IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) (./ ^.^< ^.^ 1.0 m u I.I 1*0 25 2.2 2.0 Hiotographic Scmoes CorporatiQn 23 WIST MAIN STRIET WltSTIR,N.Y. I4SM (716) t72-4S03 'l^ <> V!« 4" , 'lot laid out r the junc- part of the et towards has often the seat of certainly a more immediate communication with the ocean, but it is not so conveniently situated for an intercourse with many parts of the island. Its excellent harbour, however, and its very desirable situation for the cod and herring fisheries, will, probably, at no very distant period, make it a place of considerable importance. It is well calculated for the centre of any trade carried on within the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The harbour is not frozen over for some time after all the other harbours in the gulf, and it opens earlier in the spring. A few hours will carry a vessel from it to the Atlantic, through the Gut of Canso, and vessels can lay their course from thence to Three Rivers, with a south west wind, (which prevails in the summer) when they cannot lay up to Charlotte Town. This harbour lays also more in the track to Quebec, and other places up the gulf. Its access is safe, having a fine broad and deep entrance, free from sandbars, or indeed any danger, and can be easily distinguished by two islands, one on each side. Excellent fishing grounds lay in its vicinity, and herrings enter it in large shoals early in May. ,u ...,; /^;.^..v/./ Jj V,:,.!. . The settlements contiguous to George Town, or Cardigan, Montague, and Brndnelle Rivers, are rapidly extending, and the settlers are directing their atten- tion more to agriculture than formerly. A considerable quantity of timber has within the last twenty years been exported from hence, and a number of superior ships have also been built for the British market. At present there are two well-establisbed ship-yards. k 8 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. )'i one at Brudnelle Point, the other at Cardigan River, where some large vessels are building. Prince Town (or more properly the point of a peninsula, so called) is situated on the south side of Richmond Bay, and on the north side of the island. It is one of the three places laid out for county towns. There are no houses, however, erected on the building lots, and the pasture lots have long since been converted into farms, which form a large strag- gling settlement. Darnley Basin lays between Prince Town and the point of Allanby, which forms the south side of the entrance to Richmond Bay. Along Alanby Point, and round the basin, a range of excellent farms extends, some of which stretch across the Point, and have two water fronts, one on the basin, the other on the gulf shore. The district of Richmond Bay comprehends a number of settlements; the principal of which (after Prince Town and Darnley Basin) are Ship-yard, Indian River, Saint £Ieanor's, Bentick River, Grand River, and the village along the township. No. 13. * ^ ' Richmond Bay is ten miles in depth, and nine miles in breadth. The distance across the Isthmus, between the head of this bay and Bedeque, on the opposite side of the island, is only one mile. There are six islands laying within or across the entrance of Richmond Bay, and its shores are indent- ed with numerous coves, creeks, and rivers. It has three entrances formed by the island, but the eastern- «awMHa PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 9 most is the only one that will admit shipping. This place is conveniently situated for cod and herring fisheries, and was resorted to by the New England fishermen before the American revolution. During the last twenty years, several cargoes uf timber have been exported from this port, and a number of ships and brigs have been lately built here for the English market. Cascumpeque is about sixteen miles north from Richmond Bay, and twenty-four miles from the north cape of the island. Its harbour is safe and convenient, the lands are well adapted for agriculture; and this place, by its advantageous situation, is well calculated for extensive fishing establishments. New London, or the district of Grenville Bay, includes the settlements round the bay, and on the rivers that fall into it, and those at the ponds, between the harbour and Alanby Point. On the east, lays the very pretty settlement called Cavendish. The harbour of New London will not admit vessels requiring more than twelve feet water; otherwise it is safe and con- venient. Harrington, or Grand Rustico Bay, has two en- trances, and a harbour for small brigs and schooners. Here are two villages inhabited by Acadian French ; the surrounding parts of the bay, with Whately and Hunter Rivers, have within the last ten or twelve years become populously settled, by an acquisition of in- dustrious and useful peasantry from different parts of Scotland. There is an island laying across between the 10 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. two entrances, part of whicli is covered with woods, and (he rest, about three miles in extent, forms sandy downs, on which grows a sort of strong bent grass.'* Breckly Point and Cove is a pretty and pleasantly situated settlement, between Grand Rustico and Stan- hope Cove. Its inhabitants arc industrious farmers in easy circumstances, all of whom are freeholders. It has a harbour for boats. " '"•* Little Rustico, or Stanhope Cove, is esteemed one of the most beautiful settlements on the island. Its situation is agreeable, and the prospects and exposures of many of the extensive farms arc delightful. Its distance from Charlotte Town, by a good road across the island, is only eleven miles. The lands are the property of Sir James Montgomery, and his brothers. The harbour will only admit small vessels. Bedford, or Tracady Bay, is five miles to the east- ward of Stanhope Cove. It has a harbour for schoon- ers and small brigs, the entrance of which is narrow, and lays at the west end of a narrow ridge of sand hills, which stretch across from the cast side of the bay.f *0n Hunter River, which Tails into Harrington Bay, a settle- ment called New Glasgow was planted in 1818, by W. E. Cormack, Ksq. now of St. John's, NewToundland. The settlers went from the vicinity oi' Glasgow. This gentleman has since perrormed a journey, which no other European ever attempted, across New- foundland. — A most arduous and perilous undertaking, when one considers the rugged and broken configuration oftbe country. f The entrances to all the harbours on the north side of the island, are cither at the end, or, through the narrow ridges of sandy downs— thus, the entrances to the harbours of Cascumpeque, New London, Grand Rustico, and Tracady arc at the west end PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 11 Savage Harbour lays a few miles to the eastward of Tracady. Its entrance is shallow, and will only admit boats. The lands are tolerably well settled, and the inhabiUints are chiefly Highlanders. The distance across the island, between this place and Hilsborough liiver, is about two miles. The Lake settlement, situated between Savage Harbour and Saint Peter's, is a pretty interesting place. The farms have extensive clearings, and fronts on a pond or lagoon, which has an outlet to the gulf. Saint Peter's is on the north side of the island, about twenty miles to the eastward of Charlotte Town. Its harbour, owing to a sandy bar across the entrance, will only adroit small vessels. There are a number of settlers on each side of its bay, which is about nine miles long; and the river Morell falling into it from the south, is a fine rapid stream, frequented annually by the salmon. The lands fronting on this bay belong principally to Messrs. C. & £. Worrell. They reside on the property, where they are making considerable improve- ments, and have built granaries, an immense barn, a very superior grist mill, offices, &c. Greenwich is situated on a peninsula, between the bay and the gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is a charming of such ridges; and the other harbours, except that or Richmond Bay, have their entrances through similar downs. Strangers are apt to be deceived when approaching theso harbours, as they have a general resemblance. It is therefore advisable to have a pilot. i • I, \\ 12 VUINCU EDWARD ISLAND. s[H)ti and its exposure, and the prospect it allurds, ure ngrcenble and beautiful.* District of the Capes. This district extends along the north shore of the island, from Saint Peter's to the east point. There are no harbours between these two places; but several ponds, or small lakes, intervene. For a considerable distance back from the gulf shore the lands are entirely cleared, with the exception of detached spots or clumps of the spruce fir. The inhabitants are chiefly from the west of Scotland, and from the Hebrides, and their labour has been chiefly applied to agriculture. They raise, even with the old mode of husbandry, to which they tenaciously adhere, valuable crops, and the greater part of the wheat, barley, oats, and pork, brought to Charlotte Town, is from this district. It has the eminent advantage of having a regular supply of seaware (various marine weeds) thrown on its shores, which makes an excellent manure, particularly for barley. •• ' i '•'• ' '" Colville, RoUo, Fortune, Howe, and Boughton Bays, are small harbours, with thriving settlements, situated on the south-east of the island, between Three Rivers and the east point. The inhabitants arc principally Highlanders and Acadian French. Murray Harbour lays between Cape Bear and Three Rivers. It is well sheltered, but the entrance is intricate, and large ships can only take in part of * This estate is involved in a chancery suit, and the son or the original complainant (Bowloy) died, old and grey, throe years ago, completely worn out in the cause. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. tlioir cargoes within the bar. Several cargoes nf timber Imvc been exported from tiiis place, and u number of cxceiU'Ut ships, brigs, and smaller vessels have becu Ix'ilthere by Messrs. Cambridge and Sons, whose extensive estublishnienti^ mills, ship-yards, &c. have for many years afl'orded employment to a number of people. The cultivation of the soil has however for a long time been neglected; but nn accession of industrious people, who have settled here within the last few years, are making extensive improvements. Belfast. This district mny be said to include the villages of Great and Little Belfast, Orwell, and Point Prime; with the settlements at Pinnette River, Flat River, and Belle Creek. At the time the island was taken from the French, a few inhabitants were settled in this district; but from that period, the lands re- mained in a great measure unoccupied, until the year 1803, when the late enterprising Earl of Selkirk arrived on the island with 800 emigrants, whom he settled along the front of the townships that now con- tain those flourishing settlements. His Lordship brought his colony from the Highlands and Isles of Scotland, and by the convenience of the tenures under which he gave them lands, and by persevering indus- try on their part, these people have arrived at more comfort and happiness, than they ever experienced before. Tlie soil in this district is excellent; the inhabitants are all in easy circumstances; and their number has increased from 800 to nearly 3000. They raise heavy crops, the overplus of which they carry PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. either to Charlotte Town, Pictou, Halifax, or New- foundland. .. ■'•■■ Tryon is situated about twenty miles west of Charlotte Town, nearly opposite to Bay de Verts, in Nova Scotia. It is one of the most populous, and is considered the prettiest village on the island. A ser- pentine river winds through it, on each side of which are large and beautiful farms. The tide flows up about two miles, but the harbour will only admit of small schooners and boats, it having a very dangerous bar off the entrance : extensive clearings were made here when possessed by the French. Bedeque is situated on the south-west part of the island, about eighteen miles from Tryon. It is populously settled on the different sides of the two rivers into which the harbour branches. The harbour is well sheltered by a small island, near which ships anchor and load. There are two or three ship-building establishments here, and it has for some time been a shipping port for timber. ' ^" Egmont Bay lays to the west of Bedeque. It is a large open bay, sixteen miles broad from the west point to Cape Egmont, and about ten deep. Perceval, Enmore, and two other small rivers fall into it, on the borders of which are excellent marshes. There is no harbour within this bay for large vessels, and as the shoals lay a considerable distance off, it is dangerous for strangers to venture in, even with small vessels. The inhabitants are chiefly Acadian French, who live in three small villages on the east side of the bay. ''.^ •i« PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 15 The whole population consists only of twenty-three families. • ' " • j >•'"■ * Hilsborough River enters the country in a north- easterly direction. The tide flows twenty miles fur- ther up than Charlotte Town, and three small riveis branch off to the south. The scenery at and near the head of this fine river is delightful. Mount Stewart, the property and present residence of John Stewart, Esq. is a charm- ing spot, and the prospect from the house, which is on a rising ground, about half a mile from the river, is beautiful and interesting. The view downwards commands several windings of the Hilsborough and part of Pisquit Rivers; the edges of each are fringed with marsh grass, and a number of excellent farms range along the banks, while majestic birch, beech, and maple trees, growing luxuriantly on the south side, and spruce fir, larch, beech, and poplar on the north side, fill up the back ground. Upwards, the meandering river, on which one may now and then see passen- gers crossing in a log canoe, or an Indian with his family paddling along in a bark one; together with a view of St. Andrew's, the seat of the Catholic Bishop,* and the surrounding farms and woods all combine to form another agreeable landscape. •■■ .'j ;'"j .i York River penetrates the island in a north-west- erly course, and the tide flows up about nine miles. On each side there is a straggling settlement, and a 'CTbo Right Reverend Aneas M'Eiiciicran, titular Bishop or Rosen, an excellent and venerable cliaracter, equally esteemed by the members of every profession. U' 1^ 16 PKINCE EDWARD ISLAND. number of the inhabitants have excellent farms, with a considerable proportion of the land under cultivation. Elliot River branches oiF nearly west from Char- lotte Town harbour, and intersects the island, winding in that direction about twelve miles. A number of small streams or creeks fall into this river, and the lands on both sides are divided into farms, and settled on. The scenery about this river has as much of the romantic character as is to be met with in any part of the island. There are a number of other though lesser settle- ments. The principal of these are — Tigniche, near the north cape ; the inhabitants of which are Aca- dian French. Crapaud and De Sable, between Hils- borough Bay and Tryon. Cape Traverse and Seven Mile Bay, between Tryon and Bedeque, and the Aca- dian settlement at Cape Egmont. Settlements are also forming along all the roads, particularly in the vicinity of Charlotte Town. The only tract of any extent bordering on the sea, without settlers, is that between the north cape and west point. There are a number of fine streams of waters and ponds in this district ; the soil is rich, and the land is covered with lofty trees. A few people have settled near the north cape, who have raised heavy crops of wheat, barley and potatoes; and the whole will likely be settled in a few years. Its only disadvantage is having no harbour; but one may always land in a boat, if the wind does not blow strongly on the shore; and fish of various descriptions may be caught in abundance, any where along the coast. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 17 CHAP. II. Structaro of the soil, and natural productions. The general surface of the soil is, first, a thin layer of black or brown mould, composed of decayed vege- table substances; then, to the depth of a foot or a little more, a light loam prevails, inclining in some places to a sandy, in others to a clayey character; below which, a stiiFclay resting on a base of sandstone predominates. The prevailing colour of both soil and stone is red. There are only a few exceptions to this general structure of the soil: these are the bog& or swamps, the formation of which is either a soft spungy turf or a layer of black mould resting on a bed of white clay or sand. * -> In its natural state, the quality of the soil may be readily ascertained by the description of wood growing on it: being richest where the maple, beech, black birch, and a mixture of other trees grow; and less fertile where the fir, spruce, larch, and other species of the pine tribe are most numerous. The soil is friable and easily tilled, and there is scarcely a stone on the surface of the island that will impede the progress of the plough. There is no lime- stone nor gypsum, nor has coal yet been discovered, i D (' i 18 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. although indications of its existence are produced. Iron ore is by many thought to abound, but no speci- mens have as yet been shewn, although the soil is in different places impregnated with an oxide of iron, and a sediment is lodged in the rivuiCts running from various springs, which appears to consist of metallic oxides. Red clay of a superior quality for bricks abounds in all parts of the island, and a strong white clay, of a description fit for potteries is met with, but not in large quantities. One observes, now and then, a solitary block of granite on the surface of the ground, but two stones of this description are seldom found within a mile of each other.*^ On some of the bogs, or swamps, there is scarcely any thing but shrubs and moss growing; these are rather dry, and resemble the turf bogs in Ireland. Others again are wet and spungy, producing dwarf spruces, alder, and a variety of shrubs. Such portions of these bogs as have been drained and cultivated form excellent meadows. There are other tracts, called in the island barrens, some of * Yolnoy and some others have remarked, that the g;ranitc base or nucleus of the Alleghanys, extends so far as to form the sub-stratum of all the countries of America, laying to the east- ward of those mountains, from the promontory, at the entrance of the river St. Lawrence, where they rise, to where they ter- minate in the southern states. To this, as a general rule, there is however one or two exceptions. The base of Prince Edward Island, which is sand stone, appears to extend under the bed of Northumberland Strait, into the northern part of Nova Scotia, and into the eastern part ofNew Brunswick, until it is lost in the line of conti^et between it and the granite base of the Alleghanys, about the river Nipisighit. h ^ ! PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 19 which, in their natural state, produce nothing but a dry moss, or a few shrubs. The soil of these is a light brown or whitish sand ; some of the lands laid formerly waste by fire, being naturally light and sterile, incline to this character, fioth the bogs and swamps, as well as the barrenSf bear but a small proportion to the whole surface of the island; and, as they may all, with judicious management, be im- proved advantageously, it cannot be said that there is an acre of the whole incapable of cultivation. On the borders of the diiferent arms of the sea that penetrate the island, there are a number of marshes, which are covered at high water, but left dry by the ebb. These produce a strong grass, which is extremely useful for feeding cattle during winter. The marshes, when dyked, yield heavy crops of wheat, or if left without ploughing become excellent meadows. Large tracts of the original pine forests have been destroyed by fires, that have raged over the island at different periods ; in the place of which, white birches, spruce firs, poplars and wild cherry trees have sprung up. The largest trees of this second growth that I have seen were from ten to twelve inches diameter, and growing in places laid waste by a tremendous fire that raged in 1 750. It seems extraordinary, that where the original forest is destroyed in America, trees of a different species should start up. The naturalist will perhaps doubt the accuracy of this cir- cumstance, as tending in some measure to derange his system; but such however is the case, without excep- 20 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. lion, wherever the woods have been destroyed by fire, or otherwise, and the land allowed to remain unculti- vated.'^ At its first settlement, and previous to the fires that have since destroyed so much valuable tim- ber, the island was altogether covered with wood, and contained forests of majestic pines. Trees of this genus still abound, but not, as formerly, in extensive groves. The varieties are the red and pitch pine, which are rare, and the yellow or white pine, which is more abundant; and being well adapted for house- building and joiner-work, has for many years formed an important article of export to Britain. There is not however, at present, more growing on the island than will be required by the inhabitants for house- building, ship-building, and other purposes. There are four varieties of the spruce fir growing in abun- dance : this wood is durable, and adapted to various uses. Larch (or hackmatack) is scarce, and seldom more than a foot and a half in diameter, but the quality is valuable for treenails, and other purposes to ship-builders. The hemlock tree is of the fir tribe ; there are two descriptions of it, the red and the white ; the latter is very duiabb, and lately used in ship-building.f It generally grows in groves, in dry * Sir Alexander Mac Kenzie observes the same circumstance on the banks of the Slave Lake, where the land, covered with spruce and birch having been laid waste by fire, produced subse- quently nothing but poplars, though there was previously no tree or that genus in the space laid open by the devouring element. f It is remarkable, that iron driven into hemlock will not corrode, even under water. PRINCE EDlfARD ISLAND. 21 hollows, and is often from two to three feet in diameter, and from fifty to seventy feet in height. Beech abounds in all parts of the island, growing to a majestic height, and sometimes three feet in diameter. It is useful for the purposes to which it is usually applied in England. Five varieties of the sugar maple are met with ; the white, which does not arrive at so large a size as the others, the waved maple or zebra wood, the red maple, the rock or curly maple, and the bird-eyed maple; the four last grow from forty to sixty feet in height, and from eighteen to thirty-six inches in diameter; all of which take a beautiful polish, and are used for various articles of furniture, as well as other purposes. From the sap of the maple tree an excellent sugar is made. There are three descriptions of birch growing in great abundance, the white, yellow, and black ; the last is particularly valuable for furniture, and other uses. It is frequently from three to four feet in dia- meter, and susceptible of as fine a polish as mahogany, and equally as beautiful. Oak is scarce, and the quality indifferent; there are two varieties, the red and white. Elm is also scarce, but the description is excellent. Of ash there are three varieties, the black, grey, and white; the two first are scarcely of any use, the last is made into oars, handspikes, staves, &c. Poplar, of which there are two varieties, grows in low ground, or where the original wood has been re- 22 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. moved. White cedar abounds in the north and west parts of the island, but not of a size large enough for house or ship-building. Such are the principal kinds of trees growing on the island. A number of others of a less description are met with, but as they are sel- dom used for any purpose, they are as seldom noticed. Among these, are tlie alder, wild cherry tree, Indian pear tree, dogwood, &c. Among the many varieties of wild fruits are cran- berries, which are uncommonly fine, and as large as an £nglish cherry, strawberries, and raspberries, which grow in astonishing abundance; alsoblue berries, white berries, and Indian pears, all of which are of the most delicious flavour. Black and red currants, gooseber- ries, and two descriptions of cherries grow wild; they are however very inferior. Juniper berries are abun- dant. The beech tree produces heavy crops of beech mast, or nuts, which are pleasant to the taste, and on which squirrels, partridges, and mice live, principally during autumn and winter. Hazel nuts grow wild. The bay berry grows on a shrub, (the Myrica Cerifira of Linnteus) and contains a quantity of inflam- mable odoriferous matter, of a light green colour, re- sembling wax. This substance is extracted by boiling a quantity of the berries in water, which is afterwards strained into a dish, and on being left to cool, the wax hardens on the surface. It makes candles scarcely inferior to spermaceti. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 23 Sarsaparilla, ginseng, and a number of medicinal licrbs, grow among the woods, where the curiosity of the botanist would have ample range. A variety of herbs and roots are used by the inhabitants, instead of tea. 'i'he indian tea, or Labrador shrub, is grateful to the taste, and considered an effectual antiscorbutic. The vine, called maiden hair tea, has a simple agree- able taste ; and a decoction of a root, called chocolate root, is used by the Indians as a certain remedy for the severest attack of the cholic. ■1 )' 1 ■ i ' . , • •|';'".i^ .-' . < 24 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. CHAP. III. Wild animals. . . .Birds. . . .Reptiles . . . .Insects . . . .Fishes. 1: The principal native quadrupeds are bears, loup- cerviers, foxes, hares, martins, otters, masquatlics, minks and squirrels. The bear is of a jet blaek colour, and of the same species as on the continent of America. For many years after the settlement of the colony, these animals were extremely mischievous f.nd hurtful to the in- habitants, destroying black c'altle, sheep, and hogs. Their numbers are now much reduced, and a bear is rarely met with. During winter, they retire to some sequestered part of the forest, and select a den, which they prepare by closing it nearly over with branches and sticnf*, and making a bed within it of moss. During three or four months, they live in these dens without food, and, according to the accounts of the Indians and others who sometimes discover them, in a state of torpor, from which however they are easily roused. It seems extraordinary, that a bear on leaving his den is nearly as fat as at any period of the year. The vulgar, but absurd, belief is, that they live during winter by sucking their paws. Although bears are carnivor- ous animals, they feed indiscriminately on berries, or PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Bts.... Fishes. these animals any thing in shape of food. They are particularly fond of ant hillS) and are dexterous in catching smelts, a species of small fish that swarm in the brooks. A great deal is related about the sagacity of bears, and there appears to be but few animals which possess a higher degree of instinct. Their strength aiid dexterity are astonishing, and the largest and most spirited bull is soon vanquished and killed by a full grown bear. They seldom attack u horse, and unless provoked, will rarely encounter a man. It is said, that a bear on hearing the human voice will always run off, unless accompanied by its young. They are frequently caught in strong wooden traps, contrived so, that a heavy log pressed down by several others, falls across the animal's back, and crushes it to death. Indians and others commonly lay in wait to shoot them, near the remains of some large animal killed by a bear the preceding night, to which it generally returns either to devour it or carry it off*. Spring guns are sometimes set with a bait, which, as soon as the bear lays hold of, files the gun. If a bear kill or catch a calf, sheep or pig, it carries either at once to some distance. An ox or cow seems too heavy a burden, and a part is devoured, where it is killed. The fur of the bear, if killed in season, is very valuable. • ^ ' Foxes are numerous, and seem to possess all the cunning usually attributed to the species. They do not however kill sheep, nor do they often destroy B 1 20 PRINCE eUWAKD ISLAND. poultry^ us tiiey generally procure sufficient food at less risk in the woods, or along the shores. They arc cauglit in traps, or inveigled by a bait to a particular place, where they arc shot by a person laying in wait, during the clear winter nights, at which time the ice and snow deprive tlicm in a grcut measure of their usual means of subsistence. Tlu* fur is much finer than that of the English fox : its prevailing colour is red. Some foxes are jet black, others patched, and a few are of a beautiful silver grey colour. Hares are in great abundance, and turn white in winter, as in Norway. Their flesh is very flnc, at least equal to tliHl of the English hare. The marten is a beautiful animal, about eighteen inches long, and of a brownish colour, with a patch of orange under the neck. Its fur is valuable. The musquash, or musk rat, is a black animal, about twice the sisee of a large rat. It has some resemblance to the beaver, and in winter, when the ponds are frozen over, they build small huts on the ice, with sticks, rushes, and mud. They keep a hole open under this lodging, for the purpose of getting into the water for food. Otters are of the same species as in Europe, but the fur is rather finer. .' ... The mink is a small black animal, with fine fur. ^t resembles the otter, and lives in the same manner. There are three varieties of squirrels, the striped, the brow J, and the flying squirrels. . ., r D. