributions to be obtained in England. " The following particulars, gathered from the published pro- ceedings * of this Society, will suffice us in tracing the progress of Church missions in these Provinces from their commence- ment in the 18th century to the establishment of the first Colo- nial Bishopric : " The spiritual destitution of the settlers in Newfoundland * Hawkins' Mission of the Church— Reports S. P. G. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 369 161436 1 Newfoundland was among the earliest objects of the Society's solicitude. We find the following remarks in their first report, published in 1704: " * Newfoundland has several settlements of English, with many occasional inhabitants as workers, mariners, &c., at the fishing seasons, to the amount of several thousands ; but no public exercise of religion except at St. John's, where there is a congregation, but unable to sustain a minister.' " In May, 1703, the Rev. Mr. Jackson, then residing at St. •Tohn's, who had been previously depending for his maintenance on private subscriptions, was adopted as a missionary of the Society, at a salary of £50 per annum, assigned to him for a period of three years. " In 1705, a memorial was presented to the Society by several merchants trading to Newfoundland, praying that two mission- aries might be sent to St. John's, and engaging that the people of the country should contribute to their support. The Rev. Jacob Rice was sent out about this time, by the Bishop of London, whether in accordance with this request or not, is uncertain. "Again, in 1729, we find the inhabitants of Trinity Bay, in Newfoundland, petitioning for a missionary to be sent among them, and at the same time offering to contribute towards his support, and to build a church. The Society sent them the Rev. Robert Killpatrick, with a salary o^ £30 per annum. After remaining there for a short time, he removed to New York. About the year 1736, he returned to Trinity Bay, where he was welcomed by a numerous congregation, and remained among them till death in 1741. He represented the average number of his congregation at 250 in summer, and that at Old Perlican at 200. " The Rev. Heury Jones was settled at Bonavista in 1725, and received a gratuity of £30 from the Society that year, which was afterwards continued to him. In 1734, he represented his congregation to be in a flourishing condition, and the number of his communicants increasing. Within the period of eight years, he baptised 114 persons, five of whom were grown-up persons. Mr. Jones was engaged for twenty-five years in mis- sionary labours at Newfoundland. He established a school at Bonavista in 1726, and in 1730, he had nearly completed the •t • , Pi ,-<^ .'f". |i ! ' 370 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, orection of a church. After the death of Mr. Killpatrick, he officiated at Trinity Bay until the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Lindsay to that mission in 1749. The Rev. Mr. Peaseley, of Trinity College, Dublin, was appointed resident missionary at St. John's about the year 1745. Mr. Peaseley officiated to a crowded congregation at St. John's, and occasionally visited the out-harbours. He was removed to South Carolina in 1750. " The Rev. Edward Langman, of Baliol College, Oxford, was appointed to succeed Mr. Peaseley, as missionary to St. John's and the out-harbours, at the request of the inhabitants, among whom he had been residing for some time previous.* On taking possession of his cure in 1752, Mr. Langman found the number of communicants to be thirty. Of the two hundred families which composed the population of St. John's at this time, forty were of the communion of the Church of England, fifty-two Roman Catholics, and eight Dissenters. t In 1759, he visited Placentia Bay and baptised fifty persons, nearly all adults. In the summer of 1760, he again visited the out-harbours, and by his report it appeared that there were in Reneuse, twenty-five families of whom were Protestants, and the Irish Romanist population 140 souls. In Fermense, nearly the whole popula- tion amounting to 100, were Roman Catholics. Ferryland. 64 Protestants and 86 Roman Catholics. During this visit, he baptised 38 children. In 1761, he found at Bay of Bulls, 45 families, of which 37 were Roman Catholics. About 1762, a church was erected at St. John's, under the direction of Mr. Langman, which was not completed until 1773. This indefati- gable missionary continued to discharge these laborious duties until his death, which took place in 1783. His allowance from the Society was £50 per annum, and he represented the little gratuities he received from his flock as being inconsiderable, and that * he had to go and beg from them as a poor man would for alms.' He appears to have lived on terms of Christian fellow- ship with his neighbours of other denominations ; several families of Dissenters attending on his ministry, and receiving the holy communion from his hands. He was succeeded at St. John's by the Rev. Mr. Price. " In 1768, the Rev. Laurence Coughlan, who for three years * Report S. P. G. 1745. t Reports S. P. U. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 371 previously had been residing among the iuhabitaiitH of IJarhour Grace and Carbonear, was appointed a missionary of the Soci- ety, and preached in Irish. His congregation frequently included many Irish Roman Catholics. The natives attended his preach- ing very constantly, and he administered the sacrament once a month to from 150 to 200 communicants. ** The Rev. James Balfour was appointed missionary at Trin- ity Bay, with the out harbours of Old and New Perlican and Bonavista, in 1765. In acknowledgment of his services his parishioners, soon after his arrival, built him a house. But after nine years' labour in this mission, which was not less than forty miles in circuit, he was removed to the more important station of Harbour Grace, left vacant by the resignation of Mr. Cough- Ian in 1773,* In a letter dated 1778, Mr. Balfour reported the population of Harbour Grace to consist of 4,462 Protestants and 1,306 Roman Catholics; the number of communicants varying from 150 to 200. " He was succeeded in this mission by Rev. John Clinch. In 1787, a memorial from the inhabitants of Placentia Bay was laid before the Society, stating their willingness to contribute to the support of a clergyman in their settlement. His R. H. Prince William Henry, afterwards King William IV., then in command of a ship of war on the station, contributed hand- somely towards the erection of the church, and presented them a set of communion plate, t " The condition of Newfoundland at the period treated of in the foregoing pages presented dangers a ^xl discouragements to missionary enterprise far surpassing any ai! uculties experienced by the messengers of the Cross in that country or any other portion of British America at the present day. The population of the island was of a much more fluctuating character than at present : it consisted of a few thousands, principally poor fish- ermen, thinly scattered among the innumerable bays and har- bours of more than a thousand miles of northern seaboard, in- accessible, except by water, from the rough face of the land and the total absence of all roads. The missionaries were compelled '.t ij' ( !!'• for three years * Hawkins' Missions. t His widow, t' i pT jeno Queen Dowager Adelaide, is said to have lately contributed to wa ^ ^ne rebuilding of this church; .!'/ f 1 !' 'm^' ^**»» ■\\' 372 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ to tmvol grtnit distjincoH by wutor, puHsiug round headland^ and promontaries t'xpoaod to tlio swell of the wide Atlantic, in opon boats and small fishing vessels, in order to reach the scattered stations under their spiritual caro. In addition to the hardships and privations attendant on the [lerformances of their duties, many of those men had to subsist on the scanty pittance of £30 or £40 assigned to them by the Society for Propagating the Gospel, then in its infancy. " In 1798, the Society for Propagating the Gospel having taken in consideration the state of the missionaries in Newfound* land, their labours and dangerous duties, were induced to in- crease their salaries, not however in equal advance, but accord- ing to the situation and circumstances of each mission. This year we find the Rev. John Harris zealously engaged in forward- ing the etection of a new church at St. John's, the first one hav- ing been erected in 1790. The Rev. Mr. Jenner was in charge of the missionary stations of Harbour Grace, Carbonear, and Port de Grave, Conception Bay. Mr. Clinch, then at Trinity Bay, had charge of Old Perlican and several other stations, and Mr. Evans was resident missionary at Placentia Bay. The church schools at Bonavista, Burin, Scilly Cove, and Harbour Grace were in a prosperous condition. "In 1814, David Rowland was stationed at St. John's; F. H. Carrington, Carbonear and Harbour Grace ; J. Clinch, Trin- ity Bay ; the mission at Placentia, vacant. There were also six Church schoolmastera in the island. "Tn Newfoundland, the Church during this period can scarcely be said to have kept its ground ; there had been no in- crease in the number of missionaries for ten or twelve years, and for a great part of the time but three resident clergymen in the island. Each missionary had a salary of about £100 per annum, in addition to the Government allowance, and there were also four or five schoolmasters with small stipends. In 1817 two new missionaries came out and the salaries were in- creased to £200 per annum by the Society. " The Bishopric 'of Nova Scotia had been resolved on in 1784, and Dr. Chandler, of New York, fixed upon to fill the see. He declined the dignity, and recommended his friend Dr. Charles Inglis, formerly rector of Trinity Church in that city, who had for many years taken an active part in the discussions relating AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 373 to American epiBcopacy. Dr. Inglis war accordingly consecratod first Bishop of Nova Scotia, in 1787, with eclesiastical jurisdic- tion over the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick and the Island of Newfoundland. '' On the death of Bishop Inglis, which look place in 1816, the Rev. Dr. Stanser, rector of St. Paul's, Halifax, was elevated to the Bishopric by the recommendation of the Governor, Council and Assembly, and Dr. John Inglis appointed to the vacant rectory, and, at the same time, made Ecclesiastical Com- missary. At the period of the Bishop's appointment there were but fourteen clergymen of the church in the Pi'ovince of Nova Scotia, and six missions vacant. During the following seven years the clergy had considerably increased, their number in 1824 being as follows — viz., 24 in Nova Scotia, 14 in New Brunswick, two in Prince Edward Island, and one in Cape Breton, all missionaries of the Society. '' About the year 1822, the Rev. Robert Willis, Rector of St. John, was appointed Commissary of New Brunswick, and the Rev. John Leigh, Commissary of Newfoundland. Each made a tour of visitation through the various missions under his superintendence. " Bishop Stanser's health declining shortly after his appoint- ment, he went to England, and the care of the diocese devolved on Dr. John Inglis, Ecclesiastical Commissary of Nova Scotia, who was appointed bishop in 1825, on the retirement of Bishop Stanser from the See. " The new bishop immediately divided his diocese into four Archdeaconries. The Rev. Dr. Willis was appointed Archdea- con of Nova Scotia and Rector of St. Paul's, Halifax ; the Rev. Mr. Best, Archdeacon of New Brunswick ; the Rev. A. G. Spencer, Archdeacon of Bermuda, and the Kev. George Coster, Archdeacon of Newfoundland. The latter gentleman was after- wards removed to New Brunswick."* In 1827, Dr. Inglis the Bishop of Nova Scotia, visited Newfoundland. It was the first time a Protestant bishop ever was in the country. At the time of the bishop's visit * Vide, ** A Sketch of the Rine and Progress of the Church of Enfjfl.ind in the British North American ProvinceH." ■'. ..i4 ';^<'li 5''^< I 111. <'i J>J' n '!';iif ill:: 874 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \ there were 600 communicants, 23 schoolmasters, and the following clergymen : — Venerable Edward Wix, Bona- vista. Archdeacon of Newfoundland ; Rev. P. Perring, Ferryland ; Rev. Allan Coster, Green's Pond ; Rev. John Burt, Harbour Grace and Carbonear ; Rev. Charles Black- man, Port-de-Gravo ; Rev. F. A. Carrington, St. John's ; Rev. William Bullock, Trinity Bay ; Rev. Otto S. Weeks, Assistant; Rev. John Chapman, Twillingate ; Rev. James Robertson, station unassigned. Newfoundland was erected into a separate diocese, in- cluding the Bermudas, in the year 1839, and Aubrey S. Spencer, Archdeacon of Bermuda, consecrated to the new see. Bishop Spencer came from England to Newfound- land as a missionary about the year 1819. He was appointed Archdeacon of Bermuda in 1827. v " At my consecration," says Bishop Spencer, " to the See of Newfoundland I found only eight clergymen of the Church of England in the whole colony ; the Church itself in a most dis- organized and dispirited condition; the schools languishing, many of them broken up. The clergy of Newfoundland are maintained mainly by the nobh; Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, but the people are called on by the bishop to provide a house and a small stipend, according to their respective means, for their several missionaries." On the arrival of Bishop Spencer, he immediately established a Theological Institution for training young men for the ministry. He also divided his diocese into three rural deaneries — ^^Avalon, Trinity and Bermuda. In his letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in 1841, the Bishop says : — " In the course of my visitation during the present year, ^ have travelled by land and water 1,118 miles ; visited 35 sta tions ; confirmed 1,136 persons; consecrated six churches; originated or assisted in the building of 21 new churches; ordained two priests and eight deacons ; and founded or restored more than 20 day-schools and Sunday-schools." AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 375 The following Returns are given in the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in 1843 : — Newfoundland. Number of clergy - - 27 Teachers and readers - 5 1 Bpt'd. church members 30,054 Communicants - - 1,491 Pupils in Sunday-schools 3,253 do in day schools - 2,397 Schools - - - - 66 Bermuda. 9 - 20 - 9,728 . 1,122 - 667 - 838 - 19 In Bermuda there is a school-house in every parish, principally designed for the instruction of the coloured population. Four clergymen receive assistance from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ; five are paid by the Local Legislature, and three are paid as chaplains to the convicts and dock yard. On the 21st of August, i843. Bishop Spencer laid the foundation stone of a Protestant Cathedral.* Towards the erection of this building the sum of £4,000 was raised in St. John's, and £2,000 in England. In 1843, Bishop Spencer was removed to Jamaica, and left St. John's in Sept. of that year, the see remaining vacant until 28th April, 1844, when Dr. Edward Field, of Queen's College, Oxford, and Rector of English Bicknor, was consecrated bishop and proceeded immediately to take charge of the diocese. He arrived at St. John's on the 4th July follow- ing, and the same season made a visit to some of the distant settlements of the island, in the church ship, a beautiful schooner expressly fitted up in London for the use of the bishop, and the gift of an English clergyman. An account of the bishop's visitations will be found in various parts of this volume. Bishop Field increased the Deaneries of Newfoundland from two to six. The bishop spent two winters in Ber- muda and gi-eatly extended the interests of the church * See " Wandering Thoughts," by B. Tocque. — page 346. ■i 376 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, % there. In 1846, after the great fire at St. John's, Bishop Field visited England, and obtained the consent of the Secretary of State to the appropriation of £15,000 towards the completion of the Cathedral, which had been com- menced by Bishop Spencer (St. John's church having been burnt the same year). The money was collected under the sanction of a Queen's letter, in the churches of Eng- land. The nave of the Cathedral is alJ that has yet been finished. It was opened for worship by Bishop Field in 1850. It is built of beautiful cut stone, and estimated to cost $200,000. Bishop Field proposed that each member of the church should annually subscribe five shillings, or one penny per week, to assist in the maintenance of the clergy. The church has a beautiful cemetery at the head of Quidi Vidi lake ; at the entrance is a little chapel. In this cemetery repose the dust of the Rev. Charles Black- man, Ven. Archdeacon Bridge and the Rev. G. J. Moun- tain. The salary is derived from an annual grant of £500 made by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and £500 from the annual vote of the British Govern- ment for the North American Clergy, making, altogether, a salary of £1,000 or $5,000 per annum. The schools of " The Newfoundland and British North America School Society," established in 1823, are all church schools. In 1846, some modification of the rules of the society were made, and the society constituted the " Church of England Society for Educating the Poor of Newfoundland and the Colonies." The society at this time had 44 prin- cipal and branch schools in Newfoundland, with 3,593 scholars. The Rev. T. F. H. Bridge, A. M., was superin- tendent, and the schools were placed under the control of the bishop. In 1848 the Society appointed a new super- intendent, the Rev. Thos. Dunn. In 1853 the Society was constituted the " Colonial Church and School Society," with the Rev. Johnston Vicars as superintendent. In 1854 the Society employed the following agencies: — Clergy- men, 3 ; catechists and schoolmasters, 28 ; female teachers, AND AS IT IS IN 187^ 377 14. In 1856 the Rev. Dr. Hellmuth, of Canada, was appointed General Superintendent in America, and in 1858 Mr. Marmiott was appointed superintendent in Newfoundland. The following is from the report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel : — " This diocese has heen exposed to severe trials and losses during the past year. For neaily a quarter of a century the Rev. T. F. H. Bridge, promoted in 1850 to the honorary Arch- deaconry of Labrador, was the most active and energetic clergy- man at St. John's. He was Vicar-General and Ecclesiastical Commissary to two succeeding Bishops, and took a leading part in every scheme that was set on foot for the moral and religious welfare of the island. This laborious clergyman, whose life was probably shortened by his unsparing devotion to his high, and, at times, overwhelming duties, died on the 28th of Feb- ruary, leaving a blank not soon or easily to be filled. "It is right that the following tribute to his memory, though printed elsewhere, should be also recorded here. It occurs in a letter from the bishop, dated March 5th, 1856 : — " * I have just performed the saddest and most painful duty that can fall to a bishop's lot, by consigning to darkness and inaction his eye and his hand, — in the person of the most fond, faithful, and efficient Archdeacon that ever any bishop was served by. " ' The newspapers which I have sent will supply all neces- sary information, and spare me the pain of enlarging on a sub- ject so distressing. " ' I had gone (on the 10th ultimo) to take the place of one of my overworked clergy to the Mission of Island Cove and Conception Bay — a mission with four churches and 2,000 souls, left without shepherd and without service. The missionary (C. Walsh), who had been laid up for two months with a dan- gerous sprain, was removed to Harbour Grace for rest and medical attendance. I had purposed to remain, if necessary, till Easter, in the fisherman's cottage in which Mr. "Walsh resides when at home. I had, however, scarcely been absent from St. John's a fortnight, when I was summoned back by a report of the Archdeacon's dangerous illness. T arrived on Monday, tJie 't i It; ' ■w* fell Sill f I H '3 il^ 378 EWFOUNDLAND, ASHT WAS, 25th ultimo, and had the melancholy satisfaction of watching by his bed three days and three nights, till he passed, I tmst into that day which is not succeeded by night. " ' Never was a more real case of a man worked to death. Finding that he could no longer afford a curate (and, if he could I know not where he could have procured one), he laboured more abundantly and unceasingly than ever ; for nothing could prevail with him to lay aside a single service or duty once entered upon. The consequence was foreseen, I believe, by many, and foretold by more than one ; and by myself reprc sented to him repeatedly, but to no purpose. His sun has gone down while it was yet day. It is impossible to describe the sensation, the grief, and distress, caused by his death, though you may gather something from the account published in the paper.' " The Society now employs (1873) thirteen catechists and teachers, sixteen female teachers, and five trained pupil teachers. Schools in operation : — St. John's 3 Outports 17 Total number of pupils on the books : — Boys 1,204 Girls 1,157 Total. 2,361 The following is an extract from the report of the Education Committee of the Legislature : — " The Committee learn from the report of the Local Associ- ation in aid of the Colonial and Continental Church Society (formerly the Newfoundland School Society), that it has com- pleted the fiftieth anniversary of its establishment in this colony. To that Society the people owe a debt of ternal gratitude, as it was the pioneer of popular education in this land, and admit- ted to its schools the youths of both sexes aad of all classes, at a time when no public provision was made for any kind of pnb- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 379 lie schools. Instituted by benevolent founders in the old coun- try, it supported, unaided, for many years, the cause of popular I education here ; it continues to contribute to the colony nearly 3,000 per annum, and expends those funds, supplemented by j a grant of £500 sterling from the Legislature and private sub- 'scriptions (in all nearly $10,000), in a more successful manner than any local institution. Its schools are attended by nearly 2,000 pupils. " The Committee desire to draw special attention to these facts in connexion with the above-named Society, so that any step may be carefully avoided which may tend to detract from its usefulness and value to the colony.' " In answer to the bishop's appeal in behalf of the widow and children of the late archdeacon, a sum of £250 was voted as a contribution to the fund which has been opened, both at St. John's and in this country, for the benefit of the family ; a vote which has been acknowledged by the bishop * with sincere and deep gratitude,' in his own napie and in that of all the parishioners of St. John's, as well as, more especially, of Mrs. Bridge and her family. " About the same time that the church in Newfoundland was deprived of the services of Archdeacon Bridge, another mission- ary, on the opposite side of the island, was lost to the church in a manner still more awful. It is thus that the bishop announces this sad event : — « ( June 25, 1856. " ' With wearied hand and eyes, and a heavy heart, I have now to inform you of another sad vacancy in our small mission- ary band. Poor Mr. Boland was caught in a drift, some time in the month of March, and frozen to death.' " The Society has anticipated the usual application, and re- solved that Mr. Boland's salary be continued to Midsummer, and that a gratuity of £100 be made to his widow. " A third death, though not of a person in active missionary service, remains to be recorded — that of Kallihirua, a native Esquimaux j brought five years ago from Baffin's Bay to this country, by Captain Ommaney, and placed, by the liberality of the Admiralty, at St. Augustine's College, and transferred, in October last, to the Theological Institution of St. John's, where ,1 '■ 1 ' 380 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, 1^*51 -■41 m ;i 'i:^ he died on the 14th of June of this year. * We miss him,' says the .bishop, ' greatly ; he was so gentle, kind, and submissive so regular in his devotions, that he spoke by his actions what he could not express by his tongue.* " The Rev. Jacob G. Mountain was called away last October (1857), from the midst of his unsparing ministerial laboui-s, at the early age of thirty-seven. He died of fever, caught in the fulfilment of his ministerial duty as Rector of St. John's, in which charge (after seven years of solitary and self-denying labour on the rugged shores of Fortune Bay), he succeeded Archdeacon Bridge. Never did any one devote himself more simply to the toils and privations of a missionary life than Mr. Mountain ; and short as that life was, it was rich in evidences of devotion to God's service. It is needlees, however, to dwell upon this subject, as the Society has recently published a nar- rative of his missionary labours, drawn up by himself, together with a very touching memoir written by one of his intimate friends. " The bishop was not only weighed down by sorrow at the loss of so dear a friend, but also much embarrassed by the diffi- culty of supplying his place, both in the parish and the college. Ultimately, Archdeacon Lower, of Montreal, accepted the Rec- tory of St. John's ; and the Rev. H. Petley, M.A., of Wadham College, Oxford, was sent by the Society to fill any of the va- cant missions for which the bishop should consider him best suited* The bishop held an ordination on Trinity Sunday, when the Rev. Josiah Darrell was ordained priest; and Mr. W. W. Le Gallais, deacon. Both had been students of the Theological Institution of St. John's. The Bishop, at the date of his \ast letter (June 11th), was about to embark in long and perilous visitations by sea. He proposed taking with him the Rev. Messrs. Grey and Le Gallais. The visitation, including the missions on the Labrador, would involve not only a great expen- diture of time, but also of money. " On both accounts, and for the further purpose of securing a more effective superintendence over every portion of his ex- tended diocese, the bishop strongly urges its subdivision ; and if this cannot be done by detaching Bermuda, then by the a])- pointment of an assistant or suffragan bishop. The Roman Catholics have already two bishops for the Island of Newfound AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 381 >n, including the )nly a great expen- liind only, and are making arrangemonts for the consecration of a third. " ' I need not,' says the bishop, ' point out the immense ad- vantage tliey obtain by this arrangement, in having their head bishop always at head-quarters, and others at each of the two extremities of this wild country, without roads, and the com- munication by sea (never very safe or certain) closed for half the year. " * The relief, then, which I would suggest and request for my diocese, is the appointment of a second bishop (call him sufFra- <'an or coadjutor, or any other name most correct and orderly), not in the least with a view to my absence from the diocese, but rather for multiplying, if I may so speak, my episcopal presence, as in that case the proverb well applies, qui fecit per alium fecit per 86. A suitable person might probably be found in one or other of the North American Colonies, and he might be conse crated at Quebec, or Montreal, or Halifax, by three bishops of those provinces. " ' I should be quite willing to give up for his support all I now receive from the Society, £500, or, if necessary, all I receive from the Society and Government, £1000 a year. Or I should be quite willing, and in some respects prefer, that another bishop, as Bishop of Newfoundland, should be appointed, and I act as his coadjutor or assistant, retaining the place of Rector of St. John's (which I have assumed) without any stipend, except that of a missionary, and what I could obtain in addition by fees and assistance from our Church Society.' " Whatever may be the result of the bishop's efforts to bring about a subdivision of his diocese, it is impossible not to admire the noble generosity of the proposal." In 1859, the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel again says : — " Long journeys in dog-sleighs over ice, or on foot through swamps and across brooks, sometimes for the sake of visiting a single sick person, are frequent incidents in the life of a New- foundland missionary. But their labours are not in vain in the Ijord ; and the kind welcome of the poor fishermen, as well as their readiness to assist in the work of building new churches i>«»», I 382 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, and school-houses, attest the real value which they set upon the ministrations of the Church. " The best evidence, however, of this is to be found in the largely-increased contributions to the funds of the Diocesan Church Society, which, as will be seen by the following extract from a letter of the bishop, written while he was recently in England (April 25th) was far from representing the whole of the moneys raised by the people themselves : — " * When I first went to Newfoundland ' (1844), says the Bishop, 'almost all the Society's missionaries were receiving £200 a year from the Society ; a few, some three or four (deacons, I believe), only £150. The late bishop (Spencer) had insisted upon this (the larger amount) as necessary, and I am not pre- pared to say he was wrong. But the sums contributed by the congregations were wretchedly small. Since 1846 no fresh missionary has received from the Society more than £100 a year ; and the general contributions of the people have risen from between £400 and £500 a year, to upwards of £2,000 This reduction was made by the Society, and these contribu- tions required of the people, on the understanding that the sums saved by the reduction should be applied to the creation and support of new missions ; the contributions of the people going to make up the missionary's income. And this has been faith- fully acted upon. New missions have been formed, and mis- sionaries placed and supported (without, I think, any additional drain upon the Society's funds) at Channel, La Poele, Hermi- tage Cove, Harbour Breton, Burin, Portugal Cove, and Her- ring Neck in Newfoundland, and at Forteau and Battle Island, on the Labrador. New churches have been built and conse- crated at all those places, and many (sixteen or seventeen) others. Parsonage-houses have been built, or purchased, at Channel, Hermitage Cove, Burin, Portugal Cove, Port de Grave, Bay Roberts, Bay de Verd, Heart's Content, Catalina, Herring Neck, Moreton's Harbour, Forteau and Battle Island. A new school is just completed, and ready for consecration (at a cost of £3,000), in St John's, and a house for the clergyman, with some tenements towards an endowment, at a cost of about £1,080. All these works, and others of a like kind, done and doing without any assistance from the Society for the Propaga- ANDfjAS IT IS IN 1877. 383 they set upon the tiou of the Gospel, almost entirely by the people, with assistance from my own funds. Thus then we have — " ' Since 184G — Nine new missions j four once served by school-masters, now served by missionary priests. "'Twenty-five or twenty-six churches finished and conse- crated. " * Thirteen parsonages built or purchased. " ' New stone church built in St. John's, with parsonage, and partly endowed. " * College built and partly endowed.' •' The bishop remained only a short time in England ; and found, on his return to his diocese, two or three of his most efficient clergy disabled by over-exertion and exposure. There is, therefore, the most urgent need for an immediate reinforce- ment of men. One only, Mr. E. Tucker, a student of the Theological Institution, had been added by ordination ; and he was about to accompany the bishop on his voyage round the island. He reports two encouraging events — a meeting of the Church Society, at which an increase of income over that of former years was announced ; and the consecration of the new church of St. Mary's, on the south side of the harbour — a church long contemplated and much needed." " (l.)*I believe we have for several years raised in Newfound- land (I omit Bermuda, where there is legislative provision) upwards of £2,000 for Church purposes. The Church Society expects every clergyman to send to the treasurer one-fourth of the amount collected in his mission, as the condition of obtaining assistance from the Society ; but if any choose, as many do, to be independent of the Society, I cannot demand either return or report. But what are £2,000 or £3,000 for all church purposes in a colony and country like Newfoundland, where there are no rates, no endowments, no glebes, no kindly fruits of the earth ; nothing but seals and fish, and of these an uncertain and precarious supply ] If a clergyman with £100 a year from your Society could raise another £100 in his mission, a portion would be required for his church, a portion for his parsonage, a portion probably to help a school ; and perhaps not more than * Bishop Field's Letter, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel's Re- port. : * I ; ' } ':t : i / I ,4» i"1 "Si** ■ ^^ ^»*»J, ^••^^ 384 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, half would remain for his personal use. But £100 is consider ably above the average i*aised by each clergyman. " (2.) There is no synod in this diocese. The difficulty of communication with the capital, occasioned by want of roads and want of means, and the paucity of persons able and willing to assist, have prevented any attempt to form and constitute a synod. The acts of the Church Society consist of grants made at my recommendation. We have lately formed a fund for the relief of the widows and orphans of the clergy, in connexion with the Church Society. "(3.) There are four clergymen (officiating) entirely sup- ported by local contributions (there are no endowments), two wholly engaged in and supported by tuition, and one who re- quires no assistance. When I came to the colony, there was not one supported without aid from your Society. "(4.) In the year 1843, when Bishop Spencer retired, it appears by the Society's Report (1844), there were twenty- seven missionaries, receiving together from the Society £4,127; in the year 1860 (by the Society's last Report, 1861) there were thirty-five missionaries, receiving together from the Society £3,975. There are now forty-one clergymen, seven of whom receive no assistance from the Society. This of New- foundland. In Bermuda, in 1843, there were five missionaries receiving from the Society £234 per annum ; there is now only one receiving £60 per annum. "(5.) In Newfoundland and Labrador there are eighty-two churches, forty-seven of which have been consecrated by myself; about twenty are additional, the others new in the place of old ones. There are five on the Labrador shore, and two parson- ages, where sixteen years ago no clergyman's voice had ever been heard. " (6.) The last census was taken in 1857 : — Church of Eng- land, 44,285 ; Roman Catholics, 56,895; Wesleyans, 20,229; Kirk of Scotland, 302 ; Free Kirk of Scotland, 536 ; Congrega- tionalists, 347— Total, 122,594. ** (7.) The increase per cent, has been, in twelve years— 1845-1857— Church of England, 29J ; Roman Catholics, 21J; Wesleyan, 40. "(8.) No immigrants, except youngsters engaged in the AND AS IT IS IN 1877, 385 100 is consider - fishery — some few of whom remain and settle, or rather remain without settling." " The want of an Orphans' Asylum at St. John's, Newfound- land, in connection with the Church of England, was, until lately, much felt. Perhaps in no other country in the world can be found so large a proportion of widows and orphans, at least, of those who are so by their husbands and fathers being drowned at sea. Instances are constantly occurring, where a vessel sails either for or from Newfoundland, and is never heard of again. And owing to the dangerous nature of the coast — the deep water close to the cliffs, which allows a ship in a fog to run unwarned right upon them, owing to the treacherous currents, and the ice which comes down in the spring, shipwrecks are events with which the inhabitants of the country are only too familiar. " As the need of a refuge for widows and orphans was so much felt, the Bishop of Newfoundland purchased a piece of ground near the Cathedral, and on Ash Wednesday, 1855, eight orphans of various ages, between twelve and four years were admitted, under the care of a widow, as matron, into a tempo- rary tenement fitted up for their use. Since then, a substantial stone building has been erected for them, capable of enlarge- ment, which has been now occupied for nearly two years by eleven orphans and two widows, one of them the matron ; near to it is the residence of Mrs. 0. Johnson, and a small chapel used for family prayers by the households immediately adjoin- ing it; beside these is the Bishop's residence, formerly the Rectory, where the lamented Archdeacon Bridge lived and died. Immediately opposite these four buildings is the northern side of the Cathedral, Behind them is a piece of ground on which will shortly be erected schools for boys and young ladies. On the opposite side of the road which runs past the west front of the Cathedral, and immediately opposite the old Rectory, is the new one, now occupied by the Venerable Archdeacon Lower, Gospel missionary. " On Christmas Eve, in accordance with the ancient charita- ble custom of the Church, a large quantity of excellent beef (l,6161bs.) was distributed, under the directions of the church- wardens of the Cathedral, to two hundred and fifteen families, with a loaf of bread to each. And on Christmas day a piece of Uh ,' ' . .1 r* ! 