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'I 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 
 THE 
 
 LEASING OF THE ST. JOHN 
 
 SALMON RIVER 
 
 FOR 1866. 
 
 r^^,y-./^-j- - 
 
 EPISODE IN THE 
 
 EXPERIENCES OF AN ANGLER. 
 
 MONTREAL: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. C. BECKET, 84 GREAT SAINT JAMES STREET. 
 
 1867. 
 
PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 
 THE 
 
 LEASING OF THE ST. JOHN 
 
 SALMON RIVER 
 
 FOR 
 
 1866. 
 
 
 !.i . « ' • • • •;■ 
 
 
 
 EPISODE IN THE 
 
 EXPERIENCES OF AN ANGLER. 
 
 MONTREAL : 
 
 PRINTED BY J. C. BECKET, 84j GREAT SAINT JAMES STREET, 
 
 1867. • 
 
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 B.Q.FL 
 
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Tho correspondence now printed seems to require some expla- 
 nation, and in giving it, I beg to say that it is with considerable 
 reluctance that I decide on placing it before my friends. 
 
 It refers to a matter of a purely private nature, most un- 
 warrantably imported into a public discussion, by persons from whom I 
 had presumed to differ in opinion. 
 
 The dispute is an episode in the great Salmon Net Squabble, 
 which sputters every now and again into temporary fury in some 
 direction or other, and in which the writer has only taken a very un- 
 important share. That share has been confined to criticism on the 
 Annual Reports of the Quebec Club and the productions of its Secre- 
 tary, which I have always believed to be damaging to the best 
 interests of the sportsmen of Canada. 
 
 It never occurred to me that I had thereby earned the animosity 
 of the Club or any of its members, and it was therefore somewhat of 
 a surprise — and not an agreeable one — to find myself one day last 
 summer referred to in the pages of a sporting paper in terms by no 
 means flattering, and at a later period, to learn that the Secretary of 
 the Quebec Club had set himself to enquire into my private affairs, 
 with which he had, neither officially nor individually, any concern. 
 
 The circumstances were these : — 
 
 In January last year I applied to the Department for the lease 
 of a Salmon river, and in reply was offered the St. John at the 
 annual rent of $250, payable each season in advance ; after con- 
 siderable demur, for I knew it had last been let for $75, I took it 
 for nine years, and paid the season's rent. 
 
 That no favour was done me the terms proved, on the contrary, 
 I bfilieve a hard bargain was dri\eu with mc, and had I known that it 
 had previously been offered to other parties for $200 and refused, 
 ais I now learn from the correspondence, I too might have declined it. 
 
 Considerable preparations had been made by me for an expedition 
 
 58670 
 
to the river, when I found that business engagements would entirely 
 prevent my leaving Montreal in time, and in accordance with a 
 common practice and the clearest right, I sub-let the fishing for that 
 season to an American angler. 
 
 In the party which fished the river was a Mr. Genio C. Scott of 
 New York, who on the way down spent some time in Quebec, and left 
 that city fully imbued with the Club's views on nets and net-fishing, and 
 apparently with the worst possible opinion of some gentlemen (myself 
 included) who, as it happened, had criticised the utterances of the 
 Club. 
 
 Immediately on his return he published in a well-known New 
 York paper, a very elaborate series of articles descriptive of his trip, 
 in which my name repeatedly appeared. In Part IV he says, " Our 
 company of four anglers with rods paid to Mr. Drummond of 
 Montreal $300 in gold for the fluvial part of the St, John river, 
 being almost as much as was paid to the Canadian Government for 
 the estuary:" and in a subsequent number,-" I hear also that sharpers 
 are not wanting who hire rivers from Government to speculate on." 
 
 These allusions are unmistakeable ; but that no doubt might exist 
 of his intention of making an offensive charge, there shortly appeared 
 a characteristic letter from him, in reply to a correspondent who signed 
 " Sportsman," from which I extract the following : — '• I do not know 
 the person who uses the nom de plume of ' Sportsman,' but I am 
 informed that he hired the salmon river which our party fished last 
 summer for $80, and that he gave it up in the fall of 1865, when 
 it was let to another person for $250, and this person let us have it 
 for $300 ; whether *a nigger in the fence' may be evolved from these 
 facts, of which I know nothing except through gentlemen of Canada, 
 or whether the lessees of estuaries and shores for netting have 
 employed him to advocate the use of stake-nets as -x protection to 
 salmon, I know not." Mr. Scott's assertion that he did not know 
 ' Sportsman,' and objected to his anonymous character, met with sub- 
 sequent disproof. The whole of his insinuatory allusions were marked 
 by a marvellous lack of discretion and gentlemanly feeling, but they 
 were principally interesting as evidence of the proceedings of the " gen- 
 tlemen of Canada" who originated them. If these persons were 
 other than the ofl&cials of the Quebec Club, the evidence is sadly 
 astray and I do them great injustice. 
 
 No notice having been taken by me ofMr. Scott's insinuations, the 
 
 4 »*5 ' V / k '*<M 
 
Secretary of the Club proceeded to address a letter to the Honorable 
 Commissioner of Crown Lands on the same subject. The replies 
 elicited and subjoined are so explicit as to save me thj trouble of 
 saying one word on the facta of the question. 
 
 That the officials of the Quebec Club had the hope of extin- 
 guishing criticism and punishing opposition as a motive for their 
 proceedings is plain enough. Its last Annual Report gravely states 
 that " attacks on it have been invariably traced to pnrties having a 
 pecuniary interest in destructive modes of fishing, or ii concealing the 
 abuses it is the province of this Club to denounce," and this way of 
 disposing of all difference of opinion, and warning off all future op- 
 position, seems to the officials of the Club so clever and effective 
 that they proceeded at once to apply it to ray case. 
 
 The President and Secretary appear to have suspected a good 
 many frightful things, which are by no means clear at least in their 
 written statement of them, and they seem far from Jigreed as to what 
 charge they will advance, whether I alone, or the De])artment through 
 me, or Mr. Watt the foriper lessee, or some two of us, or all together 
 were to be attacked ; — it is amusing to notice thati both of them in 
 writing to the Honorable Commissioner, disclaim the slightest sus- 
 picion of any one in the Department, and apologize fervently for any 
 annoyance which has been given, while to me the President expresses 
 a very low opinion indeed of the Department, which, only considera- 
 tion for me (he says) prevented his exposing. 
 
 It may save some future trouble to say that neither Mr. Watt 
 nor any other person has now or ever had the slightest connection or 
 interest with me in my lease. The attempt of the Secretary to avail 
 himself of the quasi official position conferred on him by a little 
 knot of private persons to exercise a censorship on personal affairs, is 
 so monstrously impudent that it is almost unlucky he should have 
 been at the same time so unfortunate in selecting an opportunity. His 
 insinuations could not in the least affect me ; the charge at worst is 
 absurd in the highest degree, and I treat it as a curious example of 
 the extent to which controversial rancour can go. 
 
 Dismissing this unpleasant subject for the time, I shall refer 
 briefly to the general question. 
 