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 37 icicnt food at ■es. They arc to a particular laying in wait, i time the ice asure of tiieir is much finer iling colour it patched, and a III! I. MIT •.&'l< .! turn white in ry fine, at Icust tbout eighteen vith a patch of ble. ./-iji.-'. black animal, It has some ter, when the 11 huts on the ey keep a hole of getting into Europe, but ith fine fur. |t le manner. s, the striped, Weasels and ermines, although native animals, are not numerous. Formerly, mice were in some seasons so numerous, as to destroy the greater part of the corn, about a week l»f ore it ripened. Within the lost twenty yeors how- ever, little injury has been done by these mischievous animals, although they have been known to appear in such swarms, previously to that period, as to cut down whole fields of wheat in one night. Bats, of an inferior size, are common in summer. 'file luup-cervier, commonly called the wild cat, is of the genus felinum, and nearly the height of a grey hound. It has scarcely any tail, and is of a grey colour; the fur is not very valuable. These animals are rather numerous, and are said to have the treach- erous disposition of the tiger. Numbers of sheep are destroyed by Ihem; and one will kill several of those unresisting creatures during a night, as they suck the blood only, leaving the flesh untouched. ,' ih'. For many years after the settlement of the island, warlruses,or sea cows, frequented different places along the shores, and the numbers caught were not only considerable, but formed a source of advantageous enterprize to the inhabitants. Their tusks being from fifteen inches to two feet long, were considered as fine a quality of ivory as those of the elephant, and their skins, about an inch in thickness, were cut into stripes for traces, and used in the island, or exported to Quebec. They also yielded a considerable quantity of oil, and some have weighed upwards of 4000 lbs. ' I } 28 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. None of these anigials have appeared near the shores of the island for thirty years, but are still seen at the Magdalene Islands, and other places to the northward. They have been known sometimes to enter some distance into the woods, and persons acquainted with the manner of killing them, have got between them and the sea, and urged them on with a sharp pointed pole, until they got the whole drove a sufficient dis- tance from the water, when they fell to, and killed these immense animals, thus incapable of resistance out of their element. It is said, that on being attack- ed in this manner, and finding themselves unable to escape, they have set up a most piteous howl and cry. Seals of the same description as on the the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador are seen in the bays, and round the shores of the island during the summer and autumn. In the spring, immense numbers come down on the ice from the northward, when they are killed by the fishermen, who go in quest of them in schooners, it sometimes happens that there are driven on shore fields of ice covered with seals, which the fish- ermen kill with guns, or with heavy clubs, and, strip- ping ofi^ the skin with the fat, leave the carcase on the ice. The fat is melted into oil, and the skins dressed or tanned. ' ' '''' ■ * The birds most common on the island are the fol- lowing, which remain during the whole year. K'< i Large Speckled Owl, ') ^lifii'^. Grey Owl, t>'n ' :' ■ ■. • •_r>i;'r ^%d't^^ v.. S ( Crow, u- '(,;i -i' i}(>At Jm H D. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 29 ir the shores of ill seen at the the northward. ;o enter some cquainted with between them sharp pointed sufficient dis- to^ and killed c of resistance n being attack - ;lves unable to i howl and cry. the the coasts ;en in the bays, ig the summer numbers come I when they are est of them in lere are driven which the fish- lbs, and, strip- carcase on the skins dressed . an i id are the fol* rear, h'^'unci km;. Ah ■<'• Raven, Large Redcrcsted Woodpecker, Red headed Woodpecker, Blue Speckled Woodpecker, Snow Birds, I. w Swallow, k - ■._■•>, "■' ' (•'■'" * f* .s * Cat-Bird, - '^■' Red Hooded Winter Bird, , 1- Partridge, : '"■ ■■' Kings-fisher, ,. ,.f. ./,,- .': '•;,, Blue Jay, I. •. . r ■ . and those that migrate to other countries, or that dis appear during winter; among which are. The Bald Eagle, Yellow Bird, : Brown Eagle, Wild Goose, Large Brown Hawk, Brant, Common Hawk, Wild Grey Duck, Musquito Hawk, '■ -r-, Wild Black Duck, Marten, Sea Duck, Wild Pigeon, f: Dipper, f Whip-poor-will, .♦■ ^ Widgeon, Humming Bird, Sea Pigeon, Bob-lincoln, Teal, ; ' Tom-tit, < > Crane, .,, Curlew, :,! ,■ - v.»i;j Sheldrake, Snipe, r Loon, hy< Plover, Shag, Beach Bird, Penguin, 'v. Blue Bird, , , Gannett, >; White Gull, 1.1 '.' Grey Gull, 1 I i 'I k i ;i ■ ( m PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Herring Gull, Bittern. Spring Bird, Robin, / ^ Blackbird, ' ' ': ' sJ' Partridges are larger, and considered finer than in England. A provincial law prohibits the shooting uf them between the 1st of April, and the 1st September. Wild pigeons arrive in great flocks in summer, ftom the southward, and breed in the wood. Wild geese appear in March, and after remaining five or six weeks, proceed to the northward to breed, from whence they return in September, and leave for the southward about the end of November. They fly in flocks, and in two regular files, following a leader, from which both lines diverge, so as to form a figure like the two sides of a triangle. They hatch their young in the northern and inland parts of New- foundland, and on the continent of Labrador. In size they are rather larger than the domestic goose, and many consider them much finer eating. The brant is about half the size of the goose. Its flesh is delicious. It also comes from the south, and proceeds to the north, for the purpose of breeding. These birds arrive in May, and remain till June, and return again in September. Both black and grey ducks are excellent; and the snipe is considered by epicures equal to the finest in Europe. There are no game laws, nor any restrictions as regards shooting, nor does it appear that one can binder persons from doing ^o, even on lands under cultiva- tion, unless he proceeds against them us trespassers. an an AND. ing Gull, rn. red finer than in 5 tlie shooting of B 1st September, in summer, ftom ■ 9 after remaining ihward to breed, Jr, and leave for •vembcr. They les, following a , so as to form a le. They hatch d parts of New- Labrador. In domestic goose, Jting. i«*4 the goose. Its the south, and se of breeding. 1 till June, and and grey ducks red by epicures restrictions as one can binder under cultiva- its trespassers. 'Ml PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 31 The only reptiles known in the island arc brown and striped snakes, neither of which are venomous; and the red viper, toad, bull frog, and green frog. When the spring opens, frogs are heard on fine evenings, singing in various notes and tones. Some strain on a rough low key, others a pitch higher, and some pipe a treble, or thrill perpetually ; the combina- tion forming what has been termed " A frog concert." The principal injects are butterflies, of which there are a' number of beautiful varieties; locusts, grass- hoppers and crickets, the horned beetle, bug, adder-fly, black-fly, horse-fly sand-fly, musquito, ant, hornet, wasp, bumble-bee, fire-fly, and a numerous variety of spiders. The sting of either the wild bee, hornet, or wasp, occasions for some time a severe pain, accompanied by a slight inflammation. These industrious little animals display great ingenuity in the construction of their nests and combs. The wild bees commonly build their nests under ground: the wasps and hornets, suspend them *o a branch of a tree; each build them of a substance, resembling when put together, light grey paper. ,.huic .U'^j Musquitos and sand-flies are exceedingly annoy- ing during the heat of summer, in the neighbourhood of marshes, and in the woods: where the lands are cleared to any extent, they are seldom troublesome. During the beautiful summer nights, one observes in different directions, lights flashing and moving about; which are occasioned by fire-flies fluttering il PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. n i their wings, from under which a vivid sparkling is emited. The varieties of shell-fish are, oysters, clams, muscles, razor shell-fish, wilkes, lobsters, crabs, and shrimps. The oysters are considered the finest in America, and equally as delicious as those taken on the English shores. There are two or three varieties, the largest of which is from six to twelve inches long. Lobsters are very plentiful, and when in season, excellent. The descriptions of fish that swarm round the shores, or that abound on the different fishing banks in the vicinage of Prince Edward Island, are very numerous. The following are those most commonly known. Hump-back Whale, Flounder, fii.'i. ^. ^i' . Porpoise, Salmon, i. Horse Mackerel, i , Herring, , Shark, . :1» . Alewife, ii^^j:i v >- u: Dogfish, V Mackerel, hh ^/r ^ ^v i civ Sturgeon, ,c ^ „ ',.:■. Bass, ; ,y,.if ii^K , -i ;i Cod, Shad, " ?.u;<| v= . >ju:Eel, ■■'^.v,,-. .■:... ■yiil-l; Pond Perch, : lA 1 ; ,. Haddock, ua' j^ i , . • sj . Scalefish, ^.-..ixiU: I Smelt, HiuU Tom-Cod,, hl-}\ Caplin. }4|^/ij;oitt u\ , Halibut, / » i '3> i !?• i\.\A ; jffn.;- sp thi lND. rid sparkling is oysters, clams, ters, crabs, and test in America, on the English ;ies, the largest ong. vhen in season, arm round the it fishing banks }land, are very most commonly PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 33 ler, iin. ^ii^'iU < n. rel, blv,;4.r:-'|'y: *erch, rch, M'. in, -'< iWihiii I • ^-, Ml b'i'ii.' i The quality of the different varieties of fish may be considered nearly the same as that of the same species caught in the British Seas; some however, think that the cod, spring herring, and haddock, are, when fresh, inferior to those in the English market. The herring caught in spring, at which time they enter the bays to spawn, are certainly not so fat, but those taken in autumn are equally as fine. The mackerel is a very delicious fish, and of much finer flavour than those caught on the shores of Europe. Salmon are not very abundant, and only frequent a few rivers. Epicures consider the eels among the very best description. During the summer and autumn, the Indians spear them in calm nights by torch light. Their torches '\re made of the outer rind of the birch tree, fixed within a split made to receive the same, in the end of a stick about four or five feet long. When lighted, it is placed in the prow of the bark canoe of the Indian, near which he stands with a foot on each gunnel, and in a situation so ticklish, as to require the tact of a master to preserve his balance, which he does however, with apparent ease. A boy, or sometimes his squaw, (wife) paddles the canoe slowly along, while with a spear, the handle of which is from fifteen to twenty feet long, he is so dexterous and sharp sighted, that he never misses the fish at which he darts. Salmon, trout, and various other fishes, are taken in t'ie'ssfifneinfranner. )? "~ I I \ ■ r 34 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. During winter eels live under the mud, within the bays and riirers, in places where a long marine grass (called eel grass) grows, the roots of which, penetrating several inches down through the mud, constitutes their food. At this season they are taken in the following manner: a round hole, about two feet in diameter, is cut through the ice over ground, in which they are usually known to take up their winter quarters; and the fisherman, with a five-pronged spear attached to a handle from twenty-five to thirty feet long, then commences, by probing the mud im- mediately under the hole, and by going round and round in this manner, extending on one circle of ground after another, as far as the length of the spear handle will allow, comes in contact with the eels that lay underneath, and brings them up on the ice ; some- times in the early part of winter, one sees from fifty to sixty persons fishing eels in this way. Trout, smelt, tom-cod, and perch, are caught in winter with a hook and line, through a hole in the ice. ..f!J it PRINCE EDWARD I8LAND. m CHAP. IV. •«v :>, _> i , .. - ' 1 ,i Climate. The temperature of the climate of British America, as well as that of the United States, is extremely variable, not only in regard to sudden transitions from hot to cold, and vice versoj but in respect to the difference between the climate of one colony, or one state, and another.* The following outline of the system of the natural climate of Prince Edward Island, is perhaps as correct as can be well obtained. From its laying within the gulf of St. Lawrence, it partakes, in some measure, of the climate of the neighbouring countries, but the difference is greater than one who has not lived in the island would imagine. In lower Canada, the winter is nearly two months longer than in this island, the frosts more severe, and the snows deeper ; while the temperature is equally as hot in summer. In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Cape Breton, the frosts are equally as severe ; the transitions from one extreme of temperature to another *It is said of Pennsylvania, that it is a compound of all the countries in the worid. In lower Canada, the houses cannot bo kept comtbrtoble without stoves. In Prince Edward Island, a common English fire-place is sufficient to keep a room warm, and stoves arc by no means general. 3' 36 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. more sudden, and fugs arc frequent alung those parts bordering on the Atlantic and bay of Fundy. The atmosphere of this island is noted for being free of fogs. A day that is foggy throughout seldom happens during the year, and in general not more than three or four that are partially so. A misty fog sometimes appears on a summer's or autumnal morning, occasioned by the exhalation of the dew that falls during night, which the rising sun dissi- pates. The absence of fogs has variously been accounted for, but never yet from what 1 conceive the proper cause, and which I consider to be; in the first place, that the waters which wash the shores of the island do not come immediately in contact with those of a different temperature; and in the next place, from Cape Breton and Newfoundland, both of which are high and mountainous, laying as a barrier between it and the Atlantic. Those perpetual fogs which hang over the banks and coasts of Newfoundland and Cape Breton, are caused by the meeting of the tropical waters, brought along by the gulf stream, with the waters carried down by the influence of the winds from the Polar regions. These come in contact with each other on the banks of Newfoundland, and form those eternal fogs, by the difference of their temperatures, and that of their atmospheres producing the two effects of condensation and evaporation. Strong easterly winds would oc- casionally drive these fogs up the gulf of St. Lawrence, ci *D. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 37 ng those parts ''undy. )ted for being ughout seldom eral not more so. A misty 's or autumnal )n of the dew iing sun dissi- leen accounted ive the proper the first place, i of the island I'ith those of a xt place, from I of which are rier between it ver the banks »e fireton, are aters, brought rs carried down Polar regions. on the banks jal fogs, by the that of their condensation ids would oc- iSt. Lawrence, as far as Prince Edward Island, were they not arrested in their course by the highlands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton, on which they are condensed. Fogs, it is true, are occasionally met with at the entrance of the river Saint Lawrence, and from a cause precisely similar to the other. It is well known that a strong current of cold watcrruns from the Atlantic, through the strait of Belle Isle. Its principal stream passes between the island of Anticosti and the coast of Labrador; and coming in contact with the stream of the Saint Lawrence, the effect is similar, and fogs are produced. Prince Edward Island lays within the deep bay formed between Cape Rosier and the north Cape of Cape Breton, and the waters that surround it do not mix within many miles of its shores with those of the Atlantic. In America the seasons have generally, though erroneously, been reduced to two, summer and winter. The space between winter and summer is indeed too short to claim the appellation of spring, in the sense it is understood in England ; but the duration of autumn is as long as in countries under the same latitude in Europe, and is in Prince Edward Island, as well as over the whole continent of North America, the most agreeable season of the year. The summer season may be said to commence about the last days of April, or as soon as the ice disappears in the bays and the rivers. In May, the weather is generally dry and pleasant, but it rarely 11 ii.i PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. happens tiiat summer becomes firmly established with - out a few cold days occurring, after the first warm weather. This change is occasioned by the winds shifting from south to north, or to north east, which bring down the gulf large fields of ice that are by this time disengaged from the shores of Labrador, and which carry along also the cold evaporations that arise in the hyperborean regions. This interruption seldom lasts for more than three or four days, during which the weather is either dry and raw, or cold and wet. When the wind shifts to the southward, the tem- perature soon changes, as the cold vapors are either driven back^ or dissipated by the heat of the sun, which now becomes powerful. The southerly winds, as it were, combat and overcome those of the north, and restoring warmth to the air, fine weather becomes permanent. All the birds common in summer make their appearance early in May, and enliven the woods with their melody ; while the frogs, those American nightingales, or as they are often called, bog choristers, strain their evening concerts. Vegetation proceeds with surprising quickness ; wheat and oats are sown ; the fields and deciduous trees assume their verdure ; various indigenous and exotic flowers blow $ and the smiling face of nature is truly delightful and in grate- ful unison with the most agreeable associations. In June, July, and August, the weather is ex- cessively hot, sometimes as hot as in the West Indies, the mercury being 80° to 90° Fahrenheit. Showers from the south west, sometimes acoompanied with PBINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 39 Btablislied with • the first warm by the winds rth east, which tlint are by this ador, and which that arise in the on seldom lasts iring which the and wet. ward, the tcm- ipors are either :at of the sun, outherly winds, e of the north, eather becomes I summer make iven the woods hose American bog choristers, ation proceeds oats are sown ; their verdure; )low $ and the and in grate- ciations. v€ather is ex- e West Indies, eit. Showers npanied with thunder and lightning, occur during these months, about once every week, or in every ten days time, wliich generally shift the wind to the north west, and pro- duce for a short time an agreeable coolness. The nights at this season exceed in splendour the most beautiful ones in Europe. To pourtray them with accurate justness, would require more than any language could accomplish, or any pencil but that of imagination could execute. The air, notwithstand ing the heat of the preceding day, is always pure; the sea generally unruffled, and its surface one vast mirror, reflecting with precision every visual object, either in the heavens or on the earth. The moon shines with a soft, silver-like brilliancy, and during her retirement the stars resume the most splendid effulgence. Fishes of various species, sport on the water. The singular note of whip-poor-will Is heard from the woods : the fire fly floats on the air, oscillating its vivid sparks ; and where the band of man has subdued the forest, and laid the ground under the control of husbandry, may be heard the voice of the milk-maid, or the "Drowsy tinklings of the distant fold.*' In another direction may often be seen the light of the birch torch, which the mick mack Indian uses in the prow of his canoe, while engaged with his spear in fishing. In September the weather is extremely pleasant, the days are very warm until after the middle of the month; but the evenings are agreeably cool, followed by dews at night, and about, but generally after the $ ? K it M I t 40 PRINCK EDWARD ISLAND. nutuninal equinox, tlic severity of the season is inter- cepted by high winds and rains. At this period the winds generally blow from some easterly point, and the weather usually clears up, with the wind from an opposite direction. The season from this time until the middle or lat- ter part of October is generally a continuation of pleasant days, moderately warm at noon, and the mornings and evenings cool, attended sometimes with slight frosts at nights. Rain occurs but seldom, and the temperature is perhaps more agreeable at this time than at any other period, being neither unpleasantly hot nor cold. About the end of this month, the northerly winds begin to acquire some ascendency over rhe power of the south, and there appears in the atmosphere a determination to establish cold weather, and to accomplish a general change of temperature. Rains, sunshine, evaporations, and slight frosts, succeed each other, and the leaves of the forest from this period change their verdure into the most brilliant and rich colours, exhibiting the finest tints and shades of red, yellow, and sap-green, blended with violet, purple, and brown. The peculiar charms and splend- our which this change imparts to American scenery, exhibits one of the richetjt landscapes in nature, and never could the pencil of an artist be engaged in a more interesting subject. After this crisis the air becomes colder, but the sky continues clear; and a number of fine days usually •« PRINCi: EDWARD ISLAND. 41 ienson is inter- tills period the sriy point, and ? wind from an : middle or lat- ontinuation of icon, and the ometimes with It seldom, and reeable at this er unpleasantly is month, the ne ascendency appears in the 1 cold weather, temperature. 1 slight frosts, he forest from most brilliant nts and shades with violet, is and splcnd- rican scenery, n nature, and engaged in a >lder, but the e days usually '* iipp«Mr In November. — ^Tliere are frosts at night, but the sun is warm in the middle of the day; the evenings and mornings are pleasant, but cool, and a fire becomes agreeuble. This period is termed all over America the Indian summer, and is always looked for uiid depended i>n, ns tiie time to make preparations for the winter season. About the end of November, or a little after, the frosts become more severe, and the northerly winds more prevalent. The sky however is clear, and the weather dry, with the exception of a rainy day once in a weelf, or in every ten days' time. This month, and often the whole of December, pass away before severe frosts or snows become permanent; which the old inhabitants say, never takes place, until the differ- ent ponds or small lakes are filled with water by the alternate 'frosts, thnvvs, and rains that occur, or until a little after the wild geese depart to the south. Towards the end of December, or the beginning of January, the winter season becomes firmly establish- ed ; the bays and rivers are frozen over, and the ground covered to the depth of afoot ormore with snow. The frost is extremely keen during the months of Jan- uary, February, and the early part of March; the Mercury being frequently several degres b^low zero. A thaw and mild weather generally occur for a day or two, about the middle of January, and sometimes in Febru- ary. Thaws take p^ace whenever the wind shifts for any time to the south, and the weather that immedi- 42 PKINCE EDWARD ISLAND. ; ':. ately succeeds is always extremely cold. The ice then becumes as smooth as glass, and aftbrds a source of diversion to such as are amateurs in the amusement of skating. The deepest snows fall towards the latter part of February, or the beginning of March; at which time boisterous storms sweep the snow furiously along the surface of the earth, leaving some places nearly bare, ami raising immense banks in others. While these last, it may be imprudent to travel, at least on the ice, or over tracts where there is no wood, as it is impos- sible to see any distance through the drift. The du- ration of these stoims however, is seldom longer than one or two days, and then the frost is by no means so severe as when the sky is clear. A phenomenon appears frequently during winter, known here by the appellation of Silver Frost. When a fine misty rain takes place, with the wind at the east or north east, the frost not being sufficiently keen to congeal the rain until it falls, but at the moment it rests on any substance, it adheres and freezes, incrust- ing every tree, shrub, and whatever else is exposed to the weather with ice. The forest assumes in conse- quence, the most magnificent splendour, and continues in this state until it thaws, or until the icy shell is shaken off by the winds. The woods, while in this state, especially if the sun shine, exhibit the most brilliant appearance. Every tree is loaded as with a natuial production of silver spangles, and there is not probably any thing in the appearance of nature, that ^ii .t^ D. PRINCE EDWARD l.HLAND. Id. The ice Rbrds a source he amusement I latter part of at which time usly along the ;s nearly bare, While these ;ast on the ice, as it is impos- rift. The du- )m longer than ly no means so during winter, Frost. When 'ind at the east ^iently keen to the moment it eezes, incrust- e is exposed to imes in conse- I and continues ie icy shell is while in this bit the most ided as with a d there is not nature, that ', M i . ■«'' would more effectually baffle the powers of a landscape painter. * "''' The vernal equinox commonly brings on strong gales from the south, accompanied by a mighty thaw, which dissolves all the snow on the cleared lands, and weakens the ice so much, that it now opens where there are strong currents. Clear weather, with sharp frosts at night, and sunshine during the day gene- rally succeeds, and continues to the end of March, or the first week in April, when a snow storm frequently comes on, and severe and disagreeable weather lasts for two or three days; this is the last cflbrt of expiring winter, and is immediately followed by a warmth of temperature, which breaks up the ice, and dissolves the snows. The heat of the sun, now become power- ful, dries up the ground in a few days; after which, ])louglung begins, and the summer season commences. Although this outline of the general system of the climate is as near the truth as can be stated, yet the weather is often diifercnt at the same period in one year, from that of another. This difference arises chiefly from the winter season setting in earlier or later, and the same may be observed as regards the commencement of summer. Thus, the winter has been known to set in with unusual severity in the beginning of December, and sometimes not until the middle of January. In some winters, thaws occur oftener than in others, and deeper snows are known in one season, than for some years before. The ice breaks up one year as early as the first of 44 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. April, and it has been known strong enough on the first of May, opposite Charlotte Town, to bear a man across the Hilsborough. It cannot however, with all those variations of cli- mate, be said with propriety, that the duration of winter is more than four months; many prefer the winter to the same season in England, and taking the year throughout, give a preference to the climate. Though the cold is intense for nine or ten weeks, the air is dry and elastic, and free from the chilling moisture of a British winter. It is maintained by some writers, that the air and earth undergo a considerable alteration of teni>perature when the land is cleared of the wood; first, from the ground being exposed to the sun's rays, which cause the waters to evaporate more copiously ; secondly, by lessening the quantity and duration of snow ; and thirdly, by introducing warm winds through the openings made. From the observations of old people who have lived fifty or sixty years in America, as well as from the writings of those who visited the new Con- tinent many years ago, there is no doubt but the climate has become much milder, and that the dura- tion of winter is much shorter. Whether this may b« attributed to clearing the lands of the woods, or to some unknown progress going forward in the system of natL're, will always remain doubtful.