1 PI-! ,.H/'**H li 386 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, plum pudding te> every child, attending the Cathedral Sunday- school, who chose to receive it, immediately after the morning service. The meat, bread and pudding were all distributed in the Crypt of the Cathedral, by a kind lady who takes an active part in all our local charities. '< Several presents of meat, cakes, fruit and preserves were sent at the same time to the children of the Church of England Orphan Asylum, by various benefactors." According to the returns in 1857, the number of clergymen belonging to the Church of England was 41 ; churches, 72 ; population attending church, 42,638. French shore, 1649 ; Labrador, 1,000, and three churches. In 1872, the population had increased to 158,417. Mem- bers of the Church of England, 54,413 ; communicants, 6000 ; clergy, 55 ; parishes or missions, 49 ; local contri- butions, £2,360. Colonial Treasury (Bermuda), £900. The expenditure of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, from the general and appropriated funds was £4,478. In 1867, Archdeacon J. B. Kelly was con- secrated coadjutor bishop. On the death of Bishop Field, Dr. Kelly became the Bishop of Newfoundland, according to the act of the Synod, which in 1873 secured to him the right of succession. The bishop says : — " I am just returned from the consecration of a new church- yard at Topsail, on the south shore of Conception Bay, twelve miles from St. John's. The church has been built and partly endowed by the libei*ality of our most kind and excellent friend Mrs. Johnson, who has given a very neat parsonage and £1,000 for the support of the clergyman. These gifts are be- sides, and in addition to, £300 towards the erection of the church, which has been bronght to completion by the Rev. Charles Palaiser, who has taken charge of the church and dis- trict attached." The Diocese of Newfoundland (patent 17th July, 1839) comprises the Islands of Newfoundland and Bermuda, and • ; AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 387 part of Labrador ; it was forinod from that of Nova Scotia. Newfoundland, with Labrador, has a population of 158,717, of whom 54,713 are members of the Church of England, and 5,000 are communicants. Bermuda has a population of 11,461, of whom 9,477 are members of the Church of England, and upwards of 1,400 are communi- cants. There are in Newfoundland and Labrador 52 missions or districts, 37 being aided by grants from the Society. Eleven are unprovided with parsonage houses. Seven missions, formerly aided by the Society, are now self-suppopting, but progi'ess in this direction is very slow, owing to the poverty of the inhabitants, who are nearly all fishermen. The Bermudas, or Somers Islands, contain nine parishes, under five rectors ; and there are two chapels of ease. Only one clergyman in Bermuda now receives aid from the Society. The Society's expenditure in the diocese in 1875 was £4,525. Local contributions, £2,300 ; Colonial Treasury (Bermuda), £1,100. Bishops.— Dr. Aubrey G. Spencer, 1839 ; Dr. E. Field, 1844, coadjutor ; Dr. J. B. Kelly, 1867.* The following are the missionaries in 1875 : — * Bishop Kelly has now resi^nied. 388 \ NEWFOUNDLAND, AS ITIWAS, I!',.- li'l ' ■f-,4 Thlrty-Hcven Missionaries of the Society. Station. Thr fiisiiop. ObANKRT UK AVAIiON. (1841.) Dobie, R. T 18ti8 Elllngh\m, C 1873 Fleet, B (dec.) 1843 Johnson, R.' M 1860 Waghorne, A. C... 1875 rWood, T. M 1832 Petty Harbour Portugal Gove South Shore Pouch Cove Forryland St. Tho8. in St. John. Dbanery op Conception Bat. (1800.) Chamberlain, G. S. 18C4 Oodden, J 1873 JHarvey, J. C Hoylei, W. J 1843 Noel, J. M 1866 Shears, W. C 1868 Taylor, R. H 1863 Bay de Verd Harbour Grace Port de Grave Carbonear *Upper Island Cove Bay Roberts BriguH Dbanbrt op Tmnitt Bat. (1785.) Netten, W 1843 Petley, H 1867 tSmith, B 1841 Catalina New Harbour. Trinity 1819 1841 1840 1792 1708 1825 1767 1767 1861 1818 1812 1832 1824 1785 Dbanert op Bonavibta. Bayly, A. E. C 1850 Cragg, J. G 1864 Kirby, W 1859 Skinner, H. M 1868 Bonavista 1742 Greenspond 1819 King's Cove 1822 Salvage 1822 Dbanbry of Notrr Dame Bat. (1848.) Hewitt, J 1876 Meek.C 1871 JMurray, F. R 1874 Smith, W.R 1871 Temple, Robert. . . . 1862 Winsor.A. S. H.... 1873 Exploits 1871 Fogo 1823 Twillingate 1817 Exploits 1871 White Bay 1873 Herring Neck 1861 Dbanbrt op Placbktia Bat. (1789.) Darrell, J 1865 Kingwell, J 1841 Lockward, J 1873 Dbanbrt of Fortune Bat, Herring Neck.. 1851 Harbour Buffet 1848 Burin 1794 (District. 1841.) CoUey, E 1864 Cunningham, J . . , . 1849 , Ck)0de, T. A 1870 Netten, T. G 1869 Warren, A. C 1872 JWhite, W. K 1848 Labrador. Hermitage Cove 1864 fThe Burgeos 1818 Channel 1861 La Pofile 1847 St. George's Bay .... 1842 Harbour Breton 1848 (1850.) i Bishop, G 18711 Battle Harbour 1871 i Jeffery, C 1876| Flower's Cove 1876 .as 1^ 16 8 12 240 65 42 300 30 100 a o •a Oh 2405 1288 2180 28860 18000 1052 2712 3000 5600 1706 1500 1666 4441 3362 4670 1759 7000 4032 2400 2438 1573 116 656 628 1870 630 662 1792 2287 1694 808 1200 1365 2298 1636 1500 600 1367 1390 961 1800 1494 1058 68 510 140 660 290 690 610 726 iieo 340 380 660 1300 850 1300 iooo 814 320 750 500 82 68 83 270 180 95 228 255 i27 49 54 195 165 202 92 46 160 195 .. 15099 a c. O d 87 90 m 52 26 260 150 63 43 * Bishop's Cove and Island Cove, 184». t Burgeo Islands, 1848. t Rural Deans Retired Missionary.— Martin Blackmore. 1848. t R">»1 1^^*"" AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 889 Death of Bishop Aubrey George Spencer. "The memory of thisgifit^d young English clergyman, who 80 bravely endured expuRure to snow and tempest in the dis- charge of his duties, at the ont-harbours of Newfoundland, in gpite of delicacy of the lungs, is still cherished by the survivors of those remote times in that inhospitalilo climate, where he laboured unflinchingly for two years — 1819, '20 — until warned by his physician that he must leave the colony or die. "His next move was to Bermuda, where he still worked as a missionary, sharing the income which he received in Newfound- land, with the Rev. George Coster, afterwards Archdeacon in New Brunswick. Soon after Mr. Spencer's arrival in Bermuda, he was appointed rector of two of the small parishes of that island, and his being made a member of the Council increased his usefulness as a missionary. Whilst urging on the island legislature, the necessity of educating the poor slaves, he spared no opportunity of advancing education amongst all classes of the colonists, so that, when the blessed day of emancipation came, there were no heart-burnings between masters and slaves — the former giving up the vexatious system of apprenticeship, and the latter in most instances returning as hired servants to their former masters. In the year 1825,jhis nomination as Archdeacon of Bermuda added to his power of doing good. Bishop Inglis, in whose diocese of Nova Scotia, Bermuda was at that time included, placed implicit confidence in the zeal and judgment of his young archdeacon and commissary, leaving all ecclesiastical matters connected with Bermuda in his hands, and availing him- self of his services (when on a brief visit to Halifax in 1826), in a journey through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. " Whilst on this tour he saw many a scene of interest amongst the ' churches in the wilderness,' but none was ever more strik- ing than the peaceful joy of the 4th of August, 1834, in Ber- muda. In a short time, through the aid of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the free labour of emancipated slaves, he built school-houses to serve as chapels for their use, until further accommodation could be provided for them in the churches. His exertions in the cause of religious education called forth warm praises from the Colonial Minister of that period. He served as missionary for twenty years, till, in the i ''I 390 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ii: ■ft : t ■ p ■.Mi > -:ti^ ^-■| i' .k t '■^^:^ i«ii-i ■^ i.'^ - c^ •.^•^^, V ,-S year 1839, he was appointed first Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda. Through the generosity of the Society for the Pro- pagation of the Gospel, he was enabled to increase the number of clergymen in Newfoundland from six to twenty-six, all paid by the Society. In Bermuda, the clergy were provided for by the island legislature. Small as were the revenues of the little colony, a part was set aside for the maintenance of their pastors. The bishop's first work in Newfoundland was the establishment of a training college in St. John's, and again the Society placed the means at his disposal for a small building to serve that pur- pose, granting at the same time assistance to the parents of the scholars for their support. During the four years that he was Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda, he divided his time between the two colonies, visiting the distant settlements in Newfoundland (including Labrador) in a large sailing-boat, and the nearer out-harbours in sleighs during the winter, braving all the dangerous discomfort of fogs and icebergs during the summer, and of ice and snow drifts in the winter. He collected £7,000 towards a Cathedral in St. John's ; his idea was to erect a building much less imposing than that since raised by the present indefatigable Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda ; still he collected the first money for it. "In the year 1843, on his return from a visitation of Ber- muda, he found a despatch from the late Earl Derby, then Lord Stanley, appointing him Bishop of Jamaica The translation was providential, as he had again been warned that he must not pass another winter in Newfoundland. The bishop passed at once from one diocese to the other, and two years afterwards visited England. At the time of his translation to Jamaica, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel gave generously and freely to that diocese, which included at that time the Bahamas, British Honduras, and the Turks' Islands. The ex- tension of their labours in other parts of the world has caused the withdrawal of these grants from poor Jamaica, though the cry for help which was wrung from the Church of that colony when suddenly disestablished was responded to. The bishop felt that he could never be suflBciently grateful to the Society, and during his year's visit to England, h« continually pressed its claims in meetings and sermons. It was owing to him that the first meeting for the Society was held at the Mansion AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 391 House, and on Good Friday, in the year 1846, he preached the first sermon on behalf of the Society in the Church of St. Pa>il, Knightsbridge, which produced £200, and has passed into an anniversary sermon. " Years passed rapidly away, and with their wear and tear strength departed; yet in 1854 he made a thorough visitation of the island, saw all but one of the 112 clergy employed in the 104 churches of Jamaica, and confirmed 8,370 persons in sixty of these churches ; travelled 1,640 miles by laud ; consecrated twelve churches and burial-grounds ; held three ordinations, and preached between seventy and eighty sermons, besides ad- dressing the congregations and candidates for confirmation, and examining the pupils in many schools. He returned to Eng- land too late to see a beloved daughter, who had entered into her rest, after years of patient sufferiijg, a fortnight before his arrival. Utterly debilitated from the strain of body and nerve in a tropical climate, the bishop prayed for ^he relief of a coad- jutor. With much difficulty this was obtained, and, in 1856, Archdeacon Courtnay was consecrated Bishop of Kingston. "It was some time before Bishop Spencer, exhausted by thirty- six years of labour in the colonial church, regained sufficient strength to resume work. When able, he took confirmations for Bishop Blomfield. In 1860, after a series of confirmations undertaken for the Bishop of Worcester, his health again failed. He was ordered to Torquay, and was told to abstain from preaching or public speaking for the remainder of his life. This injunction was, however, set aside when the balmy air of South Devon had in some measure restored his health. He gave fre- quent and valuable help to the then aged Bishop of Exeter. Words fail when I try to express how sincerely and deeply he was loved in Torquay. Long after he had cearv.d to perform the more exclusively episcopal functions, his voice was heard in its solemn tones from the altar of God blessing His people, and feeding them with the Food ordained by Him for their support. Many are the sick-beds which he has soothed and comforted. " There was much happiness in his last days. Such entire reliance on the Saviour's love and merit I never saw. He had worked as few men work for GoD, and yet his feeling was — " * Nothing in my liands I lirinj?, Simply to Thy Cross I cling.' m Tj " . »g : ■ ' ■; fe '' ' my . Ir^- M 1 ii- ix ■ -.yfl 1 1 ^i' , - ■" 'I'M 892 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Submission to that holy Will — the great crucible in which the world is tried and purified — had long been his staff and stay. It was like a voice from the dead to find in Hymns for the Sick and Steering, a mark in one, which must have been the last he read in his peaceful study : — ** * Thou, whose wise, paternal love Hath brought my active spirit down, Thy will I thankfmlv approve. And prostrate at Thy ^acious throne, I offer up my life's remains, I choose the state my God ordains. ^' '* ' Cast as a broken vessel by, Thy work I can no longer do ; But, while a daily death I die. Thy power I may in weakness show ; My patience may Thy glory raise. My speechless voice proclaim Thy praise.' The summons came within a few days. The life-long praye^ that he might be spared a lingering death-bed, and that his mind might be clear to the last, was graciously granted. The shadows of this changing life had passed for him, for his Lord had need of him. Even so, good Lord."* THE LATE BISHOP OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 1 ,*■'■! '* At Bishop's Lodge, Hamilton, in Bermuda, on Thursday, June 8th, at about half-past ten in the morning, the Eight Reverend Edward Field, Lord Bishop of Newfoundland, closed his eyes in death, while the Trinity Church bell tolled forth the sad tidings, which were responded to by the bell of the Parish Church. His Lordship had just reached his 75th year. His death, though not unexpected, will be a sad bereavement, and an event of serious importance to the colony. His suffer- ing had been long and severe. Under it he was remarkably patient, but the summons to the next world was, doubtless, to him a welcome one. " He was educated at Rugby, and afterwards at Queen's Col- lege, Oxford, was ordained deacon in 1828, to the curacy of Ridlington, near Oxford. In 1833 he was Rector of English * Mission Field, 1872. I; !f AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 393 Bicknor, Gloucestershire, when he was the first Government Inspector in England. He was consecrated Bishop of New- foundland, in Lambeth Chapel, by Archbishop Howley, assisted by the Bishops of London and Rochester, Sunday, April 28th, 1844. " The bishop's character was of the true English type, manly, honest, and courageous — never shrinking from duty at what- ever cost. There was always visible in him an entire surrender of himself to the work he was sent to accomplish. He paid a minute attention to detail, especially in Divine service, and in a perfect obedience to the rules of the church. He exhibited a perfect sincerity, warmth of affection, a tenderness and courtesy which became more observable in his declining years. The example he set of faithfulness, earnestness and diligence in dis- charging the duties of his ofl&ce, showed that he thought not of himself, and had no shrinking back when hard work was to be done. Not only did the duties of his episcopal office receive their proper attention from him, but he was alv^ays ready to fill a vacancy which might occur in his large diocese, through the illness or unavoidable absence of the pastor. " He chose for himself the simplest food, and sometimes the barest necessaries of life, in order that he might be prepared to undergo the fatigues, and perhaps the actual want which might be expected in his long absence from home, and on the perilous voyages in which several months of each year must be spent ; and, also, that he might have to give to them that needed. There was never a good work to be carried on in his diocese but he would offer to help it ; no church or school was built but his contribution headed the list to an amount beyond most of those immediately interested in the work. " Like all men occupying high and responsible offices, the bishop was sometimes called to take a step which would pro- bably lay him open to criticism and call forth animadversion and censure ; but when it became evident that it was his duty to act, conscious that to his own Master he must stand or fall, at all hazards he would do that which he thought would best promote the interests of the cause entrusted to him, being those of the church of which he was the chief pastor. He was never deterred by the feeling that it was difficult to himself, or that it was opposed to the opinions If '1 1 i i 1 1 ill %,i 1 t t , ., ( ' 1 ' ) i iii<>ir 394 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, and wishes of those whom, under other circumstances, he would have liked to gratify. '' Soon after his consecration, in 1844, as is remarked in the Bermuda Royal Gazette, when he paid his first visit to the Ber- muda Islands, every one there was impressed with the appear- ance of his robust and powerful frame of body, his apparent strength of constitution, and his capability of endurance, which served to fit him in a remarkable degree for the arduous sphere in which his labour lay. And yet so heavy and trying did he find his work in Newfoundland, so apparently beyond the possibility of being performed by one man, that his courage al- most gave way before it, and he consulted the ecclesiastical authorities in England, as to whether they did not think it his duty to resign, and allow the office to be entrusted to some one stronger than himself. But they encouraged him to persevere ; and, with what results, let his faithful and prolonged episcopate testify. In a more favoured spot and climate, but little idea can be entertained of the greatness of the task imposed on him in Newfoundland, of the toil and exposure he underwent in his yearly visitations along those rock-bound coasts. The great and important fruits of his labours have never been sounded forth to the world for purposes of ostentation or display ; but by those who are very familiar with them, they are said to have been very remarkable. We have not material before us, just now, to enable us to speak particularly of the Bishop's work in his large diocese ; but as we expect to receive them from our correspondents shortly, we hope to be able soon to lay them before our readers. " Every one who knew the departed bishop was able to speak of his personal holiness and devotedness of character, of his consistent walk with God, of the time spent by him in private devotion, of his exemplary employment of the public means of grace, of his humble trust in the merits alone of the Saviour. We cannot doubt that he is one of those whose works do fol- low them ; first in the grateful remembrance of those for whose spiritual welfare he so diligently laboured ; and, in the faithful record of the Most High, whose gracious declaration respecting the man who acts from love to Him is this : — * Verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.' "* * Dominion Churchman. / , AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 395 The following account of the late bishop is written by G. M. J., in the London Guardian : — " His Lordship arrived at St. John's during the summer of the same year of his consecration, the greater part of which was spent in making himself acquainted with the needs of the dio- cese, and in the performance of duties in St. John's and its neighbourhood. Next year the bishop entered upon the first of those visitation voyages, in prosecution of which, with few exceptions, the summer seasons of his wide episcopate were oc- cupied, and continued to be occupied, till the appointment of a coadjutor-bishop, in the year 1867. His first voyage was along the south-west shore of Newfoundland, and he was accompanied as chaplain by the late Archdeacon Bridge, then Rector of St. John's. For several years, his voyages in the well-known Church ship Hawk, given him by the present Bishop of Moray, in Scotland, then Rector of Leigh, in Essex, were literally voyages of discovery — not indeed in the ordinary sense of the term, but voyages which led to the revelation of much spiritual destitution, and resulted in the discovery of the means of lessen- ing, if not entirely removing the wants disclosed. To give any- thing like a complete record of what was done by the late bishop would be impossible. This will be never known till the day that shall discover and make all things known. When the writer of this record first came to the colony there were, on the long coast range, west of Cape Race, but three clergymen, where now there are thirteen. On the Labrador shore, the French shore, and in White Bay there were none, nor was any- thing then known about those places. On the northern coast, which alone remains unmentioned, clergy have likewise been increased and multiplied. In St. John's, during the same time, a cathedral has been built, which, though yet unfinished, is even now second to no ecclesiastical edifice on this side of the Atlan- tic. During the same time a theological college has been estab- lished, good schools for girls and boys in St. John's, and orphanages for destitute children of both sexes have been founded on a secure basis. Endowment funds have been ob- tained for the perpetuation of the episcopate, and for the theological college, and many other works of a religious character, in connection with the church established. It would I. av ■ i /- 396 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, not be easy to ascertain how many churches and parsonages have been built under Bishop Field's episcopate, but it may be stated that of the number of ninety-four churches returned at the time of his last visitation voyage, as distributed among the seven deaneries of the diocese, and six additional ones on the coast of Labrador, undoubtedly a very large number were con- secrated by him. Under his auspices, also, the very important step has been taken, within the last five years, of establishing a diocesan synod, and, we doubt not, very beneficial results will follow to the church in Newfoundland from this measure, of which, in fact, the benefits are already beginning to make them- selves felt in the increased interest taken by the laity in the aifairs of their church. (-■'■■"S'll ■'^:^ fwm WESLEYAN METHODISTS. ^ '^Methodism in Newfoundland wras introduced by the Rev. Lawrence Coughlan, a clergyman of the Established Church of England, in connection with the Rev. John Wesley, as appears from the following account given by Mr. Miles, who says : — " In the year 1765 Mr. Lawrence Coughlan was a travelling preacher in connection with Mr. Wesley. He was in the year 1768 ordained by the Bishop of London, at the request of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, that he might be qualified for the office of a missionary in the Island of Newfoundland. He accordingly went thither, and for three years and upwards he laboured in Harbour Grace and Carbonear without any apparent success, and in the midst of great perse- cution. He was persecuted in the chief court of the island, but escaped the fury of his enemies. In letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, he was accused of almost everything that was bad. When his enemies found that those methods were not sufficient to remove him, they employed a physician to poison him, who was soon aft t wards converted to God, and discovered this wicked design. At length the Lord was pleased to visit this miserable people, and poured out His Spirit abundantly. Many were soon turned to the Most High. Mr. Coughlan immediately united the truly sincere in regular AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 397 dncere in regular classes. On this the persecution grew hotter ; till at last he was summoned before the governor ; but the governor declared in his favour, and appointed him a justice of the peace, on which the persecution ceased, and he laboured for four years in much quietness and with great success. He then returned to England for want of health.* On Mr. Coughlan's departure, Mr. Stretton, a local preacher from Limerick, and Mr. Thomay, another local preacher, both in connection with Mr. Wesley, and at that time merchants on the island, undertook the care of the societies which Mr. Coughlan had formed ; but those gentlemen being much engaged in mercantile business, the societies soon fell into decay. Some years after this Mr. Wesley appointed Mr. John McOeary as a missionary to Newfoundland, who went over accordingly. In 1790, Mr. McGreary, who had returned to England was appointed a second time to that island, with two travelling preachers from the United States ; they were rendered useful to the public. In the year 1791 a favour- able change took place in their behalf. Mr. Wm. Black, who was born at Huddersfield, in Yorkshire, A. D. 1760, visited Nova Scotia. His labours were attended with great success. In the year 1792 he was appointed Superintendent of the whole work in British America." " The year 1791," says the Rev. Dr. Richey, " was one of the most memorable in Mr. Black's life. About three weeks after his return from the States, in pursuance it would seem of an arrangement suggested by Dr. Coke, he sailed from Halifax for Newfoundland. The remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit which attended his labours, transient though they were in that island, form a new era in the history of his ministerial usefulness, and was among the most refreshing reminiscences with which ' the gay remembrance of a life well spent ' solaced the evening of his days. He arrived at St. John's on the 10th of August, and immediately waited on the Rev. Mr. Jones, the Congrega- tionalist Minister of that place, a man deeply pious and of a very Catholic spirit. After spending a day at St. John's he repaired * On Mr. Coughlan's return to England, he became minister of the Cum- berland St. Chapel, London, and while there published a book, giving an account of his work in Newfoundland, dedicated to the (Jountess of Huntingdon. i ■ 398 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, to Carbonear, where Mr. McGeary, a Methodist missionary, was then stationed." During his visit to Newfoundland, Mr. Black visited Harbour Grace and other parts of Conception Bay. The writer has conversed with several old persons at Carbon- ear, who well remember Mr. Black's visit. In the year 1814, Newfoundland was made a separate district, with a superintendent. In 1817 the Rev. John Bell was appointed chairman of the district. About this time several very able ministers were on the Newfound- land District, among whom were the Rev. George Cubit, late editor of the "Wesleyan Magazine and Youth's Instruc- tor," published in London ; the Rev. Dr. Richard Knight, afterwards Co. 'Delegate of the Conference ; the Rev. S. Busby, of the New Brunswick District ; the Rev. William Ellis, who died at Harbour Grace, in 1837 ; the Rev. John Haigh, and the Rev. John Richardson, who died in Eng- land, while superintending the Third Leeds Circuit, in 1847, and who was for nearly twenty years Chairman of the Newfoundland District. In 1824, the Rev. William Croscombe was chairman of the district, and was suc- ceeded by the Rev. John Pickavant, who held the office until his departure for England in 1843. In 1844 the Rev. Richard Williams was sent from New Brunswick, as chairman, succeeded, in 1847, by the Rev. W. Sprague;a short time after succeeded by the Rev. Henry Daniel and Rev. S. Peach. The largest church and congregation be- longing to the Wesleyans in Newfoundland is at Carbo- near. The number of persons belonging to the congrega- tion is about 1,500. The number of ministers throughout the island in 1840, was 14 ; local preachers, 10 ; full members in church fellowship, 2,733 ; Sabbath school Teachers, 170; scholars, 2,018; day schools, 9; the num- ber of persons attending the Methodist ministry, upwards of 15,000. The following is an extract from the London report :— 'M' ■ T AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 399 dist miHsionary, ndon report:— "The Committee report with much satisfaction that Day- schools connected with the missions at Carh ar, Btackfiead, Brigus, Bonamata^ Orand-Bankf and other places, constitute a valuable and useful part of the missionary operations of the So- ciety. These institutions are decidedly religious in their cha- racter and design, while all possible attention is paid by their conductors to the mental improvement of the pupils. Reading, writing, English grammar, geography and mensuration are taught in them. The Scriptures are daily read, portions of them are committed to memory, and catechetical instruction from the Wesleyan Catechisms is regularly given. The scholars attend- ing these seminaries are of all ages from childhood to mature age, and at Carbonear they amount to one hundred and ninety. The Sunday-schools in Newfoundland, as in all the North Ame- rican Districts, have been productive of great good to the rising generation, especially in those cases in which Bible-classes have been established." The ministers have been mainly supported by the Wes- leyan Missionary Society of London. A single man receives an annual salary of £80, and a married man from £100 to £150, according to the number in family. The missions are now nearly all self-supporting. In 1855, the Newfoundland District was incorporated with the Confer- ence of Eastern British America. The Rev. Mathew Richey, D. D., being the first President. |17 According to the returns of 1857, the number of minist- ers was 17 ; churches, 37 ; church members, 20,229. The amount contributed for the Wesleyan missionary in Lon- don was .£698. The minutes of the Conference of 1858 says : — " That the thanks of the Conference are due and are hereby tendered to the Hon. J. J. Rogerson, of St. John's, Newfound- land, for a free passage of the Rev. James A. Duke, to New- foundland, and for his expressed readiness to give a free passage to any other Wesleyan minister who may at any other time be appointed to Newfoundland, when his vessels are coming out.'* We take the following extract from the report of 1857 : " /' ' ' "S u^l 400 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS^T WAS, ■■.,.»)? '^ ''f^!*^ " Through the liberality of the Parent Committee, the means have been provided and a brother has been designated for our new home mission on the Labrador coast. Every year numbers of families leave the Island to pass the summer on this coast, and these have hitherto left behind them the valued means of grace. Now their own pastors will accompany them, to watch over their souls, and to preach to others who otherwise would perhaps never hear the Word of Life." In 1876, there were 60 ministers and 30,000 persons belonging to the Wesleyans in Newfoundland. CONGREGATIONALISTS. The following account was written l»y the late Rev. D. S. Ward in 1842, who was the pastor of the Congre- gational Church in St. John's : — " This church was instituted in the year of our Lord 1778, at a time when there was the greatest imaginable destitution of religious means in this island, as appears from its early records. It ia identified with the Independent or Congrega- tional churches in England, by vrhose benevolent exertions it was originally founded ; it has always been supported by its own pew-rents, and the voluntary contributions of its friends. The first minister ordained in England to take the pastoral charge was Mr. John Jones, who laboured successfully among them for twenty-one years ; and although since his decease it has suffered many vicissitudes, in consequence of its peculiarly isolated situation, it has always maintained a steady and re- spectable position in St. John's. Its present minister left a pastoral charge in Devonshire to take the oversight of this church, in the year 1824, and since that period has continued his labours with encouragement and success. There are three public services on the Lord's day and two in the week. There is an annual fast-day observed, and also a day of annual thanksgiving. The members of this Christian communion are respectable in character and number, and their place of worship is well attended. Their Sabbath-school, supported by volun- tary contributions, is large, and well-conducted by respectable superintendent? and teachers. It may be but justice to say AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 401 that several other places of worship, situated in different pnrt. of the district, originated with them, and were mainly erecU- by their exertions, viz., the old place of worship at Portugal Cove, the place of worship at Petty Harbour, now Episcopal ; the church at Quidi Vidi, raised wholly by the exertions of the minister of the Congregational Church, and constituted the joint property of the Episcopal, Congregational and Wesleyan bodies in this town." On the 16th of August, 1843, the death of the Rev. Daniel Spencer Ward took place, after having presided over the Congregational Church, with distinguished piety and ability, upwards of nineteen years. In 1834, the Rev. Daniel D. Evans arrived from England, and took charge of the church until 1848, when, in consequence of his health failing,he returned to England. In 1849 the *Rev. George Schofield arrived from England, as pastor of the congregation. The Congregational church in St. John's, in 1858 was the only one in Newfoundland, the number of persons attending which was about 400. This church, in addition to the support of its minister, annually raised from £250 to £300 for other purposes — out of which £120 was sent to the London Missionary Society. Mr. Schofield was succeeded in the pastorate of the Queen's Road Chapel by the Rev. Charles Pedley, who was suc- ceeded in 1866 by the Rev. William Howell, the present minister is the Rev. Thomas Hall. The Rev. George Harrington has charge of Pendell Harbour, Smith's Sound, and Trinity Bay. The Rev. J. B. Sear is General Mis- sionary. There are six day-schools in operation. PRESBYTERIANS* The first Presbyterian church ever ferected in New- foundland was commenced in 1843, and opened for public worship, according to the doctrine and discipline of the ■ ! I * Now a Clergyman of the Church of England in the I")i()cese of Freclericton, N.B. ( . '*■ '.'