 I think the Quebec Club seriously to blame, in the agitation 
 it has laboured at for a year or two, for persistently endeavoring to 
 
. 8 
 
 impress the public mind with at least three false ideas : — 
 
 Ist. That the Salmon Fisheries of Canada were thriving up to 
 the time when the present law and management came into existence. 
 
 2nd. That they are declining now. 
 
 3rd. That the fixed-nets now in use bar the rivers, and prevent 
 the ascent of the Salmon to their breeding grounds. 
 
 I may be allowed a word on each of these vital points. 
 
 First, then, is it true that the salmon fisheries were thriv- 
 ing up to 1858, when tlic present law and department came into openv- 
 tion ? 
 
 The late Col. Bouchette, Surveyor General of Lower Canada, 
 writing about 1830 ("Topographical Dictionary" — Article Sague- 
 nay) says: — " The number of salmon now taken is much less than 
 formerly only 3500 [fish] arc annually caught in the whole extent 
 of the King's Posts, including the Saguenay and its tributaries as fiir 
 as Chicoutimi." The King's Posts extend as far east as Mingan 
 and thus include the i\Ioisie and other of our best rivers. 
 
 The appendix to a well-known book, " Salmon Fishing in 
 Canada," contains a paper on " The Decrease, Restoration, and Pre- 
 pcrvation of Salmon in Canada," by the Rev. Dr. Adamson, written in 
 1 856, and the writer, who is probably the most experienced angler in 
 Canada, gives two reasons for the " deplorable decrease " then exist- 
 ing, and these are : 1st. Over-fishing at all times and B«ason.«s, and 
 2nd. The construction of impassable mill-dams. There is a paper 
 in the B.mie appendix from the pen of Dr. Henry, without date, but, 
 as lie fished in Canada between 1830 and 1839, it must liave been 
 written many years before the preceding. He also .speaks of the 
 " alarming decrease,"' recommends a close-time carefully enforced, 
 and adds the following remarkable sentence : — '' Indeed if matters go 
 on as at present, salmon which arc even now sold at a high rate in 
 the Quebec market, will, in all probability, before many years pass, 
 become so scarce and dear, as to be quite beyond the reach of the 
 community." From the body of this work (published in 1860) I take 
 the following noteworthy passage ; — " It is a melancholy fact that the 
 extermination of this noble fish, has been commensurate with the 
 civilization and settlement of the country." " The spear of the In- 
 dian would never have accomplished this, the gill-net of the settler 
 would never have effected it, the fly of the angler would have re- 
 volted from such an outrage, the whole evil has arisen from neglect 
 in ^he formfttion of njill-dams." 
 

 
 Later and more circumstantial evidence is however furnished by 
 the late Superintendent of Fisheries for Lower Canada, who, on his 
 appointment under the new law in 1859, inspected the rivers, rmd 
 reported as follows : •' I found havoc and destruction being carried on 
 in all places. * * * Schooners trafficingin salmon taken on their spawning 
 beds, and the fish often weltering in their spawn. * • • The whole of the 
 salmon fisheries were given over to destruction, no law, no system, no 
 order, and the only object in view, appeared to be the capture of the 
 fish. I found the Moisie a valuable salmon river with about 12,000 
 fathoms of net set in it. The Goodbout fast verging to destruction 
 by netting and seining above tidal waters. The St. John, the Na- 
 tashquan, and a dozen minor rivers almost denuded of fish ; the Min- 
 gan with scarcely a fish in it." 
 
 The decay of our fisheries therefore was going on from the settle- 
 ment of the country until the inauguration of our present sjstem, it 
 began in the period of no law, it continued in the time of inefficient law, 
 and it increased under the operation of bad law, (the last of which was 
 18th. Victoria cap. 114, which the Secretary of the Quebec Club ap- 
 proves of highly). The " alarnung decrease," of Dr Henry's time had 
 become a ** deplorable decrease " in Dr. Adamson's, and streams in 
 which Dr. Henry had good sport were fishless when Dr. Adamson 
 wrote. The present Fishery Department, when it came into existence 
 in 1859, inherited on the above evidence a barren patrimony and we 
 must now consider how it has dealt with it. 
 
 Second. — The act of 1857 met the case with provisions, in the 
 main judicious. It had many defects : not preventing nets in fresh 
 water, nor spearing, and in making each occupant of a fishery absolute 
 owner, etc. — were some of them. 
 
 The amendments to that act (29th Vict., chap. II.) passed last 
 year, made extensive changes : — *' Fishery overseers arc appointed; 
 summary powers to compel the erection offish-passes over mill-dams are 
 obtained ; a strict close-season is enacted, being nine months each year 
 for net fishing, and eight for rod fishing; the capture of parrs, smolts, 
 and grilses under 3 lbs. weight, is prohibited ; an open period of 36 hours 
 each week is provided for ; spearing is prohibited ; and last though not 
 least important, there exists the following clause :— ' Bag-nets, trap-nets 
 and fish-pounds are prohibited, except for catching deep-sea fishes, 
 other than salmon ; and no net or other device shall be so placed as to 
 obstruct the passage of fish to and from their accustomed resorts for 
 the purpose of spawning and increasing their species.'" 
 
10 
 
 The Quebec Club devotes itself to prove that our fisheries aro 
 steadily declininjir, Jnid their evidence is this and never anything else : 
 — Tn 1859 Captain Fortin (Government Officer) reported that his 
 ostiniate of the total catch for all Lower Canada was 3,500 to 3,800 
 barrels while in 1865 he estimates the catch at 1,832 barrels, eras 
 near as possible one-half only. 
 
 This seems conclusive, but l\\v (,'xplanation is much more so, it 
 is this: — 77<f means of catcltiiKj salmon have been reduced by 
 the Department in a much larger ratio during the same period in 
 jiursuanec of a policy of nursing and restriction inaugurated and 
 rigidly enforced by it, (Sec letter No 12, appendix.) 
 
 During this period, many rivers have not been fished at all with 
 nets, nor supplied one fish to our markets. The propriety of this as 
 a remedial measure T do not (|uestion, but it certainly does not surprise 
 WW that the fish cannot be in the rivers, and be barrelled to swell the 
 Inspector's acpount, atone and the same time. The Quebec Club is, 
 in effect, protesting against this policy of resting rivers and closing up 
 ^alnidii stations. 
 
 Why is the evidence of Anglers who have visited the rivers not 
 adduced as to the scarcity of fish. It is a matter of notoriety that in 
 most of our rivers larger angling scores have been made during the 
 last year or two than ever before. Till they do so I must avow my 
 belief that it is rank nonsense to assert that salmon are decreasing, 
 something worse to reiterate it after periodical refutal. 
 
 Third. — Since salmon arc actually increasing in our waters, it 
 soems scarcely necessary to prove that the nets now permitted do not 
 act as barriers preventing the annual ascent of salmon to their 
 breeding grounds, because every body knows that extinction of the fish 
 and must inevitably follow if they were so prevented. 
 