* : ,. : • That enterprising traveller, Sir Alexander M'Kenzie, con- sidered tliat clearing the lands of wood occasioned no very sensible diminatic'U of cold. SD. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 45 nough on the to bear a man iriatlons of eli- te duration of lany prefer the and taking the ) the climate, ten weeks, the n the chilling lat th^ air and of ten^perature first, from the s, wliioh cause J secondly, by of snow ; and through the i of old people nerica, as well the new Con- oubt but the that the dura- er this may b« woods, or to in the system M'Kenzie, con- no very sensible 3., That ^rlliant phenomenon, Aurora Borealis, ap- pears at all seasons, and in various forms. At one time faintly, in distant rays of light, at another it assumes the appearances of bright floating standards, but more frequently, in the form of a broad crescent of light with its extremities touching the horizon, and the inner line strongly marked; the space within it being much darker than any other part of the heavens. Its brilliancy in this form is truly beautiful j and after retaining this appearance a short time, it generally transforms into magnificent columns of light which move majestically from the horizon towards the zenith, until after having lighted the firmament with the most luminous colours, it suddenly vanishes ; but soon re-appears and again vanishes, and so continues to fade, re-appear, and change infinitely, until its <)rilliancy intermingles and fills the atmosphere, and then insensibly disappears altogether.* The winds within the gulf of St. Lawrence, as in other parts of North America, vary frequently, and blow at all seasons from every point of the compass. No wind however is so rare as a due north one ; a due south wind is also rare, but more frequent than its opposite. Cold sharp and dry winds blow from the north west, and occasionally from the west, and sometimes bring on light showers of snow in the beginning of winter. 'IF Although the appearance of Aurora Borealis is in Prince Edward Island Tully equal to this description, I have seen it ap. poar in a still more luminous and magnificent style in Labrador and Lower Canada. 46 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. I •' nil • Winds from the nortli-east, and east, bring on snow Siorms in winter, sleet and wet weather in spring, and heavy rains in summer and autumn. Thaws take place in winter, with a south easterly wind, after which the wind shifts to the north west, the sky clears up, and severe frosts follow. South west winds, inclining sometimes a point or two southward, or westward, prevail through the summer and autumn : this wind is always warm, and usually springs up and blows fresh about noon, and calms off towards evening. Westerly winds incline in summer to the south, and towards the north in winter, and are through the whole year more frequent than any other wind. The phenomenon of thunder and lightning is ac- companied in America with a more splendid (though terrific) sublimity than is known in England. The lightning is at one time observed to flash from one end of a cloud to another. It then appears like a stream of liquid fire, or darts in zigzag serpentine shapes. Thunder storms seldom last above two hoiirs, and accidents are rare during their continuance. ' ' As regards the salubrity of this climate, it is agreed on by all who have lived any time on the island, and who have compared it to that of other countries, that there are few places where health is enjoyed with less interruption. What Mr. Stewart in his excellent account of Prince Edward Island (now rarely met with) says, is I consider, in strict concordance with the truth. " The fevers and other diseases of the United States are unknown herej no person ever saw m PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 4f an intermittent fever produced on the island, nor will that complaint when bruueht here ever stand above a few days, against the influence of the climate. I have seen thirty Hessian soldiers who brought this complaint from the southward, and who were so much reduced thereby, as to be carried on shore in blankets, all recover in a very short time; few of them had any return or flt of the complaint, after the first forty-eight hours from their landing on the island." " Pulmonary consumptions, which are so common, and so very destructive in the northern and central states of America, are not often met with here; prob- ably ten cases of this complaint have not occurred since the settlement of the colony. Colds and rheu- matisms are the most common complaints, the first generally affect the head more than the breast, and the last seldom proves mortal. A very large proportion of the people live to old age, and then die of no acute disease, but by the gradual decay of nature." ' "Deaths between twenty and fifty years of age are but few, when compared with most other coun- tries ; and I trust 1 do not exaggerate the fact, when I state, that not one person in a hundred, (all acci- dents included) dies in a year. It follows from what has been said, that mankind must increase very fast in such a climate ; accordingly large families are almost universal." — "Industry will always secure a comfortable existence, which encourages early mar- riages: the women are often grandmothers at forty. 48 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. l! ' and the mother and daughter may frequently be seen with each a child at their breast, at the same time."* Volney, speaking of the climate of the United States, says : " Autumnal intermittent fevers, or quotidian agues, tertian, quartan, &c. constitute another class of diseases that prevails in the United States^ to a degree of which no idea could be con- ceived. They are particularly endemic in places re- cently cleared, in valleys on the borders of waters, either running or stagnant, nearponds, lakes,mills, dams, mar- shes, &c. These autumnal fevers are not directly fatal, but they gradually undermine the constitution, and very sensibly shorten life. Other travellers have observed before me, that in South Carolina for instance, a per- son is as old at fifty, ns an European at sixty-five or seventy; and I have heard all the Englishmen with whom I was acquainted in the United States, say, that their friends who have been settled a few years in the southern, or central state, appear to them to grow as old again as they would have done in England or Scotland. If these fevers fix on a person at the end of October, they will not quit him the whole winter, but reduce him to a state of deplorable languor and weakness. Lower Canada, and the cold countries adjacent, are scarcely at all subject to them." The only fever, excepting such as usually accompany severe colds, that has hitherto as far as I have been able to * Account of Prince Edward Island, by John Stewart, Esq. late paymaster, St. John's, Newfoundland. London, 1806. PBINCB EDWARD ISLAND. 49 juently be seen e same time."* of the United tent fevers, or Sec. constitute s in the United , could be con- lic in places re- of waters, either lills, dams, mar- ot directly fata], ilution, and very i have observed instance, a per- at sixty-five or nglishmen with States, say, that ew years in the I them to grow in England or )erson at the kim the whole orable languor cold countries lem." The only ompany severe e been able to bn Stewart, Esq. on, 180G. m trace, made its appearance in a fatal form ; among the inhabitants is typhus, and I have been told by the best informed people, that it has always been brought to the country from the neighbouring prorin- ces. It is not, however, dangerous, unless it be among the very lowest classes, who pay no regard to clean- liness and diet, and it seldom proves fat&l, even to them. This fever is by no means so alarming as it is in Europe, it appearing always as Tifphus Mitior, and not in the form of Typhus Graoior. I have heard it said, that Erysipelas has been known, but not in a dangerous shape ; the instances must have been very rare. What M. Volney observe regarding premature old age among the inhabitants of the southern states is but too true, as well as what he says about another disease — defluxion of the gums and rotten teeth, com- mon in those countries.'''^ I have not observed, either in this island or in the neighbouring provinces, what might be set down as marks of premature old age ; and I believe, that * On my passage down the St. Lawrence in 1824, from Montreal to Quebec, in one of the large steam boats on that river, I met with several families from the southern states, who had travelled north to visit the Canadas, and to avoid the excessive summer heat of Pennsyl- vania and Carolina. Among the whole, I did not observe any who possessed the bloom and florid complexion so common in the United Kingdoms. I would willingly have excepted a young lady whose figure was extremely graceful and elegant, and whose features were beautiful. In England I would have said her age was twenty-four 'years. I was told, and believe it, that she was not eighteen. H 50 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. in no country do the inhabitants retain their faculties, or health and strength longer ; yet there is no doubt but young people arrive at maturity earlier here than in Englanfl, and generally speaking, lose the colour and bloom of youth sooner. I think too, that al- though it cannot be by any means considered a prevailing disease, that decayed teeth are more com- mon than in Britain. Bilious complaints are un- known. I have convered with numbers, who were for many years afflicte.d with ill health previous to their settling in this country, and who afterwards enjoyed all the advantages of an unimpaired con- stitution. . . - /^ '-> The absence of damp weather and fogs, (at all times certain generators of disease), and the island being surrounded by the sea, and having no lakes, or few ponds of fresh water, will, together, account satisfactorily for the excellence of its climate. ' il! li ■)(' '■■ . '' ■ ' ■'■■ •I - '1 ' i , ' .(. ■. J .! 'il ' t ' I"; .-■•■, •. :i . V : i«c. 'i 1 rl • ... ^/• <■'. :■ ' . ■■ :. '- '-id; ,i .':** PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 51 R.7 CHAP V. v>f Agriculture. ' The excellence of its soil, its climate, and general configuration of its surface, adapt the lands of this colony more particularly to agricultural pursuits, than to any other purpose. . » Wheat is raised in abundance for the consumption of the inhabitants, and has been frequently exported to Nova Scotia. It is generally sown early in May, and reaped in September, and with tolerable care in cultivation and cleaning, will weigh from sixty to sixty-five pounds. With more attention, vast quanti- ties might be raised and manufactured into flour for the West India market. Winter wheat has been found to answer well, but the inhabitants seem careless about its cultivation, as long as they can raise enough from what is sown in spring to meet their wants. Barley and oats thrive well, and yield heavy crops, and tSre in weight and quality equal to any met with in the English market, and superior to what are pro- duced in the United States. Both summer and winter rye produce weighty crops, and are not liable to casual failures. The cul- tivation of this grain is not however much attended to. Buck wheat will grow and ripen well, but there is scarcely any raised. 52 PRINCE EDWARD I8LAND. Beans always produce a certain and plentiful re- turn, althuugh not cultivated to any extent. Pease sometimes yield fair returns, but do not, at least under the present mode of cultivation, seem to produce regular and sure crops, being liable to injury from worms. Turnips are also subject to have the leaves eaten by worms or flies, although heavy crops are frequently raised. In no country do parsnips, beets, and mangel wurzel prosper better. Indian corn or maize is sometimes planted, but does not thrive by any means as well as in the United States, nor do 1 consider it congenial to the soil. Potatoes of a kind and quality equal to the pro- duce of any country are raised in great quantities, und are exported to the neighbouring provinces, and some- times to the West Indies. Flax is raised of an excellent quality, and manufac- tured by the farmers into linen for domestic use. This article might be cultivated extensively for expor- tation. Hemp will grow, but not to the same perfection as in Upper Canada. Cucumbers, sallads, cabbages, cauliflowers, aspara- gus, and indeed all the culinary vegetables common in England arrive at great perfection. Cherries, plums, damsons, black, red and white currants ripen well, and are large and delicious. Gooseberries succeed, but not always, probably from bad management. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. d3 Is, and mangel same perfection Although there are but few apples raised, and the greater pait of what are, being of an inferior quality, from want of due cure in rearing the trees ; there is no doubt, but with proper attention, as fine apples as any in North America can be produced. 1 have seen some fine samples raised near Charlotte Town, by Mr. Dockendolf, a respectable farmer. Some of the apple trees planted by the French, previous to the conquest of the island in I7^S> arc still bearing fruit. As there frequently happen a few days of cold and wet weather in the latter end of April, or in the first week in May, wheat and oats are seldom sown before the first of the latter month. Barley will ripen if gown before the last of June, although it is generally sown earlier; potatoes are planted about the last days of May, or before the middle of June, and often later. Turnip seed is sown about the middle of July; some prefer doing so about the first of August, in which case the leaves are not so liable to injury from flics or worms. Gardening commences early in May, and generally combines together the different departments of fruit, Howers, and vegetables. The principal grasses are, timothy, red and white clover, and a kind of soft indigenous upland grass, of which sheep are very fond; also marsh grasses, on which young and dry cattle are fed during the winter months. , , , * : = : 'v >. •» .: Haymaking commences in the latter end of July, and as the weather is commonly very dry at this season, it is attended with little trouble in curing. It is >^- 54 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. I& sometimes put aBray under cover; but oftencr iniiil up into stacks or ricks. Experienced farmers sny tlia the common run of old settlers in tlie island dry tlicir hay too much before they stack it. Barley is reaped in August; there are two varieties, five-rowed and two rowed ears. The wheat and oats harvest commences sometimes before, but generally after the first of September ; some use a cradle fur cutting their graii), and afterwards make it up in sheaves and stacks. The common way is to reap and lay it up in sheaves, and then stack and gather it in the same manner us in England. ! ' ■. Potatoes and turnips are left undug until the mid- dle or end of October ; the first are generally ploughed up, except in new land where the hoe is altogether used. Parsnips may remain in the ground during the winter, and are finer when dug up in the spring than at any other period. . ^ Milch cows, and such horses and cattle as require more care than others, are housed in November; but December is the usual month for housing cattle regularly; sheep will do better by being left out all the winter, but they require to be fed, and it is well to have a place where they may have some shelter from the wind without being covered over. Black cattle are in general smaller than in England ; a good ox will weigh from eight to nine hundred pounds, but the common run will not exceed six or seven hundred. The beef is usually very fine and tender. PRINCR KUWARU I8LANI». 55 Sheep thrive well, but very little uttention is ob- served in improving the breed. The present Attor- ney General, Mr. Johnston, has on his excellent farm near Charlotte Toun, a number of sheep equal to any in England, and the quantity of wool one of ihcm produces is more than double the weight yielded by the common breed. The mutton brought to market is, however, usually fat and well flavoured. Swine seem to do as we!' here as in any rouj'iy, and the pork brought in ftom the oounlry is r' en equal to that met with in the Inr.h mM,"i«e. ; beit from want of due regard to rearing an 1 Sireeding pigs, one-half the number on the is?a'jd ar*;; *.aiil Jonp- snouted animals, resembling H^reynoiViKk neprly kc- much as they do the better kind of hogs. The horses are, with few exceptions, small. h>it capable of performing long journeys, uud eiii'jmug great fatigue with much spirit. During s;p«mer it is usual to take them off the grass, aud lo side th.-ni thirty or forty miles without ieeding, frequently through bad roads, and afterwards to turn their out to feed on the grass during the night, whilt ijttle scruple is made to ride them back the same road a>c next day : all of which is generally performed with- out apparent injury to the animal. The old Chri^dian or French breed are the hardi«:'jt bor«e9, and seem formed for the severe usage they uudergn ; their owners come several times {'a/ir/j; winter, twenty or thirty miles, to Charlotr lown, and leave them tied, without food, to \ post or fence, and ride them home the same aigbt without feeding. I have been told M 56 PRINCE EDWARD I8LAND. by an old Acadian Frenchman, that fur several years after the island was taken, a vast number of horses were running in a wild state about the east point of the island. Such horses as are taken good care of, and have been well trained, make very agreeable saddle or carriage horses. The greater number of farmers on the island, par- ticularly the Scotch Highlanders, keep by far too many cattle for the quantity of provender they usually ly have to carry them through the winter. They think if they can manage this, it will be doing well ; but the consequence is, that their cattle, especially milch-cows, are m bad condition in the spring, and it often requires a month or two of summer before they are in tolerable order. Until milch'Kiows are prevented from ranging at lai^e, (as almost all the cattle are allowed to do) and until they are better fed during winter, one-half the quantity of butter and cheese that might, will not be made on the island. Those who keep t.heir cows within fences are sensible of this ; but nothing but time, and the lands being enclosed, will do away with the preju- dices of the old settlers, as regards this as well as other customs and habits. The common plan of laying^ out farms is in lots containing one hundred acres each, having a front of ten chains either on the sea shwe, or on a bay, river, creek, or road) and running one hundred chains back. It is. extremely interesting to obsOTVe the progress a new settler makes in clearing had cultivating a wood fnrm . The first object it to cut down tke trees which PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. fi7 is done by cutting with an axe a notch into each side of tlie tree, about two feet above the ground, lad rather more than half through on the side it is inteii led the tree should fall. The lower sides of these notches are horizontal, the upper make angles of about 60*^ with the ground. The trees are all felled in the same direction, and after lopping off the principal branches cut into twelve or fifteen feet lengths. The whole is left in this state until the proper season for burning arrives, generally in May, when it is set on fire, which consumes all the branches and small wood. The large logs are then either piled in heaps and burnt, or rolled away for fencing stuff: some use oxen to haul them off. The surface of the ground after burning the wood on it, is quite black and char- red J and if it be intended for grain, it is now sown without further preparation or tillage, other than covering the seed with a hoe. By some a triangular harrow drawn b / oxen is used in preference to the hoe, and to ^ave labor. Others break up the earth with a one-handled plough, with the share and coulter locked into each other, and drawn also by oxen ; a man attending with an axe to cut the roots. Little regard is paid to making straight furrows, the object being no more than to work the ground, that the grain may the more easily be covered. Potatoes are planted in round hollows, scooped three or four inches deep, and fifteen to twenty inches broad ; three or five sets are planted in each of these and covered over ; the hoe alone is used ; with such I 68 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. preparation a plentiful crop of grain or potatoes is raised, the first, second, and often the third year, with- out manure. Wheat is usually sown the second year after potatoes, without any tillage, except har- rowing or raking the seed in. Along with this second crop, Timothy or Clover-seed is sown by all prudent farmers, after which they leave the land under grass until the stumps can be easily got out. Clear- ing and bringing in new land in the same manner each year, until they have a sufficient quantity in- closed. The roots of the spruce, beech, birch, and maple, will decay sufficiently for taking out the stumps in f6ur or five years. The decay of pine and hemlock requires a much longer time. After the stumps are removed, the plough is used, and the same system df husbandry is followed as is most ap- proved of in Great Britain^ Great and serious injury to the country, and loss to Individuals, have been caused by allowing fires to spread through the woods : whole forests on thousands of acres have been in this manner destroyed; and the land by remaining un- cultivated is impoverished by heavy crops of tall herbs, (called fire weeds,) with white, yellow, and lilac flowers, which spring up the first and second years after the woods are burnt, and exhaust the soil more than two crops of wheat would. Wild raspber- ries and bramble bushes spring up also and cover the ground, after the second and third years, as well as young birches and other trees. These fires present at times the most sublime and grand, though tenific PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 50 and destructive appearance. The flames are seen rushing op the tops of the trees, and ascending an immense height among the tremendous clouds of black smoke, arising from a wh ole forest on fire; the falling trees come down eveiy moment witli a tre- mendous crash, while the sparks are flying and crack- ling, and the flames extending to every combustible substance, until it be quenched by rain, or until it has devoured every thing between it and the cleared lands, the sea, or some river. When the soil is exhausted by cropping, various manures may be procured and applied; stable dung has hitherto been the principal kind used, but it must be acknowledged, that the general system of culti- vating the farms all over the island is so careless and slovenly, that it appears astonishing that many of the settlers raise a sufficiency to support their families. Composts are rarely known, and different manures that would fertilize the soil are alsp disregarded. In many of the bays, rivers, and creeks, several banks of muscle mud abound, which consist of muscles, shells, and mud, composed of decayed substances; these form an extremely rich manure, containing about 45 parts of the carbonate of lime, and known by ex- perience to impart fertility for ten or twelve years to the soil. Sea- weed, which is thrown on the shores in great quantities, especially on the north side of the island, is another excellent manure, particularly for barley ; and even the common mud which abounds in the creeks may be applied to advantage. It is 60 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. • «■ pleasing, however, to observe^ that a better mode of cultivating the soil, and a superior system of manage- ment have begun among the farmers : this arises from the force of example, set by an acquisition of indus- trious and careful settlers from Yorkshire, in England, and from Dumfrieshire and Perthshire, in Scotland. The habitations which tlie settlers first erect are in imitation of the dwelling of an American backwoods- man, and constructed in the rudest manner. Round logs from fifteen to twenty feet long, without the least dressing, are laid horizontal, over each other, and notched at the corners, so as to let them down suffici- ently close ; one is first laid to begin the walls of each side, then one at each end, all crossing each other at the comers, and so on until the wall is raised six or seven feet. The seams are closed up with moss or clay, three or four rafters arc then raised for the roof, which is covered with the rinds of birch or fir trees, and thatched either with spruce branches or long marine grass, that is found washed up along the shores. Poles are laid over this thatch, together with birch wythes to keep the whole secure. The chimney is formed of a wooden frame work, placed on a slight foundation of stone, roughly raised a few feet above the ground. This frame- work goes out through the roof, and its sides are closed with clay, and a small quantity of straw kneaded together. A space large enough for a door, and another for a window is cut through the walls ; under the centre of the cottage a square pit or cellar is dug, for the purpose of preserv- PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 61 ing potatoes, and other vegetables during winter; over this a floor of boards, or logs hewn flat on the upper side, is laid, and another over-head to form a sort of garret. When the door is hung, a window sash, with six, nine, or twelve panes is fixed, and one, two, or three bed places are put up, the habitation is then considered ready to receive the new settler and his family ; and although it has certainly nothing that is handsome, or even attractive in its appearance, unless it be its rudeness, yet it is by no means an un- comfortable dwelling, when compared with those of the poorer peasantry in some parts of Scotland and Ireland. In a few years, however, a much better house is built with two or more rooms, by the indus- trious, sober, and persevering settler. The principal disadvantage connected with this Island, and indeed the only one of any importance, is the length of the winters, which requires a consider- able store of hay for supporting live stock. About a ton of hay, with straw for each, taking the large and small together, being necessary to winter black cattle well. This disadvantage is, however, felt with equal severity in Prussia, and over a great part of Germany, where the people employed in agricultural pursuits form the mass of the inhabitants. 02 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. V .'.