."ti '■.tm '* ' :j 402 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Establishtid Church of Scotland, by the Rev. Donald A Fraser, A.M., on Sunday, December 3rd, of same; year (This church was destroyed by fire in 1876). On the 7th of February, 1845, the lamented death of Mr. Fra.ser took place, in the 52nd year of his age and the 31st of his ministry. The congregation was temporarily supplied with ministers of the Church of Scotland from Nova Scotia, and occasionally by the Methodist and Congrega- tional ministers, until the appointment of the Rev. Mr. King in 1849, who was sent out from Scotland, by the Colonial Committee of the Church. He after some time returned to Scotland, and was succeeded by the Rev. Francis Nicholls. As Mr. Fraser was the first Presbyterian minister ever settled in Newfoundland, (although it is said one lived in Newfoundland in 1777,) the following sketch of him written by his friend, the Rev. John Martin, in 1845, one of the principal ministers of the Church of Scotland in Halifax, N. S., will interest the reader : — " Mr. Fraser enjoyed in early life the important advantages of a liberal and religious education. A native of the Western Islands of Scotland, and a son of the Rev. Alexander Fraser, for many years minister of the parish of Torosay, in the Island of Mull, he received the rudiments of learning under the paren- tal roof and at the parish school, until he entered the Univer- sity. After passing through the regular course of academical education in literature, philosophy, and theology, he was licensed to preach the Gospel, and soon afterwards ordained, whilst only a very young man, to the office of the holy ministry. He officiated for a short time in different places in Scotland, and gave striking indication, even at that early period of his life, of that powerful and persuasive eloquence for which his future public ministrations were so highly prized. Previous to that time petitions had been sent home, to the mother country, from Pictou, for Gaelic ministers, and recent emi- grations from the Highlands and Islands had opened up a very wide field of missionary labour throughout all the eastern districts of this Province. This was the place which the all- i AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 403 wise Providence of God had allotted for Mr. Fraser's ministerial labours, and thither in the course of events, he was soon after- wards led to direct his steps. •' In the year 1817, nearly twenty-eight years a^'o, a year long to be remembered in the annals of our church, being also the year, if we rightly remember, in which the Rev. Dr. George Burns commenced his ministry in the City of St. John, Mr. Fraser landed on the shores of Nova Scotia, and took up his abode in a humble log cabin, among his countrymen in the thick, and then almost impenetrable forests o»" McLennan's Mountain. There, and in the neighbouring settlements in the County of Pictou, he found a great number of warm-hearted Highlanders, from the mountains and glens of Scotland, ready and willing to welcome him, and delighted to meet with a min- ister of their own church, so well qualified to instruct them in the Gaelic as well as the English language. " Being the only Gaelic minister of the Church of Scotland at that time in Nova Scotia, he was called to perform not only the work of a stated pastor to his own congregation, he had also to undertake a vast and almost incredible amount of mis- sionary duty of the most fatiguing description, oHen at an im- mense distance from his place of residence. From his journals and his baptismal and marriage registers, which we have exami- ned, it appears that in the years 1817, '18, '19, '20, when he stood alone and laboured without assistance, he visited in suc- cession, almost every Gaelic settlement from St. Mary's to Wallace, and from Salmon River to Merigomishe, and also found leisure to cross the channel to Prince Edward Island. The early settlers in these places, many of whom are still alive, can bear testimony to his zeal and activity in visiting and in- structing their families, in preaching the Gospel, and in dis- pensing the ordinances of religion among them. " We are not of the number of those who wish to depreciate and undervalue the labours of our predecessors in a past genera- tion, amidst toils and privations of which we can form no adequate conception, men of no ordinary energy and decision, men of faith and prayer, who have now received the end of their faith and patience, even the salvation of their souls. Mr. Fraser had his full share of these arduous and self den3dng, but honourable and useful labours. If not the first Presbyterian 404 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, '^'"*-u .?*'«** minister settled in Pictou, he was unquestionably the clergy- man to whom the Gaelic population felt most attached, and from whom they derived most instruction for many years. " Presbyterians themselves are not suflficiently acquainted with the extent and utility of his missionary labours, either in that part of the Province or in Cape Breton. From documents now in our possession, it appears very evident that Mr. Fraser was one of the principal instruments in providing the High- landers of Cape Breton, as well as his countrymen in Pictou, with acceptable Gaelic ministers. His attention was frequently directed to the spiritual destitution which so long prevailed among the Presbyterians in that extensive island, and amidst his varied and multiplied avocations he was enabled to render them no small assistance. We are inclined to believe that he visited the island several times during his residence in Pictou, although we have only the authentic account of one missionary tour which was so useful in itself and attended with such im- portant results to those islanders that it would be improper to pass it over in silence. " In the month of September, 1828, nearly seventeen years ago, Mr. Fraser, accompanied by the Rev. John McLennan, of Prince Edward Island, proceeded on a missionary tour to Cape Breton, at that time one of the most neglected and destitute spots in British America. Separating from each other at the Strait of Canso, Mr. McLennan proceeded through the settle- ments in the southern part of the island, whilst Mr. Fraser travelled in a northerly direction through the settlements on the Bras D'Or Lake, visiting in succession River Inhabitants, St. George's Channel, Baddeck, and Boularderie Island, whence he proceeded to Sydney. After a stay, which was delightful in everything but its shortness, Mr. Fraser returned again by Boularderie and finally bidding adieu to his countrymen in this sequestered spot, who followed him, to use the language of his own beautiful journal, with prayers and tears, he proceeded by water to the head of the north-west arm of the Bras D'Or Lake, visiting in his progress the coasts and islands of that superb expanse of water, and pursuing his journey to the Straits of Canso, where after many toils and pleasures he once more met with his fellow labourer Mr. McLennan, and accompanied him to Nova Scotia, The lamentable state of destitutiou in AND'ASflT IS IN 1877. 405 which Mr. Fraser found his countrymen on that visit appears to have produced a very deep impression upon his mind, and his earnest and forcible application for assistance will not soon be forgotten. " At a very early period of his life, long before he had arrived at that maturity of understanding and experience which his later ministration displayed, soon after he was ordained by the Presbytery of Mull, in the year 1814, his discourses were not only remarkable for the be&uty and elegance of their composi- tion, but for the earnestness and pathos with which they were delivered. But we have seen that Mr. Fraser was much more than an eloquent and accomplished actor ; he was a most effi- cient and faithful pastor. The value of his public ministrations in Pictou, where he spent such a large portion of his life, is so well known, and so universally acknowledged, that it is unneces- sary for us to dwell at present upon their excellence and i fidelity. " ' As he occupied,' says one of the attached members of his flock in Newfoundland, * a most important station in society, and was a man of rare gifts, a few brief remarks on his peculiar conformation of mind may not be uninteresting to those who know him. One of its leading characteristics appears to us to have been a comprehensive power of intellect that made the discussion of religious and philosophical questions at all times easy to him. On every subject that came within the sphere of his public discourses, he would ponder with a deep earnestness that imprinted the leading features with vivid distinctness on his own mind, and fitted him to impart a strong and permanent idea to the minds of others, while the wide range of his mental vision enabled him to expatiate over the whole extent of his topic, leaving no portion of it untouched, and the keen penetra- tion of his thought probed its very inmost recesses. Enriched with the varied and peculiar learning of his profession, and with a keen relish for the classical beauties of ancient and modern writers, he was usually averse to display the extent of his ac- quired resources ; and in discharging the solemn duties of his high calling he never lost sight of the express purpose and intent — that of enforcing the truths of Christian doctrine, and of more espeeially urging on his hearers to believe, and to con- form their lives to the belief, that it is only through faith in the iM I.'-* :■;:.! i ,'1 • !,'.q|| "i ;i ''•% 1 Tl \ -1 1 i ■ciJW^ ' ^ i i II* 4. 'i 1 1^ I' -3"- 406 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, all sufficiency of Christ's atonement that the sinner can depend for acceptance with his God.' " During the life-time of Mr. Fraser, the question had never been raised, as to whether the congregation should belong to the Free Church of Scotland or not. He has told the writer, however, that if he were in Scotland, he would belong to the Free Church, but that the congrega- tion over which he presided, had all the rights and privi- leges of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. After the death of Mr. Fraser, the question was agitated as to whether the building which had been erected be- longed to the Established or the Free Church, which was eventually decided by the Supreme Court, declaring that the building belonged to the Established Church of Scot- land, in consequence of the Government having given the land for the site of the building for that purpose. The con- gregation at that time consisted of about 500, among whom were some of the wealthiest and most influential persons of Newfoundland. More than half of them separated, and commenced ser- vice in connexion with the Free Church of Scotland, and in 1848, the Colonial Committee of the Free Church sent them over from Scotland, a young man, the Rev. A. S. Muir, as minister. In 1849, a site having been obtained in Duckworth Street, the erection of a church was commenced, which was opened for worship in 1850. It was built of wood, and said to be one of the neatest churches in the country. It was destroyed by fire in 1876. The number of Presbyterians at present throughout the Colony, is 822, viz. : — 302 of the Established Church of Scotland, and 520 of the Free Church. Each of the Presbyterian ministers is allowed towards his support annually, £100 frori the res- pective churches in Scotland, in addition to what he re- ceives from his congregation. The Rev. Mr. Muir, after some years resigned the pas- torate of the Free Church, and was succeeded by the present minister, the Rev. Moses Harvey, who has for his M AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 407 he question had assistant the Rev. Neil Forsyth. The minister of the Es- tabUshed Church of Scotland is the Rev. James Patterson. The Rev. Alexander Ross is pastor of the Free Church at Harbour Grace, Conception Bay — congregation from 70 to 100 persons. There are four day-schools. ROMAN CATHOLICS. In 1774, Dr. James O'Donnell was sent to Newfound- land, with the title of " Prefect and Vicai- Apostolic " of the Roman Catholic Church. He was afterwards raised to a bishop. After spending twenty-three years of his life in Newfoundland, he returned to Ireland, where he passed the remainder of his days. In testimony of his patriotic conduct, the British Government, presented him with a pension of fifty pounds a year. In 1806, he was succeeded by Dr. Lambert, as bishop. In 1830, the Right Rev. Dr. Scallan, who 'was the successor to Dr. Lambert, died. His kind and condescending deportment, rendered him gene- rally beloved, and his loss was deeply and universally lamented. He was succeeded in the bishopric by the late Right Rev. Michael Anthony Fleming, D. D., as Bishop of Carpasia and Vicar Apostolic. In consequence of the fail- ing health of Bishop Fleming, the Rev. John Thomas Mullock, D. D., was in 1848, appointed co-adjutor bishop. On Sunday night, the 14th of July, 1850, Dr. Fleming expired, at the Franciscan Monastery in St. John's, after a prolonged illness of two years, which he bore with pati- ence and resignation to the Divine will. He was succeeded in the bishopric by Dr. Mullock. The following brief notice of Bishop Fleming, will throw some light upon the history of the Roman Catholic Church in this country : — " The Right Rev. subject of this obituary was born at Car- rick-on-Suir, in the County of Tipperary, Ireland, in the year 1792 ; hence, was he at the period of his decease in the fifty- eighth year of his age. In early life he was distinguished amongst his school-fellows for an agreeable person, engaging i i : ; ; i :)» ••■■■I 'f f r 408 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ..t-vV, ■.-'ii'' manners, an aptitude for learning, and a mild disposition ; his thoughts were directed towards religion by the instructions of his uncle, the Rev. Martin Fleming, a zealous and pious clergy- man of the Order of St. Francis ; and at his sixteenth year he was received as a novice of that Order in the Franciscan Con- vent of Wexford, at the hands of the Very Rev. Dr. Scallan, then superior of the house, and subsequently Vicar- Apostolic of Newfoundland. Having finished his studies at an early age, he was ordained some months before the canonical time by special indulgence from the Holy See, and placed at the Convent of Carrick-on-Suir, under the government of his uncle ; here he passed some eight years as an active missionary, distinguished by his zeal and earning the love of all around him. While at Carrick-on-Suir he re-edified the old Convent Chapel, replacing the delapidated building by an erection remarkable for the taste with which it was executed ; and although this was the first exertion of his singular architectural abilities, its beauty has hardly been eclipsed by any of his subsequent efforts, however numerous. " We have noticed before that his former superior, the Very Rev. Dr. Scallan, had been subsequently raised to the episcopal dignity, and was appointed to preside over the Roman Catholic population of this bishopric ; and it will not appear surpris- ing that, finding so few priests in Newfoundland, he should be solicitous to induce a young gentleman, whose progress in col- lege he had witnessed, and who had even then awakened his esteem, to join him ; but although for years he sought to bring about this happy consummation, it was not until the year 1823, that he finally succeeded ; but so tenderly was the Rev. Father Michael Fleming loved, not only by his good and kind old uncle, his beloved parents and family, but by the entire population of Carrick, of every religious persuasion, that in order to save the finer feelings of his nature, he secretly took his leave of his native country. *• In the fall of 1823, therefore, he first set his foot on the soil of Newfoundland, who was pre-ordained to advance in an un- measured degree, the general interests of the country, and until the year 1829, he continued to win the love of all around him, in the zealous discharge of his arduous duties of missionary in St. John's. i'ilRi AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 400 ' " On the 28th of October, of the hist-moiitionod year, lu' was consecrated Bishop of Carpasia, in partlbus in Jidelium, and ap- pointed Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Newfoundland, the Right Rev. Dr. Scallan having previously postulated for him, and shortly afterwards, on that Right Rev. Prelate having died, Dr. Fleming assumed in full the onerous duties of the epis- copacy. " From that until the present period Dr. Fleming lived not for himself but for his people ; for their advantage he put forth every energy ; all his exertions were devoted to the ameliora- tion of their moral, their religious, their social condition ; he was amongst the earliest to arouse by his example the public attention to the importance of agriculture ; his unwearied efforts to procure the formation of roads, when land communication, even between the nearest settlements was all but impossible ; his noble sacrifice in establishing schools, in multiplying the means of communicating religious instruction to his people, even in the most remote districts ; his great untiring exertions to promote a taste for architecture, both civil and ecclesiastical ; his labours to call the attention of distant countries to the con- dition of long neglected, and almost unknown or forgotten New- foundland — all these testify the deep debt of gratitude due to the memory of this truly great man. " How could we, in a moment, review his touching letters, teaching all countries the story of the wants, the neglects of our poor colony 1 How shall we be expected to delineate the single- minded prelate, attracting to our rude shores, and entirely at his own expense, those pious and gifted ladies of the Presenta- tion Order, and again of the Order of Mercy, to diffuse a sound, a virtuous, a religious, and withal, an elegant education amongst the female portion of the community ? But above all, and be- fore all, how is it possible to impart even an idea of the sacri- fices made by Dr. Fleming in the erection of churches ? Before his time there was not in the entire island an edifice that merit- ed the name ; all were of wood, and, indeed, of the most unpre- tending character. " We have seen how, in a very few years, he raised very beautiful churches at Petty Harbour, Portugal Cove, and Tor- bay ; and how under him rose the exquisite churches of Brigus, Bay Bulls — nay, in almost every district of the island. The ■0- ! 410 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ).4 % ■•■n-. ■ v.. WlC'-* i|> ik m 1^ m i 'r cathedral, however, has been that building upon which he seems to have staked all ; for, in his zeal for its construction, we have little hesitation in saying, he sacrificed a life so valuable. We have seen him living weeks together at Kelly's Island assisting the labourers in quarrying building stone, and then, up to his middle in water, helping them to load the vessels with ma- terials ; we witnessed his voyages across the Atlantic, wherein he sailed over sixty thousand miles of ocean for its accomplisli- ment. Could all this have been, and not wear down even an iron constitution ? He has at length failed under these super- human exertions ; and when he insisted on being brought to assist at the public opening of this magnificent temple, in Janu- ary last, we saw, bowed down before his time, and as if seeking a place to deposit his remains, the wreck of him who had sacri- ficed all for the good, the welfare, and happiness of his people, for the promotion of the knowledge of his heavenly Master. Shortly after this he resigned all the temporalities of the See into the hands of his distinguished coadjutor, the Right Rev. Dr. Mullock, and retired into the beautiful monastery which re- mains as an additional memorial of his piety and taste. And now it only remains for us to turn to profit by all his instructions, and to endeavour to fulfil his wishes, by lending our cordial co- operation to the successor he has especially chosen — a prelate distiaguished alike in religion and literature. " The remains of the Right Rev. Dr. Fleming, after lying in state in the cathedral this day and to-morrow, will, on Thurs- day next, at half-past one o'clock, be borne to his vault in that edifice, after having been carried in procession through the city by his congregation." The Roman Catholic Bishop of Newfoundland was allowed ,£75 per annum by the British Government, but on the recommendation of Mr. Sheil, M.P., some years ago, it was increased to £300 per annum. In 1856, the north- ern part of the Island was formed into another diocese, when the Rev. John Walton, D.D., was constituted the first Bishop of Harbour Grace — the new diocese — and was succeeded by the present bishop, the Right Rev. Henry Carfagnini, D.D, In addition to the schools established WW AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 411 )r, the Riglit Rev. by the Local Government, the Catholics have 'five princi- pal schools, two of which are conducted by monks and nuns, and contain a great number of scholars. In 1850 the number of clergymen in that Island was 30 ; churches, 45 ; the number of Catholics upwards of 47,000. There were 6 monks of the Franciscan Order ; 13 nuns of the Presen- tation Order, and 8 of the Order of Mercy. The following is an account of the death of Bishop Mul- lock, taken from the St. John's Chronicle of March 30th, 1869. " The melancholy duty devolves upon us of noting the sud- den death of his Lordship, the Right Rev. Dr. Mullock, at half- past eleven o'clock yesterday morning, in the 62nd year of his age. Though his Lordship had been ailing for a considerable time, his sudden demise was altogether unexpected. He slept unusually well the previous night, and took a hearty breakfast yesterday. Soon after ten o'clock he visited the Presentation Convent to make arrangements in reference to some ecclesias- tical business, and proceeded thence to the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy. After remaining there a short time, he stated his intention of walking into town, and proceeded leisurely down the hill in front of the Mercy Convent. He then con- tinued on towards the Orphan Asylum, when finding himself growing weak, he abandoned his intention of going into town, and walked slowly up Garrison Hill towards his home, on reaching which, and being assisted up stairs, he in a short time became convulsed, and soon expired, living just long enough to receive the last sacraments of the church. " His Lordship was, a most kind and generous-hearted man, and was truly and sincerly beloved by his congregation. He was a man of remarkable erudition and sound judgment, and possessed of great energy of character. In losing him his peo- ple lost one who had their interests continually at heart — all his thoughts being how best to benefit them." Bishop Mullock says : " Newfoundland is at present divided into three ecclesiastical districts — the diocese of St. John's ; diocese of Harbour Grace ; H^ Ti ili|h;t:f 412 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, and Prefectiire Apostolic of St. Pierre's and Miquelon. The number of clergy in St. John's is 29 ; in Harbour Grace, 6 ; and in St. Pierre's 3, of whom one is Prefect Apostolic. In this Pre- fecture, there is a large convent of Sc&urs de CharitS, and there is also an establishment of Frdres des Ecoles Chritiennes, both sup- ported by the Imperial Government of France, which also sends two priests annually to the French shore — one stationed at Le Seie,and one at La Conche — are also in operation in the island. In St. John's we have one college, twelve convents, and over fifty churches and chapels ; in Harbour Grace, there are two convents, and over fifteen churches and chapels." In the rear of uie City of St. John's, the Koman Catho- lics have a large and beautiful cemetery, in the centre of which stands a neat chapel. According to the census of 1857, the number of clergy- men was 32 ; churches, 61 ; and the number of Catholics, 65,309. In 1869, 61,040. In 1874, 64,018. (For a view of the churches of the different denominations, see " Wander- ing Thoughts," published by the author in 1846.) The following are the stations of the clergymen in 1876 : — Bishop.— -Bright Rev. Dr. Thomas Joseph Power. Vicar-General. — Very Rev. Thomas O'Connor, P. P. Dean. — Very Rev. Patrick Cleary, P. P. St. John's (Cathedral). — Very Rev. T. B. McGrath, Adm., Rev. W. Forristal, Rev. Patrick Delaney. St. Bonaventure College. — President, \'ery Rev. P. A. Slattery ; Dean, Rev. William Fitzpatrick. St. Peter's Chapel (Queen Street). — Rev. John Scott. St. Patrick's (River Head). — Rev. John Ryan. Petty Harbour. — Rev. John Walsh. Portugal Cove and Torhay. — Very Rev. T. O'Connor, P. P., V.G., Rev. M. J. Clarke. Witless Bay and Bay Bulls. — Very Rev. Dean Cleary, P. P., Rev. N. Roach, Rev. M. O'DriscoU. Ferryland and Cape Broyle. — Rev. M. A. Clancy. Fermeuse and Reneous. — Rev. John Walsh. Trepassez. — Rev. Thomas Hennebury, P.P. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. il3 St. Marijs and Salmonier. — Rev. Kichard O'Donnell, P. P., Rev. John St. John. Great Placentia. — Rev. Charles Irwin, Rev. James Whelan. Little Placentia. — Rev. R. Brennan, Rev. M. MacCiillow. St. Kyran's. — Rev. L. Vereker. Burin. — Rev. William Born, P. P. Oderin. — Rev. M. Morris. St. Lawrence. — Rev. William Doutney. Lamaline. — Rev. James Walsh. Harbour Breton. . *S'^. Jacques. — Rev. Vincent Reardon. PREFECTURE APOSTOLKl St. George's Bay. — Prefect Apofetolic, Very Rev. T. Sears. CONVENTS. St. John's. — Presentation Convent, Military Road ; Mercy Convent, Military Road ; Presentation Convent, Patrick Street ; Mercy Convent, Belvidere. Torhay. — Presentation Convent. Witless Bay. — Presentation Convent. Z?Mrm.— Mercy Convent. Ferrylarid. — Presentation Convent. Fermeuse. — Presentation Convent. St. Lawrence. — Mercy Convent. Gi'eat Placentia. — Presentation Convent. St, Mary^s. — Presentation Convent. Harbour Breton. — Presentation Convent. An Orphanage for girls, at Belvidere ; Orphan Asylum School, Cathedral Hill. DIOCESE OF HARBOUR GRACE. The Right Rev. Henry Carfagnini, D. D., 0. S. F., Lord Bishop of Harbour Grace. Very Rev. Jeremiah O'Donnell, Vicar-General of the Diocese. Harbour Grace. — Very Rev. D. Falcouio, Administrator; Rev. Stephen Flynn. Carbonear. — Rev. William Donnelly. myus.'-Uey. E. F. Walsh, P. P. ill ,■1*1 "4,i4S I--''" a 414 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Harbour Jfom.— Very Rev. J. O'Donnell, P.P., Rev. P.O'Don- nell. Northern Bay. — Rev. William Veitch. Bonavista. — Rev. J. Carolan. s • • King's Cove. — Rev. M. Hanley. Tilion Harbour. — Rev. James Brown, P.P. Fortune Harbour. — Attended from Tilton Harbour. La Conclte. — Attended from Tilton Harbour. Labrador. — Attended once a year by a priest from Harbour Grace. Convents. — Three of the Presentation Order ; and two of the Order of Mercy. EDUCATION. In 1835, the Local Government passed an Act for the encouragement of education, but, owing to the objection of the Roman Catholics to the reading of the Scriptures, in many places the schools failed. In 1844, the late Mr. Barnes, a leading member of the House of Assembly, introduced an Education Bill, which gave great satisfaction. The Bill passed into law. It provided that the Roman Catholics should receive half the Education Grant, and that Roman Catholic Boards should be appointed to manage their own schools. Education in Newfoundland is not yet fully appreciated by a considerable majority of the population. The com- mon school system was miserably defective. Persons possessing a mere smattering of the rudiments of learning, and fit for nothing else were considered competent to con- duct the commc'^ schools. Too frequently the schools were made a refuge from destitution — the last hope of the unfortunate. And many of the teachers felt and acted the veritable saying of the English dame, " It is but little they pays me, and it is but little I teaches them." One obstacle in the way of obtaining competent teachers was inadequacy of compensation. Another was the low esti' mation in which tne occupation was held, especially in the common schools. The establishment of a Normal AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 415 P.,Rev. P.O'Don. r ; and two of the School is greatly needed in order to prepare teachers for the common schools of the Island.* For several years the Local Government attempted to establish a College, but, owing to the conflicting interests of the different religious bodies, nothing was done. In 1845, however, an academy was established in St. John's, presided over by three teachers, each having a salary of £300, £250 and £100 per annum. Secretary, £60 per annum. In 1848, there were sixteen pupils in the academy, each of whom payed an annual fee of £8. In 1849 the fee from each pupil was reduced to £5 per annum. There was, however, no in- crease of pupils. The pupils in the academy were taught writing and arithmetic, geography and mathematics, French, Greek, and Latin. The academy was a complete failure. It is a great mistake to suppose that well-informed men must, as a matter of course, be capable schoolmasters. Experience has proved otherwise. It is necessary to in- (,uire not merely, " How much does he know ?" but " How much can he impart ? " and "How well can he iTnpart it ? " The efficiency of the teachers of the academy, however, had never been questioned. Its failure may be attributed to the following circumstances — the head-master was an Enghsh Episcopalian, who had only been a month ortwo in the country before his appointment, on the recommen- dation of Bishop Field. To this most of the other de- nominations of Protestants had strong objections. The second master was an Irish E-oman Catholic who had resided some years in the colony, and had been a member of the House of Assembly, who is said to have been recommended to the appointment by the Roman Catholic Bishop. To his appointment the majority of Protestants of all denominations were strongly opposed on the ground of the course in politics which the second master had pursued. The third master was an Irish Catholic ; and If; ! * Normal Schools are now established. 41G NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, "•if*^ b * ',1 the Secretary was an Irish Episcopalian, who had been but a few weeks in the country beiore his appointment The great majority of the native population objected to the Board of Directors, amongst whom was not one native of the country. And the Roman Catholics objected to send their children to a school having a Protestant as head-master. And in addition to all this was the fee of £8 for each child. Under these circumstances it was im- possible that the institution could prosper. In Newfoundland, education has now become wholly denominational. In 1850, the St. John's Academy was broken up, and three academies formed — one for the Roman Catholics, one for the Episcopalians, and the other between the Methodists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians. The number of schools throughout the island in 1836 (the returns being made up previous to the establishment of schools under the " Act for the Encouragement of Edu- cation in the Colony ") is stated at 79 — 59 of which were in the districts of St. John's and Conception Bay. At these schools there were 4,614 pupils, being about a six- teenth part of the whole population. In St. John's dis- trict about 1 in 8 of the population attend the schools ; in Conception Bay and Ferry land districts, 1 in 21 ; in Trinity Bay, a fractional part more than 1 in 24 ; in Bonavista Bay, 1 in 20 ; in the district of Fogo (there being only one school), 1 in 57; m Placentia and St. Mary's, 1 in 26 : in the district of Burin (1 school only), not 1 in 150. In the extensive district of Fortune Bay, not a single school. Nearly all of the above schools were private schools. According to the returns of 1845, the following was the number of schools throughout the island, including all the denominationalists, private as well as public, as well as those established under the Government educational system : — AN1> AS TT IS IN 1877. 41 St. Jolm's Schnoln, 52 Conception Bay 54 Trinity Bay 22 Bonavista Bay 17 Fogo 10 Ferryland 22 Placentia and St. Mary's 11 Burin 11 Fortune Bay 10 Total Scholars 10,266 209 The teachers of the common schools receive from £18 to £80 per annum, in addition to which a* fee of five shillings per annum for each child is required. In addition to the General Education Grant, the local Government annually votes £500 to the schools of the Church of England School Society for Newfoundland and the Colonies ; about £250 to the Methodist schools, £40 to the Presbyterian school ; and the following Roman Catholic schools : — £100 to the Orphan Asylum School ; £100 to St. Patrick's Free School (Harbour Grace), and £100 to the Presentation Convent School. Commercial School, Placentia, £40. The Government also supports two very efficient academies at Harbour Grace and Carbonear. A Mechanics' Institute was established in St. John's ii February, 1849, and a course of lectures commenced in the fall of the same year. There were eleven newspapers published in the island, viz. : — In St. John's, The Royal Gazette, the first newspaper published in the island, in 1807. It is a weekly news- paper, and published by the late John Ryan, Esq., who was the father of the press in the British Colonies. Mr. Ryan was an American Royalist, who, at the commence- ment of the American Revolution, was the proprietor of a* •i 1 M5r Is Ik I: T ■ I'l- 418 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, paper in New York ; shortly after which he removed to St. John, New Brunswick, and established a Royal Gazette there, and became King's printer. But on the removal of the local Government from St. John to Fredericton, Mr. Ryan resigned, and removed to St. John's, Newfoundland, where he was the Government printer till the time of his death, in 1847. A few years previous to his death, Mr. Ryan took into partnership Mr. Withers, who still con- ducts the paper. The Public Ledger, a semi-weekly paper, established about 50 years, and conducted with great ability by its late editor and proprietor, H. W. Winton, Esq., who was succeeded in the proprietorship by his son Henry. The Times, a semi-weekly paper, established $,bout 35 years. The Patriot, a weekly paper, established about 35 years. The Morning Pos^, established about 17 years ; defunct. The Morning Courier, a semi- weekly paper, established about 30 years ; The Newfoundland Express, a semi- weekly paper, established about 25 years ; Commercial Journal, containing prices current, and shipping list, pub- lished on the arrival of every mail packet. The Tele- graph, a weekly paper, established about eight years. In Conception Bay, at Harbour Grace, the Standard, a weekly paper, established about 10 years. Several other papers have been established, both at St. John's and Har- bour Grace. The Rising Sun, Mercury, Herald, Concep- tion Bay Man; and at Carbonear, The Star, and The Sentinel, all of which are now defunct. The above papers, together with the Newfoundland Almanac, and Temper- ance Journal, published monthly, are the only publica- tions issuing from the Newfoundland press. Of the edi- tors, several are natives, two English, one Scotch, and one Nova Scotian. The following are newspapers published in the colony, 1876 : — s I I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 419 Advertiser- — Published every Wednesday and Saturday jhed about 35 morning. Courier — Published every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Commercial Journal — Published every fortnight, im- mediately previous to the closing of the Mail per Halifax steamer. Express — Published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. Morning Chronicle — Published every Tuesday, Thurs- day and Saturday. Newfoundlander — Published every Tuesday and Fri- day morning. North Star — Published every Saturday morning. Patriot — Published every Monday morning. Royal Gazette — Published every Tuesday. Weekly Chronicle — Published every Friday morning. Standard {Harbour Grace) — Published every Saturday morning. Times — Published every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Temperance Journal — Published on the 1st and 15th of every month. Education is in a transition state in Newfoundland. In 1875 the Legislature voted $40,000 for school-houses and property, and appointed the Rev. William Pilot, Inspec- tor of the Church of England Schools, and the Rev. George Milligan, Inspector of the Methodist Schools. The religious instruction given in the Church of England and Methodist Schools is as follows : — Church of England. Methodist. The Catechism, with an ex- No. 1 Catechism, and an out- plauation of its terms, and an line of Old and New Testa- outline of Old and New Testa- ment History, ment History. '.m •t!** 1- ■ M-'! 420 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Church of England. The Church Catechism with Scripture proof ; historical parts of Old Testament to the end of Joshua and Gospel of St. Matthew. Catechism as in first year ; Judges, I. and II. Samuel and the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John. Methodist. No. 2 Catechism, historical parts of Old Testament to the end of Joshua and Gospel of St. Matthew. No. 2 Catechism, Judges, I. and II. Samuel, Gospels of St. Luke and St. John. Catechism as above ; I. and No. 3 Catechism, I. and II. II. Kings ; Review of theGos- Kings ; Review of the Gospels pels and Acts of the Apostles ; and the Acts of the Apostles. Outlines of Church History. The following is the number of schools for the several electoral districts throughout the island in 1857 : — • Schools. Scholars. St. John's, East 45 2,848 St. John's, West 25 1,455 Harbour Maine 14 793 Port-de-Grave 17 992 Harbour Grace 24 1,295 Carbonear 7 436 ^Bay-de-Verds 18 1,047 Trinity Bay 20 1,035 o O Q Bonavista 19 Twillingate and Foga 16 Ferryland 23 Placentia and St. Mary's 25 Burin 12 Fortune Bay 10 Burgeo and La Po^le 5 Total , 812 675 834 982 476 259 107 280 14,136 According to the census of 1869, there were attending school, 16,249 children, and 18,813 non attendants. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 421 CHAPER XVII. ( I hi AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES AND MANUFACTURES. "^^HITBOURNEand other earlier adventurers wlio A'^vr' visited Newfoundland, speak in high terms of *" the productiveness of the soil. As early as 1610 John Gay, who had established a colony in Mosquitto, in Conception Bay, speaks of the climate not being so severe as in England; he also raised garden vegetables. In 1623, Governor Wynn in his communications to Sir George Calveii, from Ferryland, speaks of wheat, barley, and oats being eared on the 17th of August, and that the garden vegetables had arrived at perfection. Sir Richard Bonnycastle says.: — " Whitbourne was ridiculed when he talked of the produc- tiveness of Newfoundland, and Lord Baltimore was almost ruined by choosing to build his castle on a bleak and desolate part of the coast, instead of upon the western shores, or in the interior. Had he chosen the fine healthy climate of St. George's Bay, or the Bay of Islands, for the seat of the Oal verts, New- foundland would now have possessed a capital, rivalling that he afterwards founded in the pestiverous swamps of Maryland, and which, by dint of perseverance and labour, has since risen to rank as the fourth city of the Union, notwithstanding its ancient insalubrity. Alas ! its capabilities have never been truly appreciated ; they interfered with the certain gains derivable from the Bank fishery ; a false policy prevented the settlement of the fairest half of the Island, superior to parts of the opposite continent ; and this has continued until nearly the present moment, because Great Britain was unnecessarily generous t4 the conquered French, and because it was origin- ally the open and undisguised policy of a few rich merchants to keep the trade limited to the Bank fishery, thereby ensuring wealth to them at home, and to those they employed in the island as their chief factors." i.;-i 422 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, '■'ijas2" •iCt Again, Sir Richard says : — " The climate is less severe on the western side of Newfound- land, the land more rich, in consequence of limestone prevail- ing there; and it is now known to be quite as capable of cultivation as Nova Scotia, Cape Breton or Prince Edward Island. It is therefore to that portion that we must hereafter look as the seat of a population dependant upon an inexhaustible field of agricultural resources. But with all its natural advan- tages in the scale, we must not allow it the whole weight ; for assuredly the eastern half of Newfoundland is cultivable to the extent of supporting a population which can be gradually thrown into it, either for the fishery, or for settlement; and, at this day, notwithstanding the constant fog of misstatement which has been so sedulously cast over it, there is no colony of England which can produce a better fed, a healthier, a better clothed, or a more industrious and better behaved population, than the fisherman settlers and natives of Newfoundland." The first settlers in nearly all the British Colonies were aided by the Imperial Government to cultivate the land, whereas not a singlo shilling had ever been expended on Nevrfoundland, either for cultivation or any other im- provement. Mr. Morris says : — " The ancient British Colonies were aided, if not by the Government, by the capital, skill, and industry of private parties, in their progress towards settlement and colonization. It was for the modern Colonies that the munificence, I mav say the profusion, of Government was reserved. " In 1748, the parent government commenced the coloniza- tion of Nova Scotia, advertised for settlers — large grants of land were offered — and also means for its cultivation, and subsistence until the land made returns. For that purpose 3,7G0 adven- turers with their families were entered for embarkation accord ing to the order of the Board of Trade. Application having been made to Parliament, .£40,000 were voted to defray the expenses of their removal, * the liberality of this grant (enabling Government to make ample provision for their comfort and AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 423 grant (enabling r comfort and support.' They set sail in the beginning of May, 1749, under the command of the Honourable Edward Cornwallis, whom the King had appointed their Governor, and towards the latter end of June arrived at Chibucto Harbour (now Halifax), the place of their destination. At that time the whole of the country bordering on Chibucto was covered by woods to the water's edge. The cold and sterile soil on both sides of the harbour was clothed with the beautiful verdure of the spruce and fir, whose umbrageous limbs concealed the rocks that were scattered in profusion on its surface, and which were doomed to disappoint the hopes and defeat the labour of the inexperienced settlers. As they passed up the harbour they noticed several canoes filled with savages, who approached within a convenient dis- tance, to observe the motions of the strangers ; and then fled with inconceivable rsii^idity.—'Halibur ton's History, vol. I, page 138. " In 1750 and 1751, Government induced by great encourage- ment a number of German Protestants to emigrate to Nova Scotia. In these years near 2,000 persons embarked at Rotter- dam, and were settled down at Lunenburg, now a populous thriving settlement. In sfeven years, from 1748 to 1755, the sum of £445,584 14s. lld„ was expended in the new settle- ment. Mr. Burke had some reason to exclaim, in his speech in 1780, on economical reform : ' The Province of Nova Scotia was the youngest and the favourite child of the Board. What sums the nursing of that ill-thriven, hard-visaged, and ill-favoured brat has cost to this wittol nation. Sir, this Colony has stood us in a sum not less than seven hundred thousand pounds. To this day it has made no repayment, it does not even support those offices of expense which are miscalled its Government. The whole of that job lies upon the patient, callous shoulders of the people of England.* " It cost England upwards of a million for the colonization of Nova Scotia. " The cost for the colonization, protection, and settlement of the Canadas,. goes beyond counting. It may be stated by tens of millions, without reference to the vast expenditure at an earlier period. Some idea may be formed of the facilities for settlement and colonization in Canada, from the following sum- mary of vast recent public improvements in Canada, taken from a statement of Sir Francis Bond Head. 't \ M' 424 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, *' Magnificent harbours have been fortified, valuable fisheries and timber trade established, and mines in operation. On luacadumised roads upwards of two hundred thousand pounds have already been, expended, also an immense sum in plank roads. '* On the Rideau Canal upwards of a million ; on the Welland Canal half a million ; on the St. Lawrence Canal more than tlir(^ hundred thousand pounds ; on the Lachine about one liuudred thousand, besides large sums on the Grand River navigation, Tay navigation, innumerable mills of various doscriptious have been constructed ; lastly, and in addition to the above, a million and a half sterling, the loan from the mother country, either has been expended or is at this moment expend- ing on public works and improvements of various descriptions." . Sir F. B, Head's Emigrant, page 86. "About the year 1806, the late Dr. William Carson arrived in Newfoundland ; he at once saw the great injustice that was done, both to the country and the resident inhabitants, by the semi-barbarous policy that prevailed which prohibited the culti- vation of the soil. He raised his voice against it, wrote some excellent tracts on the subject, denounced it in the strongest terms, incurring no small risk of being transported for his teme- rity for arraigning the venerable system that had prevailed for centuries. He became the most strenuous advocate for the cultivation of the soil, which he represented as fully equal in quality to that of his native country, Scotland ; he was opposed by the local authorities, by the merchants, and a great portion of the inhabitants ; he was ridiculed as a visionary. Notwith- standing, in good report and in evil report, he persevered until he saw, for some time before his death, his views and doctrines almost unanimously approved of by all parties. Dr. Carson may be called the parent of agriculture of Newfoundland ; he not only eneouraged it by precept, but likewise by example. In the year 1818 or 1819, he obtained a large grant of waste land from the then Governor Sir Charles Hamilton, which he cleared and cultivated at considerable labour and expense. The land cleared and cultivated by Dr. Carson forms one of the most valuable farms in the vicinity of St. John's. " Though Dr. Carson, like most such proprietors, men who devote themselves to the public service, may not have gained AND AS IT IS IN 1877. by his agricultural speculations, however, his efforts for the im- provement of the soil were eminently successful." In the year 1827 or 1828, during the government of Sir Thomas Cochrane, one of the principal merchants of St. John's, H. P. Thomas, Esq., obtained a giant of 250 acres of waste land, distant some four miles from the town of St. John's, which he cleared and cultivated, and occu- pied for some years, until he was repaid for the whole expense of the outlay ; he then let the groun* )n lease to an intelligent Scotch farmer (the same person who had the superintendence of it from the beginning) at a rent of £200 sterling per annum, who in a few years, some twelve or fourteen, after paying his rent, realized a sum of not less the <£ 4,000. Twenty years before, this land was a wilderness, not producing one shilling a year, unapproach- able even by a footpath. Since that time numerous farms have been cleared, many miles beyond it. I may say with truth, that within a circuit oi two or three miles from this farm, there are now some thousands of acres in profi- table cultivation, and in the occupation of some hundreds of industrious families. On the arrival of Sir Thomas Cochrane as Governor of Newfoundland in 1825, he became the advocate of agricul- ture, opened a line of road from St. John's to Portugal Cove, and Cochrane Street, in front of Government House. He also cultivated lands surrounding his private residence, " Virginia Waters," situated about three mibs from the town. During the administration of Captain Prescott, in 1838, 1839, about $175,000 was voted by the Legislature for opening up roads, and the Governor gave some hun- dreds of pounds from his private purse to assist Mr. Currie, a Scotch farmer, to cultivate a small farm. On the arrival of Sir John Harvey, the Governor in 1841, he endeavoured to dispel the prejudice which had existed for centuries against the cultivation of the soil. On the 13th of Januarv, 1842, an Agricultural Society was i: ■.',1 I : I ... ,• / ¥' 'i f .! I ,iMi ^?***fc 426 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, formed under his patronage. The following is an extract from the speech of Sir John, delivered on the occasion ;— " Newfoundland is in reality something more than a mere * fishing station,' and possesses resources beyond the mere * rocks on which to dry the nets of the fishermen ; * in a word, I saw in it the undoubted evidence of a capability for agricultural pursuits far beyond what I had imagined to exist ; and I like- wise saw that by no other means can the great staple of this island, its fisheries, and the great national objects, the nursery of seamen and the consumption of the manufactures of the parent state, be so effectually promoted as by bringing the homes of the fishermen nearer to the scene of their pursuits and operations ; in a word by encouraging settlement and the culti- vation of the soil — an encouragement which contemplates the rapid increase of its population, consequently of its fishermen and mariners as well as of brave, hardy, loyal, and permanent settlers, who would constitute the * constitutional defence ' of the colony, and whose labours as auxiliary to the fisheries, might, at no remote period, go far to render the island ind^ pendent of all foreign countries for the means of feeding those engaged in them. " Without entering into speculations regarding a subject with which we are as yet imperfectly acquainted, but upon which it will be the duty of the Executive Government, through the aid of the Provincial Legislature, to acquire more accurate informa- tion — I mean the adaptation or otherwise of the extensive prairies of the interior of the island for cultivation and settl^ ment— it may be sufficient for my present purpose merely to advert to a fact which is within the knowledge of you all, viz., that this island, throughout almost the whole extent of its bays, harl)Ours and inlets, is skirted by a belt of cultivable land, vary- ing in depth from one to several leagues, well calculated to reward the labour of the agriculturist — of which no more con- vincing proof can be required than the specimens of produce now before you, consisting of wheat, barley, oats, turnips, pota- toes, &c., equal in size, in weight, and in quality to the produc- tions of any other country, England not excepted. " It may be asked (elsewhere) * how is this to be explained with reference to the reputed sterility of the soil of Newfound- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 427 Mid, and to the length and severity of its winters and the joDsequent shortness of its open seasons.* The answer is, ' by Ihe productive qualities of that soil, to which the imputation of jterility so unjustly attaches ; by the fineness of its autumnal eason, which affords ample opportunity for the preparation of [be ground for the spring crops ; and by the almost unexampled apidity of vegetation during the summer, by which the short- [less of that season is amply compensated." The following is also an extract of a speech delivered by 5ir John Harvey at a ploughing match in 1844. " Almost from the first moment of my arrival in this island, ay eyes were opened to the fact of which the inhabitants them- selves evidently appeared not to be sufficiently aware, viz., that It; possessed agiicultural treasures, capabilities, and advantages, ks well of soil as of climate, which, if not unequalled, are yet pertainly not surpassed by any of the surrounding colonies. Lnd, as the result of three years' experience, I will now read to fou a short extract from a despatch which I have very recently Idressed to Lord Stanley, and in which it has been my endea- rour, in the discharge of my duty, to place before his Lordship ay impressions upon a subject of sl o much importance to its in- babitants as the capability of the soil of a colony which has jheretofore been regarded as little more than a mere fishing jstation, to minister to the wants, to the comforts, and even to Ithe profit of those engaged in the prosecution of the fisheries. JAfter speaking in the despatch referred to of the increased value jwhich must necessarily be conferred upon lands by the construc- Ition of good and practicable roads in all colonies in which the Isoilis cultivable, I have said, 'With respect to this island [(hitherto undervalued, as it appears to me to have been), there leap be no doubt that the whole of those tracts designated (and I depreciated by that designation) by the appellation of * barrens * (merely because denuded of trees), aie among the most fertife and productive soils in British America, the sections almost everywhere presenting to the eye from four to six feet of fine, light, gravelly soil, capable of producing luxuriantly every species of crop, except, perhaps, wheat, and requiring only the jaidof artificial manures, and careful and judicious culture^ t^q li ■'1 ^ li t 428 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, * t ')« m jllMl^ > ?1j|£ give good returns even in that species of grain, while in resf to all others, more especially grasses of every kind, include clover, vetches, and, I will add, flax, in oats and barley, turnip potatoes, and in fact every species of " green crop," I have se no country out of England and Egypt superior to it.'" The opening of good roads has greatly increased thj value of land. In 1844 lands were sold, in their priJ meval state, at public auction, at from $2 to $16pti[ acre. These lands were situate on the Bay Bulls roail,| five or six miles from the Town of St. John's. There i no loam in Newfoundland. The soil on the easternl shores, for the most part, consists of fine gravel, interl spersed occasionally with marl. The geological structurel of this part of the coast is composed of the secondaryl rocks, comprising shale and gritstone, variegated slatesj and sandstones. On the western portion of the is the soil is superior. In St. George's Bay and Bay of! Islands the coal field is situate. Marbles, limestone andl soft sandstone also abound. In 1846 I procured thre«| samples of the virgin soil from different parts of thej neighbourhood of St. John's. The following is an analysis of one sample obtainedl near the Convent, which was made by Dr. Stabb, find given in a paper which he read before the Agricultural | Society: — . ^ The analysis of 400 grains was as follows : — Water of absorption 10 par ts. , Gravel 168 Sand 175 ^ Oxide of iron 2 J Magnesia 1 Alumina 19 Silica 10 Animal and vegetable matter . 4 " J Fine matter. « « u (( y^ ' f 400 r WAS, grain, while in resp^ every kind, inchulin its and barley, turnip een crop," I have se )erior to it.'" greatly increased thJ sold, in their pri] Prom $2 to $16 J the Bay Bulls roaJ 5t. John's. There i( soil on the eastenl F fine gravel, inter! geological strueturej id of the secondary! le, variegated .slatesj lortion of the is . j's Bay and Bay ofl rbles, limestone andl 16 I procured threel Ferent parts of the tie sample obtained i by Dr. Stabb, find >re the Agricultural t , AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 429 allows :- — . 10 parts. . 168 « . 175 tt • ^ i( . 1 it . 19 t( . 10 u . 4 (( . lOJ (I ym J 400 In all cases," said Sir Humphry Davy, " the constituent irts of the soil, which tenacity and coherence are the finely iivided matters. A small quantity of finely divided matter is |ulficient to fit a soil for the production of turnips and barley." " The soil analysed contained a fair proportion of fine mat- er, and the gravel and sand combined with it were aluminous. Jpon the whole, therefore, the St. John's slate soil is of an kiluininous nature, deficient in animal and vegetable matter, and wanting the essential ingredient — lime. ' • " It is consequently necessary to add the lime, and afterwards maintain a regular supply of animal and vegetable manure. To ai)ply lime, as a component earth, it must not be simply ^dded in the state of burned lime, just sufficient to aid the de- omposition of peat, or of animal and vegetable substances in general, as at the first formation of the manure heap — although highly useful in this way, — but it must be separately ploughed ito the soil. " I think it expedient to caution farmers against the practice rf burning the surface of our soil, for it is only useful when ^here is an excess of vegetable matter ; whereas the slate rock deficient in this ingredient." On the arrival of Governor Sir John Gaspard Le Mar- Ichant, in 1 847, he at once devoted his attention to the icultivation of the soil, and promoted agriculture in every Iway. It is said that in 1841 a considerable quantity of [wheat was grown in Ne\\^oundland. The following is an extract from the report of the Agri- Icultural Society of Newfoundland for 1848, of which jCharles Simms, Esq., was president : — " The Farmers' Mill, at the River Head, St. John's, has been set in operation, partly by the liberal aid of his Excellency the I Governor, and partly by subscription ; and although its power I at present is scarcely equal to the numerous demands for the I grinding of corn, means are being taken, by the erection of new land improved machinery, which will give the mill a greatly in- I creased power. I " The Society has observed with regret that that valuable im- Iplement — the plough, indispensable as it is in the cultivation of lilH ■ id I, 3* 430 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, the 8oil to any considerable extent, has been hitherto little tised, and indeed almost unknown, not only in many of tho out I districts, but even in some of the more distant parts of this du- trict ; and under these circumstances it is gratifying to observe that his Excellency the Governor, in order to stimulate to an increased cultivation of the soil, has caused some eilicient one- horse ploughs to be placed in several of the outports, which j have of course been found of the greatest utility in the saving of labour ; and from the number of horses which are entirely idle in the summer time in most of the out districts, an exten- sive use of the plough in place of manual labour would be quite practicable at little expense, and would be most beneficial in promoting the cultivation of the soil. The Society hopes that persons in the out districts will not be slow in obtaining so valuable an acquisition to assist their farming operations when they find that a plough will turn as much ground in one day as a man will require a fortnight or three weeks to dig. " The prizes of a handsome silver cup and premiums of money, which His Excellency so liberally offered to the most successful grower of grain crops, have given rise to a very ex- tensive and spirited competition amongst the farmers and other cultivators of the soil, and have been highly useful in exciting increased attention to that all-important branch of agricul- ture. " The following is a list of prizes given by His Excellency, to encourage the grov/th of corn, with the names of the successful competitors : — **The Le Marchant Cup — ' for the greatest breadth of wheat crops, fair marketable quality for two consecutive years ' — to Hon. Patrick Morris. " For the best crop of wheat, on any land of not less extent than three acres, £6 — to Mr. Michael Allen. " For the best crop of wheat, on any land of not less extent than two acres, £4 — to Mr. William Hext, Grove Farm. " For the best cultivated crop of wheat, on any land of not less extent than one acre, £3 — to Mr. John Harding, White Hills. " For the best cultivated crop of wheat, on any land of not less extent than half an acre, £2 — Mr. James Shea, near Bally Hally. AND AS IT IS IN 1H77. 431 not less extent than " For th(^ beut cultivated crop of oats, on any land of not Iosh extent than two acres, £3 — to Mr. John Dwyer, Oaks Farm. " For the best crop of wheat, of not less than half an acre in Outer Cove, £2 — to Daniel Griffin. "For the second best crop of wheat in Outer Cove, of not less than half an acre, £1 — to Patrick Roach. " For the best crop of wheat in Torbay, of not less extent than half an acre, £2 — to White. " For the second best crop of wheat in Torbay, of not less ex- tent than half an acre, £1 — to Thomas Costello. "The judges of the crops, Messrs. Thomas Du ler, James Gibson, David Reed, and Thomas \ "alsh, are all persons of great practical experience as farmers, and their examination required several days to accomplish. They close their report by stating that they found the numerons crops they visited, in general well cultivated, and that they far exceeded ii number and extent of ground what they had expected. Hi-^ I ..cellency has also intimated an intention to give prizes of au increased amount for competition next year, a list of whi:h it is inten >'jd to append to this report. " The importation which His Excellency has made of a bull and cow of the Ayrshire breed, will, it is hoped, be of ultimate utility, although it has not hitherto been the piactice to breed and rear cattle in this district, principally rawing to the large quantity of lean cattle imported from Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Those persons, however, who had bred and reared cattle in the neighbourhood of St. John's, as well as in other parts of the colony, agree in the opinion that cattle bred in this Island are much hardier, and better suited to the country than those imported. In the soutb j' i west parts of this colony, large numbers of cattle are bred and reared, and in the district of Placentia and St. Mary's alone, there are nearly 2,000 head of horned cattle kept, and about 800 in the district of Burin, and these numbers may not bb considered the average stock con- stantly on hand. Hence it is obvious that if due attention were paid to the impro\ ement of the breed, and if a system of agri- culture were introduced and applied in those places where cattle are kept extensively, great advantages would arise, as well to the individuals as to the colony, in a much larger amount of produce. The completion of one of the roads to Placentia 4^ 432 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ■-.^ji" ,»^Mi would also be a great and most desirable aid in furtherance of these objects, by enabling cattle to be driven to St. John's at all seasons, especially early in the spring, when meat is scarce and dear, and before importations commence from the neigh- bouring colonies. The premium which His Excellency the Governor has recently offered to encourage a better system of stall-feeding cattle will, it may be confidently expected, awaken attention to the object, and tend to an improved practice in that department of our agriculture. " The Agricultural Society would desire to impress upon the minds of all, and especially of those who rely on their own in- dustry, and their own labour for support, the importance of an active and zealous attention to the cultivation of the soil as the foundation of their comfort and their independence. Let them break up and bring into cultivation all the waste land which their means and their ability will enable them, especially when it is in the vicinity of their dwellings or other convenient locality." The following is an extract from the Petition of the House of Assembly in 1837, to Her Majesty the Queen, on the subject of the Crown Lands : — " It is only within the last twenty years that general permis- sion has been given to the inhabitants to cultivate the soil of Newfoundland. It will scarcely be believed at this happy era of your Majesty's accession to the throne of your ancestors, when the people in the most distant parts of your extensive empire look forward with unbounded confidence and hope to the just, mild, and merciful Government of your Majesty, that for up- wards of two centuries the cultivation of the soil in I^ewfound- land was considered a criminal offence, and prohibited under the severest restrictions and prohibitions ; this withering and desolating policy was the cause why your Majesty's Colony of Newfoundland did not improve in the same progress with the other colonies in its neighbourhood. " Eepresentations have been made from the earliest period to the present Government, that the extreme severity of the climate, and the sterility of the soil of Newfoundland, formed insurmountable obstacles to cultivation. If these represeuta- 4s, in furtherance of 1 to St. John's at len meat is scarce 6 from the neigh- is Excellency the % better system of expected, awaken ed practice in that ) impress upon the y on their own in- importance of an I of the soil as the idence. Let them waste land which n, especially when other convenient Petition of the 5ty the Queen, on at general permis- iltivate the soil of this happy era of ir ancestors, when extensive empire hope to the just, esty, that for up- soil in iJ^ewfound- prohibited under lis withering and ajesty's Colony of progress with the AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 433 e earliest period to severity of the bundland, formed these representa- tions are correct, the House of Assembly would humbly submit to your Majesty, that there can be no necessity for creating further obstacles beyond those raised by nature herself. " But may it please your Majesty, these were false represen- tations made by persons, who, from corrupt or interested mo- tives of their own, attempted to arrest the order of Providence, and prevent the people of Newfoundland from receiving that support and sustenance from the soil which God and nature intended it to afford. "The House of Assembly therefore have most humbly to bring the subject under your Majesty's benign consideration, with the certain hope that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to give every encouragement, and remove every res- triction to the cultivation of the soil of your Majesty's ancient and loyal colony of Newfoundland." Gypsum, of which there is abundance on the west coast of Newfoundland, could be procured at a small cost, and would make an excellent top-dressing for the meadow lands. Fish offal and sea-weed are used throughout Newfound- land as manure. It is calculated that nearly one-half the weight of the fish taken is thrown away in heads and en- trails into the S3a. Manufactures for the conversion of fish offal into a concentrated manure are now in operation in the United States. The French, too, on the French shore, on the northern part of Newfoundland (Quirpon), have a manufactory of the same sort, and export the pro- duct to France. Mr. Morris says : — " It may be said that landed property quadrupled in value duringthe eminently successful Government of Sir John Harvey. The most important measure of Sir John Harvey's Government, in reference to the agricultural improvement of Newfoundland, is the law for the sale and regulation of the Crown Lands. " Her Majesty consented, and with a truly royal bounty, to grant the whole of the land to her loyal subjects in the colony. "Newfoundland is no longer to be hoarded as a 'royal wilderness.' The people will ever entertain a grateful sense of S, is't 5i I,:-..; f. BB !•! ^^i !;:.': 434 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Her Majesty's royal beneficence. It is only those acquainted with the partial mode of disposing of land which prevailed in Prince Edward Island, and in most others of the modern North American colonies, that can form a correct estimate of the vast boon that has been conferred. " The main principles affirmed by the Land Act : " 1st — That all lands should be sold at public auction, sub- ject to a moderate upset price. " 2nd — That not more than 100 acres should be put up in one lot. " 3rd —That public notice shall be given by the publication in the newspapers of all land sales. " 4th — That all persons in the occupation of land without grants from the Crown, should be confirmed in their titles and occupation. " 5th — That the proceeds of all sales of land shall be paid into the public treasury, to be appropriated for the internal im- provement of the colony. " The best practical proof of the capabilities of the soil of Newfoundland for agricultural purposes, is to be found in the census returns of 1836 and 1845. "Returns for 1836. 24,117 acres of land in possession. 11, 062 J do. in cultivation at £20 per acre 1,559 horses, at £10 5,832 neat cattle, at £5 2,943 sheep, at 20s. 3,155 hogs, at 30s. Goats not taken in the retu say 4,000 at 20s. "Annual Produce. 1,168,127 bushels of potatoes, equal to 467,250 4-5 barrels, at 5s. . £116,812 14 • • « £221,250 • a « 15,590 1 29,160 • 2,943 • 4,379 10 I of th< 3 year > • • 4,000 £277,675 10 AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 435 ^277,675 10 . £1,546 10 . 34,875 8,000 . 20,000 . 10,000 £191,234 14 ni6,812 14 10,310 bushels grain, at 3s. . 6,975 toir hay, at £5 . Increase of stock, calves, sheep, &c., &c Milk, butter, &c., &c. . Vegetables, garden stuffs, &c. " Returns for 1845. 83,455| acres of land in possession. 29,656j acres of land in cultivation, at £20 . 2,409 horses, at £10 8,135 neat cattle, at £5 . 5,750 sheep, at 20s. 5,077 hogs, at 30s. 5,791 goats, at 20s. " Annual Produce. 341,341 barrels potatoes, at 5s. 11,695 bushels grain, at 3s. . 11,013 tons hay and fodder, at £5 Increase of stock, calves, sheep, &c. Milk, butter, poultry, eggs, &c. Garden stuffs, vegetables, &c. " Estimated value of land in cultivation, and agricultural stock, shewing the increase in nine years : — Estimated value of land in cultivation and agricultural stock in 1836 . Estimated value of land in cultivation and agricultural stock in 1845 . Increase of value of land in cultivation and agricultural stock in nine years, from 1836 to 1845, £399,371, or .£593,125 . 24,090 . 40,675 5,750 7,615 10 5,791 £677,046 10 . £85,535 5 1,754 5 . 55,065 . 15,000 . 80,000 . 15,000 £202,854 10 81,110,702 00 2,708,182 00 . ! si II if 1,579,484 00 ■ikH PI 436 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Annual produce for the year 1836 Annual produce for the year 1845 Increase in annual value of produce 764,937 00 809,418 00 44,481 00 Owing to some errors in the agricultural returns in 1845, Mr. Morris says that the value of the produce of that year ought to be $933,319. Bishop Mullock says : — " Wheat will ripen very well, especially if the proper variety of seed adapted for a northern country be procured ; but as long as we have the great grain country of the United States at our doors, no one will take much trouble about such an un- profitable crop. T have never seen finer barley than the growth of Newfoundland, and all persons who have bought, as I hav<' done, Newfoundland oats, at nearly double the price of the husky grain imported here, will find that he has gained by his purchase. Hops are most luxuriant, and so are strawberries, currants, gooseberries, cherries, and many other species of fruit. The hawthorn flourishes here when planted, and I have seen as fine hedges of it laden with haws here as in the home country ; and I mention this as a proof of the comparative mildness of our climate, for I find in Russia, as far south as Moscow, it is a hot-house plant. My estimate then of the agricultural capa- bilities of Newfoundland, comparing it with what I have seen in the north of Europe, is that if wo had a large agricultural population we could support them in comfort, and that as popu- lation increases we must attend more to the land, then more general wealth and comfort will be diffused a hundredfold than now, when our population is, I may say, wholly maritime, and we depend almost altogether on other countries for our food. My earnest advice would be, kill the dogs, introduce settlers, encourage domestic manufactures, home made linen, and home- spun cloth, and Newfoundland will become the paradise of the industrious man. The soil in general is thin, but kind, easily cleared, and, beside the legitimate manure of the farm-yard, can always be enriched near the sea by sea-ruck and fish offal. The climate is comparatively mild, and all we want are hands and industry." AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 437 ;h The Local Government gives an annual grant of $500 in aid of the Agricultural Society. The following is an extract from the Report of 1849, when Lawrence O'Brien, Esq., was President : — " Since the failure of the potato crop, and during the con- tinuance of the disease, the attention of the farmers has been naturally turned to the cultivation of grain, and it is gratifying to observe, that with very few exceptions, the result has been satisfactory both in yield and quality^ the quantity of barley and oats, independent of wheat, grown, and addressed at the Farmers' Mill, River Head alone, during the autumn, and still coming in daily, sufficiently demonstrates the important fact that the culture of our corn is no longer confined to a scanty green crop, to help in feeding cattle, but now results in the production of a primary article of human food. Our wheat is found to weigh, with few exceptions, not less than sixty pounds to the bushel, and our oats and barley maintain a proportionate character. With a view to encourage this important branch of our agriculture. His Excellency has caused several thousand bushels of seed corn, of the best and most suitable description, to be imported from various places, and distributed among the farmers throughout the colony. The result has been highly advantageous ; the harvest has yielded a fair return, and due care has been taken to mark and ascertain the varieties of seed, which appear to be best suited to our soil and climate. "The Society thankfully acknowledge the solicitude manifested by the Governor, that the breed of cattle here should be improved and encouraged. With this view His Excellency has imported two cows and a bull of the Ayrshire breed. The bull has been placed at the Grove Farm, in the care of Mr. Jocelyn. Of the character of the Ayrshire cow it is unnecessary to say more than that the one imported yields now, without having bestowed on it any more care or trouble than upon the ordinary cattle, almost double the quantity of milk that can be obtained from j the ordinary cow of the colony. " The prizes offered for competition by His Excellency last season, produced a show of fat cattle in the Park fronting Gov- ernment House, in March last, such as never had been witnessed here before, and would not have disgraced the English market. U m ill! 1 i iiiit iSSr :l i ■■',';;■ 'I ♦ • '] i ■ II-.:.' I !' ':J ii^;-^ -^i 438 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, i His Excellency in person handed over the prizes, to the success- ful competitors, and in doing so stated, "that he should feel happy in giving similar prizes for the next year. The show of fat cattle for the ensuing year comes off on the 12th of March next. " Those prizes, also, which His Excellency so liberally offered and paid to those, who by their skill and industry, had reclaimed and brought under cultivation the greatest quantity of ground, and for the best and most approved samples of grain of various kinds, and of vegetables, butter and cheese, have been attended with the happiest results. The exhibition which was held in October last, in the great hall of the Market House Building, in competition for those prizes, excited the wonder and astonish- ment of many who had been present at exhibitions in the old countries, and who a few years ago could not be induced to believe that our soil was capable of yielding such fine samples. The Hall on this occasion was tastefully decorated with flags and evergreens, the Band of the Royal Newfoundland Companies was, through the courtesy of thfe Commanding Officer, in attendance, and His Excellency, as on former occasions, handed the several prizes with suitable and encouraging observations to each of the successful competitors. His Excellency has been pleased to offer an additional prize of ten pounds for the en- suing years, to be called ' The Le Marchant Prize.' With a view that no part of our population who may be industriously inclined may want useful and profitable employment, His Excellency has taken measures to import and secure the services of a man and his wife to instruct those who may be desirous to learn the operation of spinning and weaving flax and wool. The Society strongly recommend the attention of the labouring classes to this important branch of industry ; it is one univer- sally pursued throughout the neighbouring colonies ; it is well known that one pound weight of wool will produce one yard of good warm cloth, and of much better texture than is usually purchased in the shops ; and as the expense in producing it is scarcely anything beyond the time, which in too many instances is unprofitably spent, it is hoped that the homespun of New- foundland will soon become as generally known and valued as the other productions of the country. The Society begb that those who have not witnessed the operation of cloth-making I ANDf AS IT IS IN 1877. 