 The law is explicit enough. 
 
 The 29th Vict. Sect. 6, Clause 4, says:— -''The main chan- 
 nel or course of any stream shall not be obstructed by any nets or 
 other fishing apparatus : and one-third of the course of any river or 
 stream, and not less than two-thirds of the main channel at low tide 
 in every tidal stream, shall be always left open and no kind of fishing 
 apparatus or material shall be used or placed therein." This seems 
 perfectly plain, and, if observed, would obviate any reasonable ob- 
 jection. Is it enforced ? The Quebec Club endeavours to prove that 
 it is not, and insists strongly on the idea that the nets now permitted, 
 
11 
 
 seal up the rivers with impassable barriers, preventing all but a few 
 fish in a wounded condition, from penetrating to the upper waters. 
 I quote one of the Secretary's illustrations : " To state that fixed- 
 engines, stake-nets and brush-weirs arc not injurious, is to assert that 
 a wall built across Notre-dame street, or other public thoroughfare, 
 would not intercept the trafiic." This is a very strong statement and 
 is corroborated by an independent eye-witness, Mr. Genio C. Scott, 
 who, on reaching the St. John river from Quebec, saw the thing 
 with his own eyes, and describes it in language nearly as strong. He 
 says: — " The river is nearly two miles wide, with a channel about a 
 half niile wide. Stake-nets for taking salmon appear at short inter- 
 luds all over the river, except in the deepest part of the channel. In 
 fact, so eager were the netters to cover nil the salmon-approaching 
 points in the estuary (which includes the river from the mouth to twelve 
 miles above), that the close weft of their nets so dammed the river, that 
 in one freshet, a few days before the arrival of our party, many hun- 
 dred dollars worth of nets were swept away. The law prohibits 
 stake-net fishing on Sunday, the nets to remain in the river from 
 Monday morning at six o'clock to Saturday night at six. The stake - 
 net fishermen profess to think that they should have the right to fish 
 on Sunday, and thus hlock up the river all t^e season while salmon 
 run, which is from a month to six weeks, ihey do not seem to care 
 for the conse([uencc of preventing er^cry sahnon from going up to the 
 headwaters of tlic river to spawn, any more than the boy did that 
 killed the goose which daily laid a golden egg." And again : — " the 
 seal eats merely the heads of salmon, leaving the mutilated fish fast 
 in the nets, to frighten back to the sea all salmon that get a glimpse 
 of their cruel destiny. If nets are to be employed, they should not 
 be set in the mouth of the river or along the shores of the gulf. 
 There should not a net be set in the river within a mile of its mouth, 
 and those above this mile should not extend above tide water, or 
 into the fluvial part of the river. Mr. Beaulieu, as representative of 
 the Government in this matter, decides what part of the river shall 
 be called fluvial, and what part estuary , and for the St. John, he 
 has decided that the estuary extends from the mouth to twelve miles 
 up the river. Now, supposing the upper line of the estuary to re- 
 main where it is, then if the lower end of the estuary was decided to 
 be two miles above the mouth of the river, and if the salmon way, or 
 Queen's gap as it is termed in English Law, should include all the 
 current in the river, and at least half tb»^ width of the river, or even 
 
12 
 
 one-third, the netting of the ten miles of estuary would not deplete 
 the river nearly so fast as it does now, and the present generation 
 naight continue to hope for a supply of salmon, even though it should 
 annually become more scarce and dear." 
 
 This account is so circumstantial and so alarming that if true 
 it prove conclusively two things : — 1st, That the illustration of a wall 
 across Notre-damc street was almost correct and all that had 
 been alleged against the present system was justified ; and 2nd, That 
 my rights in the upper river were not worth much. I applied for 
 and obtained <in official map of the river with the nets set in it last 
 season, this map is appended and will repay examination. The results 
 of measurement I now give with Mr. Scott's statements in contrast : 
 
 Mr. Gen 10 C. Scott. 
 
 " The river i:- nearly two miles 
 wide, with ;i cliimncl about lialf- 
 a-mile wide." 
 
 " Stake-nets for taking Salmon 
 appear at short intervals all over 
 the river except in the deepest 
 water of the channel." 
 
 '^ The close weft of their nets 
 so dammed the river that in one 
 freshet, many hundred dollars 
 worth were swept away. They do 
 not seem to care for the conse- 
 quence of preventing every salmon 
 from going up." 
 
 " The estuary [i. c. net limits] 
 extends from the mout^ to twelve 
 miles up the river." "From mor- 
 ning to midday we threaded the 
 intricate nets, thankful finally that 
 we had passed those impediments, 
 and wondering how any anxious 
 salmon could so navigate as to get 
 above the labyrinth of nets." 
 
 Fact. 
 
 Width at entrance less than 
 half-a-mile ; average width inside, 
 also less than half-a-mi!e ; extreme 
 width at the bay inside about three- 
 quarters of a mile ; average width 
 of the channel less than a-quarter 
 of a mile. 
 
 The number and extent of the 
 nets set, appears on the plan, and 
 is ten; all of which are on the 
 east bank of the river except one 
 which is in the branch. 
 
 Average clear unobstructed dis- 
 tance from the outer end of the 
 nets to the opposite bank, 500 
 yards. Narrowest space left free of 
 nets or obstructions of any kind 
 250 yards. 
 
 Distance from mouth of the 
 river to fishing limit about four 
 miles ; distance froui mouth of the 
 river to highest net three miles ; 
 distance from Beaulieu's (whence 
 canoes start) to highest net a little 
 over two miles, — a half hour's 
 journey for any well manned canoe, 
 
13 
 
 I fear Mr. Scott must be dismissed with a caution ; — seeing dou- 
 ble is not uncommon, but an estuary twelve miles by two miles coming 
 down to only four miles by less than half-a-mile is on strict principles, 
 a little too much ; and " dammed " with stake-nets too, with 
 " anxious salmon" caught by the tail, and " seals eating their heads 
 merely " — affecting picture ! 
 
 No other nets or other method of fishing (except angling) 
 Itefeides those shown on this map, is permitted in this river, and the 
 salmon can penetrate to its upper waters without the least artificial 
 obstacle or hindrance. No nets are now placed outside the moutli of 
 the river for many miles on either side. 
 
 We have had a good deal of English sympathy lately on the 
 ruin of our fisheries, elicited by the statements of the Quebec 
 Club, and it may be interesting to compare the obstacles to the 
 ascent of a salmon, presented in a fair specimen of a Canadian 
 river under Canadian law, and in a British river under tlii> latest 
 legislation of which we have heard so much. It is as follows : — 
 
 Severn (England). 
 
 Number of nets and engines 
 employed in 1 864 : 
 
 Weir trap 1 
 
 Hedges leading into nets 10 
 
 Draught nets 57 
 
 Stop nets 20 
 
 Lave nets 500 
 
 Putts 1,200 
 
 St. John (Canada). 
 
 Ten stationary nets mcasuriii! 
 in all about 1600 fathomf. 
 