■ ;. CEIAP. VI. Trade. [• 1:^ When the island was possessed by the French, the population being small, little trade was carried on by the inhabitants, and that government, aware that the prosperity of St. John's Island, (as it was called,) with its superior natural advantages, would drain off a number of the settlers at and near Louisbhurg, dis- couraged its fisheries, which at that time, with the small overplus of agricultural produce, formed the only articles of export. On the colony being settled by the British, a limited trade in fish, oil, sea-cow skins, and seal skins^ was carried on with Quebec, Halifax, and Boston. The people then engaged in fishing were principally Acadian French, who used small shallops, built on the island. As the best fishing banks within the gulf of St. Lawrence lay in the immediate vicinage of this island, it seems at iirst rather surprising that there have not been before this extensive fisheries established. There have it is true, been some attempts made, which from different causes failed to succeed. The American revolutionary war affected the first trials, and the others fell through from mismanagement and want of capital. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 63 One would naturally conclude that this island, by producing the necessary provisions, and having abund- ance of proper wood for building vessels and boats, together with safe and convenient harbours, should have a decided advantage for fisheries over Newfound- land. This at present is certainly not the case, and the facility with which the prime necessaries of life are obtained from the soil, is at present the greatest ob- stacle to the success of fishing establishments. The timber trade has been for many years of con- siderable importance, in employing a number of ships and men ; but as far as regarded the prosperity of the colony, it might be considered rather as an impediment to its improvement, than an advantage, by diverting the attention of the inhabitants from agriculture, and enabling them also to obtain ardent spirits with facility, which generally produce demoralization and drunken habits, with consequent poverty and loss of health. A trade from which the island has^ and will likely derive considenible benefit, is carried on with New- foundland, by building vessels for the seal and cod fisheries established there, and by supplying that market with black cattle, sheep, hogs, poultry, oats, potatoes, turnips, &c. The returns for which, are made either in money, West India produce, or Jiuch articles as may best answer. Agricultural produce is also sent to Halifax, Miramichi, and other places in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Beef, pork, sheep, hams, butter, cheese, oats, potatoes, flour, and fish, are occasionally exported to Bermuda. The branch of ti-ade in which the largest capital 64 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. has been invested^ and that which has given employ- ment to the greatest number of men^ while it has at the same time been also of considerable benefit to the colony, until the late depression in the value of ship- ping, is the building of vessels for the British market. Upwards of a hundred brigs and ships registering from 140 to 550 tons each, have been built in different parts of the island within the last few years. It must be allowed that many of these ships have been built by careless and unprincipled workmen, and such vessels are of an inferior description ; but a great number are fine substantial stately ships, sailing now principally from the Ports of London, Liverpool, Bristol, and Plymouth. The wood used in ship-building is, if allowed proper time to season, of a superior quality, although a prejudice has been hatched and kept up against it, as well as against that growing in the other American colonies. It is, however, a fact, that ves- sels built in this island, from twelve to fifteen years ago, are still substantial and tight : this alone should remove the most inveterate prejudice. When we view the position of Prince Edward Island, in regard to the countries bordering on the gulf of St. Ltxwrence, the excellence of its harbours for fishing stations, and take into account that the whole of its surface may, with little exception, be con- sidered a body of fertile soil ; it does not certainly re- quire the spirit of prophecy to perceive, that unless political arrangements may interfere with its pros- perity, it will at no very remote period become a valu- able agricultural, as well as a commercial country. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. m CHAP. VII. • '•■.■'::.' ,') Society) Amusements; Pursuits of the Inhabitants; Manners; Customs and Religion ; Constitution ; Prospects for New Settlers, &c. Society in any country, as is well known, takes its tone from the spirit of its government, and the education, pursuits, professions, and religion of its inhabitants. The population of Charlotte Town is composed of English, Scotch, and Irish, who emi- grated to the country, and the descendants of the first settlers, part of whom were American Loyalists, and the rest principally from Great Britain and Ireland. As there are scarcely three families in the town who came from the same part of the United Kingdoms, and as the grades in which they moved, as well as their education and habits must have been dissimilar, it follows that a considerable diversity of manners is observed among them. During the administrations of Governor Patterson, and his successors. General Fanning, and Governor Desbarres, the best circle of society in Charlotte Town, was allowed to be elegant and respectable, and, however, much the members who composed it might 66 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. have diflfercd in their views and opinions, as regarded the political utTairs of the colony, they did not allow either to interfere with the public amusements, or their private acts of hospitality. Indeed the politeness and attention with which respectable strangers were received; became proverbial. During the course of Governor Smith's long administration, those social and kindly feelings, which united society became un- happily weakened, in proportion as the number of its respectable members gradually diminished ; some of whom left the colony in disgust, and others by their deaths, left blanks, at that period particularly difficult to be filled up. The appointment of Colonel Ready to the ad- ministration of the government, will likely have on society, as well as on public affairs, an agreeable and useful influence, and an increasing population, together with a liberal encouragement given to edu- cation, will produce beneficial effects. * '' In the different British Provinces the highest circle of society is, in a great measure, modelled after that of Dublin, and composed of such as visit the Government-house, and are admitted at the assem- blies: these consist of the officers of government, gentlemen of the learned professions, merchants whose manners and education entitle them to dis- tinction, and such others as have a standing in the country, and also strangers, who are respectably introduced. The amusements of Charlotte Town, although not PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 67 on so extensive a scale, are much the same as in Quebec and Halifax. During winter, assemblies are common once a month or oftener. An amateur theatre affords an agreeable opportunity of spending some pleasant hours. Pic-nic parties^ are common in summer and winter, and that friendly intercourse and intimacy between families, so agreeable in all countries, is on much the same footing as in the United Kingdoms. Dinner parties were at one time usual, but have not been so much so for some time past. The principal gentlemen in Charlotte Town generally dine together at one of the hotels, on the anniversaries of the tutelar saints of the three kingdoms, as well as during the sittings of the Colonial Legislature, and of the Supreme Court. The ice at different periods during winter offers frequent opportunities for skaiting, to those who delight in that amusement. Shooting and fishing are other sources of pleasure, and annual races, near Charlotte Town, are now likely to become permanent. A public subscription library, on a liberal and respectable footing, affords either to those who read for amusement, or who wish to keep pace with the growing intelligence of the world, a variety of entertaining and standard works. As the expence of keeping a horse is trifling, almost every house- keeper has one. During winter it is a favorite amuse- ment of all classes to drive out in a cabriolle, a very comfortable open carriage, set on runners, which slip * Sec Note B, Appendix. 08 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. easily and rapidly over tiie snow or ice. When tra- velling through the settlements, we discover the inha- bitants of Prince £dward Island to consist of En- glishmen from almost every county in the kingdom ; Scotchmen, who it is true predominate, from the Highlands, Hebrides, and the southern counties ; Irishmen from different parts of the Emerald Isle; Acadian French, American loyalists, and a few Dutch, Germans, and Swedes. In the English farmer will be observed the dialect of his county, the honest John Bull bluntness of his style, and the other characteristics that mark his cha- racter. His house or cottage is distinguished by cleanliness and neatness, his agricultural implements, and utensils are always in order, and where an English farmer is industrious and persevering, he is sure to do well. He does not, however, reconcile himself so readily as the Scotch settler does, to the privations necessarily connected for the first few years, with being set down in a new country, where the habits of those around him, and almost every thing else attached to his situation, are somewhat diflferent from what he has been accustomed to, and it is not till he is sensibly assured of succeeding and bettering his condition, that he becomes fully reconciled to the country.* The Scotchman, habituated to greater privations in his native country, has probably left it with the full determination of undergoing any hardships that may * See Note C, Appendix. m PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. a» leid to the acquisition of solid advantageR he acts with great caution and industry, subjects h imself to many inconveniencesi neglects the comforts for some- time, which the Englishman considers indispensable, and in time certainly succeeds in surmounting all difficulties ; and then, and not till then, do«s he wil- lingly enjoy the comforts of life The Irish peasant may be easily distinguished by u#s brogue, his confi- dence, readiness of reply, seeming happiness, although often describing his situation as worse than it is. The Irish emigrants are more anxious in general to gain a temporary advantage, by working sometime for others, than by beginning itnmediately on a piece of land for themselves: and this, by procuring the means, leads them too frequently into the habii of drinking, a vice to which a great number of English and Scotch be- come also unfortunately iiddicted. The American loyalists came here during the American revolutionary war: they are in general industrious aud independent in their circumstances, extremely ingenious, building their own houses, doing their own joiner work, mason work, glazing and painting. The men make their own shoes, their ploughs, harrows, and carts, as well as their sledges and cabrioUesj the women spin* knit, and weave linens and coarse woollen cloths for domes- tic use.* A division of labour does not answer well in a new country, and all other settlers are obliged to adopt the plans which necessity first taught the Americans. * See Note D, Appendix. 70 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. rh Few people find themselves sooner at their ease than the Highland Scotch; no class can encounter difficulties, or suffer privations with more hardihood, or endure fatigue with less repining. They acquire what they consider an independence in a few years; but they re- main in too many instances contented with their condition, when they find themselves in possession of more ample means than they possessed in their native country. This observation is however more appli- cable to those who settled from thirty to forty years ago in the country, and who retain many of the charac- teristics which prevailed at that time in the High- lands and Isles of Scotland. I have observed, that wherever the Highlanders form distinct settlements, their habits, their system of husbandry, disregard for comfort in their houses, their ancient hospitable cus- toms and their language, undergo no sensible change. They frequently pass their winter evenings reciting traditionary poems, in Gaelic, which have been trans- mitted to them by their forefathers; and I have known many who might with more propriety be called genuine counterparts of the Highlanders who fought at Cullo- den,than can now, from the changes which have during the last fifty years taken place, be found in any part of Scotland.'* Of the Highlanders who settled in t!iis colony about fifty years ago, there are numbers still living in excellent health and spirits, although from seventy to ninety years of age. They relate the * Soo Note K, Appendix. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 71 tales of their early days, and the recollections of their native land, with enthusiastic rapture, and the wish to tread once more on ground sacred to their dearest feel- ings, and hallowed from containing the ashes of their ancestors, seems paramount to the ties of property, and every connexion which binds them to a country in which tl<.ey have so long been domiciliated. There are but few indeed that I ever met with in any part of America, who do not, in a greater or less degree, feel a lingering wish to see their native country; and, although prudence or necessity forbids their doing so, yet nothing appears to destroy the warm affection they retain for the land where they first drew breath. This feeling even descends to their children who are born in America, and all call the United Kingdoms by the endearing name of " Home." Various circumstances connected with Scotland makes the attachment which her children retain for a country to which destiny allows but few of them to return, more strongly apparent than is usually observed among the natives of England or Ireland. Among the latter, indeed, both the recollection of their coun- try, and an affection for relatives are strong; but the distress to which they were inured, by the oppres- sive system under which they lived, extinguished an attach. .lent which would otherwise have been warmly cherished. The honest pride of an Englishman makes him consider every country inferior to his own, nor can he on earth discover a nation so eminently blessed as u 72 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. England is with comforts Hnd advantages; but when abroad he seems rather to value it for its many sources of enjoyment, and to sigh for the society of friends left behind, than to regard it from the sentiments which at first inspire a spirit of adventure. All these feelings are just, but they check the ardour which con- quers difficulties. .... ' With the native of North Britain, not only does the education he receives at school, and the principles inculcated at the fire-side of his parents, impress on him ■9 well as the usual course of instruction does on the native of England, that correctness and propriety of conduct are essential to form a character that will suc- ceed in the world as well as gain the confidence of matikind; but the lessons of early life infuse also, both among the lower and middle classes in Scotland, a spirit which will endure the greatest hardships with- out repining, wherever a manifest utility is to be attained. The pride of rising in the world, the consciousness that friends left behind will be gratified and elated on learning that prosperity attends ones pursuits, and the natural ascendency which one acquires in society by the superior and successful exertion of ones abilities, are altogether motives that have an irresistible influence over the character and actions of the majority of those who have left Scotland for other countries. The vast numbers of them who meet abroad, form attachments which arise from the recollections of early days, and from conversing on circumstances connected \fith their native land. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 73 The amusements of the farmers and other inhabi- tants settled in different parts of the island, are much the same as they have been accustomed to before leaving the countries they came from. Dances on many occasions are common, families visit each other at Christmas and new year's day, and almost all that is peculiar to Scotland at the season of " Halloween" is repeated here. Among the young men, feats of running, leaping, and gymnastic exercises ar'^ com- mon; but that which they most delight in is galloping up and down the country on horseback. Indeed many of the farmers' sons who could make a certain livelihood by steady labour, acquire a spirit for bargain - making, dealing in horses, timber, old watches, &c. in order to become what they consider (by being idle) gentlemen : those who lead this course of life seldonr. do any good, and generally turn out lazy, drunken, dishonest vagabonds.* The term frolie is peculiar, I believe, to America, in the different senses in which it is there used. If a goodwife has a quantity of wool or flax to spin, she in- vites as many ot her neighbours as the house can well accommodate ; some bring their spinning wheels, others their cards; they remain all day at work, and after drinking abundance of tea, either go home or remain to dance for some part of the night: this is called a spinning frolic. They are on these / * See note, F, Appendix. L 74 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. f 'ih occasions as nrell as at other frolics, joined by the young men of the settlement, and in this way many of their love matches are made up. When a farmer or new settler wants a piece of wood cut dovm, he pro- cures a few gallons of rum to drink on the occasion, and sends for his neighbours to assist him in levelling the forest : this is again called a chopping frolic. There are about 4000 Acadian French on the island, who are principally the descendants of the French, who were settled in Nova Scotia, before the taking of Cape Breton. They retain with a kind of religious feeling, the dress and habits of their ances- tors. With few exceptions, they are harmless, honest, and inoffensive, and have not at all times received the kindest treatment from their neighbours. The industry of their wives and daughters is wonder- ful: they are at work dviAlng the spring and harvest on their farms: they cook and wash, make their husbands' as well as their own clothes; they spin, knit, and weave, and are scarcely aa hour idle during their lives. The Acadian French profess the Roman Catholic religion, and adhere more rigidly to all its forms than the Catholics in Europe do; and indeed more so than the Scotch and Irish Catholics. Their priests are edu- cated in Canada, and by their examples as well as precepts, teach morals and propriety to their flocks. These people are not in such easy circumstances as the other inhabitants of the island. Those that confine themselves to agriculture, are it is true more PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 76 independent, perhaps sufficiently so for people in their station, when one considers that few of them can either read or write. At the villages of Rustico, they follow so many different pursuits, that it is impossible for them to succeed : at one time they are employed in building vessels, at another for a few weeks farming, then fishing, and again cutting timber. It follows that they are poor, while the Acadians in other parts of the island (although their system of husbandry, from which the force of example will not prevail on them to depart, is rude and tardy) acquire what ren- ders their condition independent. On Sundays one observes a decorum and simplicity in the appearance \ of the Acadians, men, women, and children, that re- mind us of what we read of the correct unassuming manners of primitive times. The farmers are employed during winter in attend- ing to their cattle, threshing out their corn, cutting and hauling home firewood for winter use, and a stock of fuel for summer; all these, with many other little matters immediately connected with his farm and house, require the constant attention of a managing industrious man. Those however who imprudently think they will succeed better by attempting more, go into the woods to hew timber for exportation, or neglect their farms for ship-building, and other speculations which have ruined many. The low price of rum, and the vast numbers of houses along all the roads which retail it, form the most baneful evil connected with the country, and is the grand cause 76 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. of any wretchedness that may be met with. Hitherto ahnost all the farmers have caught the fish required for their own consumption, and it is generally wise fur new settlers to do so ; but those who have been any time on the island, will find it much more advan- tageous to purchase what fish they may want, in exchange for the overplus produce of the soil. For- merly a considerable quantity of sugar was made from the sap of the maple tree. In the spring of the year, not earlier than March, a small notch or incision is cut, (making an angle across the grain in the tree,) out of which the juice oozes, and is conveyed by a thin piece of wood let in at the lower end of the cut, to a wooden trough, or a dish made of bark placed on the ground. This liquor is collected once or twice a day, and carried to a large kettle or pot, where.it is reduced by boiling into a very agreeable sugar. Scarcely any but the Acadians and Indians make any at present. The different denominations of religion, and that have places of worship, are, the church of England as established by law, the kirk of Scotland, Ante- burghers, or Seceders from the kirk of Scotland 3 Roman Catholics, Methodists, and Baptists. "-r-<^ The members of the church of England are not numerous, although those of other professions attend service at St. Paul's Church, Charlotte Town; indeed the right of property and preaching in this edifice, is considered as equally vested in the members of the kirk of Scotland, which has hitherto prevented its ..'( PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 77 being consecrated, and the bishop of Nova Scotia seemed convinced of the same when he visited this part of his diocese in 1826. There is another English church at St. Eleanor's, a handsome building lately erected. The first place of worship built on the island, directly in connexion with the kirk of Scot- land, stands near Pinette River, in the centre of the flourishing settlements in the district of Belfast, planted in 1803, by the late Earl of Selkirk. This church has been built about two years, and the exemplary character and ministration of the Reverend Mr. McLennan, a gentleman of education and talents, who preaciics both in Gaelic and English, will doubt- less be attended with great benefit, and preserve or improve the morals of a people brought up in their native country under a due sense of correctness and piety. A large and well-designed church also connected immediately with the kirk of Scotland was commenced about twoyears ago at Charlotte Town, and will very likely be finished in a short time. The congregation belonging to this church when opened, will be very large. The Anteburghers have eight places of worship in different parts of the island. The Methodists have about the same number; and the Baptists have two or three. • The Roman Catholics have a large chapel at ik. Andrew's, eighteen miles from Charlotte Town, where bishop Mac Eachran resides : he has with the Catholics of this island, those of New Brunswick, Cape Breton, and the Magdalene Islands under his care. \; / 78 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. There is a handsome Catholic cliapel at Charlotte Town, and about twelve others in different settlements. All the members of these professions associate together as neighbours, with great good feeling. The free exercise of all religious opinions is tolerated, and the Roman Catholics alone are precluded from being members of the Assembly, or voting at elections : this disability will, it it hoped, soon be removed. The Indians, who are of the once numerous Mic- mac tribe, profess the Roman Catholic religion, and have a chapel and burying place on Lennox Island, in Richmond Bay, where their chief has a house. This is their principal rendezvous, where they assemble about midsummer, on which occasion they meet their priest, or the bishop, who hears confessions, adminis- ters baptisms, marries those who are inclined to enter into that state, and makes other regulations for their conduct during the year. After remaining here a few weeks, the greater number resume their accustomed and favorite roving life, and wander along the shores, and through the woods of the neighbouring countries. This tribe, like all those in the vicinity of civilization, has diminished in number more than two-thirds du- ring the recollection of the present settlers. The wild beasts and game having become scared, they are sub- jected to a precarious subsistence; and small pox, fevers, &c. to which they were strangers previous to their acquaintance with Europeans, have often swept away whole families ; and when we add their fondness of spirituous liquors, the vagabond life they are compelled to lead, ar t the determination they evince PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 79 not to become stationary, or to follow agriculture as a means of subsistence, we need not be surprised at their numbers decreasing rapidly. The constitution of the island is nearly a transcript of that of England, and independent of any jurisdic- tion in America. The government and legislature being vested in a Lieutenant-Governor, who represents his Majesty ; a council, which acts in an executive as well as legisla- tive capacity, and the legislative assembly, who are representatives, elected by the people, and who carry on their proceedings according to the forms of the British house of commons. The governor is chancellor of the court of chancery ; the chief justice and attor- ney general are appointed by the King ; and the high sheriff is chosen annually as in England. The barris- ters plead in both courts, and are all over America attorneys as well as pleaders. Justices of the peace are appointed by the governor during pleasure. The practice of the court of chancery is the same as in England, as also thtt of the supreme courts of judica- ture, in which criminal and civil causes are tried by a jury of twelve men ; matters of small debts are decid- ed by special magistrates; and justices of the peace take, as in England, cognizance of all breaches of the peace. ' As to the prospects which the advantages of Prince Edward Island may present to persons in Europe who are desirous to emigrate, they will, I hope, appear fairly pointed out in the foregoing pages, to which I ;< ifH u PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. '.' '\ \) f will briefly add, that the lands as already stated having been originally granted away in large tracts, not more than 30,000 acres are at present held by the crown. Woodlands in convenient situations may however be purchased, for from 5s. to ^2. per acre, and leases in perpetuity, or at least what amounts to the same thing, for 999 years, can be obtained for the annual rent of from Is. to 2s. per acre, and in some situations for less. So that, taking into consideration the advan- tages of residing in the vicinity of a well disposed society ; of the opportunity that is afforded of having the younger branches of a family instructed in the rudiments of education ; of roads communicating be- tween all the 'Settlements;, corn-mills and saw-mills being almost every where in the neighbourhood ; and having the benefit and convenience, by living near shipping ports, of ready markets for the produce of the land or sea, it may reasonably be concluded, that the terms on whieh lands can be had in this Island are more favourable than in any part of the United States, or Upper Canada. The value of land, however, will not long remain so low, as it will rise along with the natural increase of population. The following are the prices of live stock, and other articles, varying however, from the lowest to the highest of these prices according to the description and demand. A good horse for saddle or harness st20 to jiSO; a serviceable horse for farmer's work, and of the Canadian breed, ^10 to ^£"18 ; a foal five or six months old £3 to £6 ; a yoke of oxen according to the size, from jf 10 to jf 18 ; \. ' PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 81 ji cow j£i 10s. to .