439 will satisfy themselves by visiting the St. John's Factory where they will witness, and be gratified by, the proficiency already attained in this domestic manufaetnre. Should this measure succeed, as there is good reason to think it will — it will serve as a further inducement to pay more attention to the breed and increase of sheep, which would prove of great advantage. " It is highly gratifying to see enrolled among the members of the Agricultural Society, the names of so many of the respec- table merchants of this place, who have been spending their lives in pursuing the trade and fisheries ; it affords the strongest evidence of the fallacy of the opinions formerly prevalent, but of late years rapidly disappearing, that to encourage agriculture and promote the cultivation of the soil, would necessarily create separate and conflicting interests. The facts already prove the contrary, for not only are the ordinary pursuits of the fisheries not impeded or in anywise interfered with, but it has now become evident that the best interests of the trade, and the moral and social condition of the people, are equally promoted by bringing to our aid all those valuable auxiliary resources, which, by a proper application of our skill and in- dustry our soil is capable of yielding to us, and the Society would now impress upon the minds of all the working classes, more particularly on those engaged in agricultural pursuits, that the present state and condition of the country requires that everyone should renew, and if possible redouble his exertions in his respective position ; and experience abundantly proves, that men capable of labour, relying under Providence on their own perseverance and industry, and having such facilities as are so easily attained in Newfoundland, will seldom fail in pro- curing a comfortable support and maintenance for themselves and their families. " It is a source of great .satisfaction to observe that the dis- ease affecting our potato crops, has during this season assumed a more mitigated aspect, and has been much less destructive in its ravages, it is still however more or less extensive, but we indulge the hope, that by the blessing of Providence, and a care- ful attention to the culture of the root, it may soon pass away. It behoves us in the meantime to bestow every care in the cul- ture of our |corn, and, to apportion the various seeds to the different soils best fitted for their reception." I iS 'vi!' i ^:'^; I :::' i ^'■■-;^ I 1 *■ ..;j til •Ui 11 ■ 440 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, It will l)(^ porceived from the forejifoing report of tlie Agricultural Society, that the manufacture of " hoiruj spun," has been commenced in Newfoundland, which will be of great advantage to the inhabitants. The Island has more resources than either Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, or even Massachusetts. There is no reason why manufactures could not be carried on in Newfound- land, as well as in Massachusetts, the manufactures of which annually amounted to sixty-two millions of dollars. The population of Massachusetts for an area of 11,000 square miles is over a million, while Newfoundland with an area of 36,000 square miles has about 160,000 inhabi- tants. Flax in Newfoundland grows as well as in any country in the world, and there is nothing whatever to prevent the manufacture of linen as well as cotton fabrics. There is plenty of capital, all that is therefore wanting, is enterprise to put in motion the loom and spindles. The following returns made in 1857 will show the increasing value of the agricultural resources of Newfound- land : — ^ Acres of dyke and other improved lands, 41,108, at $80 per acre $3,288,640 00 12,089 neat cattle @$20 00 251,780 00 6,431 milch cows @ 28 00 180,067 00 9,570 sheep @ 4 00 38,280 00 3,484 horses @ 40 00 139,360 00 17,236 swine h goats @ 4 00 18,940 00 r $3,957,069 00 ANNUAL PRODUCE. 15,056 tons of hay @$20 00 . . $301,120 00 1,892 bush, of wheat & barley© 5 00 . . 1,891 00 8,703 " of oats @ 60cts. .. 5,22100 220,127 barrels of potatoes @ 1 00 . . 220,127 00 4,663 " turnips @ 1 00 . . 4,663 00 731 " timothy & clover seed 6 00 . . 4,386 00 •\ ' J ■ If * I' \ \ ''* AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 441 1,801 barrelH of root crops @ $1 00 .. $1,801 00 121),72() poumls of buttor (a) 2()cta. . . 25,945 00 500 " cheese @ 12 " . . CO 00 Milk, poultry, eggs, &;c 80,000 00 Vegetables, garden stuffs, &c 80,000 00 $525,275 00 FRENCH SHORE, NORTH AND WEST. Acres of dyke and other improved lands — 1,508 @ $80 per acre $120,040 00 873 neat cattle @$20 00 17,410 00 493 milch cows @ 28 00 13,804 00 25 horses @ 40 00 1,000 00 1,167 sheep @ 4 00 4,668 00 316 swine and goats ® 4 00 1,264 00 ANNUAL PRODUCE. 1,204 tons of hay @$20 00 40 bush, wheat and barley @ 1 00 334 " oats @ 60cts. 8,445 barrels potatoes @ 1 00 470 " turnips @ 1 00 5,242 lbs. butter @ 20cts. 112 " cheese @ 12 " Milk, poultry, eggs, &;c $158,846 00 $24,080 00 40 00 200 00 8,445 00 470 00 1,048 00 13 00 3,200 00 POTATOES. Potatoes raised in Newfoundland in 1836 . " « . 1845 . 1857. 1869. <( $37,496 00 IBushels. ..1,168,127 .. 865,852 .. 650,417 ,. 308,367 'I: il'.: !!!': !|: .'I ■ m fi M i:;r''i;' 1$ I ■cf! A 'MM' f\ ;:r;il ml ■'■'Hi y p Mi I- 442 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ii.' I* I*-- li I pi i y In 1851 Bushels. V Bushels. Rhode Island 652,027 Delaware 240,542 Arkansas 198,882 Tennessee 1,067,844 Maryland 764,938 North Carolina . . 136,494 Georgia 227,370 Florida 7,828 Alabama 246,001 Mississippi 261,482 Louisiana 95,032 Texas 93,548 Kentucky 1,492,487 Missouri 939,00G Iowa 276,120 Wisconsin 1,402,677 California 9,292 Oregon 91,330 Utah 43,968 Minesota 21,145 HAY. Tons. Hay raised in Newfoundland in 1857 15,050 In 1851, in U. S. Tons. District of Columbia 1,974 South Carolina . . 25,427 Georgia 23,497 Florida 2,690 Mississippi 12,516 Louisiana 20,672 Texas 8,397 Arkansas ". 3,924 California 2,638 Minesota 2,738 Oregon 373 Utah 4,288 The population of those States in 1850 was, white and black — Rhode Island 147,555 Arkansas 209,641 Maryland 582,506 Georgia 877,635 Alabama 771,659 Louisiana 500,762 Kentucky 1,001,496 Iowa 192,122 California 200,000 Delaware 91,538 Tennessee 1,023,118 NorthCarolina 868,879 LS, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 443 Bushels. .... 240,542 .... 1,067,844 lina.. 136,494 7,828 . . . 261,482 .... 93,548 ... 939,00G .... 1,402,677 . . . 91,330 . . . 21,145 i Tons. 15,050 ina. . 25,427 2,690 20,672 3,924 2,738 4,288 was, white and 147,555 209,641 582,506 877,635 771,659 500,762 1,001,496 192,122 200,000 91,538 1,023,118 868,879 Florida 87,387 Mississippi 592.853 Texas 187,402 Missouri 684,132 Wisconsin 304,226 Newfoundland. . 120,000 in 1857 ; in 1874. 161,000 It thus appears that Newfoundland produces according to population, six times as much potatoes and hay as some of the above States of the United States. In 1866, the Legislature of Newfoundland passed an Act, giving a small bounty, as an encoui^^iei* ent to cultivate and settle on the wild lands. Manufactures according to the Returns of 1857. — There were in St. John's, one oil factory, employing twenty hands, value of oil $16,080. Logy Bay, one cod- liver oil manufactory, producing ten tuns of oil, valued at $3,688. Middle Cove, one cod-liver oil factory, pro- ducing five tuns of oil, valued at $1,156. There were at Torbay three cod-liver oil factories, producing thirteen and a half tuns of refined and five tuns of common oil and fat; and at Pouch Cove, three cod-liver oil factories pro- ducing twenty-eight tuns of refined and seven tuns of com- mon oil, the whole valued at $16,104. There were, also, three cod-liver oil manufactories at Petty Harbour, quan- tity and value not specified. In St. John's there was one foundry, employing seven hands, value of castings $6,540. There were three breweries and distilleries, employing thirteen hands, distilling 16,000 gallons of malt liquor and 10,000 gallons of distilled liquor. The following are the aggregate returns for the whole island : — Fourteen saw mills, valued at $22,800 ; three grist mills ; boots and shoes manufactured, $34,714 ; cabinet ware, $130 ; carts and carriages, $392 ; wooden ware, $24,976 ; lime burnt, 16,500 bushels; butter manufactured, 129,726 lbs.; cheese, 600 lbs. ; value of agricultural implements, $1,200 ; oil clothing, $2,700; home-spun cloth, 500 yards; soap. ^^■1, t1 :''ft'! ' (J '4 I' 113 i 1 *!: ; 1 444 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS 1 WA8, mi?r*^'''' ^^'''^^''''' '^00 lbs.; stoc; u^4 aiid gloves 500 The return for 1869 gives the land under culture, 41 715 ^or^'.^T'" J^ f T^P'T^/'^^P'' ^^'^^^ bushels; potatoes, 308,357 bushels; hay, 20,458 tons. Butter madeflGS 508 lbs. Horses, 3,764 ; horned cattle, 13,721 ; sheei), 23,044 • goats, 6,417, and swine, 19,081. The i aanufactures' amounted in value to $72,675. t.^ ). h T-i I • I nd gloves 500 AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 445 CHAPTER XVIII. NATURAL HISTORY— CLIMATE— METEOROLOOY. i[ ,'HE winters of Newfoundland are not by many y^]^ degrees so cold as in the neighbouring Provinces, or the Northern States, nor is the climate so changeable. In Massachusetts the temperature some- times changes 44 degrees in twenty-four hours, while in Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia the thermome- ter sometimes falls from to 30 and 40 degrees below zero. In Newfoundland the instances are few of the temperature changing 20 degrees in a day. January and February are the coldest 'months of the year, when the thermometer sometimes sinks below zero, but at the coldest times not more than ten degrees below, and then only for a few hours. It is an admitted fact that the climate of Newfoundland has gradually undergone a change within the last forty years, and is now much warmer than formerly. This change may in part be attributed to the great improve- ment in agriculture, the draining of marshes, the clearing of forests, and, perhaps, the more northerly direction of the Gulf Stream. Most writers affirm that the northern parts of Europe have become much warmer than they were a few centuries ago. St. John's, the capital of New- foundland, is in 47° 33' north latitude; London, England, 51° 30'; Dublin, 53° 20', and Edinburgh, 55° 53'. Thus, St. John s is nearer the equator than any of the ubove named places, and yet, instead of being warmer, it is much colder than Great Britain. One of the coldest win- ters ever experienced in Newfoundland, was in 1818, when it is said the thermometer frequently sank from 18 to 22 degrees below zero. The following reports of the it m S I! I • s u r '( *■ J f: w > 51 f 446 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, , state of the Aveather were communicated to the Yarmouth Herald by electric telegraph, in February, 1858 : — " February 16th, 9 A.M. Halifax, N.S.— Wind'N.W., thermometer 12°. Port Hood, N.S.— Wind N.W., thermometer 6°. Port au Basque, N.F. — Wind W., cloudy, thermometer 26°. St. John's, N.F.— Wind W., cold and calm, thermometer 28°. St. John, N.B. — Wind N.W., clear, thermometer 9^*. Yarmouth, N.S. — Wind W.N. W., thermometer 16°, overcast. February 17th, 9 A.M. Halifax, N.S.— Wind N.W.N., thermometer 12°. Calais, Maine. — Wind N.W., thermometer zero. St. John, N.B. — Wind N.W., clear, thermometer zero at 7 A.M. St. John's, N.F.— Wind S.W., cloudy, thermometer 31°. Port au Basque. — Wind W., overcast, thermometer 29°. Yarmouth, N.S. —-Wind N.W., thermometer 8°. February 18th, 9 A.M. Halifax, N.S. — Wind W., clear, thermometer 16°. Sackville, N.B.— Wind N.W, thermometer zero. St. John's, N.F— Wind W., clear. Yarmouth, N.S. — Wind N.W., light snow. The following was the state of the weather at Amherst (which is at the head of the Bay of Fundy, on the bor- ders of New Brunswick) on the 30th December, 1859: — " The current week has been signalized by unusually cold weather for early winter. Christmas morning, thermometer stood 13 below zero. 26th 11 " 27th 12 28th 15 " 29th 17 30th 21 " " These readings are from a self-registering spirit thermome- ter in a sheltered position." i-/ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 447 unusually cold 3irit thermome- The following are the meteorological observations in Canada during 1875 : — " This is a goodly blue book of upwards of 500 pages, show- ing the readings of the barometer, the temperature, velocity of the wind, rainfall, &c., as taken at the various meteorological stations in the Dominion of Canada during 1875. " There are many very interesting facts mentioned. The lowest temperature marked at any of the stations of observa- tion in Canada during 1875 was at York Factory, where in January the thermometer stood once at - 49 "5. It must be cold enough at that station in all conscience. In November, December, 'January and February, the thermometer stood there at 40 degrees below zero, and under. Not by any means that the cold was anything like that regularly during these months, but that it was so once or oftener during each. The highest temperature at that station in January was - 4, and in Feb- ruary — 1. In November and December the highest tempera- tures were, respectively, 35*5 and 22. " It is to be noted, to shew how severe the month of Janu- ary, 1875, was, that there was only one station in Canada when^ the thermometer did not sink below zero. That was Esqui- mau, in British Columbia. The variations at different stations are so strange as to be scarcely explicable. Thus, in the month to which we refer, the lowest in Cornwall, Ont., was — 28 8 ; while in Kincardine it was only — 1 '5 ; in Toronto, - 8'8 ; in Hamilton, -4*5; and in Woodstock, —16-5; while in Que- bec Citadel it was - 18*5 ; and in Fitzroy Harbour, - 27. In Newfoundland, the lowest during that terrible month was - 3 ; and in Manitoba, — 4r3. What was true of January was equally so of February. With the exception of Esquimault, the thermometer went below zero at every station in Canada, so much so as to show that February was a much colder month than any of that year. At Fitzroy Harbour, the thermometer in this month was as low as -42; Toronto, -16; Parry Sound, -36-3; Stratford, -23; and Woodstock, -25. In the Province of Quebec, the lowest was - 35 ; in Nova Scotia, - 29 ; in New Brunswick, - 27*8 ; Prince Edward Island, - 17 ; Newfoundland -21 ; Manitoba, 5 5 iBritish Columbia, —4; and North-west Territory, -41. 448 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, '"i 4 ■^ "!■! W "The highest temperature reached in Ontario during the year in question wts in Hamilton, in June, when it was as high as 94*8, though Peterborough was very nearly as high — viz., 94*3 in September. " In Quebec, the highest was 91 ; Nova Scotia, 85 ; New Brunswick, 86-3 ; Prince Edward, 85 ; Newfoundland, 83*5 ; Manitoba, 94-3 ; British Columbia, 98 ; and North-west Ter- ritory, 92. '' In Toronto, the mean temperature for the year was 40*8 ; Hamilton, 44*1, etc. It is curious to notice that over the whole of Ontario the mean temperature did not vary above ten de- grees, the highest being at Windsor, 44*9, and the lowest at ^eeley, 34'9. The same is true of all Canada. " In Ontario, there was a mean of 84-9 days of rainfall ; in Quebec, 86'8; in New Brunswick, 871 ; in Nova Scotia, 91-8; in Prince Edward Island, 115-5; in Newfoundland, 89*7; in Manitoba, 56*4 j in British Columbia, 92." — Globe, September 7, 1876. It is very probable that the chilling effects of the ice on vegetation would be felt much more, were it not for the warm current from the Gulf of Mexico, which passes along towards the Grand Bank. In Newfoundland, the coldest wind in winter is from the North-west, from which quartf r in fact the wiitr] generally prevails for about nine months of the year. In spring easterly winds prevail, and in winter and sum'inmr, North-easterly winds are cold. South, and south-eas-eriy w^ids in winter are generally accompanied with snow or sieet, and sometimes rain, and in summer rain or fog. July and August are the hottest months in the year, when the thermometer is 8*1 id to have attained 90 degrees in the shade, but ohis rarely occurs. The usual temperature of those months is from 65 to 79 degrees. The following are the averages of the thermo- meter and barometer for a number of years in JN ewf ound- land, compared with England : — • AND AS IT IS IN 1877. JANUARY. Meteorological Averages. 440 111' f I J BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-68 ins. 29-92 in. Mean tern., 22-7 deg. 36-0 cleg Highest 30-.35 " 30-77 " Highest ... 44-0 " 52-0 Lowest 28-73 " 28-89" Lowest.... 3-0 " 11-0 »> )> FEBRUARY. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-42 ins. 30-OG in. Mean tem. 19-75 deg. 380 deg Highest 30-94 " 30-82 " Highest.. 42-67 " 53-0 " Lowest ... 4-67 " 21-0 ' Highi Lowest 28-69 >> 29-17 » MARCH. BAROMETER. THERMOSIETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-74 ins. 2934 in. Mean tem., 240 deg. 43-9 deg Highest 30-36 " 30-77" Highest.... 47-0 " 66-0 " Lowest 28-82 " 28-87" Lowest.... 0-5" 24-0 " APRIL. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-66 ins, 29-33 in. Meantera,, 33-8 deg. 49-9 deg Highest 30-i26 " 30-54" Highest ... 56-5 " 74-0 " Lowest 2a-91 " 29*30 " Lowest.... 14-3 29-0 BAROMETER. Newfoundland. MAY. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England, Newfoundland. England. Mean height. 29*76 ins. 29 90 in. Mean tem., 37-5 deg. 54-0 deg Highest i 30-22 " 30-38" Highest ... 62-0 " 70-0 " Highest Lowest 29-13 " 29-16 " Lowest.... 21-8 330 GQ 450 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, BAROMETER, Newfoundland. JUNE. THERMOMETER. Enylaud. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-77 ins. 30-02 in. Mean tern., 49-8 deg. 57-7 (leg Highest 30-14 "30-46" Highest.. 74-0 " 90-0 " Lowest 29-22 "29-60" Lowest .... 29-8 " 37-0 " JULY. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-79 ins. 2987 in. Mean tem., 57-4 deg. 61-0 dug Highest 30-18 "30-30" Highest ... 79-5 " 76-0 " Lowest 29*37 "29-29" Lowest. .. 34-8 " 42-0 " AUGUST. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-83 ins. 28-89 in. Mean tern., 58-3 deg. 61-6 deg Highest 30-21 "30-26" Highest ... 78-3 " 82-0 " Lowest 29-35 " 29-35" Lowest .... 38-3 " 41-0 " '■y^xi SEPTEMBER. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-83 ins. 29-93 in. Mean tem., 53-3 deg. 57 8 deg Highest 30-29 "30-41" Highest ... 75-3 " 76-0 " Lowest 20-32 "29-41" Lowest .... 33-5 " 36-0 " OCTOBER. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29*89 ins. 29-77 in. Mean tem., 44-0 deg. 48-9 deg Highest 30-31 "30-61" Highest ... 68-3 " 68-0" Lowest 29-26 "28-74" Lowest .... 24-0 " 27-0 " NOVEMBER. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-67 ins. 29-77 in. Mean tem., 34-0 deg. 42-9 deg Highest 30-27 "30-27 " Highest ... 57-0 " 62-0 " Lowest 28-90 "29-08" Lowest .... 16-5 " 23-0 " AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 451 DECEMBER. BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. Newfoundland. England. Newfoundland. England. Mean height, 29-69 ins. 29-69 in. Mean tern., 2-7 deg. 39-8 deg Highest 30-36 "30-32" Highest. 46*3 " 55-0 " Lowest 28-88 " 29-12 n Highest . Lowest 7-6 17-0 M In Newfoundland the sea-fog prevails only on the eastern and southern shores, and then only during the summer months. I do not remember to have seen more than two or three foggy days in a year in Conception Bay, and none on the south shore of Bona^'^ista Bay. Tn Trinity Bay, however, it obtains with south winds, where it is brought over the narrow neck of land, which separates that Bay from Placentia Bay. The fog along the coast from St. John's to Cape race, hardly ever approaches nearer than within one or two miles of the shore. I saw more dense fog during the fortnight I spent in St. John, New- Brunswick, than I saw in St. John's, Newfoundland for years, and I have seen much more fog in Halifax and Bos- ton than I ever saw on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. Many persons suppose that a severe winter necessarily produces a greater qua^ntity of fog the succeeding summer, and that the more ice is produced — the more fog. " The production of fug entirely depends on the difference of Lamperature. There is abundance of fog where no ice is found at all. Along the coast of Peru, the atmosphere scarcely ever possesses sufficient moisture to produce rain ; it contains, how- ever, enough to create widely extended and continued fogs. The wintry season, in that country, lasts from April to October, and throughout the whole of this period, a veil of mist shrowds sea and shore. During the months of August and September, the vapour is extremely dense, and rests for weeks immovably upon the earth. The fogs are said to be at times so heavy, that the moisture falls to the earth in large drops, which are formed by the union of small globules of mist. England sur- rounded by a warm sea, is subject to thick fogs, that prevail extensively in the winter. The London fog is so extremely 'Pill iiii '-' i '.:""■' \.- ^m9^ IT 452 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, liglifc the gas in the streets and I dense that it is necessary to houses in the middle of the day " Fogs originate in the same causes as rain, viz. : The union of a cool body of air with one that is warm and humid ; when the precipitation of moisture is slight, fogs are produced ; when it is copious, rains are the result. When a mist is closely ex- amined it is found to consist of minute globules, and the investi- gations of Saussure and Kratzenstein, lead us to suppose, that they are hollow, for the latter philosopher discovered upon them rings of prismatic colours, like those upon soap bubbles, and these could not exist if the globule was a drop of water, with no air or gas within. The size of these globules is greater when the atmosphere is very humid, and least when it is dry. *' When Sir Humphre}^ Davy descended the Danube in 1818, he observed that mist was regularly formed, when the tempera- ture of the air on shore was from three to six degrees lower than that of the stream,. This is the case on the Mississippi. During the spring and fail mists form over the river in the day time, when the teruperature of the water is several degrees below that of the air above, and the air above cooler than the atmos- phere upon the banks. A similar state of the atmosphere occui-s over shoals, inasmuch as their waters are colder than those of the main ocean. Thus, Humboldt found near Corunna, that while the temperature of the water on the shoals was 54° Fah., that of the deep sea was as high as 59° Fah. Under these cir- cumstances, an intermixture of the adjacent volumes of air resting upon the waters thus differing in temperature, will naturally occasion fogs.* " What are called the Banks of Newfoundland are situated from one hundred to two hundred miles eastward of the shores of Newfoundland. Mists of great extent shroud the sea on these Banka, and particularly near the current of the Gulf Stream. The diff; rf^tice in the warmth of the waters of the Stream, the Ocean smd the Banks, fully explains the phenomenon. This current, flowing from the equatorial regions, possesses a temperature 5^° Fah. above that of the adjacent ocean, and the waters of the latter are from 16° to 18° warmer than those of * See Brocklesby's Meteorology AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 453 in the streets and ' n, viz. : The union I the Banks. The difference in temperature between the waters I of the Stream and Banks, has even risen as high i.s thirty degrees. " At the beginning of winter, the whole surface of the Northern Ocean steams with vapour, denominated frost smoker but as the season advances and the cold increases, it disappears. Towards the end of June, when the suhimer commences, the fogs are again seen, mantling the land and sea with their heavy I folds. The phenomena of the polar fogs are explained in the fol- lowing manner. During the short Arctic summer, the earth I rises in temperature with much greater rapidity than the sea, the thermometer sometimes standing, according to Simpson, at 7r Fah. in the shade, while ice of immense thickness lines the I shore. The air, incumbent upon the land and water, partakes of their respective temperatures, and on account of the ceaseless agitations of the atmosphere, a union of the warm air of the \ ground with the cool air of the ocean will necessarily occur, I giving rise to the summer fogs.^^ White, in his " Natural History of Selborne," says : — " Places near the sea have frequent scuds, that keep the at- I mosphere moist, yet do not reach far up in the country, making the maritime situations appear wet when the rain is not con- siderable. Dr. Huxham remarks that frequent small rains keep "the air moist, while heavy ones render it more dry by beating down the vapours. He is also of opinion that the dingy, smoky appearance in the sky in very dry seasons arises from the want of moisture sufficient to let the light through and render the atmosphere transparent, because he had observed several bodies more diaphanous when wet than dry, and did not recollect that the air had that look in rainy seasons. The reason of these partial frosts is obvious, for there are at such [ limes partial fogs about ; where the fog obtains, little or no frost appears, but where the air is clear there it freezes hard. So the frost takes place, either on hill or in dale, wherever the air happens to be clearest and freest from vapour. Fogs happen I every where, caused by tlie upper regions of the atmosphere being colder than the lower, % which the ascent of aqueous vapour is chi eked and krpt arrested near the surface of the t'lirth." ^n^^^ l«l -:^«N 454 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, According to a register kept at St. John's, Newfound- land, in 1841 (it being more exposed to bank fog than any other part, of the coast), tlie average of thick fog and partial light fog extending a short distance inland was as follows : — Thick fog. In January 1 1 days, February ..,.., None, March None. April 1 day. May 3 days. June 2 " July 1 day. August 1 " September 4 days. October 1 day. November 2 days. December 1 day. Liprht fog, only laHting a portion of the (lay. IJ (lays. Half day. None. 2 J days. 3 days. l| " 2i " Half-day. 1 day. 1 J days. It thus appears there were 17 J days of thick fog and 19 J days of light fog and mists, making a total of only 37 days of cloudy weather throughout the year. According to a Table kept by Dr. Woodward, Superintendent of the Lunatic Hospital, at Worcester, which lies 483 feet above the level or the sea, and about the centre of Massachusetts, there were, in 1841 1844 1845 110 cloudy days, and 40 days snow fall. 130 " 30 117 " 29 li « At Waltham, nine miles from Boston, for 32 successive years, up to 1838, frost first commenced from the 14th September to the 11th October. The following Register was kept at Citadel Hill, Fort George, Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1859, and very kindly 4 -flps AS, )hn's, Nowfoimd- 'O bank fog than of thick fog and ICC inland wan as Light fog, only lasting a portion of the (lay. IJ (lays. Half (lay. None. 2 J (lays. 3 days. 2.1 *' 2l " AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 455 H (( Half-day. 1 day. 1 J days. )f thick fog and total of only 37 ear. According,' intendent of the s 483 feet above f Massachusetts, ays snow fall. it or 32 successive from the 14th tadel Hill, Fort nd vary kindly furnished me by Mr. G. Moulds, Stafi-Sergeant, Royal Artillery : — 1859— MonthH. January ... February... March April May June July August Sei)tember October ... November December Totals Ohmdy DayH. Thick Fog. Light fog portidn of the (lay. 8 3 2 4 5 2 7 5 7 6 1 2 9 () 2 7 9 11 3 3 4 7 1 14 8 2 8 20 Nil. 1 !.'> 2 5 Ki 5 2 110 42 60 Snow. 11 7 10 7 1 Nil. Nil. Nil. Nil. 4 7 7 .54 It will be seen from the above statement that while in Newfoundland there were only 37 days of thick and light fog, during the year (1841), there were, in 1859, in Nova Scotia, 42 days of thick fog, and GO days of light fog a portion of the day, making a total of 112 days' foggy weather, besides 110 days of cloudy weather. Bishop Mullock says : — " By the table furnished me by Mr. Delaney, I find the highest temperature 90° on the 3rd July ; 8° on the 3rd March, and the mean temperature of the year 1859 44°; mean max. pres. of barometer, 29*74 inch ; rain 63'920 for the year ; max. quan. in 24 hours, 2*098 inch ; wind N. N. W. and W.N.W., 200 days ; N.E. 25 days ; W. and W.S.W. 38 days ; S.S.W. and S.E. 102 days; rain fell on 110 days; snow 54 days ; thunder and lightning 5 days. We have all the advan- tages of an insular climate, a mild temperature with its dis- advantage, uncertain weather. I may remark likewise what Abb6 Raynal recorded already, that the climate of Newfound^ m^ 456 NKWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, laiul is consideriHl the most invigorating Jind salubrious in the world, anil that wo have no indigenous disease." A^iiin till"! iiishop says : — " What an awl'nl climate, they wiii say, you have in New- foundland ; how can you live there without the sun in a con- tinual fog? Have you been there, you ask them? No! they say ; but we have crossed the Banks of Nciwfoundland. How surprised they are then when you tell them that for ten months at least in tlu^ yt^ir, all the fog and damp of the Banks goes over to their side and descends in rain there with the south- westerly winds, while we never have the benefit of it unless when what wo call the out winds blow. In fact, the geography of America is very little known, even by intelligent writers, at home, and the mistakes made in our leading periodicals are frequently vtsry amusing. I received a letter from a most intelligent friend of mine some time since, in which he speaks of the hyperborean region of Newfoundland ; in my reply, I dated my letter from St. John's, N. lat. 47'' 30', and I directed it to Mr. So and So, N. lat. 52°." Tlumder storniH sometimes occur in the northern parts af Newfoundland, but are hardly ever known in the soiitliLTn and eastern ])arts, unless, perhaps, once or twice in four or five years. I have never seen forked lightning in Newfoundland, and I never heard of any one being killed by lightning in the country. Newfoundland is admitted by all who have ever resided there to be the healthiest country in the world. Not a fever of any kind is generated in the i;oimtry, and that fatal disease, con- sumption, so eoDunon on the American Continent, is hardly known there. From the foregoing, the reader will perceive that the climate of Newfoundland has been misrepresented by almost every writer. . The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, are almost constantly to l)e seen in the evenings, and loaming, which is of the same natui-e as the mirage, is very frequent. AND AH IT IS IN IH77. 457 gilts, are almost d loaming', which Admiral Sir John Ross read to tin; British Association the followin*^ paper " On th(^ Aurora Borealis : " — " The communication 1 liad the lumour of makin*."; to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, at Belfast, on th(; interesting subject of the aurora borealis, was verbal ; and, therefore, not entithfd to a notice in the Association's valuable TranmcttonH of that period ; but, having subsequently repeated the experiments I tlien verbally mentioned, I can now confidently lay the account of them before the public, trusting that, when taken into considi'ration, they will be found corro- borative of the theory whi< ' T pubHshed in the year 1819, and which led to a controvert iiat shall be hereafter mentioned. It having occurred to me tiuit, if my theory was true, namely, ' that the phenomena of the aurora borealis was occasioned by the action of the sun, when below the pole, on the surrounding masses of coloured ice, by its rays being reflected from the points of incidence to clouds above the pole which were before invisible,' the phenomena might be artifically produced ; to accomplish this, I placed a powerful lamp to represent the sun, having a lens, at the focal distance of which I placed a rectified terrestrial globe, on which bruised glass, of the various colours we have seen in Baffin's Bay, was placed, to represent the coloured icebergs we had seen in that locality, while the space between Greenland and Spitzbergen was left blank, to represent the sea. To represent the clouds above the pole, which were to receive the refracted rays, I applied a hot iron to a sponge ; and, by giving the globe a regular diurnal motion, I produced the phenomena vulgarly called ' The Merry Dancers,' and every other appearance, exactly as seen in the natural sky, while it disappeared as the globe turned, as being the part representing the sea to the points of incidence. In corroboration of my theory, I have to remark that, during my last voyage to the Arctic Regions (1850-1), we never, among the numerous icebergs, Saw any that were coloured, but all were a yellowish white ; and, during the following winter, the aurora was exactly the same colour: and, when that part of the globe was covered with bruised glass of that colour, the phenomena produced in ray experiment were the same, as was also the aurora australis in the antarctic regions, where no coloured icebergs were ever IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) M 1.0 1.1 11.25 IM 125 iJil U 1IIIII.6 % W /: y 7^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WiST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 m ,-\ .§^ o ^ ^^Zt 6^ k <. m '/j C\ % - 1 1 ■ 458 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, seen. The controversy to which I have alluded was between the celebrated Professor Schumacher, of Altona» who supported my theory, and the no less distinguished M. Arago, who, hav- ing opposed it, sent M. G. Martens and another to Hammerfest on purpose to observe the aurora, and decide the question. I saw them at Stockholm on their return, when they told me their observations tended to confirm my theory ; but their re- port being unfavourable to the expectations of M. Arago, it was never published ; neither was the correspondence between the two Professors, owing to the lamented death of Professor Schumacher. I regret that it is out of my power to exhibit the experiments I have deseribed, owing to the peculiar man- ner in which the room must be darkened, even if I had the necessary apparatus with me ; but it is an experiment so simple that it can easily be accomplished by any person interested in the beautiful phenomena of the aurora borealis." One of the most beautiful appearances of nature is what is called in Newfoundland, the " Silver Thaw," which is also frequent in America. It is produced by a shower of rain falling during a frost, and freezing the instant it reaches the earth, or comes in contact with any object. A most magnificent scene is thus produced, every object is clad in a silver robe, every twig and tree is bedecked with glittering pearls, and the whole surface of the snow becomes a beautiful mirror. But this crystal sheen is short-lived; a sudden breeze of wind ends its reign ; great damage is done to the trees by the weight of ice encrusting them. Meteors or meteoric stones, of a most extraordinary size have been seen falling from the atmosphere into the sea on the coast of Newfoundland.* The sparkling or phospho- rescence of the Welters is sometimes remarkably beautiful in some of the deep Bays of Newf oundland.f Newfound- land is behind the age in not having a Meteorological Society. Such societies are now established throughout Great Britain and Ireland, the other British Provinces * See " Wandering Thoughts," by the Author, page 39. f See " Wandering Thoughts," by the Author, page 60. 