 Putchers, 
 
 10,000 
 
 Total 
 
 11,788 
 
 Legal size of mesh in England, 
 two inches from knot to knot. 
 
 Legal fishing time seven months. 
 
 Nets used on the St. John three 
 and a quarter inches from knot to 
 knot — nearly thrice as large. 
 
 Legal fishing time three months. 
 
 The river St. John is thus not unduly fished, and there arc abun- 
 dance of fish in it. The guardian on the river reports, that " the upper 
 part of the river is one moving mass of salmon in the breeding 
 places." Another gentleman who accompanied Mr. Scott, writes 
 me : — " In regard to the net fishing at the mouth, I do not 
 sgree with Mr, Scott as to its evil effects ; I think lie greatly exag- 
 
14 
 
 gerates as to its destructiveness ; though we were two weeks too late 
 for the best fishing, we found the one pool we visited filled with 
 salmon, plenty of them, as manj as any angler could wirfi." 
 
 The Natashquan and the Moisie, rivers similarly netted, are 
 also full of fish, and heavy scores have been made on each of them ; 
 the lessee of the first named killed in 1865, to his own rod on single 
 gut in 18 days, 212 Salmon weighing 2,080 lbs, ; in 1866, in the 
 same time, 156 Salmon, a decline he attributed to his being too late on 
 fcbe ground by a fortnight. The St. John was fished in 1805 by two 
 rods, find in ^ae day they killed 35 Salmon, seven of which i,/eighed 
 fiom 21 to 27 lbs. each. 
 
 Facts like these, are worth any quantity of such arguments as 
 the Quebec C ' o furnishes ; they prove our system to be working 
 well, and that under it the fisheries arc now vastly better than they 
 liave been for many years. 
 
 Sportsmen may have different opinions of methods of fishing 
 aod the probability of their successful application to this country; it 
 is their distinct right and duty to watch closely the operation of the 
 Law and to criticise it freely ; but the unscrupulous methods pursued 
 by the Quebec Club, can have but one efi"cct, and that is to lessen 
 the influence of sportsmen in this matter. 
 
 Seining in salt-water might, I think, be fairly tried ; brush- 
 weirs are, in my opinion, an unmitigated nuisance ; but it is lucky 
 that the present law is most ably and energetically administered by 
 gentlemen who, sportsmen themselves, are thoroughly aware of 
 the errors and deficiencies yet to be remedied. 
 
 G. A. D. 
 Montreal, May, 1867, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 1. — Mr. Austin to the Commissioner. 
 
 Quebec, 23rd January, 1867. 
 Sir, 
 
 Representations having reached the Fish and Game Protection 
 Club for Lower Canada, that the fluvial portion of the river St. 
 John, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, had la.st summer been 
 made the object of a private speculation on the part of the Govern- 
 ment lessee by a sub-lease, with the approbation or consent of the 
 Honorable the Commissioner of Crown Lands, or by some one of the 
 oJKcers of the Fisheries Department ; I have the honor respectfully 
 to enquire whether any approval or consent to such sub-lease was 
 given either by the Commissioner or any other officer, and by whom, 
 connected with the Department ? 
 
 As these representations are constantly adverted to, it is desirable 
 that this Club should forthwith be placed in a position authoritative- 
 ly to deny that any portion of the public property administered by 
 public trustees, had been allowed to form the object of private specu- 
 lation. 
 
 I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 F. W. G. Austin, 
 
 Secretary, etc. 
 The Honorable the Commissioner | 
 of Crown Lands, Ottawa. ) 
 
 2. — The Commissioner to Mr. Rhodes. 
 
 Sib, 
 
 Department of Crown Lands, 
 Fisheries Branch, 
 Ottawa, 28th January, 1867. 
 
 The Commissioner wishes to know if the letter of which the 
 
18 
 
 enclosed is a copy, has been written with the knowledge and appro- 
 bation of yourself and other gentlemen assooiatcd together as the 
 Fish and Game Protection Club of Quebe 
 
 I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 Vour obedient servant, 
 
 W, F. "Whitcher, 
 
 For the Assist. Commissioner 
 of Crown Lands. 
 W. Rhodes, Esq., 
 
 President Fish and Game 
 Protection Club, Quebec. 
 
 3. — Mr. Rhodes to the Commissioner. 
 
 Quebec, 31st January, 1867. 
 Sir, 
 
 I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th inst. 
 asking whether a letter of which you furnish a copy dated 23rd inst. 
 and signed by F. W. G. Austin, Secretary, has been written with 
 the knowledge and approbation of myself and other gentlemen of the 
 Fish and Game Protection Club of Quebec. 
 
 In reply I have to inform you, that the letter was written by the 
 Secretary alone, to enable him to explain publicly what I believe to be 
 untrue. I should not have suggested the writing of such a letter, 
 because knowing the St. John river had been leased to Dr. DuflF 
 for $40 in 1864, and to Mr. Watt for $75 in 1865, I thought it very 
 extraordinary that some American gentlemen, friends of mine, should 
 be charged $300 in gold for it in 1866. The inquiry I made obtained 
 for me the reply, that the St. John had been leased privately to Mr. 
 Drummond in 1866 for $250, but I was not to use this information 
 either for or against the De;^artmont ; this satisfied me that an in- 
 hospitable act had not been levied upon my friends. 
 
 The circumstance, however, has been a good deal discussed in 
 the Garrison of Quebec, owing to the fact of one of the American 
 gentlemen being a general officer of the U. S. army, and from the 
 St. John having been first fished by an officer of this Garrison. Why 
 
19 
 
 the information given me was accompanied with " private and con- 
 fidential" and a mystery made about Mr. Drumraond's name, I do 
 not know ; I vas satisfied black-mail had not been levied upon my 
 friends, so I let the matter drop. There is, however, a very prera- 
 lent opinion amongst American sportsmen that we keep our fishing 
 livers for oflBcers of the British army, or for the personal friends 
 of the Canadian Government ; the letting of the St. John for $300 
 in 1866 when Mr. Watt was offering it to Dr. Duff for $75 in 1865, 
 and getting the river refused at that price, appeared to confirm tVo 
 American opinion. 
 
 The Fish and Game Protection Club, however, think these let- 
 tings of rivers ought to be made public ; or if let privately it ought 
 to be for some well-known public service in connection with the sal- 
 mon fisheries, such as have been rendered by the lessees of the Good- 
 bout, the Jacques Cartier, or the Ste. Marguerite rivers. Why Mr. 
 Drummond's name should be connected with the St. John river in 
 1866 is alone known to the Department, as the river was paid for 
 and fished by other gentlemen. 
 
 It is not however within the province of the Club to en ; er fur- 
 Itlier into the fishery question, than to protect sportsmen from impo- 
 sition and tho fish from destruction. I am therefore of opinion it 
 would have been better if Mr. Austin's letter had not been written in 
 the name of the Club ; it is, however, proper to state that I have never 
 made any public explanation of the real way tho ease stands, being 
 debarred from doing so. I am sure Mr. Austin will regret, together 
 with myself, if his letter has in any way been an annoyance to the 
 Department, which he never contemplated, — it is not in this way we 
 hope to promote reform in the management of our fisheries. 
 