£'J ; a calf three or four months old 12s. to 20s. a wether sheep 12s. to 15s. an ewe. and lamb in the spring 15s. to 18s. Nu detcrmiimtc price for pigs, as it depends on the build, age, size, and condition. Turkeys 2s. Gd. to 3s. stubble geese 2s. to 2s. Gd. ducks lOd. to 15d. fowls 6d. to lOd. fresh beef from 2^d. to 4id. ; (sometimes for a week in spring, as high as Gd, ;) pork 3d. to 5d.; mutton 2^d. tu 4jd. ; veal 2^d. to 5d. ; butter 8d. to Is. sometimes during winter, fresh butter as high as 15d. and 18d.; cheese 6d. to lOd.; partridges 5d. to 6d.; hares in abund- ance, Gd.'f codfish, fresh, (weigh about lOlbs.) 6d. each ; salmon 2s. to 2s. 6d. each ; herrings, fresh, Sd. to 8d. per dozen; lobsters ^d. to Id. each; other kinds offish in proportion. Flour 2d. to 3d. per lb ; wheat 4s. to 6s. barley 2s. Gd. to 3s. oats 1 s. 3d. to 2s. according to quality; potatoes Is. to Is. 3d ; turnips Is. to Is. 3d. ; carrots, cabbage, and other vegetables are low. Rum 4s. to 5s. per gallon; Port wine 10s. to 12s. Madeira 10s. to 15s. Brandy 8s. to 9s. Hollands Gs. to 8s. all duty paid. Good Souchong Tea, 5s. to Gs. good Hyson, 5s. Gd. to 7s* Sugar, 6d. to 8d. per lb. These prices are in Halifax currency, which is in value one-tenth less than British sterling. > M IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ € %. ^ m i< z 4^ 1.0 ^^ tii 11.1 l.-^KS I Sciences Corporation ^ a>^ <^ ^^1^'^^ ^.V^ 23 WIST MAIN STRICT WnSTIR.N.Y. I4SM (716) •72-4S03 82 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 1 ? i .' CHAP. VIII. HISTORY. 4 )^ Thb first land Cabot met with after leaving New- foundland, appears to have been this island. He discovered it on the 24th June, 1497» (St. John's day,) and called it St. John's Island. On this discovery, the £nglish neglected to make any claim to it. The French after the settlement of Canada, took possession of it, as within the limits of New France, and as hav- ing been discovered In 1523, by Veranzi, who was employed by France to go in quest of new discoveries. It appears to have been granted in 1663, by the com- pany of New France, together with the Magdalene, Bird, and Brion Islands, to the Sieur Doublet, a Cap- tain in the French navy, to be held in vassalage of the company of Miscow.U)\ The Sieur's associates were two companies of fish- ing adventurers, from the towns of Grenville and St. Malves, who never made any permanent settlement on the island, except trifling fishing posts at two or three places. The French government discouraged its settlement, in order to force that of Cape Breton, which I' PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 83 was then of vast importance to that nation ; as the post which commanded the passage by the St. Law- rence to New France, or Canada, and having the harbour of Louisbourg, as a rendezvous for their navy, more readily enabled them to intercept and annoy many of our ships trading to the West Indies, and to different parts of the British American coast, now the United States. After the Peace of Utrecht, many of the French who lived in Acadia came and settled on this island ; and others from Cape Breton did the same, on finding they could have the advantage of a fertile soil, as well as the benefit of a plentiful fishery : — the best fishing banks having been discovered in its immediate vicin- age. After this, the French garrison at Louisbourg received from hence gnun, vegetables, and cattle ; two commissaries were stationed at different places for the purpose of collecting the same ; but so great was the apprehension of the French government, that its superior natural advantages would drain off the fisher- men settled at Louisbourg, that except in two or three harbours, the inhabitants were prohibited from engag- ing in fishing. A French officer of education and observation, who visited it in 1752, says, " St. John's is the largest of all the islands in the gulf of St. Lawrence, and has the advantage of Cape Breton, in point of fertility. It had safe harbours, plenty of wood, and as great a conveni- ency for fishing as any place on the coast. It had been altogether neglected, as well as Cape Breton ; until necessity having shewn the French the utility of the I i!-^ 84 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. f latter, their eyes were also opened ia regard to the former. They have since been at great pains to plant it, though not enough, considering its advantageous situation. iV " ■' " Though the island of St. John is subject to a particular commandant, he receives his orders from the governor of Cape Breton, and administers justice con- junctly with the sub-delegate of the intendant of New France. They reside at Port la Joye,'' (now Charlotte Town) " and the governor at Louisbourg furnishes them with a garrison of sixty men. ** It was from this place we set out in the begin- ning of the month of August, 1752 ; we ascended the river to the north east seven leagues, up to its very source ; from whence we proceeded to the harbour of St. Peter, after having made a carriage of four leagues across a plain well cultivated, and abounding with all sorts of grain." After remaining some days at St. Peter's he visited the harbours of Fortune, De la Souris, Matieu. The neighbouring lands of which, he con- tinues, " arc exceeding good and proper for culture. We found several sorts of trees with a prodigious num- ber of foxes, martens, hares, partridges, &c. The rivers abound in fish, and are bordered with pasture lands, that produce exceeding good grass. The inha- bitants came over here from Acadia, during the last war, and are about eight and forty in number. After coasting along, we doubled the east point, which we found deserted, because a fire had obliged the inhabi- tants to abandon it^ in order to go and settle two PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 85 leagues further upon the north side. We continued uur course for six leagues till we arrived at the Pool de Naufrage. The coast, though very level, presents the eye with nothing but a country laid waste by fire ; and further on it is covered with woods. We met with but one inhabitant, who told us the lands about the pool were exceeding good, and easy to cultivate, and that every thing grows there in great plenty. Of this he gave us a demonstration that afforded us a singular pleasure ; this was a small quantity of wheat he had sown that year, and indeed nothing could be more beautiful than the cars, which were longer and fuller than any I had seen in £urope. " This place took the name of Pool de Naufrage, from a French ship that had been cast away on the coast. The vessel was lost four leagues out at sea ; but a few passengers saved themselves upon the wreck, and were the first that settled at the kBroton, and Saint John, Oom the first Settlement there to the taking of Louisbourg, by the English, ic 17fi8, by an impartial Frenchman,— London, 1761. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 87 1758, when it surrendered to Great Britain, was said to be near 10,000. Lieutenant-Colonel RoUo was sent from Louisbourg, by General Amherst, to take possession of it; and to the eternal disgrace of the French Governor, a vast number of English scalps were found hung up in his house. The Island for two years preceding was the principal resort of the Mic Mac Indians; and from the immense quantity of oyster shells, on the banks of the rivers, in the neigh- bourhood of oyster beds, and where the Indians gener- ally pitched their wigwams or tents, we may con- clude that it was their rendezvous for many centuries. In several places these shells, which are partially in a pulverised state, cover several acres to the depth of from one to five feet. The old Acadian French at that time assimilated themselves, in a great measure, to the manners and habits of the Indians. Some of these Acadians were sent off to Canada, others to the Southern Colonies. At the peace of 1763, this Island and Cape-Breton were annexed to the Government of Nova Scotia. In 1764, a general survey of the British Empire in North America was begun, by order of Government, and that of this Island was completed in 1776. Some difference having arisen, as to the plan for settling it. Lord Egremont, then first Lord of the Admiralty, proposed doing so, on a feudal plan. His Lordship to be Lord Paramount of the Colony, which was to be divided into twelve baronies, to be held of him. Each baron to erect a castle, to maintain so V 88 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. / \i \ i : many men, who with their under>tenant.s were to per- form suit and service. This scheme was very proper- ly rejected, and the lands of the Island being consider- ed too valuable to grant away indiscriminately, like the rest of the newly-acquired territories in America, this colony was divided into sixty-seven townships, of about 20,000 acres each ; and granted by recommenda- tion of the Board of Trade and Plantations to persons who were considered as having claims on the govern- ,..;.( l: ment. By the terms and conditions of the first grants, a quit-rent was reserved to His Majesty, of six shillings per hundred acres on some, of four shillings on'others, and of two shillings per hundred acres on the remain- ing townships, payable on the Feast of St. Michael. A reservation was made at the same time of all such parts to His Majesty, as had then been set apart, or should thereafter be set apart, for erecting fortifica- tions, building wharfs, enclosing naval yards, or laying out highways for the convenience of communication from one part of the Island to another; and of all mines of gold, silver, and coals. Also a reservation on each township, for church and school lands, and for a fishery on the sea coast, within the distance of 500 feet from high water mark. The grantees of each township were to settle the same within ten years from the date of their grants, in the proportion of one person to every 200 acres, one-third of which, in this proportion, to be settled in four years, with Protestants from the Continent of PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. m Europe, or who had resided for two years in America antecedent to the date of the respective grant of each township. Thus was the whole of this valuable colony, ex- cept the above small' reservations and three others for intended codnty towns, given away in one day. Great expectation^ were formed on this plan for its settlement) and on the flattering report drawn up by Captain Hv)nandj surveyor gieneral of North America. But many of the proprietors from necessity or other motives, sold their lands to sach as were either unable or unwilling to settle them on the original plan, and the colony falling in this manner into the hands of a few individuals, has been the great cause of its not having been long ago populously settled. It was not till lands in convenient situations in the neigh- bouring colonies were located, that the lands of this island were considered worth the value set on them by the proprietors; and the very prejudice against settling on lands, unless held in free soccage from the crown, had a powerful influence at that time in directing emigrants to other places. In 1768, a majority of the proprietors presented a petition to His Majesty, praying that the island might be erected into a separate and distinct government. This was granted, and Walter Patterson, Esq. ap- pointed governor, who with the other officers of government arrived on the island in 1770, at which time there were not living on it more than 150 fami- ftmui. ! k Vi\ n M PniNCE EDWARD INLAND. lies, aud only five resident proprietors. A little after, (lovcriior Patterson planted h number of /Vcadian French along the front of lot 17, (St. Eleanor's) and the proprietors of lot 18, (fronting on Richnaond Bay) brought several families from Argyleshire, who were settled here in 1770 and 1772. The settlement of New London, Rustico, and Elliot River commenced in 1773 ; and Cove Head and lot 59, at Three Rivers, were settled early by the late Sir James Montgomery, who did more than any other proprietor for the set- tlers. Tracady was planted with about SOO High- landers by the Inte Captain Macdonald, between 1770 and 1773; and a few other places were partially settled about the same period. The first House of Assembly met in 1773, by His Majesty's Royal Commission, which gave a complete constitution to the colony. The remainder of Gdver- nor Patterson's administration, which ended in I789, was filled up with political difierences between him- self and the proprietors, and he resorted to steps, in every sense improper and illegal, to deprive them of their lands. During the American revolutionary war, several of the enemy's armed vessels were captured and brought to Charlotte Town; and the frigates, which annually brought out the Quebec convoys, generally spent part of the summer on this station. Barracks were at the same time erected to accommodate four Provincial Companies sent from New York. The administra- PUINOE EDWARD ISLAND. U\ tioii of the late General Fanning) who succeeded Governor Patterson, was productive of no advantage to the island, nor of any apparent injury to individuals, except to those who preferred complaints against him and the officers of the customs in 1791 : these com- plaints were dismissed, and the complainants subject- ed to heavy expenses. Soon after his appointment, two provincial corps were raised by order of His Majesty, for the protection of the island, and the bar- racks as they now stand were rebuilt by order of the Duke of Kent : three troops of volunteer horse were also formed, and the name of the island changed in 17!^9) from St. John, and called by an act of Ihc Colonial Legislature, Prince Edward Island. The inhabitants during the whole of this period were distinguished for their loyalty. Governor Fanning's ruling passion during his administration was that of acquiring landed property in the colony, and he succeeded in securing to himself some of the best tracts without proceeding to any violent measures. He was brought up, and I believe born in the United States, and of very obscure origin. The revolutionary war afforded him an opportunity of rising in the world; but as he never was actively engaged against the enemy, he owed his fortune to circumstances, the advantages of which, he had the finesse to seize. He was succeeded by Joseph Fre- derick Wallete Desbarres, Esq. who had previously been Lieutenant Governor of Cape Breton. Governor Desbarres was a man of considerable talent, liberal education, and well known as an expert 02 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. \ , liydrugrapiicr and draughtsman. He possessed ulst> a number of kind and generous qualities; but from the easy influence which designing men had acquired over him, he was led perhaps, more by them than by any deliberate principle of his own, to do a number of foolish things, and some unjust ones. He was succeeded in 1813, by Charles Douglas Smith, Esq. a brother of Sir Sydney Smith. The period at which he entered on the administration was as propitious as he could wish ; the country being in a condition to enable him to direct all its resources to the general advantage of the colony. Possessing as he did in an eminent degree the friendship of Lord Bathurst, had he taken any interest in the welfare of the country which was committed to his care, he might have still governed it with credit to ^limself, and satis- faction to the people, instead of m^ing his adminis- tration obnoxious to almost every individual in the colony. For three years previouf to bis removal, the Colonial Legislature was not 9,uffered to meet, and the distress occasioned by the pi;oceeding8 jpstituied in 1823, (which will ever be remeipbiei;e4 with sensa- tions of horror in the colony) opca^ioned a simulta- neous feeling in the public mind, which made tlie people persevere in the only constitutional way to effect his dismissal. A requisition for convening county meetings was made to the High Sheriff* by the priacipal people * The High Shorifl of the Mrhole island is appointed as in England, annually, and iuTostcd by virtue o( his office with pre- PAIMCE EDWABD ISLAND. 03 (III the itjand. The«e Meeiings w«e hdd Mid con- ducted with propriety, decorum, «al -unfeigned fevl- ings of loyalty. Resolutions cmbodyinf charges against the gorcnior iters iinaniaiously agreed to, and a committee appointed by each of Che county meetings to prepare a petition to His Majesty for the removal of the Governor and Chief Justice. These petitions were grounded on the ehaiges contained in the resolutions of the county meetings, and were signed by almost every landholder end householder Id the colony. John Stewart, fisq. one of the com- mittee for Queen's County, was appointed agent for cUoljr tlif Mine pawen. I h«d ,the honor to bold thst ij^polfitnicDt thiiyetr, and on receiving a requisition tifnie^ hj the prinoipti penoni in tiis eolony, to confene county meetings for the pur- poM orpetJUoniofiUs Majesty for JUie redrew of giioTMeei, I considered ,that undor osistlpg cii:oifnif Uneef, it v,M my boundien duty to afford tlie inhabitants the opportunity of doing soj and pve pabiic notice of the same. On this, His Excellency imme- dii^ely Md • oounell, this oiigority of wbleh bolag appointed |>y bims^ir, o^npurrafi with him In foi;bidding fat to sAnot|on t^e coonty meetings. I felt however clearly convinced that I eould not in conformity to the oath I had taken on entering into offlee, h«t .sUow His Bi^iMty*s auliijoots the privilege of petition. As • dtmitr rutrtf the governor ,sttc^^ptcid to •upenede me the day before the meeting of the Supreme Court or Jadipature^jdirqotinf my deputy who had given no surety, to taiie upon him the duty or the office, tod whose Srst act was to erase firom the grand jury list, which I had returned i^to thf Crown jQ^ee, M>o Stsm^ of John Stewart, Esq. and another person then in coiprt, in obedi- ence to their summons as jurors. As this interfored with a fkir trial by jury, on tbo Attorney General rising, and expressing his horror at the act, the court was thrown inip oonfoviop, and no legal business of any importance was ventured ^pon until the Oovornor and Chicrjuatioo were dismissed flrom their offices. I 94 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. the inland to carry honie the petitions. Previously however to his leaving, the Governor thought fit to issue attachments out of the Court of Chancery, against him and the other gentlemen who composed the committee for Queen's County, under pretence of their being guilty of a contempt of that court, in taking upon them to state in one of the resolutions of the county meeting, that the governor sanctioned illegal fees in that court, since his appointing his son-in-law a lieutenant on the half pay of the 9Sth regiment, to the office of master and registrar. Mr. Stewart, however, escaped over to Nova Scotia with the petitions and necessary evidence to support them, and at the advanced age of 66, came to England in the month of December. He succeeded, soon after his arrival at London, in having the Governor and Chief Justice removed from their offices. The other gentlemen of the committee were arrested and brought up before the Governor as chancellor. He ordered them into custody of the serjeant at arms ; but from the great assembly of people at Charlotte Town on that day, and being aware that the inhabitants would not allow their representatives to remain in prison, he did not venture to commit them. He at the same time suspended the learned and independent Attorney General, W. Johnston, Esq. for having the hardihood to speak in court, when the members of the com- mittee who were brought to the hiv had been ordered into custody, without being allowed the pvivilege of being heard but by petition. After this Governor FD. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 95 . Previously tiought fit to of Chancery, rho composed [ider pretence that court, in e resolutions or sanctioned ppointing his ^ of the 9Sth egistrar. Mr. ira Scotia with support them, Kngland in ed, soon after Governor and IS. The other ;d and brought He ordered s ; but from itteTown on ibitants would in in prison, e at the same lent Attorney Ithe hardihood of the corn- been ordered pvivilege of lis Governor Smith remained within the banack gates, apparently inactive as respected the local ailairs of the colony, until he left the island after the arrival of his successor, Governor Ready. The Attorney General was soon after reinstated in his ofiBce. Writs for a new election were issued, and Mr. Stewart, who returned to the island in the same ship with the governor, was chosen speaker of the House of Assembly, during the first session of which twenty-three acts of great importance to the country were passed and added to the code of colohial laws. Governor Ready has since been in England, but has ngain returned to the island ; the improvement and prosperity of which appear with him paramount to every other consideration. The roads all over the island have been widened and made fit for carriages. New bridges have been erected, and old ones repaired. The House of Assembly have appropriated money for supporting schools in the settlements. Agriculture and the breeding of cattle are encouraged, and what has been effected in so short a time, proves how much might have formerly been done, without any expence, but the proper application of tlie colonial revenue.* * See Note E, Appendix. «.*: .nf * T-f ', ■t.'iia.i 1. '»;!»<'; :rf *^^ ,*^ iei> •'^: '» ■> *.>H .? ftr -v ; J ji >** • *l»i *p^! t; t;:.7 ,5V* ii^ •J .».'»i. r'>' "^/v ^ %ii{ r^^'.iiiip. •*- '. '■-■• t .1 . , .V. r'A \'h\<^''',<^"> ■■> •;"• J ■ <:. »x I r 1 •r ■: ■ .14 ft; ft' !■ y- '.-''i'. K'i h'JMt ' V fj' :>U Mn.n' ;.fi L , i/. >,Ti«f»< i:\ m: i'' >k- i_} r li ii.iy}!j> *jj f .^i • " 111 {'•,>■>• iiSM' ■li» ^"■' Account of ®aype UtttotXy .■••»>■ • ' It/ / .,» ' .1 ' » '3 ! I CHAP. IX. li i Geographical situation.. ConfigurHtion and general description.. Soil and Climate. . SIcetch of its History. . Caps Brbton is bounded on the south and east by the Atlantic ocean, and on the north and north west, by the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Gut of Canso separates it on the west from Nova Scotia, and forms also a deep and safe passage into the gulf; to which however, the principal entrance, 57 miles in width, is between Cape Ray in Newfoundland, and the north cape of Cape Bieton.*^ ,.i..., , ; jif-*' •IfiT * The rocky nod iron-bound isle o( St- |Paul is situated in this passage, about ten miles from the North Cape i and is from its position, much dreaded by mariners in dark nights and Toggy weather. A lighthouse on this island is as much required as any one thing that can lie named for the safety, of ships, sailing to and from parts within the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Many vessels and lives have been lost on this unhospitable rock ; and one of the most melancholy events in the annals of shipwrecks, is that of the ship Jessie, which occurred in 1823. This vessel with Mr. Donald Mackay, the owner, and some other passengers, with the master and crew, twenty- six in number, left the harbpur of Three Rivers in PrinceEilward Island, on the 25th December; and as the ship was observed off the coast of Cape Breton^ near Chetican, during a snow storm on the 27tb, it is probable she struck in the night on St. Paul's Island. In the month of May following, (no accounts having before been received of tlie vessel,) it wad reported, that some fishermen r-' jf # The soil in many places is thin, rocky, and unfit for profitable cultivation : in others wet, and in- clining to the character of mossy bogs. In the inte- rior, on the borders of the Bras d' Or lake, and along the numerous streams that rise in the mountains, and which wind through the country to the sea, there are however, extensive tracts of excellent land; and, on the north west coast also, in the valleys some distance from the sea; lands with a rich and deep soil are to be met with. The land fit for profitable cultivation may amount to 500,000, acres, a c(«itsiderable part of which is all alluvial. The whole of the lands afford good pasturage, and great numbers of black cattle and sheep might be raised. Prom the hu- midity of the climate, wheat is liable in ripening to casual failures, which would not likely be the case, if the country were once opened by clearing away the woods, as cultivation and exposure to the sun would dry up the ground more readily. Barley, buck wheat, potatoes, and a variety of cul- inary vegetables may be raised in great abundance; and I think hemp and flax would succeed here as well as in Russia or Canada. '• t^' ' The climate of C^pe Breton differs only from that of Prince Edward Island, in its being subject, par- ticularly on the Atlantic -Coast, to fogs; and in the inland parts to a more humid atmosphere; which may be accounted for by its geographical position, Saghunny, as attempting to pass from tho Atlantic to the Pacific, through the Arctic Seas. CAPE BRETON. 101 and the interior abounding with lakes and arms of the sea, while the soil, owing to its stiffness, does not so readily absorb the rain, nor the water which remains on the ground after the snow melts. The bays and rivers whicii open to the Atlantic are not so long frozen up as those within the gulf; the difference at the beginning and termination may be considered at each period from fifteen to twenty days. On the Atlantic Coasts of Newfoundland, Cape Breton, and Nova Scotia, wet weather prevails much more during the year, than within the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the interior of America. The climate notwithstanding is salubrious ; and while unhealthy subjects are ex- ceedingly rare, instances of longevity from 90 to up- wards of 100 years are common. 'Hi^ ■ It has been said that Cape. Breton obtained its name from the first discoverers being natives of Brit- tany ; but this is not triie, as it was first discovered by Cabot, and afterwards by Veranzi, who named it Isle du Cap. In 1713, it was called by the French Isle Royale, and it remained unplanted until 1714, when the French of Newfoundland and Acadia made some settlements on it, near the sea shore, where each persoo built according to his fancy^ as he found ground convenient for drying cod-fish, and for small gardens. In \1\By after Louis XIV. had been so long con- tending with the united potvers of Europe, he madie an o£fbr to Queen Anne of part of the French posses- sions in North America, in order to detach Great Britain from that formidable alliance ; and in conse- •* « .*U ■» 4 # %* I u !* 4 .4f 102 CAPE BRRTON. quence of the treaty of Utrecht, the British became possessed of Newfoundland, Hudson's Bay, and Aca- dia, (Nova Scotia ;) in short, all that France could do was to preserve Canada, and the islands of Cape Bre- ton and St. John, (Prince £dward.) Cape Breton had hitherto been considered alto- gether unfit for making any settlement on it. In summer time it was frequented by a few fishermen, and during the winter, the inhabitants of Acadia resorted thither for the purpose of trading for furs with the Indians. j, ^ : ' .. . t ,, • But the French, in order partly to repair the loss they sustained, and as it was of the utmost conse- quence to them not to be entirely driven out of the cod fishery, and also to preserve a post that would enable them to command the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, by which a communication was kept open with Canada; were, by such solid considerations induced to plant the colony of Cape Breton, and to build the town, and fortify the harbour of Louisbourg. The Se^eglay, a French ship of war commanded by M. de Contreville, arrived at Louisbourg on the 13th August, 1713, and took possession of it; but it was not fortified until 1720. It was taken by the British in 17'15, at which time also they built a fort at Indian Bay, where they discovered a coal pit. Cape Breton was restored to France by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, and remained in possession of that power until the surrender of Louisbourg, on the 26th July, 1758» to the British forces under the command r f CAPE BRETON. 