3d was between who supported ago, who, hav- to Hammerfest le question. I they told me but their re- . Arago, it was ce between the 1 of Professor wer to exhibit > peculiar man- if I had the nent so simple I interested in of nature is rhaw," which by a shower he instant it ly object. A ^ery object is idecked with mow becomes J short-lived; at damage is usting them. )rdinary size into the sea : or phospho- )Iy beautiful Newfound- jteorological throughout i Provinces t-V AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 459 and the United States. The Board of Trade Meteorologi- cal Department was presided over by Admiral Fitzroy, and so perfect were the observations for detecting the approach of storms, that information was sent daily by telegraph to the principal towns, as to the probable weather for the next twenty-four hours. Out of nine warnings in 1861, only one was wrong, and that only in the direction in which the storm came. These warnings have prevented a number of shipwrecks, and are con- sequently of great commercial value to a maritime people. Observatories ought to be established at different points of Newfoundland, aided by the Government. In the London Quarterly is an article on Humholdts Kosmos, which contains several interesting scientific speculations. The following is adescription of the wonders of the atmosphere: — r • «< The atmosphere rises above us with its cathedral dome arching toward the heavens, of which it is the most familiar synonym and symbol. It ^oats around us like that grand object which the apostle John saw in his vision, * a sea of glass liko unto crystal.' So massive is it that when it begins to stir it tosses about great ships like playthings, and sweeps cities and forests like snow-flakes to destruction before it ; and yet it is so mobile that we have lived years in it before we can be persuaded that it exists at all, and the great bulk of mankind never realize the truth that they are bathed in an ocean of air. Its weight is so enormous that iron shivers before it like glass ; yet a soap ball sails through it with impunity, and the thinnest insect waves it aside with its wings. It ministers lavishly to all the senses. We touch it not, but it touches us. Its warm south winds bring back colour to the pale face of the invalid ; its cool west wind refresh the fevered brow, and make the blood mantle in our cheeks ; even its north blast braces into new vigour, and hardens the children of our rugged climate. The eye is indebted to it for all the magnificence of sunrise, the full brightness of midday, the chastened radiance of the gloaming, and the clouds that cradle near the setting sun. But for it the I'ainbow would want its * triumphant arch^* and the winds I It I !| II ■ I! %i\ ' ^^^ I » '^' 1*1 1 « Is- t uM bf 460 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, \' would not send their fleecy messengers on errands round the heavens ; the cold ether would not shed snow feathers on the earth, nor would drops of dew gather on the flowers ; the kindly rain would never fall, nor hail storms nor fog diversify the face of the sky. Our naked globe would turn its tanned and un- shadowed forehead to the sun, and one dreary, monotonous blaze of light and heat, dazzle and burn up all things. Were there no atmosphere, the evening sun would in a moment set, and without warning plunge the earth in darkness. But the air keeps in her hand a sheath of his rays, and lets them slip but slowly through her fingers, so that the shadows of evening are gathered by degrees, and the flowers have time to bow their heads, and each creature space to find a place of rest and to nestle to repose. In the morning the garish sun would at once bound forth from the bosom of night, and blaze above the horison ; but the air watches for his coming, and sends at first but one little ray to announce his approach, and then another, and by and by a handful, and so gently draws aside the curtain of night, and slowly lets the light fall on the face of the sleep- ing earth, till her eyelids open, and, like man, she goeth forth again to her labour till the evening." GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. Every stone has a history. What says the author of the " Contemplation of Nature 1 " " There is no picking up a pebble by the brook-side without finding all nature in connection with it." Hear, too, Lavater about a less object than a stone : " Every grain of sand is an im- mensity ; " and Shakespeare talks of " sermons in stones." The study of geology opens to us a page of onfe of God's books — the book of nature, and teaches us to believe that He who has wrought so many wonders in our globe, to fit it for man's habitation, will never cease to watch over man's happiness — "will withhold no good thing from Jiim that walks uprightly : " v i ^^ ' '- '* Men's books with heaps of chaff are stored ; , ' 'I ', i God's book doth golden grains afford ; Then leave the chaff, and spend thy pains . ' In gathering up the firof (fen grrains." , ' i- V'i AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 461 The general surface of Newfoundland is undulating and hilly, and perhaps there is no country whose surface bears such marks of disorder and ruin. Almost everywhere in- dications of the effects of earthquakes and volcanoes are to be seen. Immense quantities of diluvial drift are scattered in all directions over the face of the country, consisting of gravel, and large boulders of granite, por- phyry, gritstone, slate rock, &c. The rock formations of Newfoundland have been arranged by Mr. Jukes into live geological systems, which are in the descending order, or proceeding from the newer to the older formations, as follows : — . I Sub-divisions. , ^ Upper portion. ( Lower or bed portion. 1. Coal formation 1. Magnesian limestones 2. Upper slate formation 3. Lower sk te formation I Belle Isle, shale and < gritstone; variegated ( slates. j Signal Hill, sandstones. ( St. John's slate. ' 4. Gneiss and Mica slate formation. 5. Primary or igneous rocks. • " The Coal Formation — The rocks composing this formation in Newfoundland are brown, yellow, and red sandstones ; grit stones, shales, red marl, green marl and gypsum, conglomerates, flag stones, and clunchi " The coal of Newfoundland is bituminous and caking, and is identical with the coal of Sydney, Cape Breton. It is found on the western coast, at St. George's Bay, and Bay of Islands, oc- cupying an extent of 30 by 10 miles, and three feet in thick- ness. " Gypsum, or Plaster of Paris, is the sulphate of lime, and is part of the coal formation. It is found in large fibrous veins passing through the marls, and also in thick beds. It is soft, powdery, and finely laminated. Gypsum abounds in large quan- tities in the cliffs of Codroy Harbour, near Cape Ray. l^ l;1 wn) m^:'i^t^ Ji i i 462 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, " Conghtruirate consists of gravel or rounded fragments of stone cemented together, which often form rocks of great thick- ness and hardness. Excellent building material of this stone was dressed during the last war, some of which are now to be seen on Signal Hill, at St. John's. ^^ Sandstone consists of silicious sand cemented into stone, which varies in colour and hardness. " Shale is thin layers of clay, of different degrees of hardness and colour. - "Magnesian Limestone. — This stone is classified as distinct from the coal formation. The portion examined in St. George's Bay had a thickness of fifty feet, in beds of from two to three feet. One which was a bed of carbonate of lime of grey colour, while the magnesian limestone had a yellow colour. Limestone is found also at Burin, Mortier Bay, and Chapel Cove in Concep- tion Bay. Superior limestone is found near Harbour Breton, Fortune Bay and Canada Bay, north. " Upper Slate Fornuition. — These rocks consists of Belle Isle Slate and gritstone, and variegated slate. They are not found near the magnesian limestone, and are supposed to lie beneath the coal formation. The shale is micaceous and very thin, inter- stratified with fine-grained gritstones, which have a natural cleavage, which is extensively used for building purposes. The lower portion .of this group is occupied by slate of a bright-red colour, having the cleavage of true slate. " The Lower Slate Formation. — These consists of the Signal Hill sandstone, and conglomerates with beds of light-grey grit- stone, having a thickness of 800 feet, and passing down into slate rocks, which are estimated about 3,000 feet in thickness. The formation is often interspersed with white quartz and por- phyry. " Gneiss and Mica Slate. — The mica slates are found interstra- tified with the gneiss. Mica slate is a mixture of mica and quartz, and generally has a cleavage like common slate. The walks about Newman & Co's., premises at Gaultois are paved with this material. Primary limestone, quartz rock, and chlorite slate also belongs to this group. In this class of rocks generally, organic remains first make their appearance. Mr. Jukes dis- covered no organic remains, except a few imperfect vegetable impressions in the coal. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 463 ** Primary or Igneous Rock. — These in Newfoundland consist of granite, serpentine, quartz, greenstone, porphyry, sienite and traprock. These formations are principally found on the Northern and South-west coasts. The granites are generally newer than the gneiss and mica slate on which they repose, and the mass of the unstratified rocks are more recent than the slate formation. The coal formation is the newest group of rocks to be found in Newfoundland. Of building materials, excellent fine grained granite is obtained at St. Jacques, Fortune Bay j at Belle Isle and Kelly's Islands, in Conception Bay — fine grained gritstone is obtained ; sandstone and conglomerates are found at Signal Hill and Flat Rocks, near St. John's. The soft sand- stones of St. George's Bay would furnish excellent freestone. The limestones of the various localities where they are found, would make beautiful building stone. " Marble of every quality and colour can be obtained on the West Coast, fit for statuary or any ornamental use. Excellent building stone of the porphyry and sienite, at the head of Con- ception Bay could be obtained." „ Bishop Mullock, late Roman Catholic Bishop of New- foundland, says of this building stone : — " We have in the neighbourhood of Conception Bay, inex- haustible quarries of sienite or red granite. The front of the Presentation Convent is built of this material, and though it has not been quarried, but only taken from the boulders on the surface, it is imperishable. In the same locality I have seen on the road and in the garden fences the most splendid blocks of Oriental porhyry, that rare material that we see in Rome alone, of green serpentine and of cipoUino. The traveller is astonished at the richness of the altars in the Roman Churches, constructed in what the Italians call pietra dura ; the brilliancy of the colour and the high polish of the variegated material. Well, between this and Holyrood, at the head of Conception Bay, there exist materials enough to ornament all the churches and palaces of the world. It will, however, be long before these rich but in- tractible materials will be turned to any account. Grey granite is found in great abundance in almost ever locality of the island ; slate of a superior quality in Trinity Bay, plastic clay and brick f • A«A •r^ I i< 464 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, clay abound in our immediate neighbouihood. That most useful material, lime, is most abundant in the north and east ; west, the shore about Ferroll in the Straits of Belleisle, is almost entirely composer! of it ; it is plentiful also in Canada Bay, and lately deposits have been found in many mother places. 1 recently saw a quarry in the Harbour of Burin in the side of a cliff. Codroy would furnish plaster of Paris for all the purposes of building and agriculture, and one of the most beautiful sea views I know of is the painted plaster cliffs near Codroy." Of minerals, lime, copper, and lead are abundant. Bog iron ore is found in almost every part of the country, and red oxide of iron is found at Ochre Pit Cove, in Conception Bay, and iron stone in Trinity Bay. In the sand stone at Shoal Bay, near St. John's, a vein containing crystals of sulphuretand green carbonate of copper, was worked in 1775, by some English miners, but was afterwards aban- doned in consequence of not paying the expense attending the working of it. Captain Sir James Pearl, of the Royal Navy, re-commenced the working of this mine in 1839, but his death occurring in 1840, the work has ever since been suspended. A copper mine is said to exist at the head of Fortune Bay. On the western side of the Harbour of Great St. Law- rence, in the sienite there is a vein containing crystals of galena or lead ore, and fluate of lime, containing silver. At Catalina, in Trinity Bay, iron pyrites are found em- bedded in grey wacke, or slate rock, in square pieces of from one to three inches. These pyrites are a combination of iron and sulphur. It is very probable that some valus able mineral springs exist at Catalina, as mineralogist- attribute the hot temperature of almost all the hot mine- ral waters to the springs running through pyrites. This mineral is also found in other parts of Trinity Bay, at Broad Cove near St. John's, and other parts of the Island. At Harbour Le Cou, on the west coast, lumps as big as a man's head are found lying at the foot of the cliff. Pyrites were the fire-stones of the Red Indians, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 465 from which they used to obtain fire by striking two pieces together like flint and steel. It is said the earlier adven- turers who visited Catalina supposed the radiated pyrites to have been gold, and that Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in 1853, loaded his vessel with it. Springs containing a portion of iron in solution, or Chalybeate springs, are found in various parts of Newfoundland. The following is an analysis of a Chalybeate spring at Logie Bay, near St. John's. "Sample of Spring Water from Newfoundland. Specific gravity, at 62 deg. Fahrt. 1,000,016. Solid contents in an imperial pint of 8,750 grains : — 1. Chloride of Calcium -0419 2. Chloride of Magnesium 0400 3. Chloride of Sodium (common salt) -3684 4. Sulphate of magnesia '0400 5. Sulphate of soda -0713 6. Carbonate of magnesia '0334 7. Silica -1167 8. Vegetable extractive -1717 " 9. Bicarbonate of iron -0450 Decimals of a grain -9584 " It will be seen that the total solid contents c '?i imperial pint of this water does not weigh one grain : this is oss than I ever met with in a water. They are all common to spring water except the 1st, Sth. and 9th. The latter it is which will give a character to the spring. It is chalybeate to rather a greater extent than the waters of the " King's Bath," in Bath, England — (the King's bath is the principal spring of the Bath waters). The Newfoundland spring contains 45-lOOOths of a grain in a pint — the Bath spring 30-lOOOths ; and the chloride of calcium (or muriate of lime when in the water) will con- tribute to the tonic effect of the iron, while the sulphates of soda and magnesia, although not in sufficient quantity to pro- duce aperient effects, may prove enough to prevent the action which chalybeates have on some constitutions. Upon the whole, DD i'i ? i?^' av Mj I \(^ 466 V NEWFOUNDI^iND, AS IT WAS, ' I should Hay that the water might be used with advantage as a general bracer, if arrangements could be made for the accommo- dation of invalids near the spring ; for it must be remembered that where iron is sustained in water by carbonic acid, as in this case, there is always a tendency for it to fall down as in- soluble carbonate of iron, leaving the water without its chaly- beate properties. • f I. "William Herepath, . ' • ** Mansion House, Old Park, Bristol " The above analysis was obtained by Captain Prescott, the Governor of Newfoundland ; Dr. Kielley having pre- viously informed him that the water contained some medicinal properties. - ' _..,•* The celebrated Saratoga, New York, springs are also cJialyheate. The waters belong to a class which may be termed the acidulous saline chalybeate. The following is the analysis of the quantity of solid matter held in so- lution by it. In one gallon are found : — Mariate of soda 2973 Hydriodate of soda 3'0 / Carbonate of soda 19*21 Carbonate of lime 92*4 Carbonate of magnesia 23*1 Oxide of iron 5*39 440-4 with a minute quantity of silica and alumina, probably 0*6 of a grain, making the solid contents of a gallon amount to 441 grains. The gaseous contents of the same quality are : — carbonic acid gas, 316 cubic inches, and at- mospheric air, 4. In all, 320 cubic inches of gas in one gallon. The temperature at the bottom of the spring is always 50°. The springs are found useful chiefly in cases of dyspepsia, chronic rheumatism, and diseases of the skin. / ,' AS, ith advantage as a e for the accommo- i8t be remembered irbonic acid, an in fall down as in- wjthout its chaly- 4 Herepath, 1 Park, Bristol." IJaptain Prescott, jlley having pre- contained some springs are also s which may be The following atter held in so- 297-3 30 19-21 92-4 23-1 5-39 440-4 mina, probably its of a gallon snts of the same inches, and at- of gas in one of the spring is chiefly in cases iiseases of the AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 467 Roofing slate is found in most parts of Newfoundland. The following are some of the principal places where it is found, shewing the average strike and dip : — Cleavage of Slate. Near St. John's At Topsail Aquafort North Harbour, St. Mary's Bay * Ditto do North East Mountain, Flacentia Merasheen Harbour * Ditto Indian Harbour, Merasheen Island . . Long Harbour, Flacentia Bay Chapel Arm Brook, Trinity Bay Brigus Scmpin Island Cove, near Brigus Spaniard's Bay Harbour Grace Harbour Grace Island Carbonear Catalina Harbour Clode Sound Morris's Island, Bonavista Bay * Ditto do Ditto another part * Ditto . do Bloody Bay, Bonavista Bay Gander Bay Exploits River Strike. N. :J5° E. N. 35" E. N. 15° E. N. 15« E. N. 15° N. 10° N. 1.5° N. 50° N. 16° 20° 15° 10° 5° 20° N. 20° E. N. 15° E. N. 30° E. N. 27° E. N. 20° E. N. 10° E. N. N. 12° E. N. N. 25° E. N. 30° E. N.E.byN. N. N. N. N. N. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. Dip. Nearly perpendicular. Perpendicular. To the West 46° Westerly 80°. Westerly 85°. N.W. 80°. Perpendicular. Nearly perpendicular. Westerly 80". Westerly 75°. Westerly 45°. Westerly 60". Easterly 46°. Westerly 45°. West 25°. Perpendicular. East 20°. Perpendicular. * Beds, According to the returns made to the Government in 1857, 55,000 slates, valued at $25,000, were obtained from a quarry at the head of Trinity Bay. During 1869, the quantity of lead taken from this mine wa^ 210 ton;; ; in 1870, 250 tons. Lead has also been discovered in Port- au-Port, on the western shore. At the head of Concep- tion Bay, there Was shipped from Turk's Head Mines 20 tons, and from English head 16 tons of copper ore. The samples of ore sent to England proved to be good speci- 99| III M Hi B, tM f ; ii ' ) 1 r 468 ^ NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, mens. A very fine lead mine has been worked at La Manche, in the district of Ferryland. Bishop Mullock says of it : ** It is remarkable that the fishermen in the lower part of Placentia Bay used to go to La Manche, take the pure galena, smelt it, and run jiggers out of it, and still the existence of the mine, though almost every (lebble on the shore had s^Kicks of lead in it, was either unknown or disregarded. This shows how much we require that the country should be explored by com- petent persons. Since the discovery, three or four years ago, many thousand pounds worth of lead has been shipped off. Once, while I was there, sixty five tons, valued at £45 a ton, were shipped off, and another time I saw several, perhaps 100, tons of dressed ore in barrels, prepared for exportation ; and still so little knowledge did the people possess of the treasure existing in their midst that for generations the only use made of it was to dig out a bit to make a jigger.'^ The principal mine is at Tilt Cove, on the northern coast. It was discovered in 1864, by Mr. Smith McRay. This mine yielded in 1868, 8,000 tons of copper ore, which sold for $256,000. In 1869, a fine vein of nickel was dis- covered intersecting the copper, from which in two years ore was taken which realized $38,600. Another copper mine is worked at Burton's Pond, south of Tilt Cove. In his annual report of the C>.lonial Office in 1868, Governor Hill says : — ** In the past year the exportation qf copper ore of a very superior quality was commenced, and* at this time more than 2,000 tons have been shipped. On my recent visit to Labrador, I stopped at Tilt Cove in Notre Dame Bay, for the purpose of seeing a mine which is now in most successful operation, and which I trust is only the first of many wliich will soon be worked with profit to the proprietors, and great advantage to the population, in affording new employment which is so often sorely needed in the winter season. I was much interested in what I witnessed. The quality of the ore is said to be equal to the best known from any other place. The fine kinds are worth AXD AS IT IS IN 1877. 469 as much as £20 per ton, and the average value of the sales of shipments to England, is equal to about j£10 per ton. Before the end of the year, it is expected that a quantity worth from £80,000 to £100,000 will be shipped, and the ore now beine extracted is even better than that first obtained. One hundred and seventy men and boys are now on the new pay list, and about 500 people altogether now reside at the settlement, which was not in existence three years ago. Some of the men make as much as £17 per month, the average being from £10 to £21. Seventeen of the men employed, including the captain of the mine, are Cornish miners, but the remainder are Newfound- landers. I spoke to several and found them well pleased with their position and circumstances, which are indeed greatly pre- ferable to those in which they had frequently been placed in seasons when the fishery had been unsuccessful, and their sub- sistence depended wholly on its result. If, as I believe, will be the case in a very short time, many other mines equally pro- ductive should be worked, it will scarcely be possible to over- value the beneficial effect of this new industry upon the circum- stances of the labouring population." It is said that Tilt Cove mine was purchased by an English company for $75,000. Alexander Murray, Esq., formerly of Sir William Logan's staff in Canada, was employed by the Government, to make a geological survey of the Island in 1866 and 1867, and is still continuing it. He found a vast exposure of gypsum, between Codroy Island and Codroy River, which may be quarried to any extent, while the same material occurs in various parts of St. George's Bay. He found that the carboniferous fonnation of St. George's Bay, is an extension of the same rocks which constitute the coalfields o^' '^^pe Breton. Mr. Murray concludes, that within the area 8U|jj?osed to be underlaid by the seam coal, spoken of by Mr. Jukes, there were 54,000 chaldrons. A friend of mine in Newfoundland says : — " Whilst the mineral and lumbering capabilities are in their infancy — the north side of Green Bay seems to be a deposit of ^!^ ■'■ i'. \Li -'^^^^ ':'Hm '^' :{}ismmf 470 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, copper ore — and every day new discoveries are bein^ made. I visited Bett's Cove mine in the early part of September, 1876, there were 500 men at work and fifty to sixty horses, the daily yield of ore was 140 tons, at £10 per ton. Since then mines have commenced at Southern Arm ; Range Harbour ; and Ben- tun Pond ; at present it is a difficulty to prognosticate what the future of this country will be." Professor Selwyn says : — " The rule applied in the coal-fields of South Wales, in the United Kingdom, to calculate the productiveness of coal-seams, gives 1,000 tons for every square foot in each acre of a seam, one foot thick, leaving a sufficient quantity for pillars to sup- port the roof." \ \ Mr. Murray says : — " Whilst in the neighbourhood of Port-au~Port, I was in formed that a bituminous substance resembling petroleum had been observed on the middle Long Point, on the west side of the Bay, and also that native copper occurred on some parts of the main coast further north." Petroleum was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the Island of Zante, one of the Ionian group, there is a spring of liquid bitumen, which has been flow- ing more than two thousand years. It is said that wher- ever the word " pitch " occurs in the English version ef the Bible it refers to bitumen, which was used in its natural state for many purposes. Perhaps the Ark was "pitched" with crude petroleum. Scientists have attri- buted the origin of petroleum to a variety of causes, but the most probable is that it is the normal or primary pro- duct of the decomposition of marine animal or vegetable organisms. Petroleum is found in most countries, in the stratified, and also in the volcanic and metamorphic formations. Rock oil is found in the United States by boring the slate and sand rocks. I think it probable petroleum will be re being made. I September, 1876, y horses, the daily Since then mines [arbour ; and Ben- nosticate what the nth Wales, in the less of coal-seams, ch acre of a seam, for pillars to sup- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 471 IV Port, T was in ig petroleum had the west side of on some parts of it Greeks and e Ionian group, has been flow- said that wher- glish version ef as used in its 3s the Ark was ists have attri- T of causes, but )r primary pro- al or vegetable 1 the stratified, lie formations. )oring the slate roleum will be found contiguous to the deposits of coal and slate of St. George's Bay. Mr. Murray found that the Lauzon division of the Quebec group of rocks exists in Newfoundland, which is the great metalliferous zone of North America. Mr. Murray found organic remains in several places, and also indications of gold. It is probable gold will be found in many parts of Newfoundland, as it is not con- fined to rocks of any geological period. The gold of Colorado occurs in veins traversing crystalline rocks of oezic age, while the deposits of North Carolina are found in paleozoic strata, similar to the Ural Mountains and the Alps. In Nova Scotia the ore is met with in slates and sandstones, which appear to belong to the Cambrian or Laurentian formations, the same age being also attributed to the auriferous strata of Australia and Wales. Accord- ing to Professor Whitney, the gold bearing quartz of California is found in the strata of the cretaceous period. Gold is found in the aqueous and igneous rocks. It is sometimes diflScult for the inexperienced to tell the differ- ence between yellow mica, or iron pyrites, and gold. To detect iron pyrites it is only necessary to pulverize the mineral and throw it upon a red-hot stove ; gold will not produce any odour or flame when tested in this way, but the pyrites will emit fumes of sulphur. Another simple test by which gold can be detected from iron and copper pyrites is to give a little bit of it a hard rap with a ham- mer — if it be gold it will merely flatten, but if it be pyrites it will smash into little bits ; this test applies to the smallest atom. Yellow mica may be easily known from gold, by its non-metallic lustre, its foliated structure, its low specific gravity, and the harsh, scraping sound made when a knife- point is drawn over it. Indeed, it will crumble under the pressure of the fingers. Gold is not acted upon by any simple acid, but when nitric and muriatic acids are mixed they decompose each other, producing chlorine, and a ■;\' '1 472 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, B in .1 ! mixture of these two acids, called nitro-muriatic acid, or aqua regia, has the power of dissolving gold. Professor Lyon Playfair gives the following directions for examining a mineral to ascertain whether it contains gold : — " Supposing you have auriferous (Quartz, reduce it to a pow- der and boil with aqita regia. After diluting it with water, pass the solution through a filter, allow it to cool, and add a solution of carbonate of soda until it ceases to effervesce. Filter again, and add oxalic acid until the effervesence ceases, and it tastes sour, then boil, and if there be any gold present it will be pre- cipitated as a black powder." The following method for detecting gold is suggested by Professor Pepper : — . " Aqua regia, composed of two measures of muriatic acid and one measure of nitric acid, is put into three phials. Some tin and hydrochloric acid aro placed in a fourth phial, and some nails and sulphuric acid m a fifth. The five phials are then arranged in a sauce-pan, and half covered with cold water. The water is gradually heated, so as not to crack the phials. In about half-an-hour the sauce-pan may be removed from the fire, and the contents of each of the three phials containing mineal poured into tumblers half full of pure rain water. To each tumbler add a portion of the solution of tin-foil. If gold is present in any of them, a purplish precipitate, darkening the whole fluid, is perceptible. This colour is called the purple casius, and is used for imparting a rich ruby colour to glass. It affords a very delicate test for the presence of gold." Gold has a rich, yellow colour, is always found in metallic state, rarely pure, and has a specific gravity of 195 in its most compact and pure form. The great duc- tibility of gold is a subject of remark on the pprt of all writers on the subject. The extreme maleabilit}' is well known ; it has been strikingly illustrated, by comparing the leaves into which it can be hammered, with sheets of paper. 280,000 leaves of gold, placed upon each other, mriatic acid, or old. Professor 8 for examining gold : — uce it to a pow- with water, pass id add a solution Filter again, ss, and it tastes b it will be pre- d is suggested iiriatic acid and phials. Some irth phial, and five phials are Bred with cold « not to crack e-pan may be \i of the three rs half full of portion of the ay of them, a is perceptible. i for imparting lelicate test for lys found in Sc gravity of he great duc- le pprt of all bility is well ly comparing '^ith sheets of I each other, AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 473 would be one inch in thickness ; whereas the same num- ber of sheets of paper would extend 250 feet high. Gold has been formed into a wire TWffth part of an inch in diameter, 550 feet of which only weighed one grain ; it has also been beaten into leaves only aoo\)oo ^b of an inch in thickness. It is said that a twenty dollar gold piece can be drawn into a wire sufficiently long to encircle the globe. The total production of gold in the United States, in 1873, was $36,000,000. In Australia and New Zealand, in 1874. $43,124,000 In Ontario, in 1869, 500 oz 9,250 In Province of Quebec, 1869, 70, 71, 1,747 oz 31,446 Nova Scotia, 1869, 70, 71, 18,987 oz... 351,266 British Columbia, 1869, 70, 71 4,081,197 It is said that the entire production of the world, in 1873, was estimated at $100,000,000, and that the total amount of gold existing in various forms in 1873, appears to have been $4,000,000,000. ZOOLOGY. Of the zoology of Newfoundland very little is known. It is a remarkable fact that neither frogs, toads, lizards, nor snakes of any kind, have ever been found in the country. In this respect it has been called the Ireland of America. A distinguished Norwegian naturalist. Pro- fessor Stuwitz, spent three years in examining the natural history of Newfoundland, where he died in 1842, while prosecuting this delightful study with intense interest. Professor Stuwitz discovered many specimens not found in any part of Europe. The scientific researches of this gentleman in Newfoundland have, I believe, not yet been made public by the Norwegian Government. The Vertebrated Animals, forming the first division of > i m • :^ ; y: '^• PC' i" ■i I :l' I ■I E''^ \ 474 NEWT'OUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, the animal kingdom, are distinguished by possessing an internal bony skeleton, and may be arranged in four classes : 1st. Mammals, or those which bring forth their young alive, and suckle them with milk ; 2nd. Birds ; 3rd. Reptiles ; 4th. Fishes. Class 1st. — Mawjmals. The animals of this class that are indigenous to New- foundland, belong to the following orders : — 1st. — Carnivora, or flesh eating animals. 2nd. — Rodentia, or gnawing animals. 3rd. — Ruminantia, or ruminating animals. \ 4th. — Cetacea, the whale tribe. ' »- \ Order 1. — Garniva. • The common rat and field mouse are found infesting every place. The Bat (vespepertilio 'primosus) is small, and is occasionally, in the evenings, seen skimming the air on leathern wings, in search of insects on which it principally preys. The Black Bear (JJrsus Americanus). This quadruped passes the winter in a state of torpour, concealed in the woods. In the summer it chiefly subsists on roots and berries. Several of these animals are killed on the northern coast during the spring and summer. These animals are of a ferocious disposition, but when taken young are, to a certain extent, tamed. Young ones are sometimes brought to St. John's from the north- ward. The Weasel {Mnstela Martes) in summer is brown, but in winter turns white. The Marten or Wood-cat (Mustela Martes). — Formerly great numbers of these animals were killed by the Indians, but they are now seldom met with. The Otter (Lutra Canadensis) has been so much sought after, for the value of the fur, that it is now become comparatively scarce in the country. The most formidable animal in Newfoundland is the f AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 4*7 f to 7 possessing an anged in four ing forth their : ; 2nd. Birds ; enous to New- Wolf (Canis Lupus Americanis). In some parts of the island they prove destructive to the cattle. The Rev. B. Smith, of Trinity, gives the following ac- count of the narrow escape of one of his people from wolves, in his report to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in London, in 1857 : — " He had gone in his punt to a point about a mile from his house, to cut firewood, and when returning with his load of sticks, at a short distance from the shore, he heard a howling, which at first he did not understand ; but after going a little farther, on looking round he saw the animals, at some distance, in full cry towards him. He threw down his load and ran to his punt, which was fortunately moored but loosely by the painter thrown round a rock. In his haste he caught up the rope, and leaped into the punt, which, with his motion, bounded off ; and by the time he had distanced the shore some twenty yards, the ravenous creatures reached the water, and, disappointed of their prey, were howling and foaming at the mouth hideously. He had no guu or other weapon, and was overpowered with emotion for his narrow escape." A few years ago these animals were rather numerous in the neighbourhood of St. John's, prowling about so near the dwellings as to endanger the lives of the inhabitants. An Act was passed by the Local Government entitled, " The Wolf -killing Act," under the provisions of which every person killing a wolf, on the presentation of the head and skin, was to receive a reward of five pounds. About eight or ten wolves were annually killed on the northern and western coasts. In proportion as the popu- lation increases, so will the monarch of the Newfoundland forest disappear, until at length, as in England and Ireland, its existence will be no longer known. The history of almost every nation furnishes us with proofs, that in the same ratio as the empire of man has been enlarged, so has the animal kingdom been invaded and desolated. The history of Newfoundland bears evidence, that some of the tenants of the ocean and of the feather tribes, have become extinct by the agency of the destroying liand of man. ¥' mf, ' f 476 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, V » The Newfoundland do^a, for the most part, are poor spurious descendants of the once noble race. Those fine samples of the race to be met with in the United States, are rarely found in Newfoundland. No animal in New- foundland is a greater sufferer from man than the dog. This animal is employed during the winter season in draw- ing timber from the woods, and he supplies the place of a horse in the performance of several offices. I have frequently seen one of these creatures drawing three seals (about ore hundred and thirty pounds weight), for a dis- tance of four miles, over huge rugged masses of ice, safe to land. In drawing wood, the poor animal is frequently burdened beyond his strength, and compelled toproceed by the most barbarous treatment. My friend T. Drew, Esq., one of the editors of the Spy and Christian Citizen, published at Worcester, Mass., United States, relates the following instance of the sagacity of the Newfoundland dog, which was communicated to him by a female friend of his, who had been spending the summer of 1850, at Halifax, N. S.:— " Tige is a splendid Newfoundland, and possesses good sense as well as good looks. He is in the habit of going every morning with a penny in his mouth, to the same butcher's shop, and pur- chasing his own breakfast, like a gentlemanly dog as he is. But it so happened upon one cold morning, during the past winter, the shop was closed, and the necessity seemed to be imposed upon Tige, either to wait for the butcher's return, or look for his breakfast elsewhere. Hunger probably constrained him to take the latter alternative, and off he started lor another butcher's shop, nearest to his favourite place of resort. Arriving there, he deposited his money upon the block, and smacked his chops for breakfast as usual ; but the butcher, instead of meet- ing the demand of his customer as a gentleman ought, brushed the coin into his till, and drove the dog out of the shop. Such a disgraceful proceeding on the part of a man, very naturally ruffled the temper of the brute ; bnt as there was no other alter- native, he was obliged to submit. The next morning, however, when his master furnished him with the coin for the purchase I- *, AND AS IT IS IN 1S77. 