 I have read Mr. Austin this letter, who was not aware of the 
 foregoing facts, as, for the reason stated, I never communicated them 
 to him. 
 
 T have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. Rhodes, 
 President Fish & Game Protection Club. 
 
 The Honorable the Commissioner ") 
 of Crown Lands, Ottawa. | 
 
20 
 
 4. — Mr. Austin to the Commissioner. 
 
 Quebec, 1st February, 1867. 
 Sir, 
 
 Colonel Rhodes, the President of the Fish and Game Protection 
 Club for Lower Canada, has jast read to me a letter containing certain 
 facts touching upon the various rumours which have been in circu- 
 lation in this city and heard by me, I think, in July last, connect- 
 ed with the sub-leasing of the angling on the river St. John, by a 
 Mr. Drummond, for the sum of $300 in gold. I was altogether un- 
 acquainted with these facts at the time I solicited the information 
 asked by my letter of the 23rd instant, which I did with the desire of 
 contradicting these rumours, as sportsmen naturally apply to the 
 Club not only for information and explanation, but for the removal 
 of any cause creating inconvenience. 
 
 I infer from your transmitting to the President a copy of my 
 letter, in which I do not yet see the least incongruity, that you had 
 taken umbrage at its contents, which, perhaps, viewing them only in u 
 strictly unfavourable light might be warranted. I feel it therefore duo 
 to myself (assuming the contents of my letter might possibly be so 
 construed) at once to disclaim any intention of conveying the slightest 
 insinuation, as the Secretary of the Club, or as a private gentleman, 
 upon you or any officer of your Department, and therefore now also 
 beg leave to withdraw the letter referred to and thus leave the 
 rumours unexplained. 
 
 I have now but to express the hope that, with the foregoing ex- 
 planation, accompanied by the retiring of the letter, that you as 
 well as the fishery officers, will accept with the same cordiality with 
 which it is adopted, the course I have deemed it due to myself to 
 pursue, in removing impressions never contemplated. 
 
 I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 F. W. G. Austin, 
 
 Secretary, etc, 
 
 The Honorable the Commissioner ) 
 of Crown L^nds; Ottawa, ) 
 
21 
 
 5. — The CommisBioncr to Mr, Austin. 
 
 Department of Crown Lands, 
 Fisheries Branch, 
 Ottawa, 15th February, 1867. 
 Sir, 
 
 Since you perceive nothing objectionable in your letter of 
 '2'in\ ultimo, the Commissioner sees no reason for you to withdraw it, 
 but, as it refers to " rumours" which arc enlarged on in the letter of 1st 
 instant, written as " Secretary, etc.," and in one from the President of 
 the Fish and fiamc Protection Club of Quebec, it is better to dispose 
 of the whole correspondence. 
 
 Evidently you knew of the leasing of the angling division of the 
 river St. John, and that the occupation of it for last summer had 
 ])ccn sub-let by the actual lessee ; and it cannot be possible that you re- 
 gard tho propriety of a lishery lessee exercising his right to sub-lease 
 as open to individual opinion, or that it is a legitimate subject of 
 animadversion for sportsmen's clubs. The practice of sub-leasing 
 is of common occurrence among lessees of fishings, who may be them- 
 selves prevented by business engagements or other causes from 
 fulfilling an intention to fish during any season. This Depart- 
 ment exacts specified rents in advance, and is not at all concerned 
 about the conditions (as to rental) on which sub-letting takes place, 
 rcfjuiring merely that tho rivers shall be occupied by parties who can 
 bo relied upon to observe the fishery laws and abstain from any 
 practices injurious to the fishery. 
 
 Therefore, your letter could imply nothing else, than that some 
 collusive arrangcmept had been made through officials cliarged with 
 the disposal of public property. The obvious impropriety, in this in- 
 stance, of conveying an accusation so grave, is certainly not lessened 
 in view of tho very siniple means by which you might at any time 
 since " July last " have so easily disabused your mind of suspicions 
 that seem to cause the Club such serious concern. 
 
 Whilst formal notice cannot of course be taken of the generally 
 unfounded statements that arc made from time to time in various ways 
 regarding the fisherieg and the fisheries' service, this Department can 
 always, when necessary, make such authoritative denial as the public 
 interests shall require. 
 
 Referring to the remark that sportsmen naturally apply to the 
 
i 
 
 82 
 
 Club for iDformatlon and rodress, occasion is taken to call your at- 
 tention to the following from Wilket' Spirit of the Timei, dated 18th 
 August lost :— 
 
 ** On application being made to F. W. G. Austin, Esq., of Quo- 
 " bee, any unlet river may be obtained by a citizen of the United 
 " States, on the same terms and for the same price that it could be 
 " hired by the most loyal subject of the British Crown.'* 
 
 Although this reference has not escaped your notice, it does not 
 seem to have struck you as sinjjularly needing immediate correction. 
 What can you, or the Club, have to do with the letting of fisheries, 
 or with giving information and affording explanation about matters 
 with which this Department is charged ? 
 
 It is not surprising that false impressions have prevailed among 
 fctrangers, and, besides deriving contirmation in the manner related 
 by the letter of the President of the Fish and Game Protection Club 
 cf Quebec, have found expression in the public prints. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. Russell, 
 
 Assist. Commissioner. 
 
 F. W. G. AiiSTLV. Esq., 
 
 Secretary of the Fish and (i^uie 
 Protection Club, Quebec. 
 
 6. — The Commissioner to Mr. llliodcs. 
 
 Department of Crown Lands, 
 
 Fisheries Branch, 
 
 Ottawa, 16th February, 1867. 
 Sir, 
 
 With reference to your letter of the 31st ultimo, 1 enclose a copy 
 of the reply to other two letters from the Secretary of the Fish and 
 Game Protection Club of Quebec, which to some extent answers 
 your present letter. 
 
 The Commissioner's object in asking from whom the letter of 
 23rd ultimo had emanated, was to ascertain the origin of implied col- 
 
28 
 
 loBion— if it really had any other foundation than iJlo rumour or 
 Itrect ROHsip. Ho repjrets to observe by what means impressions and 
 imours of official preference or malfeasance have been created from 
 jtrivial occurrences of a common-place and quite correct nature, every 
 ^particular of which you could at any moment have learned by applj- 
 inj^ to this Office. There was not, nor is there now, the slightest ob- 
 jection to mukin<r known all facts connected with the renting of 
 the river St. John ; and, perhaps, in justice to the persons whose 
 names are mentioned in your letter, and with reference to whom 
 offensive and unjust remarks have been made, the circumstances 
 might as well be here stated. 
 