103 ish became fy and Aca- )ce could do >f Cape Bre- sidered alto- on it. In ihermen, and idia resorted urs with the ;pair the loss tmost conse- en out of the it that would f the river St. vas kept open itlons induced to build the mrg. commanded iourg on the of it; but it laken by the built a fort a coal pit. the treaty of [ession of that on the 26th ;he command of General Amherst, and Brigadier-generals Lawrence and Wolfe, and the fleet commanded by Admiral Boscaweii. ' ' • ^ - The French, commanded by M. de Drucourt, defended Louisbourg from the 8th of June until its capitulation, with extraordinary bravery and heroism, against a powerful fleet consisting of twenty-three ships of the line, eighteen frigates, with sloops of war and transports amounting to 157 ships, and against 16,000 land forces. The British government fearing that Louisbourg might again fall into the power of France, and on account of the expence and difficulty experienced in wresting it from that nation, ordered the town and fortifications to be demolished, and it has ever since remained in ruins, notwithstanding its excellent har- bour and the importance attached to its conquest. The following description of the then metropolis of this colony, previous to the landing of the English forces in 1758, is taken down from an account of Cape Breton by a person then residing at Louisbourg.* ''The French began to fortify this town in 1720. It is built on a neck of land which juts out into the sea, south east of the island. It is of an oblong figure, and nearly a league in circumference. The streets are wide and regular, and near the principal fort and cita- " Genuine letten and memoirs relating to the national, civil, and commercial historj of the islands of Cape Breton and St. John, by an impartial Frenchman. English translation, London, 1761. • I I, n I] .104 ^ * CAPE BRFtOK. del there is a handsome parade. To the north of tlie town there are three gates, and a spacious quay. They have likewise constructed a kind of bridges, ca!led in French calUs, (wharves) which project con- siderably into the sea, and are extremely convenient fur loading and unloading goods." " The fortifications consist of two bastions, called the King's and Queen's, and two demi-bastions, dis- tinguished by the names of Dauphin and Princess These two outworks are commanded by several emi- nences. The houses arc almost all of wood ; the stone ones have been built at the King's expence, and are designed for the accommodation of the troops and the ofiiccrs. When the English were masters of the town in 1745, they built very considerable caserns. The French transported the materials of these stone buildings as well as their other works from Europe." " There is hardly a settlement that has been atten- ded with more expence to the French nation, than this of Louisbourg. It is certain that they have laid out above thhrty millions of livres, and so cogent were the motives which induced them to put this scheme into execution, that the preservation of Louisbourg wjU -always be considered as an object of too great im- portance not to sacrifice every thing to it. Cape Breton protects the whole French trade of North America, and is of equal consequence in regard to their commerce in th6 West Indies. If they had no settlement in this part of the north, (America) their vessels returning from St. Domingo or Martinique, ll m*" ^ « » ^ w • 1 't • • "w f CAPE BRETON. 4 105^ 'v\ would no longer be safe on the great bank of New- foundland, particularly in time of war ; lastly, as it is situated at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it absolutely commands the river of that name." *' The entrance of the harbour of Louisbourg is defended by a battery level with the surface of the water. It is planted opposite the lighthouse, on the other side of the grande terre; and consists of thirty-six pieces of cannon, all of themfour-and-twenty pounders. The harbour is also defended by a Cavalier y called by the name of Maurepas, which has twelve embrasures. The royal battery, situate at the distance of a quarter of a league from the town, is mounted with thirty pieces of cannon, twenty-eight of which are thirty-six pounders, and two are eighteen pounders. It commands the sea, the town, and the bottom of the bay." .•,•*..•_« '' The port of Louisbourg is at least a league in length, and upwards of a quarter of a league" (about a mile) " in its smallest breadth. There is very good holding ground, and generally from six to ten fathoms water. They have a very safe and convenient place to careen their ships, where they may also be laid up in wipter, only taking proper precautions against the ice. » The population of Louisbourg at this time, exclu- sive of the troops, was about 5,000. The administra- tion was lodged in a Governor and Supreme Council : there was also a bailiwick or court of law, and a court of admiralty. There was a general hospital for invalid if 100 # CAPE BRETON. I soldiers and sailors, '* which was served by six brothers of tiie charitable fraternity," of whose conduct, as well as that of the Recollect Friars, and other spiritual directors in Cape Breton, complaints were frequently made : particularly as respected the methods they adopted to exasperate the Indians against the English during war. The Nuns of Louisbourg called them- selves of the community of Quebec ; their province was to superintend the education of young girls. The merchants and the greater part of the inhabi- tants of Louisbourg were sent after its capture to France, in English vessels. But the officers of govern- ment, the military and naval officers, soldiers, marines, and sailors, in number 5,720 were transported as prisoners of war to England. The stores and ammuni- tion, besides 227 pieces of cannon, found in Louis- bourg were very considerable. ' * During the period this colony was held by France, the inhabitants were with few exceptions all engaged in the fisheries. In this trade were employed near 600 vessels, exclusive of boats, and between 27,000 and 28,000 seamen; and the French ministry considered this fishery a more valuable source of wealth and power to France than even the mines of Mexico and Peru would be. The principal settlements at that time were within the Bras d'or lake, at Port Dauphin, (St. Ann's) Spanish Bay, (now Sidney) Port Toulouse, (St. Peter's) Arichat, Petit De Grat, and River Inha- bitants. '!v 'al^'f '< I. «.; ')j'>ai :/ :| f • CAPE ttRETON. ,*. 107 Soon after the peace which followed the Americnn revolutionary war, Cupe Breton wa« made a distinct government from Nova Scoiia, and its administration vested in a Lieutenant Governor and ['Executive Council- Sidney was laid out and built for the metropolis of the island ; in which place the Lieutenant Governor resided, the courts of law were held, and a garrison was stationed under the command of a captain or subaltern officer. The different Governors were said to consider it wiser policy, to make their power more subservient to their own particular views, than to the improvement and settlement of the colony, which prevented its prosperity during their administration ; and it has, subsequent to the appointment of Lieute- nant General Sir James Kempt, in 1820, to the govern- ment of Nova Scotia, been re-annexed, as a county sending two members to represent it in general assembly, to that province. General Kempt, from his accurate knowledge of business, as well as from his indefatigable persever- ance, and sound judgment, is one of the ablest of His Majesty's representatives in the British colonies ; and directs much of his attention to the improvement of Cape Breton. Roads will soon be opened to facilitate the intercourse between the settlements. The location of lands is placed under regulations which give ready possession to new settlers, and all that can be effected by the provincial government will, at least under his administration, be extended to this island. >< r , Vi v'r a=.,: . 1, ill i. 1 H i. I I- ' i. ;l ■% » c *■' y *■ t '•* * f . 4' . - ' »M c .1 '',' h C ■' L. -^ A -*• J' ' 108 V CAPB BRETON. *.t » f ^^H *- '*'- *- ^ * ■«■ ^- 4 t i\>:jf0 * ». . . . . 4 * # i^^H^ ^v^,. . .,..> ^ »» ♦ ' 'p*> ■ f "^ 1 • » .1 . , 1 CHAP. X. 0V • « I r •• ■"ftf i i Present State of Cape Breton.... Sidney.... Out of Canso.... Arichat.. Settlements within tho Bras d'Or... Pursuits of the Inhabitants. *, . f ■ C/APB Breton is at present less improved, and has a smaller population, in proportion to its super- ficies, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador, than any of the British North American colonies. When the mighty importance attached to it by France ; the abundant fisheries on its coasts ; its numerous harbours ; and its producing plenty of wood for building vessels and boats ; and also a soil capable of producing grain, vegetables, and excellent grazing, together with its coal mines, are taken into consideration, it appears difficult to account for this colony having been so long neglected, while the attention of government has been directed to the colonization of countries so distant as the Cape of Good Hope, and Van Dieman's Land : this can only be accounted for from the advantages and resources of British America having been imperfectly under- stood, not only by government, but by individuals desirous to emigrate. The population of this colony consists of Scotch from the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, CA:^E BliE'I*6>I. 109 who form the greater proportion of the inhabitants, and who are settled principally within the Bras d'Or, at its North West Arm, at River Denny, and a few other places ; and also along the shores of the Gut of Canso, and the coast to the harbour of Justa Corps ; at Cape Mabou, and on the Atlantic shore at St. Esprit. Acadian French follow next as the most numerous body of inhabitants, and are settled chiefly at Arichat, Petit de Grat, Megaree and Chetican. Numbers of Irish, who in the first instance generally emigrated to Newfoundland, are scattered among the settlers, and a few£nglish,Jerseymen, and Dutch are mixed with the inhabitants. A few Mic Mac Indians wander through the country and along the shores, and they have also a rallying point at the East Arm of the Bras d'Or, where they meet during summer, and where two or three families remain nearly stationary. From the want of roads, and the consequent diffi- culty of travelling, that intercourse which is so com- mon in Canada, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, between the inhabitants of one settlement and another, does not exist in Cape Breton ; nor is there yet the same facility of having children instructed in the rudiments of education, and society is at the same time in a more simple state than in any of the other colonies. The inhabitants, especially the Acadians, and Scotch and Irish Catholics, adhere to the tenets of the faith which has descended to them from their fore- fathers, and have the service of their church performed in almost all the settlements by priests educated in N 110 CAPE BRETON. 'I ■ Canada. There can scarcely be said to be any station- ary clergymen of other persuasions, except at Sidney. Presbyterian, and more commonly Methodist preachers, go occasionally amoDg the inhabitants to preach and baptize. The colony being now however a component part of the province of Nova Scotia, begins already to feel the advantage of the connexion. The benefits of instruction may in a few years be received irl every part of the island; travelling by land through the country will also in a short period be rendered less difficult ; and as the country becomes more populously settled, the inhabitants will improve iu their mode of husbandry, change their habits of living gradually, and become more industrious and ambitious to have their houses neatly built, as well as comfortably furnished : neither of which is at present generally the case, although it is well ascertained that nothing but indus- try and good management is required to enable them to obtain all the necessaries of life. Contented how- ever to exist as their progenitors did, they seem care- less of living in a more cleanly and respectable style. One circumstance, which is indeed satisfactory, is, that neither beggary, nor the want of necessary meat and clothing can be discovered on the island. / The general character of the people is honest and ' hospitable ; but not without exceptions, and many of the inhabitants about the Gut of Canso, and in the vicinity of the North Cape, are considered as infamous characters as any who exist unpunished. These were CAPE BRETON. Ill probably the most ivorthless people in the countries they came from, and living here until the last few years almost without the bounds of justice, their principles are not likely to have undergone any favourable change. The varieties of fishes which abound in the seas surrounding Cape Breton, are of the same kind as those already described, as are also the birds, reptiles, and wild animals, with the addition of the moose, or American elk, and the porcupine. Elks were formerly numerous, but are now, from the great destruction of these animals by the Indians, only found in the more remote parts of the island. The town of Sidney, formerly the residence of the Lieutenant Governor, and now the county town, is situated at the east part of the island, and on the south side of Dartmouth River, about two miles above its junction with the west arm of Sidney or Spanish Bay. Its harbour is of easy and safe access, and the water deep enough for the largest vessels. Its principal trade is in exporting coal to Halifax, with a trifling fish- ing, and shipping a few cargoes of timber occasionally to England. Some troops are still stationed here, whose service, if required, would be of little efiect ; the number being no more than a detachment of twenty or thirty under the command of a subaltern officer. , The population of Sidney, including its immediate neighbourhood, does not exceed, if it equals, 1000; and the surrounding country must become populously settled before this town increases much in size. Its situation is certunly not the most judiciously 112 CAPE BRETON. I \ i. selected for the principal town in the colony, although it is sufficiently so with respect to the fishery. The coal trade however will always support it as a town ; although a more flourishing one should spring up in another part of the island. Arichat is situated on the island of Madame, which is divided by a narrow strait, called Lennox Passage, from Cape Breton. It lies near the south entrance of the Qut of C^nso, opposite Cranberry Island, on which ther«^ is a lighthouse. Its harbour is safely sheltered, and has a sufficient depth of water for the largest ships. The population of this place is considerable, and con- sists principally of Acadian French, who are engaged in the fisheries. The soil of this island is thin and rocky, ye^ the inhabitants derive essential advantage from what it produces. The fishery is conducted here to an important extent, and several cargoes are annu- ally expprtied to Spain, Portugal, to the countries with- in thp Mediterranean, and to the West Indies and Halifax. The mercantile houses who support the fisheries^ with two or three exceptions, are mapaged by people from Guernsey pr Jersey. It is a port of entry, under that of ^a|ifax. The Qt^t ofCknso is a narrow strait which detaches Cape Breton from the Continent of America. The passage from the Atlantic to its southern entrance leads between Cape Canso and Green Island, across Chjedebucto Bay. Its length from Sandy point to Cape Jack is about 21 miles, and its breadth about a mile. There are several places within it, where ships may ^-' / )l C.\P£ BRETON. 113 anchor witli safety and be sheltered from all winds : of these, Ship Harbour is the best. The features of the scenery on each side of this extraordinary strait are unusually grand and mountainous, and stretch and rise into the utmost extent of romantic boldness. As it is considered the most convenient as well as the safest passage to and from the Gulf of St. Lawrence^ ships, brigs, and a variety of small vessels, under sail or at anchor, mingle incessantly, during summer and autumn, with the agreeable wildness of its picturesque sublimity. The mountains are covered with trees to their summits ; rocks jut out from the banks ; habita- tions are thinly scattered near the shores on each side, where the lands have also been partially cleared and cultivated. At Ship Harbour and near Plaister Paris Cove, are two or three Jishing plantations or depots for salt, fishing tackle, &c.; and stores for receiving dry and pickled fish. Should steam packets be established between Europe and British America, as was projected in 1824, the Gut of Canso, and not Cape Canso, ought to be the nucleus of communication on the American side. The objections against Cape Canso are, that its harbour, which is formed by several Islands surrounded with ledges and rocks, is often dangerous to approach, and the country within so much broken up with rocks and water, that there is scarcely a possibility, except at an expense that would ever be objectionable, of making roads from the place --.-.■■>■ -■ 114 CAPE BRETON. 1 i ^j n ■5 ti n i ill of landing, on the main land of Nova Scotia, to other parts of America. For a fishery, indeed. Cape Canso harbour is admirably adapted, and it had considerable fishing establishments previous to the first American war ; but it does not possess the eminent advantages of the Gut of Canso for a rallying point of communi- cation to all parts of America. Vessels from Quebec and all places within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, pass through the Gut in their passage to and from the West Indies, and to difierent parts of North and South America. Ships sailing from Europe from the lower parts in the Gulf generally prefer the passage of Canso; and through it the United States' vessels engaged in the fisheries enter and return. A carriage road might also, at the usual expense, be made from the Nova Scotia side of the Gut, to Truro at the head of the Bay of Fuudy; from whence roads diverge to Halifax, Pictou, and to New Bruns- wick ; which may from the last place, be continued to Canada. Lastly, the Gut of Canso is of safe access, and may be approached without the apprehension of danger. - »« ^ . ■ .f^> Until the population, however, of Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the lower division of Canada, increases to double the present number^ my opinion is, (especially while sailing vessels carry out passengers and goods at the present low nites) that the probable proceeds which might arise from passengers and freights, would not % '^' CAPE BRETON. 115 be equal to the expense of establishing and supporting a line of steam packets between Europe and America. Justa Corp Harbour lies 18 miles North of the Gut of Canso, and is formed by an Island and a jutting point of land, which shelter it from all winds : this place is well situated for fishing, and the lands in its neighbourhood are tolerably good, particularly for pasturage. The inhabitants are thinly scattered along the sea coast. Chetican and Megaree are harbours for small schooners and shallops, ^on the Gulf Coast, the in- habitants of whieh are Acadian French, who live by pursuing the cod, herring, and seal fisheries, together with wreckings at which last occupation, in conse quence of the frequent shipwrecks about the entrance of the Gulf during the spring and fall, for several years, they are as expert a^ the Bermudians, or the people of the Bahamas. The Bras d'or, (Golden Arm) or as it is more com- monly designated the Bras d'or Lake, enters Cape Breton from the Atlantic, a few miles north of Sydney, and penetrates through the Island, branching in its way into numerous bays, rivers and creeks, so as to divide the island nearly in two, there being litfle more than a mile between its west arm and the bay of St. Peter^ on the Atlantic. There is an Island, called Borafractie, 18 miles long, situated so as to form two entrances to the Bras d'or. The northern passage is the safer, within which . r ■ :4l -'>'l' 116 CAPE BRETON. it Little Brat d'or, and farther up still is the Great Bras d'or. This lake is in many parts 40 fathoms deep, and abounds with safe harbours ; the surround- ing country is mountainous, and the scenery, which is of a sublime character, exhibits the sombre gloom of pine forests, the luxuriant verdure of broad and deep valleys, and the picturesque wildness of lofty promontories, which frown in stubborn ruggedness over the waters of the lake. St. Peter's Bay and settlement are situated to the east of Lenox Passage. The French called this place Port TTumlouse, and to it the Indians of Acadia and Cape Breton brought their furs to exchange for Euro- pean commodities. The distance across the Isthmus between the head of this bay and the Bras d'or lake is about a mile. It was surveyed under the direction of government by a civil engineer, Mr. Hall, (in 1824) from whose report it appears that there would be little difficulty in making a canal communication between all parts of the Bras d'or and the Atlantic through this neck of land. Numberless advantages to Cape Breton would result from the completion of such an undertaking, and St. Peter's would then become the centre of intercourse with the whole Island. People frequently going and coming between different places within the Bras d'or, and Nova Scotia and Prince £dward Island, haul their boats with horses or oxen across this portage, and the Indians cany their bark canoes over it on their heads. .. - ., ,, _....„.,- . ._■ .... :iiA'- ^y'>."n.. CAPE BRETON. 117 i the Great 10 fathoms surround- lery, which nbre gloom broad and >ss of lofty TUggedfiess uated to the id this place Acadia and re for Euro- the Isthmus ras d'or lake the direction bU, (in 1824) Quld be little ion between jntic through es to Cape In of such an become the id. ig between Nova Scotia with horses idians cany Agriculture holds, generally speaking, but a second- ary place in the consideration of the inhabitants of Cape Breton. The settlers, it may be admitted, at the north west arm of the Bras d'or, at River Denny, and at a few other places, subsist principally by culti- vating the soil and rearing cattle and sheep ; but the population must increase very much before the farmers will abandon the propensity, so common in Ameriea, of dabbling in pursuits unconnected with agriculture, such as fishing, hewing timber, building schooners, &c. The Acadian French leave the cultivation of the soil in a great measure to the management of their wives, daughters, and younger sons. The men follow fishing, or employ themselves in carrying freights coastwise in their schooners and shallops. These vessels are built more for the purpose of sailing fast than for carrying large cargoes ; they are slightly constructed, little iron being used for the fastenings, nor do they consider one fourth part of the cordage necessary that is required in vessels of the same size rigged in England. They have only three sails, frequently but one cable, and nothing in the shape of spare rope or sails, in case of accidents, notwithstanding which they are often out in heavy gales, in which they make, accord- ing to the sailors* phrase, good weather of it, and they are scarcely ever shipwrecked. The fisheries have hitherto been the source from which the inhabitants have obtained the means of sub- sistence, as well as the ^jnost valuable branch of com- mercial importance. , 118 CAPE BRETON. This trade might be carried on to any extent, but it is doubtful whether the merchants could meet the Americans and French on equal terms in foreign markets. A few caigoes of timber have been for some years shipped annually from Sydney and from har- bours within the Bras d'or to England. The ships that took out emigrants, brought back cargoes of timber. Some large vessels have also been built on this Island, but the present low value of shipping will arrest tl;e further progress of this business. Plaister of Paris has been exported from the Gut of Canso to the United States of America, and live cat.'Ie occasion- ally sent to Newfoundland. If Louisbourg had not been demolishtd, it is very probable that Cape Breton would at this time have been a populous and flourishing colony. To the levelling of that town and fortress may justly be attri- buted the oblivion which har> so long enveloped Cape Breton. To Great Britain however its possession is of the greatest importance. The naval power of the French began to decline from the time they were driven out of the fisheries ; and the Americans of the United States would consider Cape Breton a boon more valuable to them as a nation than any of our West India Islands would be. Did they but once obtain it as a fishing sta- tion, their navy would in a few years, I fear have suffi- cient physical strength to cope with any power in Europe, not even excepting England. Let not the 'j;i'i-^K:f!-;; ^n' CAPE BRBTON, 119 extent, but Id meet the in foreign len for some I from har- The ships : cargoes of sen built on thipping will ss. Plaister of Canso to !le occasion- td, it is very lis time have ly. To the istly be attri- veloped Cape sion is of the ►f the French driven out of nited States •e valuable to llndia Islands a fishing sta- larhave suffi- ay power in et not the British Nation therefore lose sight of this colony. It is capable of supporting a population of from one to three hundred thousand.*' P&rticular care however should be taken to render the inhabitants readily effective as a militia to defend the colony in the event of its being attacked. If Cape Breton weie once populously settled, the inhabitants would adhere to certain regular pursuits, the farmers would follow agriculture alone ; the fisher- men would at the same time find it advantageous to persevere in fishing, as the pursuit in which, by habit and experience, they had acquired the most knowledge. The farmers would in case of need form an effective militia : the fishermen hardy and dauntless seamen. • The present population, including Arichat, is not more than 17 to 18,000. i' ^ f ,!■ 1 (f t ■ > -1^-. * 'i h ./ §bkttt^t$ of VToiia Sbtotin^ ,- . ..,v CHAP. XI. RuuDdaries...8ap«Hicei... Local •dvuitagei...MiBei... Board of Agriculture. . .Productions of the Soil. . .Population. . .Condi- tion of the Free Negroes... Constitution... CourtB of Law... Religion. . .Education. . .Cliaracter of its Governors. liiis Province, previous to 17G3, comprehended all ihc territories situated between the River St. Croix and the Bay des Chaleurs ; and, after the peace of that year, the Islands of St. John and Cape Breton were added. In 1770, the first of these Islands was separated from Nova- Scotia, and shortly after the treaty of 17^3, it was reduced, by dividing from it New Brunswick and Cape Breton, to the Peninsula, which may be termed Nova Scotia proper, lying to the south of a line drawn from the head of the Bay de Vert, a branch of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to Cum- berland Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy. Cape Breton has been again in 1820 re-annexed. Nova Scotia lies within the latitudes of 43° and 46° north, and the longitudes of 41° and ti7° west. Its length is about 320 miles, and its average breadth about 70 miles. Its computed superficies, exclusive of Cape Breton, 15,500 square miles; from which, nearly one-third may be deducted for lakes, arms of the sea, and rivers, leaving about 7)000,000 acres of land ; 5,000,000 of which may be considered capable of cultivation. A great proportion of these lands is still vacant, and in the hands of the Crown .''