477 )art, are poor Those fine Tnited States, imal in New- than the dog. ason in draw- ies the place fices. I have ag three seals ht), for a dis- of ice, safe to is frequently ed toproceed end T. Drew, itian Citizen, 5s, relates the ewfoundland female friend 3r of 1850, at 3es good sense Bvery morning jhop, and pur- as he is. But e past winter, be imposed n, or look for ained him to for another ort. Arriving 1 smacked his itead of meet- ight, brushed shop. Such ^ry naturally ) other alter- tig, however, the purchase of breakfast, as usual, the dog instead of going to the shop where he had been accustomed to trade, went immediately to the shop from whence he was so unceremoniously ejected the day before — laid his penny upon the block, and with a growl, as much as to say, * you don't play any more tricks upon travellers,' placed his paw npon the penny. The butcher, not liking to risk, under such a demonstration, the perpetration of another fraud, imme- diately rendered him the quid pro quo, in the shape of a slice of meat, and was about to appropriate the penny as he had dune the day previous, to his own coffers ; but the dog, quicker than he was, made away with the meat at one swallow, and seizing the penny again in his mouth, made ofi' to the shop of his more honest acquaintance, and by the purchase of a double breakfast, made up for his previous fast." The species of fox usually taken in Newfoundland are, the common red or yellow fox (Cards Fulvm) ; and the patch or cross fox {Cania Decuasatus) ; the black or silver fox (Canis Argentatus) being seldom seen. The kind of seals most plentiful passing along the Coast of Newfoundland with the field-ice, are the harps, or half- moon seals, (phoca Groenlandica). About the latter end of the month of February these seals whelp, and in the northern seas deposit millions of their young on the glittering surface of the frozen deep ; at this period, they are covered with a coat of white fur, slightly tinged with yellow. I have seen these J^eautiful " white coats " lying six and eight on a pan of ice, resembling so many lambs, enjoying the solar rays. These animals grow very rapidly, and in about three weeks after their birth begin to cast their white coats ; they are now easily caught, being kil- led by a slight stroke across the nose with a bat or gaff. At this time they are in prime condition, the fat being in greater quantity, and containing purer oil than at a later period of their growth. It appears to be necessary to their existence, that they should pass a considerable time in repose, on the ice ; and, during this state of helplessness, we see the goodness of i > \t IM iir* M .1' 478 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ,\ Providence in providing these amphibious creatures with a thick coat of fur, and a superabundant supply of fat, a defence against the chilling effects of the ice, and the northern blasts. Sometimes, however, numbers of them are found frozen in the ice ; these " cats " are highly prized by the seal-hunters, as the skin, when dressed, makes excellent caps for them to wear while engaged in this perilous and dangerous voyage. At one year old, these seals are called " bedlamers ; " the female is without dark spots on the back which form the harp ; and the male does not show this mark until two years old. The voice of the seal resembles that of the dog, and when a vessel is in the midst of myriads of these creatures, their barking and howling sounds like that of so many dogs, causing such a noise, as in some instances to drive away sleep during the night. The general appearance of the seal is not unlike the dog ; hence some have applied to the seal the name of sea-dog, sea- wolf , &c. These seals seldom bring forth more than one, and never more than two, at a litter. They are said to live to a great age. A respect- able individual informed me that he saw a seal which was caught in a net ; it was reduced to a mere skeleton, consisting of nothing but skin and bone ; the teeth were all gone, and its colour a white grey, which he attributed to old age. Buffon, the French naturalist, says :^- " I am of opinion that these sAiimals live upwards of a hun- dred years, for we know that cetaceous animals in general live much longer than quadrupeds ; and as the seal fills up the chasm between the one and the other, it must participate of the nature of the former, and, consequently, live much longer than the latter." -i^r '■■i-\ - ,..^-<\ ^'^ ^v--r_.: :--^^A.-y.-._ ,:>^,.',,^ y^. ; . The hooded seal (jphoca cristata) is so called from a piece of loose skin on the head, which can be inflated at pleasure, and when menaced or attacked this hood is drawn over the face and eyes as a defence from injury, at which time the nostrils become distended, appearing like AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 479 bladders ; the female is not provided with this hood. An old dog-hood is a very formidable animal; the mate and female are generally found together, and if the female happens to be killed first the male becomes furious; some- times it has taken fifteen or twenty men hours to des- patch one of them. I have known a half-dozen hand- spikes to have been worn out by endeavouring to kill one of these dog-hoods ; they will snap oft* the handles of the gafifs as if they were cabbage-stumps; and they frequently attack their assailants. When they inflate their hoods it seems almost impossible to kill one of them ; shot does not penetrate the hood. Unless the animal can be hit somewhere about the side of the head, it is almost a hope- less task to attempt to kill him. These animals are very large ; some of their pelts which I measured were from fourteen to eighteen feet in length. The young hoods are called " blue backs ; " their fat is not so thick nor so pure as the harps, but their skins are of more value ; they also breed further to the north than the harps, and are generally found in great numbers on the outer edge of the ice ; they are said not to be so plentiful, and to cast their young a few weeks later than the harps. The square fipper, which is, perhaps, the great seal of Greenland {phoca barhata)^ although there it does not attain to so large a size as the hooded seal, while in Newfoundland it is much larger, is now seldom seen, The walrus (tricheens rosmanis), sometimes called sea-horse, sea-cow, and the morse, is now seldom met with; formerly this species of seal was fre- quently captured on the ice. This animal is said to resemble the seal in its body and limbs, though different in the form of its head, which is armed with two tusks, sometimes twenty-four inches long ; in this respect much like an elephant. The under jaw is not provided with any cutting or canine teeth, and is compressed to afford room for these enormous tusks, projecting downwards from the upper jaw. It is a very large animal, sometimes twenty feet long, and weighing from 500 to 1,000 pounds ; its ! ! I' 1 480 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, skin is very thick and covered with yellowish brown hairs. The harbour seal (phoca vitulema), frequents the har- bours of Newfoundland summer and winter. Numbers are taken during the winter in seal nets. The Newfound- land seals probably visit the Irish coasts. Mr. Evans, of Darley Abbey, near Derby, gives an account of a number of seals killed on the west coast of Ireland in 1856 ; amongst them an old harp. Sir William Logan discovered the skeletons of whales and seals near Montreal. The white, or polar, bear {versus mariti/mus) is some- times seen on the coast, regardless of the ocean storm and the intense cold. This animal roams among the rifted ice in search of food. A few years ago, one of these animals was killed near St. John's. It seldom, however, travels in the woods more than a mile or two, and then only by accident, arising, perhaps, from the inconveniences of the weather. '■■--•■^ '^^' - ' f:'-';--''; ' -" ■ Order 2. — Rodentia. ^^^/ ^ ' The Beaver (Castor Fiber, Americarms), once so abund- ant in Newfoundland, is now scarce. Ai account of the ingenuity of the beaver in building his house, is given in almost every book of natural history. The Musk Rat or Musquash, (Avlola Hihethicus) is plentiful in Newfound- land, and ite flesh is frequently eaten. The Hare {Lepus Attiericanus) is to be found in great numbers, on the west and northern coasts of Newfoundland. They are white in winter, but turn brown in summer. The American Rabbit is not found in Newfoundland. * V ■ ' - " ' ». , - ■. ■ '*■ ■• •' , «',■'■ '-■-»'■■ ■•' t ,^. ' Order 3. — RiimiTiantia. \ The Cariboo or Reindeer, (Gervus Ta/rdndus). On the western coast of Newfoundland, these are found in droves of from two to three thousand. Great numbers are killed. Tlxe red Indians used to have fences 30 miles long for en- 3, ■<: illowish brown [uents the har- iter. Numbers Che Newfound- Mr. Evans, of tit of a number land in 1856; >gan discovered itreal. vmus) is some- cean storm and ig the rifted ice t these animals ever, travels in then only by eniences of the [>nce so abund- iccount of the se, is given in Musk Rat or in Newfound- a Hare {Lepus rs, on the west y are white in lerican Rabbit dus). On the und in droves ers are killed. is long for en- AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 481 trapping the deer. They are also abundant on the northern coast, during the summer season. It is very probable that the reindeer of Newfoundland could be domesticated, and, as in Lapland, be useful to man. Of the Lapland deer, it has been said : — " The foot and eye of this creature are beautifully adapted to the country it is destined to inhabit. The hoof is very widely cloven, and when pressed on the ground the two parts expana, thus forming a broad surface, and preventing it from sinking in the snow, amidst which it spends a greater portion of its Ufe. On the foot being raised, the divisions again fall together, making a curious crackling noise, resembling repeated electric shocks. Besides the usual eyelids, he is provided with a nicti- tating membrane extending over the eyes, through which, in snow storms, he can see without exposing those deUcate organs to any injury." White, in his " Natural History of Selbome " says ; — " There is a curious fact not generally known, which is, that at one period the horns of stags grew into a much greater num- ber of ramifications than at the present day. Some have sup- posed this to have arisen from the greater abundance of food, and from the animal having more repose, before population became so dense. In some instances these multiplied to an extraordinary extent. There is one in the Museum of Hesse Cassel, with twenty-eight antlers. Baron Cuvier mentions one with sixty-six, or thirty-three on each horn. If you would pro- cure the head of a fallow deer, and have it dissected, you would find it provided with two spiracula, or breathing places, besides the nostrils , probably analogous to the puncta lachrymalia in the human head. When deer are thirsty, they plunge their noses, like some horses, very deep under water, while in the act of drinking, and continue them in that position for a considerable time, but to obviate any inconvenience, they can open two vents, one at the inner corner of each eye, having a communi- cation with the nose. Here seems to be an extraordinary pro- vision of nature worthy of our attention, and which has not that I know of been noticed by any naturalist ; for it looks as if these creatures would not be suffocated, though both their E£ \. . 482 \ NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, mouths and nostrils were stopped. This curious formation of the head may be of singular service to the beasts of chase, by affording them free respiration, and no doubt these additional nostrils are thrown open when they are hard run." Order 4. — Getcuiea. t'^ '•f'^ U" i^K#^ m i '• ii i The Whale tribe, though called fishes, are true mamma- lia, producing from one to two cubs at a time, which are suckled in the same manner as land animals. The kind appearing on the Newfoundland coast, is the sharp-nosed whale {Balaena Acuto Rostra). Pike-headed species (Ba laenob Boops). The kind most plentiful is the fin-backed whale {Balaenoptera Juhartea), which lives on capelin, lance, &c. No less than fifty of these are sometimes seen spouting at one time. The gi*eat Greenland yrhaXe (Balaena Mystic^us) is occasionally seen on the coast. Probably the whole tribe of whales frequenting the Greenland seas, sometimes visit the Newfoundland coast. Great numbers of what some call Black-fish, and others Pot-heads, are killed during the autumn along the shores. They are of the species (Delphi/nus Dephi^ : the colour of the whole body 18 a bluish black, except a portion of the under part which is bluish white, the head is round and blunt, and the blow-hole very large. They are from sixteen to twenty- five feet in length, with a forked tail. The fat is from one to three inches thick, and they each jdeld from 30 to 100 gallons of oil. The Porpoise (Delphinus Phoceana Gommunis) is plentiful in Newfoundland. Its length is from four to six feet ; the colour of the back is bluish -black, the sides grey, and the under part white. The flesh is considered a sumptuous article of food. The Sword-fish (Dephinua Qladiator) or grampus, is an untiring persecutor of the smaller whales. H .t? AND AS IT ilS IN 1877. 4^ >U8 fonnation of ists of chase, by these additional i> ID. I true mamma- ime, which are Bbls. The kind le sharp-nosed ed species (Ba the fin-backed ^es on capelin, lometimes seen vh&le (Balaena . Probably the ireenland seas, ]]^reat numbers Pot-heads, are They are of r of the whole the under part md blunt, and een to twenty- fat is from one [rom 30 to 100 ^ommunis) is I from four to lack, the sides is considered >r grampus, is s. ( / Class II. — Birds. These consist of six ordem, ft« follows :- 1st. — Raptorea, or birdH of prey. 2nd. — Insesaores, or perching birda 3rd. — /Sfcansores, or climbing birds. , 4th. — i^asores, or scraping birds. -; ' ■ . . 6th. — OrallatoreSf or wading birds. 6th. — Natatores or Palmipedes^ swimming or web- footed. ,V^ Order 1st. — Maptores. The Sea Eagle (Falco ossifragvs) is occasionally seen. The Fish Hawks are plentiful on tne coast of Newfound- land ; also the Sparrow Hawk and Pigeon Hawk (Fako Golumharius). Of owls there are great numbers and varieties. Tne Snow Owl (Strix Nyetea) is plentiful on the northen coast, where gTeat numbers are killed. The flesh is considered delicious. Order 2nd. — Insessores. •»,. .'^■•"- ■/,■ '■ ' 7 The Shrike, or Butcher-bird (Lanicvs Gollwrio) is some- times seen. The Crow {Gorvus Gorone) is found all over the country. The American Robin, or Thrush of Pen- nant (Turdus Migratorus), called the Blackbird in New- foundland, generally appears about the beginning of May, and often, while the ground is covered with snow, they congregate ini^ocks on some garden fence and pour forth their wild an/i sonorous notes. They are the best-known atid earliest songsters of Newfoundland. They are very plentiful, and during the spring great numbers are killed for table use. The Snow Buntings (Emberiza Nivalis) are to be seen inflocks dressed in their silvery plumage,hop- pingabout the snow ; also the fine grosbeak (Zotcia Enuclea- tor), which is one of the handsomestbirds which visits New- foundland. They, with the Crossbill (Gwrvirostra Ameri- 484 NE^VTOtJNDLAND, AS IT WAS, m I 'I !- y : catia), are, however, seldom seen. The little black-capped Titmouse (Parus Artricapillus) is seen enjoying the sum- mer sun and braving the winter storm. The Jay (Corvus Canadensis) is mostly found in the thick woods. The earliest warbler that visits Newfoundland is the Sparrow (Fingilla Nivalis)^ called in America snow-bird, and known by its single " chip." The white-throat sparrow (FingiUa Albicollis) and the fox-coloured (Fmgilla Unfa) are plentiful. The Swallows (Hirundiniedce). Of this family tiiere are several varieties ; the most plenti- ful is the Sand Martin (Hirwndo Eiparia). The Night Hawk is occasionally seen. Order 3rd. — Scansoreff. ■ Of Woodpeckers, there are several kinds, the three- toed {Picus Trydactylus) are the most abundant.* Order 4th — Rasores. This order includes the Peacock, Turkey, and domestic fowls. " White's Natural History of Selborne," says : — ** The pied and mottled colours of domesticated animals are supposed to be owing to high, various and unusual food. Food, climate, and domestication, have a great influence in changing the colour of animals. Hence the varied plumage of almost all our domestic birds. In a w^ild state, the dark colour of most birds is a safe guard to them against their enemies. Natural- ists suppose that this is the reason why birds which have a very varied plumage, seldom assume their gay attire, until the second or third year, when they have acquired cunning and strength to avoid their enemies. A few years ago I saw a cock bullfinch in a cage which had been caught in the fields after it was come to its full colours. In about a year it began to look dingy, and blackening every succeeding year until at the end of four years it was coal black. Its chief food was hempseed. Such influence has food on the colour of animals." *See " Wandering Thoughts," page 117. i\ AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 485 The Ptarmigan or Grouse {Tetras Lagopus), called in Newfoundland, partridge, are plentiful. They are white in winter, and of a reddish brown in summer. Order 5th. — Grallatores. The Snipe (Scolopax Gallinago) is found in all paints of the country. The Beach Bird (Trinyu Uypolareus) and other Sandpipers are abundant. Curlew (Americanus) and Plover (Gharadius), are found in great numbers on the northern coast. The Bittern {Ardea Minor) is only occasionally seen. Order 6th. — Natatores. The Goose (Anser Canadensis), and the Common Wild Goose (Alias Anser), with other species are found in New- foundland. Of Ducks there are several varieties, among which are the Black Duck or Mallard (Anas Bosehas), and (Anas Marila) fresh-water Duck, also the Eider Duck (Anas Mollissima). The Sheil-drake (Anas Tadorna)^ the Long Tailed Duck and the Teal (Anas Cressa). The common Tarn or Sea-swallow (Sterna Herundo), is plentiful. Of Gulls, there are a great variety. The Wagel or Great Grey Gull (Larus Naocius), the Arctic Gull (Larus Parasiticus), the Common Gull [Larus Ganus), and many others. The Stormy Petrel, or " Mother Gary's Chickens" (Procellaridoi Pelagica), breed in great numbers on the rocky lonely islands of the northern coas' .* The Gannct or Solan Goose (Pelicanus Bassamus). and the Cormorant (Pelicanus Carho), are found on all parts of the coast. The Loo, Loon, or great Northern Diver (Golymhus Glacialis), is occasionally seen. Puffins (Aloa Arctica) are abundant. The furs or merrs (Golymhus Triole) are generally called by the in- * See " Wandering Thoughts," page 73. 486 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ::i -^ '!*«•* '.: I habitants of the east " Bascalao birds." They breed in great numbers on the islands of Basalao and Funk. They make no nests, and lay their eggs, which are pyriform, of a greenish colour and great size, on the bare rock. Great quantities of eggs are taken from these islands in the month of June by the fishermen. The penguin, or great auk (Alca Impennis, Linn.), about seventy years ago, was very plentiful on Funk Island, but has now totally disappeared from the coast of Newfoundland. Incredible numbers of these birds were killed, their flesh being savoury food, and their feathers valuable. Heaps of them were burnt as fuel, to warm the water to pick off the feathers, there being no wood on the island. The mer- chants of Bonavista at one time used to sell these birds to tho poor people by the hundred-weight, instead of pork. It was thought that guano might be found on Funk Island. I procured a sample of what was supposed to be the birds' dung, but it proved to be nothing more than bones and turt There are islands on the northern and western coasts of Newfoundland called the Penguin Islands, so named, probably, from the number of penguins at one time breeding on them. The penguin is from the size of a goose to double as large ; its wings are short, re- sembling the flippers of the seal, and its feet broad and webbed. It is incapable of flight, and the position of its body, when on the land, is nearly erect, and it waddles about very slowly. The appearance of these birds used to indicate to the mariner the approach to land. " There is something in the strange figure and aspect of the penguin well agreeing with the wild, lonely, remote islands in which it congregates. In beholding a spot on the surface of our globe, ocean-girt and uninhabited by man, tenanted by thou- sands of these birds, which for ages — generation after genera- tion — have been in uninterrupted possession of the place, we are thrown back upon primeval days, and we involuntarily recur to the now extinct dodo — a wingless bird, which formerly tenanted tlie Islands of Bourbon, Mauritius and Rodrigue, once desolate ^s, AND AS IT IS IX 1877. 487 They breed in ad Funk. They are pyriform, of -re rock. Great islands in the enguin, or great mty years ago, las now totally nd. Incredible leir flesh being Heaps of them to pick off the and. The mer- sell these birds ght, instead of t be found on it was supposed 5 nothing more n the northern sd the Penguin ber of penguins iiin is from the ^s are short, re- feet broad and position of its and it waddles lese birds used land. id aspect of the emote islands in he surface of our lanted by thou- n after genera- he place, we are ntarily recur to I'merly tenanted 5, once desolate and untrodden by the foot of man, as are still many of the haunts of the penguin, and the idea forces itself upon us that, like the dodo, this bird also may at some future time become utterly annihilated." Class 3. — Reptiles. , , I am not aware that reptiles of any kind have been found in Newfoundland. Class 4. — Fishes. The following are the most important species found in the waters of Newfoundland : — Division 1st. — Fishes having a long skeleton. The Salmon (Salmo Solar) is found on the coast, and at the mouth of most of the largest brooks of Newfound- land, where great numbers are taken in nets. Mr. S. Wilmot, of Newcastle, Ontario, has for several years been employed in fish culture in various parts of Canada. If he were employed by the Government of Newfoundland to introduce his system, it would be a great benefit to the country. At the Government breeding establishment at Newcastle, 175,000 salmon ova were secured and placed in the breeding trough on the 23rd of October, 1876. Hundreds of salmon, ranging from five to twenty pounds in weight, may now be seen in the house and ponds. Common mackerel (Scomher Scomha) have nearly deserted the shores the laf c twenty years ; they used to be equally as abundant as the herring. The mackerel was at one time absent from the coast of Newfoundland for a period of thirty years, returning about the year 1807. Mr. Yarrell, the celebrated English writer on natural history, states that the mackerel is not a migratory fish. The Tunny Fish, or, as it is called in Newfoundland, the horse-macke- rel (Scomber Thynnus)^ is abundant along the coast dur- II ' i! tatttm »«o'*1 '■^*^- MU tr !,■ M 488 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ing the summer and autumn, when great numbers are taken. They are from seven to ten feet long, and are just beginning to be used as an article of food. They are equal, if not superior, in flavour to the common mackerel. Few in Newfoundland are aware that the horse-mackerel constitutes a sumptuous article of food, or that it is even fit to eat. This fish was well known to the ancients, and highly valued as a most important food. From the earliest ages it constituted a great source of wealth and com- merce to the inhabitants of the Mediterranean. The Herrings are most abundant in Newfoundland. They are most plentiful on the western coast during the winter season ; and in the months of April, May, Septem- ber, October and November, they visit the eastern and northern coasts. Besides what are exported, an immense number of herrings are consumed in the island, every poor family that has the means of procuring them, have no less than from two to ten barrels (according to the size of family) preserved for winter consumption. A great num- ber are also cut up and used as bait for catching codfish. Of Codfish, there are two or three species ; the most plen- tiful is (Morrhua Americanus). The Haddock {Morrhua Aeglifinus) is not plentiful. The Tom Cod (Morrhua Puinosa) abounds in all the harbours of the coast. The Sculpin (Cottus) is very plentiful ; it is a most voracious fish, and covered with spines. It is rarely eaten. Trout and Salmon peel abound in all the fresh water streams and lakes, and the salt water trout are taken in nets on the western and northern coasts. The Smelt (Osrmrus Eperlanus) also abounds. The Capelin (Salmo Oroenlan- dicus) swarm the shores of Newfoundland from the be- ginning of June until about the last of July. They are from four to seven inches in length, the under jaw larger than the upper, the colour of the back is greenish, and the under part silvery. Chappell says : — " The manner in which the capelin deposits its spawn, is one of the mostj^curious circumstances attending its natural history. AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 489 The male fishes are somewhat larger than the female, and are provided also with a sort of ridge projecting on each side of their back-bones, similar to the eaves of a house, in which the female capelin is deficient. The latter on approaching the beach to depost its spawn is attended by two male fishes, who huddle the female between them, until her whole body is con- cealed under the projecting ridges before mentioned, and only her head is visible. In this state they run, all three together, with great swiftness upon the sands, when the males, by some imperceptible, inherent power, compress the body of the female betwixt them, so as to expel the spawn from an orifice near the tail. Having thus accomplished its delivery, the three separate, and paddling with all their force through the shallow surface of the beach, generally succeed in regaining once more the bosom of the deep." Millions of these fish are annually taken from their native element, and laid over the ground as manure. In some parts of the Island, they form the principal manure for potatoes. Immense quantities are also used as bait for catching codfish. They are also salted and dried, and con- siderable quantities exported. Sir William Logan found the remains of capelin in clay near Ottawa. The Lance {AmTwdytes Tohianus) is a beautiful little fish, shaped like an eel, from three to six inches long. They are used for bait in catching codfish. The Flounder or Flatfish (Plat- tessa) abounds on all the coast. Turbot (Plattessa Maxi- mus) are found on the west coast, particularly at Fortune Bay, where they are smoked. Halibut (Hypoglossus Vul- garis) are very abundant on this part of the coast, some of them being of enormous size, probably weighing a thou- sand pounds. iCels {Anguilla) are plentiful, and form a prime article of food with the poor of St. George's Bay. The Brett {Clwpea Minima) are found in Hermitage Bay. Division 2nd. — Fishes having a Cartilaginous Skeleton. Of Sharks, there are several species seen on the New- foundland coast ; the most common are the Hammerhead s -> l\ ' NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, (Squalus Zygeana). The Blue Shark (Carcharius Olaucua). The White Shark (CarchariAis Vulgaris) and the Basking Shark (Seldche Maximus), which is said to be the largest kind of shark. A few years, ago at Bonavista, I saw one that measured 27 feet in length. The quantity of liver taken from it filled eleven pork barrels, the product of which was 122 gallons of oil. This animal is neither voracious nor fierce ; its food con- sists chiefly of sea plants. The Dog-fish {Squalus Gani- culus) are plentiful, and sometimes do great injury to the nets. Great numbers are caught in some places for the liver; they are not eaten in Newfoundland. The Thrasher (Carcharius Vulpus) is a great enemy to the small whales. There are several varieties of the B^y, the most common are the Thomback (Ram Glavalus) and the Skate (Rata Batis). The Articulated Anvmals. i a This is the second great division of the animal king- dom; they arc called articulated, on account of their being covered by a jointed case or crust, which serves the pur- poses of a covering to protect the body, and of a skeleton to support the muscles. This division includes the Worms, the Crustacea, the Spiders, the Centipedes, and the Insects. The Ship Worm (Pholas) is plentiful; and the Earth Worm (Lumhricus Terrestris) is found in abundance all over the country. The Leech (Hirudo) is found in the muddy, stagnant streams. Of the Crustacea: Lobsters (Astacus Marinus) are large and plentiful. There are several kinds of Crabs ; the Sand Crab being the most common. Insects are known from other articulated animals by their complex organization, their adaptation for breathing air, the smaller number of their legs and segments, and from their metamorphosis from the larva to the perfect state, i; AS, ' chariuaGlaucua), and the Basking to be the largest avista, I saw one luantity of liver the product of rce ; its food con- i {Squalua Gani- eat injury to the Qe places for the oundland. The at enemy to the s of the Ray, the a Glavalus) and ' ;' AND AS IT IS IN 1877. Order 1st. — Coleopteraf 491 he animal king- nt of their being serves the pur- nd of a skeleton iides the Worms, and the Insects, and the Earth 1 abundance all is found in the tacea: Lobsters ful. There are being the most her articulated leir arlaptation ' their legs and om the larva to Includes those insects which have the upper pair of wings forming a strong homy case for the lower pair, which are thin and membranous. These are usually termed Beetles. The Rove Beetles (Staphylinus Villosua) called Fish-flies in Newfoundland are very plentiful, and also (Staphylinus Ghrysurua) and a variety of other insects of this order. Order 2nd. — Orthoptera, Or straight winged insects, are known by possessing two pairs of wings, and jaws fitted for mastication. Of Grass-hoppers there are several varieties. The Cricket (Orcheta DoTneatica) abounds in plenty. , , Order 3rd. — Keuroptera, Or membranous, and delicately veined, netted winged insects. Of these there are several varieties of Dragon Flies, (Lihellula) singularly called horse-stingers in New- foundland, although they do not possess the power of stinging. There are several other genera of this order in Newfoundland. Order 4th. — Hymenoptera, Consists of insects with four membranous wings, less netted than those of the Dragon Flies : they have also jaws adapted rather for suction than mastication. Hum- ble Bees (Bombua), are numerous, also Wasps {VespicUie)^ and a great variety of other insects of this order. Order 5th. — Homoptera, This order includes a numerous tribe of plant sucking insects, such as Plant Lice (Aphida^), &c., which often destroy great numbers of leaves. lT"\i 492 !i^: NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, Order 6th. — Heteroptera, The insects of this order also live by suction, but differ from the last order, in the formation of ^their upper pair of wings, which are homy and coloured at the base, and membranous at the point. This order includes the Bug (Girmex) which I believe is only found in the Capital of of Newfoundland — St. John's. Order 7th. — Lepidoptera, This order have their wings covered with minute scales, often brightly coloured. Of the Butterfly tribe the most abundant in Newfoundland is the forked (Vanessa Furcillata), Tiger Swallow-tail (Papilio Ternus), Black Swallow-tail {Papilio Asterius), the White Butterfly (Pontia Oleracea\ and the Purple Disk Butterfly (HipparchitcB Lyccena). Moths and Millers also abound. Order 8th. — Diptera. The insects of this order have but two wings, which are membranous. The best known in Newfoundland are the Mosquitoes (Gulex) and Gnats, the House Flies (Musca Domestica), the Bats or Gad Fly (Oestrus Bovis), (0. Tarandi) and (0. Equi). The remaining orders of insects include the various kinds of Fleas and Lice, and Caddice Worms The Moluscous Animals. ; These are the third division of animals, distinguished by the absence of long skeleton, and external articulated case. The want of these is supplied by a shell, or by a tough skin or mantle. Of snails and slugs there are abundance in Newfoundland, with and without shells. The Portuguese men-of-war (Physalia) are sometimes seen on the coast, This ship -like fish has a very beautiful 'AS, A^D AS ms IN 1877. 493 uction, but differ .their upper pair at the base, and Deludes the Bug in the Capital of th minute scales, Y tribe the most Tked (Vanessa Ternu8\ Black ^ite Butterfly t)isk Butterfly 's also abound.* ings, which are foundland are e Flies {Musca 'U8 Bovis), (0. ders of insects \ and Caddice distinguished al articulated ^^^11, or by a gs there are thout shells, metimesseen 3ry beautiful appearance, sailing along on the surface of the water. It possesses the singular property of stinging. Ti Squid or Cuttle fish (Sepia Artica) is very abundant, and usually visits the shores of Newfoundland in August and September. It is provided with eight or ten arms or suckers, by which it fastens to anv substance, and with which it grasps its prey ; it is irom four to six inches long ; the colour is a greenish red, and it is lumi- nous in the dark ; they appear like so many pieces of gold darting through the water in the night, leaving after them a fiery train. They dart backwards and for- wards, and are furnished with a bag in the hind part of the body, containing a blackish fluid or ink ; this fluid is a means of defence to the animal, as, when it is pur- sued, it ejects this ink, in order to conceal itself. It is also a source of annoyance to the fishermen. The mo- ment the squids are drawn from the water they " squirt," as it is termed, ejecting the black fluid in the face and over the clothes of the fishermen. Some writers affirm, while others deny, that this fluid formed the ink of the ancient Romans, and the principal ingredient of the Chinese or Indian ink. The organic remains of this animal, in some countries, have been found in the second- ary rocks, with the ink bags preserved. Arms of the Sepia have been picked up on the beach of Newfound- land, twelve feet long. An immense animal of this kind was captured in Conception Bay a few years ago. The squid or cuttle fish is known in almost every sea. It is considered a luxury by the Sandwich Islander ; and the Red Indians of Newfoundland esteemed it a great delicacy, it being eaten raw by them. It is rarely eaten by the inhabitants of Newfoundland, being generally considered unfit for food. It is, however, a well-flavoured fish, and is excellent either broiled or fried ; it tastes much like the large claws of the lobster. The squids are usually caught in Newfoundland with a small jigger, though, when they are plentiful, they will fasten on to anything 494 NEWFOXTNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ,'i-f put into the water. The use to which they are applied is bait for catching codfish, and they also make an excellent manure. v ■ No Oysters (Ostrea Edulia) have been found in the waters of Newfoundland, but are imported from the neighbouring provinces. I see no reason why they could not be planted in artificial beds in Newfoundland, as well as in Europe and the United States. It would be a source of wealtn to the poor fishermen, particularly as they could reach England by steam in five or six days, and when oysters are worth £3 sterling per bushel in the London market. There are no oysters in the Pro- vinces of Quebec or Ontario. In 1859, however, Com- mander Fortin planted an artificial bed in Gapp^ Basin ; three years after, in 1861, he visited the bed to ascertain the result of his experiment. He says : — " I caused the drag — an iron rake, with an iron bag-net at- tached, which is used in taking oysters — to be passed six times over the beds, and this yielded more than three hundred full- grown oysters, of which more than a third were not only alive but were, moreover, white, fat and of delicious flavour, and they appeared to us to have increased in size since they were laid down in 1859 and 1861 ; and the important fact which was to be established, viz., whether we could create artificial oyster beds on our shores, and whether, among others, the muddy bottom of Gusp6 Basin, and the more or less brackish water which it contains, would prove suitable to these mollusca — is thus proved beyond any possible doubt. And it is not at all surprising that a part of the oysters which I transferred and had deposited in Gasp6 Basin should die, either on the way over from Caraquette to our coast, or after having been put into the water. The sudden change from the spot where they were ex- isting to another which, in some respects, might not be so suit- able ;to them, the few days which they passed out of their natural element, and the wounds which a great many of them necessarily received in being transferred from the fishermen's canoe to the boat which brought them on board La Canadienne, and, after reaching Gasp6, from La Ccmadienne to the barge r I AND AS IT IS IN 1877. m which conveyed them to the beds which were to be covered with oysters, were causes quite sufficient to entail the death of so large a number. " It is well known that if oysters are wounded, and onoe, when out of the water, lose the fluid which they always keep in their shells— which fluid seems to take part in the functions of respiration— they soon die. " But it is impossible to calculate the relative number of dead and live oysters, without having them examined by men in diving-dresses ; and I am of opinion, that the number of dead oysters is not so great as at first sight it would appear to be ; for those who are used to the oyster fishery have a thousand op- portunities of perceiving how much more easy it is to take dead oysters than living ones — the former are light, and remain on the surface of the mud, whilst the latter, which are heavier and almost constantly in motion, bury themselves in it. At Cara- quette, where the oyster beds are of old standing, I have seen the fishermen, at several strokes of the dredge, often bring up nothing but empty oyster shells ; and even when they brought up good oysters, these were mixed with a much greater number of dead oysters. " Now, if oysters are living in a medium which is suitable to them, it necessarily follows, it appears to me, that they will multiply there ; and this is the more easy as they are herma- phrodites, and, by consequence, coition is unnecessary for their reproduction. " Moreover, as I found young oysters on the old which were collected from the bottom, and even on the branches with which I had covered my oyster beds in the spring, I have convincing proof that my experiments have succeeded, and that these arti- ficial beds, like all those which have been made in the same manner on the shores of the United States, France and England, will multiply to a great extent, and may in a few years be worked by our fishermen. " The only thing to be regretted is, that I had not the means of transporting more, and of carrying on my experiments on a larger scale." The Mussel (Mytilus Edulis), and the Sand Clam (Mya Arenaria), are on most of the coast. The mussels are i'-i _.