 Under public notices issued at different limes since 1858, the 
 fluvial division of the river St. John has been offered to rent. No 
 body applied for it. The belief was almost universal that it was a 
 Bulky river and unfit for angling. In 1860 Mr. Whitcher, of this 
 Department, explored the stream, trying it everywhere as a fly-fishery ; 
 and after examining the pools by torchlight, and proving them with 
 artificial flies, he reported it to be, in its upper parts, an excellent 
 Btream, with many superior facilities for angling. But he also found 
 that by spearing and netting at the falls (nine leagues from the sea), 
 by dragging the spawning beds, by seining the pools, and by barring 
 across the eddies and tributaries with gill-ncta, immense numbers 
 of breeding salmon had been killed during August and September, 
 in addition to those killed along the estuary and middle course in 
 June and July ; so that the fishery was ruined. There were four dif- 
 ferent fishing and curing establishments (for the summer and autumn) 
 on these upper waters : one nine, one eighteen, another twenty-seven, 
 and the farthest fifty- four miles above the tideway. On his report a 
 stop was immediately put to such ruinous practices, and the seizures he 
 had made of great quantities of materials used at these upper fish- 
 eries were confirmed. The immediate reduction by him in that year 
 of limits for the net fishery to an extent of only four miles from the 
 mouth of the estuary, was also approved. Mr. Smythe of Ottawa 
 fished it in 1861, but found the river had been so depleted in previous 
 years that there was yet very indifferent sport. It remained vacant 
 and uncalled for until 1868, when Capt. Collingwood and J)r. Duff of 
 the Royal Artillery, and Capt. Savary of the 47th Regiment, were 
 induced on Mr. Whitcher's representations to fish it. They did so 
 under season license at $40, which they had the option of converting 
 into a lease at an increased rental, should they find the fishing sati»- 
 
24 
 
 factory. This privilege was not afterwards availed of. Tn 18C4 it 
 was let by public tender to Mr. Watt of Montreal, for five years at 
 $75, his being the only offer. Unable to fish it himself, he sub-let 
 it, by official consent for that season, to Captains Collingwood and 
 Maitland and Dr. Duff, at the same rent. The lessee himself fished 
 it in 1865. He found it a distant river and somewhat difiicult of 
 ascent, and so stated to Mr. Whitcher. Knowing the river was full 
 of salmon and had increased in value, a proposal was at once made 
 for him to relinquish it. He did so in the autumn of 1865. It 
 was then offered at $200 to several parties who had been unsuc- 
 cessful tenderers for other streams, under the advertisement of 1864 ; 
 they declined, owing chiefly to its distant position, the high rent and 
 cost of guardianship. In 1866 Mr. Drummond of Montreal ap- 
 plied for a river, and was persuaded to take the St. John under lease 
 for nine years at $250, the then current year being paid in advance, 
 on execution of lease. (You err in stating that the rental was paid 
 by the sub-tenants.) A guardian was engaged by liim and sent from 
 Gasp6 Basin early in the summer-time, with canoes and building ma- 
 terials for shanties, etc. Mr. Drummond afterwards represented that 
 business exigences would prevent him from fishing it then, and ap- 
 plied for consent to sub-let the fishing. The Department being satis- 
 fied of the respectability of the parties named, consented, and it was 
 sub-let to an American gentleman at $300 ; all of which the lessee 
 had a perfect right to do. 
 
 What is meant by the river having been let " privately," I fail 
 to understand. The Department disposes of these fishings to the best 
 advantage on written applications, — and experience proves it to be a 
 much more expeditious and cheaper way, more profitable to the public 
 and fairer towards individuals, than the lottery of tender, or the 
 speculation of auctions. 
 
 The "private and confidential" intelligence you allude to was 
 certainly not procured here, as there is no privacy about any such 
 transactions, and the Department has nothing to conceal. Public 
 interests had in this case been duly considered, in obtaining an 
 enhanced rent for the fishery and at the same time securing a 
 desirable tenant. 
 
 If American sportsmen are encouraged in the belief, that 
 salmon rivers are kept exclusively ** for British officers and per- 
 sonal friends of the Canadian Government," it may be matter 
 
25 
 
 for regret to all persons concerned in the good name of Canadians 
 charged with administering such public properties, but this opinion 
 is assuredly not confirmed by any facts. During five years the fly- 
 fishing of the best river on the coast — the Moisic — was held by 
 anglers from Boston. The Natashquan, another excellent stream, is 
 now held and has been fished for several seasons past, by an angler 
 from Philadelphia. No United States citizen has ever been denied 
 a fishery, and not one has at any time been disappointed in applying to 
 this Department. The intimation of favoritism towards friends etc. 
 suggests, that the origin of such an opinion as you s.ny prevails among 
 Americans is scarcely foreign. 
 
 As you indicate that a part of the mission of the Fish and 
 Game Protection Club of Quebec, is to remedy abuses connected 
 with Fisheries, the Commissioner takes this opportunity to draw your 
 attention to the reckless statements and unfair arguments continually 
 reiterated in newspapers, pamphlets, reports, etc., which being iden- 
 tical with those used in correspondence with this Department, and 
 such as have been repeatedly corrected or explained, must, it is pre- 
 sumed, proceed from a common source. 
 
 While there can be no objection to fair and specific criticism, and 
 the dissemination of correct data, it should be obvious, that wild 
 assertions of ruin, and general charges of neglect, preference, corrup- 
 tion, waste, etc., cannot pos.sibly advance the cause of protecting and 
 improving our fisheries, and are not at all calculated to promote the 
 views or influence of your Society, nor to ensure harmonious action 
 with this Department and its numerous officers. 
 
 I have the honor to be. Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 A. Russell, 
 
 Assist. Commissioner. 
 W. Rhodes, Esq., "^ 
 
 President of the Fish and Game ^ 
 Protection Club, Quebec. ) 
 
 7. — xMr. Drummond to Mr. Rhodes. 
 
 Montreal, 1th March, 1867. 
 W. Rhodes, Esq., 
 
 President Fish and Gumc Club, Quebec. 
 Sir, 
 
 Of course I have been for some time aware that Mr. Gcnio C. 
 
26 
 
 Scott of New York, one of the party by whom the river St. John 
 was fished last summer, had, since his return, been writing in such a 
 manner as to convey the idea that he had been badly treated by some 
 parties in Canada, and had become aware of the facts through infor- 
 mation furnished by gentlemen in Quebec. 
 
 I also have long known that you were an active party in institu- 
 ting enquiries in the same direction, through members of the Legisla- 
 ture. 
 
 Within a few days I have obtained, by official application to the 
 Honorable the Commissioner of Crown Lands for copies of any 
 letters which may have passed on the subject, copies of your letter of 
 31st January, and the reply thereto. 
 
 I now understand that Mr. G. C. Scott was sent from Quebec 
 with the idea that he had been swindled, that black-mail had been 
 levied on him and his party, and an inhospitable act committed, the 
 latter charge more serious as being directed against a stranger and 
 an American, the whole being suggested to him by " gentlemen of 
 Quebec." 
 
 I presume you to be one of these gentlemen, and upon this 
 belief I now write you, to point out the extreme impropriety of their 
 conduct, because no one in Quebec had any knowledge of the facts ; 
 and all the statements furnished to Mr. Scott, and which he was 
 weak enough to believe, were quite contrary to fact as you now ad- 
 mit, and could only have originated in uncharitable suspicions. 
 