*^ . * See Note H. Appendix. «>i 122 NOVA SCOTIA. The Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, from Cape Canso to Cape Sable, is pierced with innumerable small bays, harbours and livers. The shores are lined with rocks, and tbonMands of Islands; and, although the land is no where high, and there are but few steep cliffs, yet tl;te aspect of the whole is exceedingly picturesque, and the scenery in many places beautiful. The landscape, which the head of Mahon Bay in par- ticular presents, cannot be surpassed. There is deep water, almost without exception, close to the rocks and Islands, and into the harbours. Light houses have been erected along the coast. The eastern-most is on a sqaall Island ofF Cape Canso ; one on a rock off Sambro head, at the entrance of Halifax ; one at the entrance of Liverpool ; and another at Cape Sable. The coasting vessels sail among, and within the myriads of Islands that line the coast, during the most blustering weather, and thus have the advantage of passing along in smooth water, while there is a heavy sea running in the main qcean. As the sea coast of Nova Scotia is that which necessarily presented itself to the first discoverers, and to those who afterwards visited the country, with the view of planting, or settling it j and as it must also be admitted, that its aspect, particularly on the Atlantic side, is barren, stoney, and apparently incapable of cultivation, it was altoge'.her without due investiga- tion from its first discovery, until within the last eighty or ninety years, condemned as a country unfit for agriculture, cursed with a humid and most incle- HdVA SCOtlA. \t3 ment climate, and unworthy of any consideration, ex- cept for the purpose of trading with the savages for furs. To account for the wrong opinions which indivi- duals at first, and even a whole nation afterwards, form of new countries, we must conclude that they decided from ignorance, or were biassed by prejudice. Thus Nova Scotia, which undoubtedly possesses advantages, when combined together, paramount to those of Cana- da, was long considered both by England and France of no important value. In the 6nt place, the position of this colony in respect to its trade with Europe, the West Indies, and other parts of the world, with its excellent harbours, and its abundant fisheries, will ever secure to it a decided advantage over the Canadas. Its climate, although more humid, is Also khuch milder than that of Canada, and the %mtet two Months shorter. Mines of coal, iron, cdpper, and other minet- als abound in Nova Scotia, which Will very probably be soon brought into pi^fitable dpeMiotl by the ** ^Ihion Mining Company" who have now skilful engineers, artificers and miners actively engaged ih working them. This colony produces also, e^peeially in the interior, great plenty of wood fat ship building, joiner work, &c. and the soil is capable of yielding more than a sufficient quantity of green and white crops for the support of the inhabitants* The country is admirably adapted for the breeding 6f sheep, and although the olimate in winter is colder than in Eng- land, yet when the weather is cold it is tisnaUy d^ : 124 NOVA SCOTIA, 3 V , many tracts of land also that are too stoney for cultiva- tion afford tolerable pasturage. The horses of Nova Scotia are seldom large, but hardy and full of spirit : the breed however is improving fast. Black cattle thrive well, and the beef and mutton are usually very good. Pigs and poultry may be raised in abundant numbers. Wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, turnips, and vegetables yield bountiful returns. Apples equal to any produced in the United States grow in many parts of the province, and wild vines covering several acres have lately been discovered near-Digby. In 1817, soon after the appointment of the Earl of Dalhousie to the government, a provincial board of agriculture was formed at Halifax, and several societies in connexion with it were formed in the districts. The object of this establishment is the encouragement of agriculture, and improving the breeds of horses, black cattle, sheep, hogs, &c. : importing the best seeds ; awarding prizes for the best acres of green and white crops ; and also to those who excel at ploughing matches, &c. Under such encouragement the agriculture of Nova Scotia has flourished beyond all precedent. The Scottish system of husbandry has, at least so far as it can be applied in connexion with the nature of the country and climate, been very generally adopted and followed."* * Much of the merit of establishing the board of agricurture is due to Mr. John Young, formerly of Glasgow ; but now residing at Halifax, and one of the Members of the Assembly. He first rousedtheattention of the province to the cultivation of its soil, by his numerous letters signed " Agricola,*' published in the « Acadian Recorder," and since printed in a large octavo volume. These letters are written with great ability, and abound with ■cientific and practical information. NOVA SCOTIA. 125 y for cultiva- rses of Nova "uU of spirit : Black cattle ! usually very in abundant , turnips, and s equal to any many parts of ;ral acres have ;i 1817, soon housie to the riculture was in connexion The object of of agriculture, ; cattle, sheep, varding prizes Dps ; and also &c. Under !4ova Scotia The Scottish as it can be fthe country ind followed.* d of agricutture but now residing embly. He first ration of its soil, ublisbed in the octavo volume. 1 abound with The population of the province was, in 1817* ac- cording to a census taken by order of the Earl of Dalhousie, 78,845 ; but this account has been con- sidered extremely inaccurate, and the population at present (1827) is rated, exclusive of Cape Breton, at ! 26,000 to 130,000, consisting of English, Scotch, Irish, Germans, Dutch, French Acadians, American Loyalists, and the descendants of those who have settled at different periods in the colony. The Scotch, in a numerical scale, predominate, and are principally settled in the district of Pictov, at the Gut of Canso, Antigonishe Bay, and along the coast and harbours of the straits of Northumberland, and also more or less in every part of the province. The principal part of the English population is in Halifax ; a small proportion only is to be found in the settlements. The Irish settlers are mingled among the others all over the country. The American loyalists, with the exception of their first settlement, at Shelburne, appear to have selected tLe best spots in the colony : they certainly had the advantage, at the time, of making a choice of situation, and they understood doing so better than emigrants from Europe. The Germans are not numerous, but are always distinguish- ed by their industry and economy. The Acadian French, who always settle in groups, have villages at Cumber- land, at Chizencook, at Tusket, at Clare and at Harbour Bush^, near the Gut of Canso. Slavery does not exist in Nova Scotia : the num- ber of free negroes may be equal to 1500 ; part of whom came from the West India Islands, others from I J 126 NOVA SCOTIA. the United States, and the residue were born in the province. A settlement was laid out, a few miles from Halifax, for these people, and every facility afforded them, by the provincial government, yet they are still in a state of miserable poverty ; while Europeans, who have settled on wood-lands, under circumstances scarcely so favourable, thrive with few exceptions. Whether the wretchedness of these ne- groes may be attributed to servitude and degradation having extinguished in them the spirit that endures present difficulties and privations, in order to attain future advantages ; or to the consciousness that they are an unimportant and distinct race, in a country where they feel that they must ever remain a separate peo[^^ le ; or, that they find it more congenial to their habits to serve others, either as domestic servants, or labourers, by which they make sure of the wants of the day, certain it is that they prefer servitude, and generally live more comfortably in this condition, than they usually do when working on their own account. I do not, by this observation, mean to inr ilcate the revolting doctrine, that slavery is the most happy state in which the unfortunate negroes in the West Indies and America can live ; but I am certainly of opinion, that, unless they are gradually prepared for personal liberty, they will, on obtaining their freedom, become objects of greater commiseration than they now are in a state of bondage ; and the condition of the Jree negroes in Nova Scotia will fully substantiate this assertion. The consiittttion of Nova Scotia it the same as NOVA SCOTIA. 127 i born in the a few miles every facility smment, yet verty ; while •lands, under irive with few of these ne- 1 degradation that endures ■der to attain ess that they in a country ain a separate renial to their Ic servants, or the wants of servitude, and Dndition, than own account, inr ilcate the I most happy in the West 1 certunly of ' prepared for heir freedom, on than they condition of y substantiate the same as that of all royal representative governments in British America. The leg'tsiature consists of three estates, representing king, lords and commons. The governor, who represents his majesty, has very extensive powers : he is commander in chief of the regular forces and militia within his government: he is chancellor of the court of chancery : can ex, end the king's pardon to criminal oflfenders. He presides in the court of error; summons the provincial assembly; nominates the high sheriff^ and justices of peace ; suspends officers of the crown; grants licences for marriages, a/id probates of wills. He is also vice-admiral within the limits of his government. The members of council are appointed by the governor, and the members of the legislative assembly are elected by the people.* The supreme court of judicature is modelled after the court of King's Bench ; the practice of which is strictly adhered to, both in criminal and civil matters. The chief justice i» paid by government ; the assistant judges out of the colonial treasury. The jurisdiction of this court extends to all parts of the province. The practice of the court of chancery is also the same as in England ; and, although the governors, who are chancellors of this court in all the colonies, are gener- ally unacquainted with law, or with chancery practice ; * When the election for two members to represent Cape Breton took place, Mr. Cavannah, one of those returned, being a Roman Catholic, and the case being novel in Nova Scotia, mach was said on the sul^oct of his right to sit. He retains however, his seat very deservedly, agreeable to the wish of the assembly ; and I believe with the full approbation of the governor. t 1 ':> ^ 12B NOVA SCOTIA« yet, from deciding according to what appears to them to be just, on the rational principles of right and wrong ; there is no doubt but their conclusions are as often correct as those of the lord chancellor would be. There is also a court of common pleas, the juris- diction of which does not extend further than the country, nor to criminal matters. Magistrates take cognizance of breaches of the peace, and of matters of debt not exceeding five pounds : appeals from the inferior courts may be made to the supreme court ; from thence to the governor and council, who compose a court of error and appeal, and from thence to Eng- land. In each county there is also a court of session, similar to those in England. The court of admiralty has, since the last war, become little more than the shadow of a court. The bankrupt laws do not extend to the colonies, . nor is there in Nova Scotia any law which affords an unfortunate debtor the release which is so easily obtained in England. A provincial law, however, called the " Insolvent debtors' act," generally, relieves a debtor, if no fraud be discovered. A law, which enables a creditor to attack property before he obtains a judgment of court, has been severely complained of. It has certainly enabled merchants and others to obtain payment of debts justly due to them, and which they otherwise might never have recovered ; but such a law gives often to a bad character too much power over the property of an honest man. All over America there is too frequent recurrence to law, the people fly to litigation on the most trivial occasion : they are ^- \ NOV/V SCOTIA. 129 inveigled into lawsuits by low attorneys; and there is nothing that tends more to destroy the dignity of the courts, than a^dmitting without much scruple, as an attorney and barrister, any one who has been five years an articled clerk to an attorney practising in the province. By this system a mere amanuensis is placed on a par with gentlemen of extensive legal learning and experience. Next to the cheapness and abundance of ardent spirits, what is called " law" is the bane of all North America, both, as respects the British colonies and the United States. - • ' At the bar of the courts of Nova Scotia, a very fair share of rhetorical talent and legal knowledge is conspicuous; but there are too many members of the profession : one-third the number, which would probably include all the men of abilities, would be quite sufficient; and by their having a sufficient share of business, ini- quitous and trifling cases would be rejected, and the country gradually purged of a ruinous system of litiga- tion. The fees of the lawyers are by no means high ; they are rather low, even on the simple principle that " the labourer is worthy of his hire," and this cheap law is in itself a great evil, inasmuch, as it encourages many to litigate thai otherwise would not; and who do not take the value of their time into the account. The Church of England in this province is sup- ported by the Society for propagating the Christian Religion. The clergy, about thirty in number, are ii 130 NOVA SCOTIA. mri under the controul of a bishop, styled the bishop of Nova Scotia, who has also under his jurisdiction the clergy of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfound- land, and Bermuda. One-fourth of the population are Roman Catholics, who are likewise under the care of a bishop. The church of Scotland properly so called, has only a few clergymen in the colony j but the Presby- terian seceders, the great body of which are settled in the district of Pictou, have a provincial church govern- ment of their own. Methodists are numerous all over the province, and a few other sects are also met with. Religious or fanatical animosities never interfere with the peace of society ; nor is the neighbourly kindness so general among the inhabitants ever dbturbed by spiritual discord. What, more than any other circumstance, places Nova Scotia in the most meritorious point of view, is, that the benefits of education are established on a sure and liberal foundation. Amidst all the active engagements of the inhabitants, in occupations of which wealth is the sole object, they have not neglected to cultivate the field of learning. It is a matter of doubt, whether more general and useful knowledge, among a whole people, can be discovered in any country, than is found to prevail in this province: many of those born and educated in it have distinguished themselves in different parts of the world ; and the young men of the present day possess, in an eminent degree, a ready power of comprehension, a remarkably NOVA SCOTIA. 13] dear knowledge of the general business of life, and the art of adapting themselves to the circumstances of any situation in which chance or direction may place them. Much of the prosperity of this colony is certainly due to the careful provision that has been made for the education of youth. At the bar, and in the pulpit; as merchants, or as private gentlemen; we discover the natives of Nova Scotia with few ex- ceptions to be men of superior attainments. The seminaries of education are on a more respect- able footing than in any of the British American colonies. On an elevated and beautiful spot of ground^ a short distance from Windsor, and 40 miles by a good carriage road, west from Halifax, stands the University of King's College. It has a royal charter, dated 1802, which gives to it all the privileges that are enjoyed by the Universities of Great Britain and Ireland. It is liberally endowed : the archbishop of Canterbury is its patron, and the governor, chief justice, judge of the court of vice admiralty, the bishop of Nova Scotia, the president, the speaker of the house of assembly, the attorney general, the solicitor general, and the secretary of the province, compose ex-officio, a board of governors. The course of studies is, Greek and Latin Classics, Natural Philosophy, Hebrew, Ethics, Logic, Rhetoric, Metaphysics, History, Geography and Chronology, Mathematics, 'J „:^j(t ' 11 132 NOVA SCOTIA. General Jurisprudence ; Political Science. Astronomy, Botany, Anatomy, Materia Medica, and the practice of Medicine There is a water communication between Windsor and New Brunswick, and that province sends a great proportion of the students to the college. The situa- tion of King's College has been judiciously selected, in a central point of the province, and in a beautiful and pleasant part of the country, which has a dry and salubrious climate. I have been informed, that since the first opening of the institution, no instance of fatal sickness has occurred among the students. ' A very respectable academy, built of free stone, and called the " Collegiate School,*' stands within the college grounds. The system of instruction at this seminary corresponds with the course of studies at the college ; and this institution is in a very prosperous condition, having a numerous attendance of scholars from New Brunswick and other places, as well as natives of Nova Scotia. In 1820, a handsome stone building, called <'Dal- housie College," was built at Halifax; and near j^lO,000 invested in the funds, for the support of its professors. Its constitution is, I believe, nearly the same as that of the University of Edinburgh. In 1811, grammar schools were established by an act of the provincial legislature, and ^€^150, to be paid '? NOVA SCOTIA. 133 out of the colonial treasury, voted annually to tlie master of each school . By another act, passed the same year, ^25 was granted to every settlement of thirty families, for supporting a school, subject however to a provisOt that the settlement raised also a sum, not less than j^'SO for the same purpose. There is at Pictou, besides a very respectable grammar school, an institution called " Pictou Col- lege," founded by the Rev. Dr. M 'Culloch, of the same place. It is not confined to any particular class; but I believe the principal students are persons de- signed for ministers of the Presbyterian Secession Church in America.* There is in Halifax, besides several other schools, one named " The Acadian School ;" under the able superintendence of Mr. Bromley. In this seminary the scholars are instructed according to the Lancasterian system: since its first establishment in 1813, nearly two thousand scholars of both sexes have been taught reading, writing, grammar, arithmetic, and geography. Utility is the great object of instruction at this school : the girls are taught every kind of needle-work, t^nd the arts of carding, spinning, knitting, and dressing wool and flax. Nova Scotia has been peculiarly fortunate in having the administration of its government entrusted to great f * Dr. M*Culloch is a gentleman who has distinguished himself by his controversial writings. He is certainly a man of very ex- tensive learning, and a writer of great abilities, either in a serious or humprous style. 134 NUVA SCOTIA. and good men. It was long before the real advantages of the colony were known ; while the most disheartening and forbidding objects were exhibited to the new settlers, who were in general unacquainted with wilder- ness countries ; but who at the same time must have possessed more than common perseverance in main- taining themselves, and in surmounting not only real but imaginary difficulties. Immediately after the independence of the United States was acknowledged, Nova Scotia received an accession of American loyalists as settlers, who may be said, with much truth, to have laid the foundation of its prosperity. These men brought along with them correct principles, industri- ous habits, large sums of money, vessels, merchandize, cattle, furniture, &c.; and many of them being re- spectable and intelligent gentlemen, the courts of j ustice, and the legislature, were thus better filled up than in most new colonies. Sir George Provost was, however, the first governor who had sufficient penetration to observe the real importance of Nova Scotia ; or, at least, he was the first who had the abilities to direct the application of its resources into proper channels. He introduced order into the public departments ; established schools in the townships ; carried into successful operation a new style of training the militia ; founded that superb edifice the province building ; had new roads opened, and the old ones repaired and improved j and extended, to the utmost his power and talents to the encourage- ment of the agriculture, trade> and fisheries of the colony. s NOVA SCOTIA. 135 Sir John Coape Sherbrooke succeeded htmin 1814, and with equal judgment, and with perhaps still greater abilities, governed the province during the American war, and until ISI7. His administration was altogether distinguished by great and useful measures : no man's integrity could be more inflexible, nor could any one be more indefatigable in all public duties. ,.. ,,. ,^ I ., ; ..• ;,a l' 1 .. On his promotion to the office of commander !n chief in America, he was SMcceeded by the Earl of Dalhousic. His lordship held the government until 1820, when he was in his turn appointed to succeed Sir John Coape Sherbrooke as governor general. His administration was exceedingly agreeable to the people of Nova Scotia, and his conciliating, amiable, and benevolent disposition made him beloved by all who approached him: the amiable virtues of the Countess of Dalhousie will also be long remembered with lively respect by the inhabitants of Halifax. Sir James Kempt was appointed to succeed his lordship, and still holds the government of the pro- vince. He is considered to be better acquainted with, and enters more into, business in detail than any of his predecessors. Since his appointment, the agri- culture and trade of the province have maintained a regular and prosperous progress ; and various under- takings, connected either with the internal improve- ment of the colony, the encouragement of agriculture, or with whatever may be beneficial to the commerce of the country, have been accomplished, or are in operation. i;' \ >\.\ ||. 136 NOVA SCOTIA. The people of Nova Scotia have, perhaps, more than those of any other British Colony, united with their governors in the undertaking and accomplishing of every measure of public utility; and to this circum- stance, no doubt, may in a great measure be ascribed the absence of political difficulties, and the harmony for which this province may be so justly distinguished. The Earl of Dalhousie, who is at present involved in luch unpleasant difficulties with the legislature of Canada, governed Nova Scotia without trouble to him- self, and to the satisfaction of the people. i.'^/i-'^t' ■' ■"W ^: *:/ %t liaps, more nited with omplishing his circum- be toscribed le harmony ttinguished. nt involved igislature of ible to him- ■■\. Koi^a £(otia> 'm CHAP. XII. Description or HalifVuc.. . Its Trade.. . .Society.. . .Amusements, &c. On the south east coast of Nova Scotia, and nearly at an equal distance from its extreme points, Halifax harbour enters the province. It is at all seasons accessible, and its navigation scarcely ever interrupted by ice. On a small Island, off Sambro Head, on the ivest side of the entrance, stands a light-house ; and the harbour is not cnly safe to approach, but from having sufficient width to work a ship against a con- trary wind, easy to enter : the water is deep enough for the largest ship in the navy, and there is abundance of room for anchorage. Packets now sail once a month from Falmouth direct to Halifax, the advan- tage of which is of great importance to all North America. Until the present year, the destination of the winter packets was Bermuda. The entrance lead- ing from the Atlantic to the harbour is between Sambro Head and Devil's Island. There are two Islands still further in : on the smallest of these, which is nearly opposite the town, there are batteries strongly mounted : several other fortifications command the harbour. The passage to the harbour on the east of the Island is that which admits ships of the largest description ; the other on the west has water only for schooners. I • •4i^ << > i '. 138 NOVA SCOTIA. The appearance of Halifax from the water, or from he opposite shore, is prepossessing and peculiar. The front of the town is lined with wharves, alongside of which, vessels of all sizes are observed discharging or loading their cargoes. Warehouses rise over the wharves as well as in different parts of the town, and the dwelling houses and public buildings rise gradually over each other. The town clock, fixed in a build- ing erected solely for the purpose, and standing near the summit of the hill over the town ; a rotunda built church J the signal posts on the hill ; the spires ; the variety of style in which the houses are built, some of which painted white, some blue, and some red, others of brick or stone, intermixed with the wooden houses; rows of trees shewing themselves in a few places ; the scenery of thie back ground; the merchant vessels either alongside the wharves or at anchor; His Majesty's ships moored opposite the dock yard ; and the small town of Dartmouth on the eastern shore, are the objects which strike most forcibly into the view of a stranger when sailing up the harbour. The town of Halifax is built on the declivity of a hill, which rises gradually from the water on the west side of the harbour. In length it is rather more than two miles, and some- thing less than hah* a mile in breadth. The streets are regular, crossing generally at right angles, and of sufficient width ; but that only next the water is paved : the others however, from the ascent and nature of the ground, are usually dry ; but in summer, the dust, which is often whirled furiously along by the winds, is exceed- // NOVA SCOTIA. 139 ingly disagreeable. The number of dwelling houses are estimated at about 1^500, and the population, ex- clusive of the military, about 1 2,000. The houses are very irregularly built, some being one, some .two, some three, and a few four stories high. Handsome stone buildings, and good brick houses, are built and furnished in the same manner as in England : some of the houses built of wood are large and handsome, with the exterior painted white, and the inside lathed, plastered, and papered in the same style as stone or brick houses. Fires have at different times destroyed very many of the old wooden build- ings ; and, although individuals were, in consequence, subjected to great loss and inconvenience, yet, the town fr "^ hrwing stone or brick houses built on the site oi ' r) furmer wooden ones, has been materially improved. As there is deep water within a short dis- tance of the shore, the wharves answer all the purposes of docks. About a mile above the upper end of the town the harbour becomes narrow, but again widens into a magnificent sheet of water, called Bedford fiasin ; the surrounding scenery of which, although not highly romantic, is agreeably and beautifully varied. On the west side of this basin the late Duke of Kent, when Commander in Chief in North America, erected a handsome residence, with corresponding out- houses, offices, &c.: the grounds, naturally beautiful, he laid out with much taste. The road to Windsor, from which the great western road branches off, leads past this place. ( til '1 if 140 NOVA SCOTIA. i:3 At the south end of the town is situated the " Government House," so named from being the residence of the Lieutenant Governor. The appear- ance of this structure is neither elegant nor imposing : the stone of which it is built, although tolerably well polished, is of a sombre colour, which imparts a gloomy and rather antique character to the building. "1 The most splendid edifice in North America is the " Provincial Building" of Nova Scotia. It stands nearly in the centre of Halifax, in the middle of a square, which is neatly inclosed with iron railing. The size of this superb building is at present certainly too great for the province ; but it must be considered built for posterity, as well as for the present day; and that it is situated in the metropolis of a country, the population of which is multiplying fast. The length of the province building is 140 feet, breadth 70 feet, and the height of the wall 45 feet. Its plan com- bines elegance, with strength and utility. The columns are of the Ionic order, and the beautiful free- stone, quarried in the province, of which it is built, is finely polished. It contains chambers for the council and legislative assembly ; the supreme court with its appendant offices ; and also, all the provincial offices, as the Treasurer's, Surveyor General's, Colonial Secre- tary's, &c. &c. the Halifax Library, &c. &c. The Admiral's house is a plain stone buildings built in 1819, at the north end of the town, on a rising ground, which commands a view of the harbour and shipping. It is appropriated for the residence of NOVA SCOTIA. 