[ I, ^m »$* 496 1 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, very plentiful in Newfoundland, and might be utilized, not only as an article of food, but also as bait, for which purpose it is in great demand in England, In France, mussel farms have been established by means of strong wooden stakes. The spat voluntarily attaches itself to these stakes, to which is attached a netting made into a kind of basket-work. In one place, 140 horses and 100 carts are employed in this business, in addition to which, some 40 or 50 vessels make about 750 voyages a year to different parts of France. One mussel farm is said to yield $250,000 per annum. Mr. Bertram tells us in his " Harvest of the Sea," of a single little fishing village in Scotland, requiring for its share for baiting the deep sea- lines in cod and haddock fisheries, j?ve milhons mussels. The Clam, which is esteemed so highly in America on account of the excellent chowder which it makes, is not eaten in Newfoundland ; it is only used as codfish bait. The Scallop (Pecten Magellanicud), is found on the coast. The Razor-fish {Solen Ensis^ — so called from the shells being shaped like the handle of a razor — are found in abimdance, buried in the sandy beach of Fortune Bay. They taste like the clam, and are eaten in America. The Radiated Animals, Constituting the fourth division of animals, are distin- guished by the arrangement of the members of their bo- dies, which generally diverge on all sides from a central point. These animals are all aquatic. The most common in Newfoundland, belonging to this division, are the Ane- mone, which are found on the rocks along the sea coast. Some of these animal flowers are very beautiful. The waters of Newfoundland, during the autumn, are thick with jelly fishes, or sea nettle (Medusce) ; these fish are also called sea blubbers, but in Newfoundland they are called by the singular name of " Squid-squads." The Sea Star {Asterias Spinasus), is plentiful, and there are several AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 497 other beautiful varieties. The Sea Urchin, Hedgehog, or Sea Egg (Echinus Granulatus), usually called in New- foundland Ox eggs, are found on all parts of the coast, clinging, by the suckers which they possess, to the rocks, and to the wharves and stays. Geologists have found the shells of these animals in a fossil state in the more ancient strata of the earth. They are frequently eaten in New- foundland. BOTANY. In this department of natural history, the field in New- foundland is unexplored. I shall therefore only mention a few of the more useful trees and fruits. The oak, beech, maple, elm, chestnut, walnut, bass, cedar, and a variety of other beautiful trees which adorn the American conti- nent, are not found in Newfoundland. The order — Orossulacece — includes the wild c\irrants (Ribea Ringens) and the wild gooseberries (Rlhea Cynoa- bati)y both of which are very plentiful. The order— -RosaceoB — contains the wild roses (Rosa Blanda) and (-Rosa Parvijlora) , the wild raspberry {Ru- hus Idceus). It is a singular fact, that where the woods have been consumed by fire in Newfoundland, the first thing that springs up after is the raspberry bush, al- though the soil had been previously occupied by birch, spruce, and fir trees. Mr. Lindley says : " Books contain an abundance of instances of plants having suddenly sprung up from the soil obtained from deep excava- tions, where the seeds must be supposed to have been buried for ages. Professor Henslow says, that in tho fens of Cam- bridgeshire, after the surface has been drained and the soil ploughed, large crops of white and black mustard invariably appear. Miller mentions a case of plantago psyllium having sprung from the soil of an ancient ditch which was emptied at Chelsea, although the plant had never been there in the memory of man. De CandoUe says, that M. de Girardin succeeded in raising kidney-beans from seeds at least a hundred years ojd, 498 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, taken out of the herbarium of Tournefort ; and I have myself raised raspberry plants from seeds found in an ancient coflfin in a barrow in Dorsetshire, which seeds, from the coins and other relics met with near them, may be estimated to have been six- teen or seventeen hundred years old." And White, in his " Natural History of Selbourne," says : " The naked part of the Hanger is now covered with thistles of various kinds. The seeds of these thistles may have lain probably under the thick shade of the beeches for many years, but could not vegetate till the sun and air were admitted. When old beech trees are cleared away, the naked ground in a year or two becomes covered with strawberry plants, the seeds of which must have been in the ground for an age at least. One of the slidders, or trenches, down the middle of the Hanger, close covered over with lofty beeches, near a century old, is still called Strawberry Slidder. though no strawberries have ^rown there in memory of man. That sort of fruit did once, no doubt, abound there, and will again when the obstruc- tion is removed." The wild Strawberry {Fragaria Virginiana), the Dew- berry {Rnhus Procv/mhens) and other fruit bearing plants are found in abundance. The order — Pomacce — includes the Rowan Tree or Moun tain Ash (PyruaMicrocarpa), this tree covered with beau- tiful coral red berries, is one of the prettiest trees of Newfoundland. The timber of the mountain ash is hardly used for any other purpose than that of making handles for edged tools, owing to the small size the tree generally attains. This tree adorns several gardens in the suburbs of St. John's, and graces many dwellings in other parts of of the Island. x " The rowan tree or mountain ash, had formerly many super- stitious virtues and associations connected with it. It is con- jectured that the expression in Shakespeare, * Aroint thee witch!' should be read, * A rowan-tree witch/ and from the arguments AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 499 1 1 have myself incient cofl&n in soins and other have been six- if Selbourne," 3d with thistles may have lain for many years, were admitted. ced ground in a (lants, the seeds m age at least. middle of the near a century no strawberries lort of fruit did len the obstruc- iTia), the Dew- bearing plants iTreeorMoun red with beau- ttiest trees of n ash is hardly laking handles tree generally in the suburbs other parts of irly many super- ,h it. It is con- oint thee witch!' 1 the arguments adduced, the latter appears the most probable reading. How- ever, that may be, the rowan-tree is rapidly losing its mysterious and superstitious character, although some lingering remains may still be occasionally met with, of the wondrous magic potency thereunto attributed. It is still supposed in sequestered districts especially, to have the power to avert the * evil eye.* Education is fast dispelling its celebrity, as the * witchen tree,' but its beauty and elegance will continue to charm when its superstitious virtues are entirely forgotten." The Wild Pear {Aronia Ovale) and a variety of other plants. The order — Amygdalce — contains the White Cherry (Prunu8Rorealis)which is plentifully scattered over New- foundland, but no choak cherries. The order — Cupuliferce — includes the Hazel {Gorylus Americana), this tree generally grows by the side of brooks and other moist places in Newfoundland, and produces abundant of nuts. The order — Betulacce — contains the White Birch (Betula Alha). Yellow Birch {B. Excelsa). Black Birch (B. Senta), and the Canoe Birch {Betula Papyracea). This tree is the most useful of any in Newfoundland. It is used for ships' timbers, and sawed into planks. Hoops, tables, chairs, staves, blocks, and a variety of cabinet work are made out of it. A great portion of this timber is consumed as fuel Its wood is also drawn into narrow grassy strips, out of which hats are made. Its twigs are made into brooms, and are frequently cut for cattle to browse on. Beds are also made of the outer baik. The canoes of the Red Indians were made out of the ' : rk of the birch, being sewn toge- ther with the elastic roo- .' of trees, and the sinews of the deer ; some of their cook : g utensils were also formed of its wood. The outer bark is used by some as sheathing on the rough boarding of dwelling houses, before the clap- board is laid on. The largest birches of Newfoundland are from 16 to 37 inches in diameter. The birch is often tapped by persons in the woods in the spring, and affords , i B .s " i. 500 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, a pleasant drink. The sap has a sugary taste. It is very probable that it would make an excellent vinegar. The peculiar scent of the Russian leather is owing to the bark of the birch with which it is tanned ; and a subsequent finish with an essential oil distilled from the same tree. In high northern latitudes, the inner bark is ground, and in times of scarcity, used as a substitute for flour. The Laplanders make waterproof boots without seams from the trunk of the tree. Having read that the bark of the birch was made use of by the ancients for tablets, and that some of the books which Auma composed and wrote on this material, were found in perfect preservation when his tomb was opened, after a lapse of four hundred years, I selected some very fine smooth pieces of the outer bark, and found that the pen glided over it with as much faci- lity and ease, as over a fine sheet of letter paper. The birch sends forth a very sweet pleasant smell, which is said to be very beneficial in disorders of the lungs. This tree, clothed with its silvery drapery, is certainly the queen of the Newfoundland forest. The Alders (Alnus) are a very stunted growth. The order — Salicacece — includes the Willows (Salix) Balsam poplar {Populus haliamiferus) and the Aspen. (Populus tremuloides) which attains a considerable size, and is principally used for the purpose of building wharves. A legend is told, that of this tree the wood was taken that formed the cross of our Saviour, and that since then its leaves can never rest. The order — Con '"roe — contains the evergreens. Indian tea, or Labrador T ii plant {Ledum Latifolmm). This plant is used by some £ the poor of Newfoundland as tea; it is also very often used medicinally for diseases of the lungs, and with good effect. Sheep laurel {KilmiaAngus- tifolia) and Swamp laurel (Kahnia Olauca), called in Newfoundland, Gould Withy. This plant when boiled with Ijbacco, and sprinkled over the parts effected, is an infallible remedy to cure dogs of the mange, The Black J. ste. It is very vinegar. The ing to the bark d a subsequent the same tree, is ground, and for flour. The ut seams from bhe bark of the iblets, and that i and wrote on ation when his indred years, I the outer bark, 1 as much faci- er paper. The 11, which is said igs. This tree, ly the queen of rowth. iTillows (Salix) nd the Aspen, isiderable size, tiding wharves, was taken that t since then its greens. Indian folmm). This undland as tea; diseases of the KilrrhiaAngus- ■ca), called in t when boiled effected, is an Ke, The Black AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 501 Crowberry {Empetrtmi Nigrum) occupies all the head- lands on the coast, and is the principal food of some birds. The White Pine {Pinus Strohus) called by way of eminence the pine, principally occupy the northern and western pai-ts of Newfoundland. Pine is the largest forest timber of the country ; the usual size to which it attains is from 18 to 34 inches in diameter, at Bay de Easte, in Fortune Bay, however, pines have been found > four feet in diameter. Great quantities of pine are sawed into boards, which are said to be much superior to the lumber imported from the neighbouring continent. The Red Spruce (Pinus Rubra) is indigenous, but is seldom met with ; White Spruce (Pinus Alba) and Black Spruce (Pinus Nigra) and the Fur (Pinus Balsamea). The largest spruce and. fir of Newfoundland are small when compared with the stately trees of the American Continent. In Newfoundland they generally attain to from six to twenty inches in diameter, and from thirty to fifty feet long. The spruce is generally used for building boats, oars, fences, spars of various kinds, planks, hand- barrows, wheel-barrows, building fishing-rooms and wharves. It is also used for firing, and from its branches that wholesome beverage, spruce-beer, is made. The fir is mostly used for the frame- work of dwelling-houses and stores, clapboards, oil hogsheads, salmon and herring bar- rels, casks for screwed fish, shingles and fire-wood. The turpentine bladders of this tree are used in cases of fresh cuts and other wounds. It also forms an excellent var- nish for water-colour drawings. The Black Larch (Pinus Pendula) and the Red Larch (Pinus Microscarpa), Hack- matack, Tamerac or Juniper. This is one of the most beautiful of the forest trees, and may be called the oak of Newfoundland, being the hardest and most durable of all the forest timber. It has superseded the use of the birch in the construction of ships. It is also used for cart-wheels and for other valuable purposes, and when dry it makes the best fuel of all the forest trees. IP'M 502 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, '^:i •j' ■■' '■ \. ■:\ The Pitcher Plant, or Indian Cup, called in Newfound- land the Indian Pipe (Saracenia Purpurea) said to cure the small- pox, is found on all the marshes. The Ground Juniper (Juniperus Communis) is a trail- ing berry-bearing shrub. The Order, Vaccine(iceae, includes the large and small Cranberries {Oxy coccus Macrocarpus) and (0. Paluatris). The Whortle Berries (Vaccinium Resinorum), black Whortle Berry (F. Gorymhosum) and Tall Whortle Berry ( V. Uliginosum), The Blue Berries (F. Pennsylvanicum), called in Newfoundland " hurts." The Partridge Berry (Gaultheria Procumhens) are most abundant. There are an immense number of plants in Newfoimdland which bear edible berries. '■ >. , , I The Order, Gaprifoliaceae, contains the Dog-woods (Gornus Ganadensis), which is very plentiful in New- foundland. Scarlet Stoneberries (Gornus) are plentifully scattered beneath the shade of the fir-trees, where they love to vegetate. Trailing evergreens and berries are found in almost endless variety in Newfoundland. The garden vegetables in Newfoundland, as well as the ani- mals bred in the country, are said by all whether native or otherwise, to be the best flavoured in the world. I have seen no potatoes, either in the British Provinces or the United States, to be compared for mealiness or flavour to the Newfoundland potato. Potatoes in England, raised from the Newfoundland seed, obtained the prize twice at the Horticultural Show. For a more detailed account of the natural historv of Newfoundland, see " Wandering Thoughts, or Solitary Hours," published by the Author in 1846. / . /■■V' AND AS IT IS IN 1877 503 unis) is a trail- CHAPTER XIX. THE RED INDIANS, OR B(EOTHICKS. HEN Cabot discovered Newfoundland in 1497, he held intercourse with the Red Indians, who were dressed in skins and painted with red ochre, and who, no doubt, beheld his approach to the shore with as much astonishment as did the inhabitants of San Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands, when Co- lombus discovered the West Indies, in 1492, who sup- posed the ship in which he crossed the ocean to have moved upon the water with wings, and to have made a noise resembling thunder. He was regarded as an inhabi- tant of the sun, who had descended to visit them. In like manner, when Captain Cook visited the South-Sea Is- landers, upwards of half a century ago, they were struck with terror and astonishment when they saw the ships, flying with their white wings over the ocean, regarding them as either birds or fishes, according as their sails were spread or lowered. This celebrated man, who had been such a friend to Newfoundland, at length fell a vic- tim to the uncivilized inhabitants of the southern hemis- phere. He was massacred at Owhyhee, on the 14th of February, 1779. Cabot took three of the Indians with him to England, and other adventurers who succeeded him also took some of the natives to England. In the year 1843, at Bird Island Cove, on the northern coast of Newfoundland, I had the following conversation with old Mr. Wiltshire : — " How long have you been living in this place 'i " * " About twenty-five years ; previous to which I resided seve- ral years in Green Bay, and once during that period barely escaped being transported." " Under what circumstances ? " v*- 504 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, . S ,1 U\ I ' 3N '\ " In the year 1810 I was living to the northward. Five of us were returning one evening from fishing, when, on rowing round a point, we came close upon a canoe of Red Indians ; there were four men and one woman in the canoe. Had we been disposed to have shot them we could have done so, as we had a loaded gun in the boat. The Indians, however, became alarmed, and pulled with all speed to the shore, where ihey immediately jumped out and ran into the woods, leaving the canoe on the beach. We were within ten yards of them when they landed. We took the canoe into our possession and car- ried it home. In the fall of the year, when we went to St. John's with the first boat-load of dry fish, thinking a canoe would be a curiosity, we took it away with us in order to present it to the Governor ; but immediately it became known that we had a canoe of the Eed Indians, we were taken and lodged in prison for ten days, on a supposition that we had shot the Indians to whom the canoe belonged. We protested our innocence, and stated the whole affair to the authorities ; at last the canoe was examined ; no shot-holes were found in any part of it, and there being no evidence against us, we were set at liberty." '' Did you ever see any of the encampments of the Bed Indians?" ? '' " Yes, frequently ; I have seen twelve wigwams in the neigh- bourhood of Cat Harbour. A planter living there built a new boat, for which he had made a fine new suit of sails. One night the Indians came and carried away every sail. The planter and his men immediately it was discovered, set out in pursuit of the Indians. After travelling nearly a day, they espied them on a distant hill, shaking their cassocks at them in defiance, which were made out of the boat's sails, and daubed with red ochre. Seeing further pursuit was fruitless they returned home. The next day, however, the planter raised a party of twenty- five of us. We proceeded overland to a place where we knew there was an encampment ; when we arrived we found twelve wigwams, but all deserted. Previous to our leaving, two men were despatched in a skiff, in order to take us back by water. On approaching near the place of the Indians, they saw a fine goose swimming about a considerable distance from the shore. They immediately rowed towai'ds it, when the goose began to 'J AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 505 swim towards the shore ; but on rowing faster to overtake it, one of the men happened to see something dark moving up and down behind a sand bank. Suspecting all was not right, they immediately pulled from the shore, when they saw, two Indians rise up from concealment, who at once discharged their arrows at them, but they were at too great a distance to receive any injury. After the sails had been taken, the Indians, expecting a visit, placed these two of their party to keep watch. The goose was fastened to a string in order to decoy the men in the boat near the shore, so as to afford the Indians an opportunity of throwing their arrows at them. The two Indians on watch communicated intelligence of the arrival of the boat to the en- campment ; hence the cause of the forsaken wigwams when we arrived." M'vi ^n ;v'^*.'v:..,,,..,-. ■• " How large were the wigwams ? " " They were built round and about thirty or forty feet in circumferanoe. The frame consists of small poles, being fastened together at the top and covered with birch rind, leaving a small opening for the escape of the smoke. Traces of their encamp- ments are still to be seen along the Cat Harbour shore, consist- ing of large holes, &c., being left in the sand." ** Did you ever hear of any of the Indians having been taken 'i " "Yes; during the time the circumstance occurred which I have stated, Lieutenant Buchan, in H. M. Schooner * Pike,' was commissioned by the Governor, Sir John Thomas Duck- worth, to discover and if possible bring about a friendly inter- course with the Indians. He succeeded in discovering an en- campment, and prevailed on two of the Indians to go on board his vessels, leaving two marines with the Indians as hostages, while he proceeded in search of another party. But as Lieuten- ant Buchan did not return at the time appointed by him, the Indians, suspecting cruelty about being practised upon them, murderod the marines and fled. When Lieutenant Buchan returned to the spot, and not finding his men, the two Indians he had taken with him immediately decamped, and were never heard of afterwards. Several years after this, two or three Indians, who had been driven to the coast by hunger, were taken and carried to St. John's. I recollect seeing two Red Indians when I was a boy, at Catalina ; their names were Wniiam June and Thomas August (so named from the months 506 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, ' .. .. i in which they were taken). They were both taken very young, and one of them went master on a boat for many years out of Catalina." " Do you think any of the Red Indians now exist in the country t " " I am of opinion that owing to the relentless exterminating hand of the English furriers and the Micmac Indians, that what few were left unslaughtered made their escape across the Straits of Belle Isle to Labrador." " Do you know anything of the Micmac Indians t " '" " Yes. I have lived several winters in Clode Sound, at the head of Bonavista Bay, where several families of them constantly resided. They obtained a subsistence by selling furs. They lived in wigwams, constructed very similar to those of the Red Indians. During my residence in the Bay, several Micmacs had gone to Canada, by way of Labrador, and returned again. The last family belonging to this tribe, residing in Bonavista Bay, was lost in 1841. An old man, his wife and son were coming down the Bay in their canoe, they had some rum on board, of which they drank freely, when the father and the son fell to fighting; the son was thrown overboard by the father and drowned. He then gave directions to his wife how to manage the canoe, and plunging into the sea, swam a considerable dis- tance and then sank. The woman immediately took the canoe to the nearest cove, where she was supported by the inhabitants until she died." There are a few families of the Micmac tribe at the Bay of Notre Dame, north ; and about 60 persons belonging to the tribe residing at Bay Despair, and various parts of Fortune Bay, on the south-west coast. The Red Indians of Newfoundland never knew the use of the gun, nor were they blessed with the services and companionship of the dog. " Untamed, untaught, in anvs and arts unskilled ; Their patrimonial soil, they rudely tilled, Chased the free rovers of the savage wood. Ensnared the wild bird, swept the scaly flood ; ^ Or when the halcyon, sported in the breeze, In light canoes they skimmed the rippling seas, ^ The passing moment, all their bliss or care ; Such as the sires had been— the children were." AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 607 cen very young, ny years out of •w exist in the 3 exterminating Indians, that scape across the nsl" e Sound, at the ihem constantly ag furs. They [lose of the Bed al Micmacs had led again. The Bonavista Bay, )n were coming im on board, of the son fell to he father and how to manage onsiderable dis- r took the canoe the inhabitants ibe at the Bay IS belonging to rious parts of 3 Bed Indians gun, nor were Lonship of the led; I; Sir Bichard Bonneycastle says : — " As soon as the Bed Indian began to appropriate his inva- der's goods, so soon did his invader use the strong arm against him ; and for two hundred and fifty years he has been con- sidered as the fair game of the hunter, the furrier, and the rude northern settlers, until his being is now a mystery, or of the things that were. " They inhabited, from the first settlement of Newfoundland, chiefly the north, north-eastern, and north-western parts of the island, in the neighbourhood of Fogo and Twilingate Islands, and about White Bay and the interior, making latterly sudden incursions to the fishing stations, and sparing no whites they could surprise. Chappell says, they were so dextrous that he was told by an old fisherman in St. George's Bay, that he, with a party, had once got near enough to some of them to hear their voices ; but upon rushing towards them they found * the natives gone, their fire extinguished, the embers scattered in the woods, and dry leaves strewed over the ashes,' and such was the state of fear in which they existed, that the very sight of a pointed musket, or fire-arm, was sufficient to appal them. " In 1760, an attempt was made by Scott, a master of a ship, to open a communication with them. He went from St. John's to the Bay of Exploits, where he built a small fort. Here he had an interview with them, but, advancing unarmed, he was murdered, with five of his men, and the rest fled to their vessel, carrying off one of their comrades, whose body was covered with arrows, from which he died. " At length the Government offered rewards for the capture of a Bed Indian, or Boeothic, as they called themselves ; and, in 1804, a female, who was paddling in her canoe towards a small island for birds' eggs, was taken by a fisherman, of the name of Cull, and brought to St. John's, where she was kindly treated by the Admirsd, afterwards Lord Gambler, and sent back with presents to her tribe. She admired the epaulettes of the officers more than anything that was shewn her, and would never part with her own fur dress, although clothed hand- somely. " Dr. Chapell, in his work, published in 1812, having ob- served that it was said that this woman had been made away with on account of the value of the presents, which amounted 608 "•n NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, to an hundred pounds, Mr. Cormack told Mr. M'Gregor, in 1827, that if Cull could catch the author of that book within the reach of his long duck-gun, he would be as dead as any of the Red Indians that Gull had often shot. ** What became of the poor creature, who was at the tender mercy of such a man, has never been ascertained, but Mr. M'Gregor thinks she never reached her tribe, and Mr. Cormack is of the same opinion. " She was stained, both body and hair, of a red colour, as it was supposed, from the juice of the alder, and was not very uneasy in her new situation, when in the presence of her own sex only, but would not permit any man to approach her, ex- cept her enslaver, to whom (which speaks volumes for him) she was ever gentle and affectionate. " In 1809, another attempt was made under the immediate auspices of the Governor-Admiral Holloway, when Lieutenant Spratt, of the Koyal Navy, was sent to Exploits Bay with a painting, representing officers of the navy shaking hands with an Indian chief, and a party of seamen laying parcels at his feet; Indians presenting furs, and a white and red woman looking at their respective children, with a sailor courting an Indian girl. But none of the tribe were found. Sir Thomas Dutchworth, published in 1810 a new * Proclamation for the protection of the Ked Indians.' And soon afterwards Lieutenant Buchan, of the Royal Navy, was sent to the River of Exploits, with orders to winter there, and to open a communication with them. In 1811, a reward of one hundred pounds was offered to any one who should bring about a fxiendly understanding with the Red Indians. In 1819, another female was taken by a party of fur- riers, who mat two men and a wr^nan on the ice in Red Indian Lake. The woman was sec;\red, but her husband atid the other savage resisting, they were both shot. Her husband was a fine- looking Indian, six feet high. They took the woman to St. John's, having first named her Mary March, from the month in which she was taken. She lived all the rest of the year at St. John's, and was sent back to River Exploits in the ensuing winter, under the care of Captain Buchan, with presents to her tribe ; but she had contracted sickness, and died on board. Her body was wrapped in linen, placed in a coffin, and left on the margin of a pond or lake, where it was likely to be found, as it AND AS IT IS IN 1877. 509 was, by her people, who conveyed it to their place for the dead, where it was found several years afterwards, by Mr. Cormack, lying beside that of her husband. Nothing was seen or heard of this people again until the winter of 1823, when a party of them was seen on the ice in New Bay, an inlet of the Great Bay of Notre Dame, by some furriers. On the first meeting, these amiable whites shot a man and woman, who were approaching them apparently for food. The man was first killed, and the woman, in despair, remained a calm victim. Mr. Cormack was told these facts by the very barbarian who shot her. " Three other women afterwards gave themselves up and were brought to the capital. They were all in a starving con- dition ; and what became of the other two does not clearly appear. Shanandithit, the one brought to St. John's, was very kindly treated there, and lived six years, dying in the hospital, in 1829, of a pulmoudry disease, to which, it appears from her communications her tribe was subject. I have seen a miniature of this female. Without being handsome, it shows a pleasing coun.gnance, not unlike, in its expression, to those 6f the Canadian tribes — round, with prominent cheek-bones, somewhat sunken eyes and small nose. She lived in Mr. Cormtick's house until he left the colony, and then in that of the Attorney. General, Mr. Simms, by whom she was most kindly attended to. But it appears consumption was the fatal disease of her nation, which had carried off Mary March, and thus the hope of making her the means of redeeming the cruelties which had been practised upon her people was lost."* Once the red man sported along the shores of New- fo^ndland in perfect security, their hunting grounds un- ii :ruded upon, and their peace unbroken by their cruel pei'secutor, the furrier ; but as soon as Europeans began to settle in the country, the French and English furriers, perceiving the skin dresses of the Indians, and the rich fur which served them as bedding at night, conceived the diabolical purpose of shooting them for the valuable furs which they always carried with them, and thus commenced a cold-blooded war against these unhappy ^ See a miniature of her in "Wandering Thoughts," page 373, by P. Tocque. 510 NEWFOUNDLAND, AS IT WAS, M i, 1^ »-! V people, who were thought as little of, by these so-called civilized men, as a seal or a bird. The poor Indians wore hunted like wolves by those merciless and unfeeling barbarians, the white men, till at last, of all this noble race, at one time a powerful tribe, scarce a trace is left behind. No canoe is now seen gliding noiselessly over the lakes, no war song breaks upon the ear. If we go to the River Exploits, no sound of the Indian is heard, breaking the silence of these gloomy solitudes. If we visit that beautiful sheet of water. Red Indian Lake (their last retreat), no smoke is seen curling from their wigwams, no footstep is traced, all is barrenness and naked desolation. Where then are the red men ? They are gone ; they have passed away for ever, and are now in the far-off land of the Great Spirit. The philanthro- pist cannot contemplate the destruction of the aborigines of Newfoundland, without dropping a tear for their melancholy and sad destiny. The Government endea^ voured to bring about a reconciliation with them, but it was then too late. The red man lost all confidence, and his heart was steeled against the cruel treachery of the white man. It is astonishing that such a length of time should have rolled on, and so little effort have been made for the accomplishment of one of the sublimest objects in which man can be engaged, the civilization of his fellow-man. Had the Government, in the beginning, sent a devoted Christian missionary to this degraded race, to charm them with the music of a Saviour s dying love, he whuld have been the true pioneer in the march of civilization ; the hearts of these savages would have been tamed, their ferocity restrained, their passions subdued, and the bow and arrow exchanged for the " olive branch of peace." The preaching of the Gospel must precede the civilization of degraded men. It is a fact which cannot be denied, that to whatever portion of heathen lands the Gospel has been communicated, it has conveyed to the savage bosom 0. thrill of pleasure before unknown. AND AS IT IS IN 1H77. 511 The Bceothicks had some idea of religion, though dark, and mixed up with errors and superstition. They believed that they were created by the Great Spirit out of arrows, and that after death they went to a distant country to renew the society of their friends. Thus they believed in those great doctrines of the Christian revelation, the existence of a God, and the immortality of the soul. Reason never could have discovered the doctrine of the soul's immortality to them, because there is nothing in nature, unaided by revelation, from which the doctrine could be deduced. The ancient Greeks and Romans, with all their learning, eloquence and refinement, could not discover the soul s immortality. What they assert in regard to it one time, they doubted it another. Athens, the seat of Grecian learning and philosophy, worshipped thirty thousand deities. Sunk in ignorance as they were, we cannot suppose that the red men were sufficiently acquainted with the operations of nature in the vegetable kingdom, or the principles of philosophy by which the laws of rest and motion are governed, as to draw any analogy between them and the resurrection of the human body. Therefore the knowledge of a future state must have been communicated to them by a divine intuition. The dealings of Jehovah are frequently dark and mysterious. " The ways of God are in the whirlwind, and His paths are in the great deep ; clouds and darkness are round about His throne." , In 1827 a Boeothick society was formed in St. John's, having for its object the civilization of the native savages, and an expedition was undertaken by W. E. Cormack, Esq., president of the society. See " Wandering Thoughts, or Solitary Hours," by the Author. THE BND.