 But even on the assumption that you had no part in originating 
 these calumnies, your action, so far as I now understand it, was 
 scarcely consistent with the apparently friendly relations existing 
 between us. Had you applied to me, I could promptly have fur- 
 nished the facts, but you took steps which seem to me to prove a 
 desire to propagate, much more than to remove this feeling against 
 me. And when you obtained information which vemoved your sus- 
 picion, you abstained from even an expression of opinion which 
 would so far have made amends, and would certainly have prevented 
 your Secretary's letter from being written. 
 
 You now understand that I leased the St. John by tendering 
 for it, and paying for it the handsome rent of $250, nearly four times 
 what it rented for before. I took it for my own fishing, and failing 
 that, do not propose to allow any one to interfere with my disposal 
 of it. 
 
27 
 
 T do not intend discussing your suggestion that these rivers 
 should be allotted for " well known public services in connection with 
 salmon fisheries," which no doubt indicates a desire among the offi- 
 cials of your Club to have them distributed at easy rates among 
 themselves, but I take distinct objection to your remark about my 
 name being erroneously connected with the river. My name was 
 connected with it, because, as already explained, I lease it and pay 
 the rent. You knew the fact perfectly because you were told of it 
 by myself. 
 
 The charge, at worst, was a very silly one, and I have not hith- 
 erto noticed it, but the official form given to it by your Secretary, 
 has, while procuring its refutation, made it necessary for me to ex- 
 press my opinion of it and of those who uttered it. 
 
 Mr. Wood, to whom I rented the river, has written to me 
 expressing his extreme mortification and regret at what Mr. Scott 
 has written, and assuring me that no such idea was ever entertained 
 by him. 
 
 I am, 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 Geo. a. Drummonp. 
 
 8. — Mr. Rhodes to Mr. Drumraond. 
 
 Quebec, March 8, 1867. 
 G. A. Drummond, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 In your letter received on the 6th inst. I do not think you do 
 me full justice ; I of course make allowance for your feelings as I think 
 you have some cause to complain. 
 
 The St. Jobr was first leased to Dr DulF and others for $40, 
 who were solicited to try it by Mr. Whitchcr, the second year, by 
 introducing the name of Mr. Watt, l)v. Duflf had to pay $75 j the 
 third year the Doctor refuses to lease it, though oflfered it by Mr. 
 Watt ; the next we hear of this river is that it has been leased for 
 $300. At this point I make enquiries to ascertain if the Depart- 
 ment was getting the money, as I have no hesitation in saying I 
 thought the transaction a most improper one to practice upon sports- 
 men visiting Canada for the first time. My enquiries led to 
 
28 
 
 the information that Mr. Watt had given up the St, John 
 in September 1865, and that you had leased it in February 1866 
 for $250, no mention was then made of a nine years lease. 
 This was the first time your name was mentioned, / therefore 
 let the matter drop, because I knew you to be a public writer in 
 favor of the Department at or about the same time you were receiv- 
 ing this river, which you, like Mr. Watt, had apparently no intention 
 of fishing, but I did not think it fiiir to drag your name into an at- 
 tack upon the Department. 
 
 I was also bound over by Mr. Ryan to say or do nothing either 
 for or against the Department. 
 
 You will gather from the above particulars that I did not know of 
 your having leased the St. John except through Mr. Ryan; that I 
 think the Department responsible to you for keeping such transactions 
 from the knowledge of the public ; that when I saw any attacks 
 on the Department relative to the leasing of the rivers would involve 
 you and Mr. Watt, that I refrained from making them. 
 
 The enquiries I made through Mr, Ryan were for my own pri- 
 vate information, I did not speak to Mr. Austin about them, as he 
 was not one of a party in thr ^v..,,ack3 when the reading of Dr. Duff's 
 journals disclosed the pricCvS paid for fishing on the St. John by pre- 
 vious fishermen. 
 
 I do not understand how you " tendered" for the St. John. I 
 am informed you were offered it, that after due pressure you 
 accepted it, the transaction being one from which the public were 
 excluded. 
 
 You are quite in error in supposing any persons in the Quebec 
 Club are anxious to obtain rivers except in a manner public to all ; 
 we quite understand our position (which your letter reminds us of) 
 that all information relative to rivers becoming vacant is carefully 
 kept from our portion of the community, — you write " no one in 
 Quebec had any knowledge of the facts." 
 
 I have no recollection whatever of your speaking to me about 
 the St. John river in 1866 ; to the best of my recollection I only 
 met you once, on the Bergeronne riven I did not go down to Tadou- 
 sac till August, so we could not have met in June, when the Ameri- 
 cans were in Quebec, which was about the time I instituted my 
 inquiries. I of course regret that in a matter about sport, gentlemen 
 cannot agree, but the fimlt is not mine in this case, it is well known 
 
29 
 
 this Fishery Department has killed itself through ita own inate bad 
 bits, we must therefore hope better things for the future, 
 
 I think, however, if you place thin correspondence before a disin- 
 terested person, say , he will tell you that the 
 
 sportsmen of Quebec were perfectly right to inquire into a matter they 
 thought wrong on a public subject, that they shewed much considera- 
 tion for you and Mr. Watt, by not introducing your names in any 
 attack on the Department. That it does not appear Mr. Scott and his 
 party were sent from Quebec with tJie idea they had been swindled ; 
 even by your own showing, Mr; Wood writes, ** no such idea was 
 ever entertained by me." I believe they all considered they had 
 some how or other paid more than (again to use your own words) 
 tlio handsome rent of $250, nearly four times what it rented before. 
 I do not understand Mr. Scott has said more than this. I admit I do 
 not think the whole thing looks well, hence the reason why I thought 
 it better to drop the inquiry at once. 
 
 If your name had not come up so unexpectedly, I should have 
 teposed the Department for imposing upon strangers, those persons 
 being Americans. The above explanation I hope will be found sat- 
 isfactory so far as you are personally concerned, if not, it possesses 
 tho merit of truth to the best of my recollection. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 W. Rhodes, 
 
 President. 
 
 9. — Mr. Drummond to Mr. Rhodes. 
 
 Montreal, 11th March, 1867. 
 
 } 
 
 Wm. Rhodes, Esq., 
 President of the Fish and Game 
 Club of Quebec. 
 Sir, 
 
 When I wrote you last on the 4th inst. I had the hope that 
 you might be able to justify your proceedings, and deprive them of 
 the unfriendly look they had to me. 
 
 Your reply of 8th inst., just received, has quite disappointed 
 any such expectation, and, though your letter is apologetic, I am 
 bound to tell you that some of your observations are most oflFensive. 
 
 No good end will be served by discussing any details further, 
 but I beg to say that I wish no consideration whatever from you or 
 
8Q 
 
 any other sportsman in Quebec in this matter, bej'ond adherence to 
 facts. 
 
 I regret extremely to have to tell you that I think the action of 
 the parties who originated this report aflfecting my name, was an im- 
 pertinent interference in private affairs, and that no further 
 opinion of yours in the least concerns me. 
 
 I am, your most obedient servant. 
 Geo. a. DauMMOND. 
 
 10.-— Mr. Wood to Mr. Drummond. 
 
 Poughkeepsie, N. Y., March 9th, 1867. 
 Geo. a. Drummond, Esq., 
 Montreal, 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 I have noticed with much regret in the public prints, several 
 allusions to you, made by Mr. Genio C. Scott, who formed one of my 
 party to fish the river St. John last season. 
 
 These allusions are generaUy of the nature of insinuations that 
 you had made our party pay too much for the river, and that as' 
 Americans we had felt ourselves inhospitably treated thereby. Now 
 I beg to tell you that Mr. Scott has not, in my opinion, the slightest 
 warrant for saying any thing of the kind, he has done so entirely 
 without my knowledge or consent, and that the other gentlemen who 
 composed my party, never thought or expressed, any thing of the 
 kind, then, or since. 
 
 I took the river from you at first, on my own responsibility, and 
 was very thankful to you for the opportunity of getting it. Mr. 
 Scott and others, were subsequently associated in it, knowing 
 perfectly the terms, I did not then, nor did he, think the rent 
 otherwise than reasonable. Indeed, since I have learned that you 
 gave yourself, some months before, the sum of $250 of rent for it, 
 and had proceeded to provide the canoes and outfit to fish it yourself, 
 I am convinced you could not have made one cent by it, but more 
 probably the contrary, and am confirmed in the opinion I have 
 always entertained, that it was a friendly act, for which, as a brother 
 
81 
 
 I 
 
 ijportsman and an American, I felt obliged. Under these circumstances 
 
 i have felt and expressed much regret at the remarks of Mr. Scott. 
 
 In regard to the net fishery at the mouth, I do not agree 
 with Mr. Scott as to its evil effects, and I think he greatly exaggerates 
 as to its destructiveness. Though we were two weeks too late for the 
 best fishing, we found the one pool we visited filled with salmon, 
 plenty of them, as many as any angler could wish. We did not 
 make a large score 'tis true, the weather was against us, clear and 
 bright with scarcely any rain. A.11 the time we were there the river 
 Was down very low. Under these circumstances I think we did 
 very well, I for one am well satisfied. 
 
 I am, with great regard. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 Jamks G. Wood. 
 
 11. — Mr. Drumraond to the Commissioner. 
 
 Montreal, 27th February 1866. 
 Alex. Russell, Esq., 
 
 Assist. Commissioner Crown Lands. 
 Sir, 
 
 With a view to obtain correct information on a question of 
 public discussion here, I beg to ask a statement from your De- 
 partment of the number of fixed- or stake-nets licensed annually since 
 1860, and generally for any information the Department may be wil- 
 ling to afford on these questions : — 
 
 Have the appliances for catching salmon been increasing * 
 diminishing ? 
 
 Have the numbers of fish in the waters under charge of the 
 Department, been increasing or diminishing ? 
 
 I am, respectfully yours, 
 
 Geo. A. Drummond. 
 
 12- — The Commissioner to Mr. Drummond. 
 
 Department of Crown Lands, 
 
 Fisheries Branch, 
 
 Ottawa, 15th March, 1866. 
 Sib, 
 
 In reply to the questions asked by your letter, I have the honor 
 
 ^p state, that the Department does not license any particular kind of 
 
82 
 
 net or fixed-engine for fishing. The leases and licenses issuei 
 are for fishery stations, upon "which the holders can use such method 
 of fishing and fish at such times as the law allows. There arc there 
 fore no means of ascertaining how many fixed-nets, or " stake-nets," 
 or brush-weirs, are in existence since 1860 ; but there can 
 be no doubt that in numbers and in catching powers the ap 
 pliances used in salmon fishing have been reduced fully one-half sine 
 that year ; and in addition to such diminution, the extent of fish 
 ing limits in every one of the tsalmon rivers has been material! 
 decreased. The examples which show to what extent this has beei 
 done are chiefly among those on the Nortli coast : — the Esquimau: 
 river, formerly fished for thirty-seven miles up, is now fished for onlj 
 six miles ; the Natashquan river, formerly netted and completely barred 
 for sixteen miles up, is now fished for about .six miles ; the twc 
 Watschceshoo rivers and the Corneille, where Mr. Whitcher found 
 most destructive netting going on, are now free of nets; the Romaine 
 river and its fork, formerly fished for some twelve miles, is now closed 
 entirely; so also is the Mingan with its branch the Manito; the St. John 
 river formerly fished for twenty-seven miles up, and then speared at the 
 Kettle twenty-six miles further up, has now only about four miles ot 
 netting limits; the Moisie River, formerly netted for twenty-four 
 miles, and the N. E. branch barred across about three miles from it;; 
 mouth, is now fished for about nine miles ; the Trinity river, formerly 
 netted for forty-three miles up, is now closed against nets ; the Good 
 bout river formerly fished with nets for six miles, and sometimes with a 
 barrier-net in two places, and seined in the pools above, has not been 
 netted at all since 1860; the Betscie and Mistassini rivers formerly 
 fished all along their course, have not been netted since 1850 ; 
 the Laval river, formerly netted to destruction, has not been netted 
 for three years ; the Saguenay rivers have been six years without a net 
 being placed in them ; the Murray has not been netted for eight 
 years, neither the Jacques Cartier, nor the two St. Anne rivers ; 
 the St. Francis which used to be barred, seined and speared, is now 
 clear. These are but a portion of the wholcn umbers so dealt with : 
 and on the Soiith shore, and at Gaspe, Bonaventurc and Anticosti, 
 similar reductions of excessive fishing have been effected. 
 
 The great increase in the numbers of adult salmon which has 
 taken place, cannot be better illustrated than in the case of the river 
 Moisie. In 1857, when upwards of 13,000 fathoms of nets were used 
 in that river, the fish were so scarce that only 1,100 wore ttiken ; in 
 
I 
 
 33 
 
 1859/»the nets were thinned and the river leased, ard since 1862, with 
 tin average of about 2,800 fathoms of set nets, the take of Salmon 
 has been, one year with another, upwards of 10,000 and the stream 
 is well stocked with large breeding fish ; the average weight also of 
 those caught has increased some 20 per cent. 
 
 In most of the streams salmon-fry are seen in very large num- 
 bers. Altogether, the improvement of the Salmon fishery is decided 
 and highly encouraging. 
 
 I have the honor to be. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Andrew Russell. 
 
 Assist. Commissioner. 
 
 Geo. A. DauMMOND, Esq., ) 
 Montreal. j 
 
 P. S. The quantity of nets needed to fish the Moisie is about 
 
 7,000 fathoms, less than forty per cent of which are at any one time 
 set, the remainder being for relays. The figures referring to this 
 fishery include the bay stations and frontage limits outside, where 
 the catch is from the breed in and frequenting Moisie river. 
 
 A. R. 
 
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