141 town, on a the Admiral, for ttie time being, commanding the squadron on the American station. There is also a large wooden building, apparently uncomfortable, for the military commandant. The north and south barracks, built also of wood, are extensive enough to accommodate three regiments. The other government buildings are the Ordnance and Commissarial Stores, Naval Hospital, Dock Yard, &c. His Majesty's Dock Yard is the most respectable establishment of the kind out of England. Its plan is extensive, and combines within the stone wall, which surrounds it on the land side, all that is useful and convenient for repairing and refitting the largest ships. Attached to it is the residence of the com- missioner ; a respectable-looking house. Never was there a more egregious measure entered upon, than that of removing the naval stores from Halifax, for the purpose of establishing a dock yard, for the use of His Majesty's Ships on the American station at Bermuda; the absurdity of which is too palpable, not to be seen into at once, by all who have any knowledge of both places. Halifax has the best harbour in North America, in a healthy climate, and in the midst of a country abounding in timber, and all kinds of provisions, at low prices. The Bermuda Islands are little better than a cluster of rocks, in the middle of the ocean, of extremely dangerous access, covered only in detached spots with a scanty soil ; and where, besides the frequently IV » 142 NOVA SCOTIA. ^ *♦ l> ■' unhealthy state of the climate, provisions, and almost every thing else, are obtained at exorbitant prices.** Natural obstacles of great magnitude must also be removed from the site of the dock yard at Bermuda, before it can in any respect answer the intended purposes. The consequent expence will be enormous. The places of worship in Halifax are two Churches of the established religion ; one Scotch Kirk ; one Presbyterian Meeting House ; one Catholic Chapel. The Anabaptists and Methodists have also each a Meeting House. There is also a Poor House, and a Work House, or House of Correction. In the brick building called the Court House, in which cases in the court of common pleas are heard, there is also an Exchange Room, where the merchants meet. Halifax was first settled in the summer of 1749, and it has ever since that period continued to be a place of considerable importance, not only as a rendez- vous for His Majesty's Ships, and as the head quarters of the troops on the establishment of the lower American provinces, but also as the centre of a profitable fishery and trade. There are certain points on the face of the globe, which, by their position, seem intended by nature for the site of great store houses, or places wherein II * Fow place* are more unfit than Bermuda for a Naval Hospital. Fresh meat can only be bad vith great diflBculty, at any price. I have frequently heard the natives say, that a bit of Irish or American ham was a dainty only to be indulged in on rare and particular occasions. ■«. NOVA SCOTIA. 143 to deposit the 'productions of one country, for the purpose of distributing them again to others. With respect to British America, Halifax must doubtless be considered the best place of deposit to answer all general purposes, especially during the winter months. There is much activity observed, particularly about the wharves and vei^sels, among all classes con- nected or employed in trade. During the last war, the vessels and property captured from the enemy on the coast of Ami!rica, were sent into Halifax for con- demnation. At this period money was exceedingly abundant ; every one who possessed common sagacity accumulated considerable sums, and Halifax became the theatre of incessantly active enterprise, and com- mercial speculations. But the merchants and traders, as well as others, became at the same time so far intox- icated with, or lured by, the gains of the moment, that they- apparently forgot, or at least did not stop to con- sider, that according to the common order of things, a change would inevitably take place that would speedily destroy the then sources of their wealth. They accordingly entered into imprudent speculations, and launched into a most splendid style of living. The peace crushed both, and opened their eyes. Since then trade has been established on a more regular system, and Halifax is, at the present time, in as prosperous a condition as any town in America. By an order in council, it was in 1817 declared to a certain extent a free port. Its principal trade is with the West Indies, next to which is its trade with Great 144 NOVA SCOTIA. r r Britain. Its commerce extends also in a ^limited degree to the continent of Europe. A company was formed to open a trade with the East Indies, one voyage to which has been accomplished, with what success I have not ascertained. The East India company now send a ship annually to Halifax, con- signed to the respectable house of S. Cunard and Co. There is a considerable trade between Halifax' and the outports of the province, as well as with the other colonies. The outports receive supplies of different kinds from Halifax, which are paid in money, fish, &c. The enterprising house of Messrs. Cunard has made several spirited trials in the Whale Fishery ; which, however, have not succeeded as well as might be expected, or as their attempts deserved. The exports from Halifax consist chiefly of dried Cod-fish, pickled Herrings and Mackarel, smoked Herrings, Salmon, Coals, Lumber, Staves, Cattle, Butter, Cheese, Flour, Oats, Potatoes, &c. to the West Indies ; and, of Timber, Fish, Oil, Furs, &c. to Great Britain. The imports from the West Indies are Rum, Sugar, Mo- lasses, Tobacco, &c. ; and from Great Britain, Salt, Fishing Tackle, and all sorts of manufactured goods. The state of society in Halifax is highly re- spectable ; and in proportion to the population, a much greater number of well-dressed and respectable-looking persons are observed, than in a town of the same size in the United Kingdoms. This is indeed peculiar to all the towns in America, and may readily be accounted for, from there being few manufacturers, or few people ..■ :i NOVA SCOTIA. 145 out of employment^ and the labouring classes living principally in the country. The officers of the Government, and of the Army and Navy, mix very generally with the Merchants and Gentlemen of the learned professions ; and from this circumstance, the first class of society is doubtless more refined than might otherwise be expected. The style of living, the hours of entertainment, and the fashions, are the same as in England. Dress is fully as much attended to as in London ; and many of the fashionable sprigs who exhibit themselves in the streets of Halifax, and indeed in lesser towns in America, might even in Bond Street, be said to have arrived at the ne plus ultra of dandyism. The amusements of Halifax are such as are usual in the other towns in the North American provinces ; in all which, assemblies, pic nics, amateur theatricals, riding, shooting, and fishing, form the principal sources of pleasure. The markets are abundantly supplied with all kinds of butcher's meat and other eatables ; vegetables alone are scarce during winter, and, with the exception of Potatoes, Cabbages, Turnips and Carrots, are not to be had. The fish market is the best supplied of any in America : I have heard it said, of any in the world. Fishes of different kinds, and of excellent quality, are brought by the boats fresh every morning from sea, and none else is suffered to be exposed. Along the coast of the Bay of Fundy, the soil is .u ,, ,,... ■ ..,,.„•.- - \i 1: -J; 140 NOVA SCOTIA. the most fertile, and the lands the best cultivated in the province ; particularly about Cornwallis, Hurton, Windsor, and Truro : the last is by far the most beautiful village that I have seen in any part of America. At Cumberland, the inhabitants attend more to grazing than to agriculture : they have large stocks of black cattle, and make great quautities of butter and cheese. The marshes in this country are dyked to keep off the sea, and are thus made to pro- duce abundant crops of grain, vegetables and grass. Yarmouth is a small flourishing town in the south eastern part of the province ; the inhabitants of which are enterprising and industrious, owning several square rigged vessels and schooners, employed in fisheries and in trading to the West Indies and other places. Shelburne, which rose into a considerable town, as if by magic, immediately after the revolutionary war, was in a few years deserted, and is now in ruins ; from which it would appear, that when great natural disadvantages are connected with a place, it cannot flourish, if there be near it a situation like Halifax, which on the other hand inherits an eminent superiority from its position. Liverpool, the second town in the province, is a sea- port town lying to the west of Halifax : its principal trade is with the West Indies ; in which, and in the fisheries, the inhabitants have sixty to seventy brigs and schooners employed. This place sent out more pri- vateersduring the last war, than all the province besides. The district of Pictou, although the most northerly. NOVA SCOTIA. 147 is perhaps equal to the best part of Nova Scotia, and its soil iS| elmost in all places, susceptible of cultiva- tion, with a reasonable certainty of yielding good crops. The climate is the same as that of Prince Edward Island. The harbour of Pictou is commodious, safe as to approaching, and entering it, and sufficiently deep for the largest ships. Its great and only disadvantage, and one which is equally attached to all the harbours within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is that of its being frozen over for four montiis in the year. Three remarkably fine rivers branch off from the harbour, and wind through a well-cultivated country. Coal is found in great plenty, and has been exported for some years. There are also valuable salt springs in the neighbourhood. Excellent free stone for building abounds in many places, and the surrounding country is covered with various kinds of timber. Within a few miles of Pictou, the *' Albion Mining Company," who have purchased all the mines in the province, have begun their most active operations, and their prospect of success appears very favorable, especially in respect to the Iron Mines. The town of Pictou is small, not containing above 1 500 inhabitants ; but being conveniently situated, it derives its importance from being not only the port of entry, but the centre of all the trade carried on in that part of Nova Scotia, within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, lying between the Gut of Canso and the Bay de Vert. Pictou and Sydney in Cape Breton have lately, by an order of Council, been declared free ports. :.i; n 148 NOVA SCOTIA. The inhabitants of Pictou are exceedingly indusitri. ous. Fishing, ship building, siiipping timber, coal, &c., form their principal sources of enterprise. Their incesssant perseverance merits the highest praise ; and although the heavy s|)eculations in shipping carried on in the rem'arkable year 182S, to the utmost stretch in England, fell heavily on the Merchants of this place ; yet, their industry and economy will, it is likely, soon enable them to surmount their losses. From Cape St. George to Miragamiche harbour, a distance of 20 miles, the inhabitants are Scotch Highlanders, who live by cultivating the soil and raising cattle. At Miragamiche the settlers are of the same description ; but, like all those in North America, wherever there is a harbour for ships, their attention is directed occasionally away from agricultural pursuits to the hewing of timber, or to labouring in a shipyard, if there be one. This observation is applicable in a more than common degree to the inhabitants of Tatmagouche, Port Wallace, (Remsheg,) Pugwash, and River Phillips, settlements lying north of Pictou ; the lands of which, although excellent, have been neglected by the settlers, whose labour has been chiefly applied to hewing timber for exportation. When the population of this province increases so much, that all the best lands will be settled upon, agriculture and the fisheries will then form the lead- ing pursuits of the inhabitants. The canal which is to connect Halifax with the NOVA SCOTIA. 149 Bay of Fundy, now digging, will be of great advan- tage to Nova Scotia. A canal which has been long contemplated to connect the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of St. Lawrence, would also be of immense conveni- ence and benefit to New Brunswick, to the western part of Nova Scotia, and to Canada. * See note J Appendii. 1 ; •• " :< f! t »i' ' '. fc *ss ■ Keb) Vmnf/miOi^ CHAP. XIII. Description... Sketch of New Brunswick... Inland Navigation... American Forests. . .Climate. . .Natural advantages... Citjr at St. John.. Trade*. .Production, Soil, and Agriculture.. Great leading Roads... St. Andrew's. ,, X HB Province of New lirunswick extends from the River St. Croix, which is considered the boundary line of the United States, to the Bay de Chaleur and the River Restigouche, which divide it from Canada. The greater part of this colony is yet in a wilderness state. Its soil, with the exception of a few rocky districts, principally on the coast of the Bay of Fundy, and several, but not extensive, swampy tracts, is rich and fertile. The River St. John with its lakes and myriads of streams ; the tributary waters of one side of the St. Croix J Miramichi River, which divides into three majestic branches; the River Nepisighit, and many lesser rivers, open an inland navigation into almost every part of the province. Dense forests* cover the whole country, and extend to the banks and lakes of the St. Lawrence ; * The trees are of the same kind as described in chap. 2nd. Pine abounds in greater plenty than in any of the lower provinces ; and the quality of the soil may always be ascertained from the descrip- tion of wood growing on it. Along the countless rivers of this pro- vince are innumerable small tracts of, what is termed, intervale land: this kind of soil is alluvial, and, like the lands of the Nile, annually irrigated by the overflowing of the rivers. NEW BRUNSWICK. 151 Navigation... iges...Citj or ilture.. Great Is from the lundary line eur and the anada. The erness state. ;ky districts, Fundy, and , is rich and 1 myriads of B of the St. into three , and many into almost untry, and Lawrence ; lap. 2nfl. Pine kroTinces; and |m tlie descrip- 3n of this pro- led, intervale Ids of the Nile, beyond which, they are succeeded by others, which, although crossed by extensive savannahs, terminate only at the shores of the Pacific. The magnificent splendour of the forests of North America is peculiar 'to that vast country. In Europe, in Asia, in Africa, and even in South America, the primev&l trees, how much soever their magnitude may arrest admiration, do not grow up in the ptoYhisctious style which prevails in the great general character of the North American woods. Many varieties of the pine intermingled with birch, maple, beech, oak, and numerous other tribes, branch luxuriantly i)Ver the banks of lakes and rivers, extend in stately grandeur over the plains, and stretch proudly up to the very summits of the mountains. It is impossible to exaggerate the autumnal beauty of these forests ; nothing under heaven can be com- pared to it. Two or three frcsty nights in the decline of autumn, transform the boundless verdure of a whole empire into brilliant scarlet, rich violet, every possible shade of blue and brown, vivid crimson, and glittering yellow. The fir tribes alone maintain their unchange- able dark green; all others, on mountains or in valleys, burst into the most glorious vegetable beauty, and exhibit the most splendid, and the most enchanting panorama on earth. The climate of New Brunswick is much milder in the southern, than in the northern parts, which border on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay de Chaleur. With the difference however of more humidity, and that Vi Mj 152 NB\y BRUNSWICK. i the harbours on the southern coast are seldom long frozen over, what is said on climate in chapter iv. will apply, with the exception of the northern districts, to this province. The natural advantages of New Brunswick, are equal to those of any wilderness country in America ; and when settlements are formed on the vast tracts of lands bordering on its innumerable rivers, St. John's and St. Andrew's, will become great shipping ports, as the productions of the interior will naturally be carried down the rivers, and deposited in these towns for ex- portation. The trade of this province with England and the West Indies, has for some years been carried on to an important extent; but from ship building and the exportation of timber being the leading business followed by the merchants, they have, in consequence of the unprecedented depreciation in the value of shipping and timber, been subjected to great loss. St. John's, the largest town, is situated on the north side, and near the entrance, of the River St. John ; about a mile above the town there are rapids, or rather falls, in the river, which are passed by small vessels at the top of high water. The town is rather more than half the size of Halifax, and the ware- houses and wharves built much in the same manner; but the dwelling-houses are of a more lofty style, especially in the streets diverging from the market ; the public buildings, if not splendid, are certainly handsome structures. NEW BRUNSWICK. 153 The rise of the tide is twenty-five to thirty feet. When the spa flows so as to cover the shores^ the appearance of the harbour of St. John, and all the surrounding objects which fill up the l&ridscape, are beautiful and magnificent; but at low water the aspect of the front of the town, which exhibits muddy shores, high wharves, and timber booms covered with slime, is exceedingly disagreeable. North-west from the town, there is a beautiful prairie, named the Marsh, which contains above 3000 acres of alluvial land of extraordinary fertility : to neutralize its soil, lime, of which great quantities exist in the neighbourhood, is applied. The tide is now shut out by an embankment, over which the public road is carried. Fifty years ago the site of this thriving city was covered with trees, and only a few straggling huts existed within its harbour. This was its condition at the peace of 1783 ; and when we now view it, with its population of above 8000 ; its stately houses, its public buildings, its warehouses, its wharves, and with the majestic ships which crowd its port, we are more than lost in forming even a conjecture of what it will become in less than a century. Its position will ever command the trade of the vast and fertile country, watered by the lakes and streams of the river St. John. All towns, through which the bulk of the imports and exports of the country in which these towns are situated necessarily pass, have in consequence flourished. We view this in the long and continued prosperity of Hamburgh ; # 154 NEMT BRUNSWICK. 'f i u J' «;■ the boundless commerce of Liverpool ; and the amaz- ing prosperity of New York.* The timber trade has no doubt been one, if not the principal^ cause of the rapid growth of St. John. Great gains were at first realized, both by it and ship'building ; and although the merchants and others immediately concerned in these pursuits were nearly ruined afterwards by the extent of their undertakings and engagements ; yet, it must be recollected, that each of those trades has enabled New Brunswick to pay for her foreign imports, and with the timber trade she has built St. John, Fredericton, and St. An- drew. To the settler on new lands it presented a ready resource ; and if he only engaged in it for a few winters it was wise to do so ; as by the gains attending it, he was put in possession of the means of stocking his farm and clothing himself and family. The pro- vince, therefore, gained great advantage by this trade ; and, although it is not less certain that it has been prosecuted to more than double the extent of the demand for timber, it would, notwithstanding, be ex- treme folly to abandon it altogether. Two-thirds of the people engaged in the timber trade and ship-build- ing, have only to give their industry another direction, and the remainder may work to advantage. In this view agriculture offers the most alluring, and at the same time most certain, source of employment. The fisheries follow next. Let the industry of the inhabitants be but divided between agriculture, the timber trade, and the fisheries, and this beautiful and * S«e Note K ApppnHix. ^\ i NSW BRUNSWICK. 155 fertile province will probably flourish beyond any pre- cedent. But the farmer must adhere to agriculture alone ; the lumberer will do better, or at least he will realize more money, by following his own business, and those engaged in the fisheries will 6nd it best to confine themselves chiefly to this pursuit. The effects of the romantic projects of 1824 have not hitherto, it is true, spent their force. The re- action has been indeed terrible to the merchants of New Brunswick. What Halifax suffered after the last American war, St. John was now doomed to endure. The docks of London and Liverpool were at this time crowded with fine ships built by the mer- chants in North America, and sent to England for sale. The demand and price for such vessels having previously increased to a most unaccountable extent, the commercial men of New Brunswick were not only more extensively engaged in this trade than the mer- chants in the other provinces were, but from the facility which they had experienced before this time in making large remittances to England, in ships and timber, they incautiously plunged themselves deeply into debt, by importing great quantities of goods of all descriptions. w^sif^n-^f -^ii* :'vurU »i>i>v-^^ ir^-- ^""*" ,,4,.*»;;i.i.». A society was established in 182^, for the en- couragement of agriculture, and the location of emi- grants on new lands ; which will doubtless contribute to the prosperity of the country. The best breeds of black cattle, sheep and hogs, have been imported from England to this province, for the improvement of the general stock. The lands held by the Crown are equal to from two to three millions of acres, and are granted to the settlers in common soccage, reserving a quit rent of two shilling per hundred acres.* This quit rent has not yet been demanded in any of the colonies, except in Prince Edward Island, where proceedings were instituted by Governor Smith, for the recovery of * A revenue for supporting this College is to be raised from the rents or sales of lands appropriated for the purpose. In each County there are Schools supported by the Provincial Oovemment. NEW BKUNSWICK. 150 the same in 1823, and which, from the enormous law expenses that the inhabitants were subjected to, produced great distress. New Brunswick is susceptible of maintaining an immense population : this will be found hereafter under the head of emigration. The mineralogy of this colony is very imperfectly, or rather not at all known. Sandstone prevails on the borders of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and of the Bay de Chaleur ; and the formation of the lands fronting on the Bay of Fundy resembles, with some diversity however, the sea coast of Nova Scotia. Gypsum has formed an article of export to the United States, where it is applied to the soil as a manure. Lime stone, free stone, and coal, abound in great plenty.. A vein of iron ore, yielding about 40 parts of thi^ metal, has lately been discovered at St. John. Copper and plumbago are also known to exist, and specimens of amethyst, cornelian, &c. have been picked up. Some sulphurous or hepatic springs, of the same properties as the Harrowgate water, have been found and analyzed. The population of New Brunswick is at present said to be about 80,000. I have been told by persons intimately acquainted with the province, that this is far below the actual number. This population is com- posed of people of the same description as, and their manners and pursuits are nearly similar to, the inhabi- tants of Nova Scotia. -; *>!; v ,,.:»%r^).. ., ;% ' * Government has lately adopted the plan of selling Crown Lands : the conditions will be found stated hereafter under the head of Emigration. . • nm; ,---'W, r-^ ^.'^^». .vT-v, 160 NEW BRUNSWICK. ff'JiS^ The principal settlements are along the River St. John, and its lakes ; on the north banks of the St. Croix ; on the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; on the River Miramichi ; and on the shores of the Bay de Chaleur. The spiiit of agriculture is beginning to diflfuse itself rapidly through all, even the most northerly and coldest, parts of the province. Hitherto the timber trade and ship building, by engaging a great part of the labour of a population so very small in proportion to the extent of the country, have retarded the cultivation of the soil, and the improvement of the country. None of the North American colonies are more in want of settlers of steady and rural habits. The roads in this colony are few, and those in bad condition ; and although its numerous rivers open in almost all directions channels of intercourse with the interior ; yet without good roads, the mode of travel- ling or of conveyance is more uncertain, and generally less expeditious. Great leading roads are an essential desideratum in New Brunswick. There is, it is true, a tolerably good carriage road between St. John and Fredericton, and another from opposite St. John to St. Andrew. *^*» i .?^K\f^ hnrJ.^ ?■ . • An object of paramount importance would be, to accomplish a continuation of the road between Nova Scotia and Fredericton, to Quebec. The best line for this route has been examined, and it has already engaged the attention of the legislature of Canada. It should be accomplished at the joint expense of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada ; all would derive great advantage from opening a direct line of NEW BRUNSWK K. 161 communication, which might then be said to extend from Great Britain to the npper countries of British America. The course of this line would be across the Atlantic, either by the packets or merchant ships, to Halifax ; or, by the trading vessels to New Brunswick ; or, if steam packets should be established to the Gut of Canso, from whence a road must be opened to join the road from Halifax toFredericton. The road from Fredericton should then be continued to the lake Timis- quata, and from thence to the banks of the St. Lawrence ; along which, the Canadian inhabitants keep the main road always in a fair state of repair for carriages. The town of St. Andrew, on the north side of the River St, Croix, is a thriving place, in which a brisk trade has been carried on for some years. It has a Commercial Bank ; and it will, from its situation at the mouth of a river which spreads over an extensive country, be always a place of con- siderable importance ; but much of its prosperity will depend on the final settlement of the boundary line between New Brunswick and the United States. The Americans have on the opposite side a small town called Lubec. The revenue collected at St. Andrew's is considerable ; but smuggling on a great scale has long been carried on.* ■ m'iv^.iv From the views which the Government of the United States entertain respecting the limits of the British possessions, the adjustment of the boundary line of New Brunswick, if not soon agreed upon, will in all probability give birth to disputes, the settlement of which may be attended with more than ordinary difficulty. * See Note L. Y 102 NEW URUNSWICK. nf ■i.m .<»' ' (I .■•M ,ii r CHAP. XIII. Description of Miranichi Manner in which Lumbering Parties are formed and provided,. . Mode of Lire in the Woods during Winter,.. Railing Timber down the Rivers,.. Character of those People,.. Timber Trade,.. Tremendous Fire oflSSft,.. Rechibaotu and other Harbours on .the Gulf Shore, &c. AliRAMiCHi liver enters the province of New Bruns- wick in latitude 47° 10 north, and in longitude 65° west. It is navigable for large ships for more than thirty miles. There is a sand bar off the entrance ; but the channel over it is broad, and vessels entering the river seldom meet with any accident. The land near the sea, like the whole of the north-east coast of New Brunswick, is low, and clothed near the sliore with dwarf spruce and birch trees ; beyond which, the whole country is covered with heavy timber. This magnificent river divides into three branches, and these again into numberless streams. The importance attached to Miramichi has arisen within the last twenty years, in consequence of the vast quantities of pine timber exported from thence. It was scarcely known thirty years ago, except to a few adventurers, who traded with the Indians for furs. Those who first settled on the banks of the river were attracted thither by its plentiful salmon fishery, which formed for some years a profitable source of enterprize. The exportation of timber has since then superseded almost NEW BRUNSWICK. 163 li Lumbering 9 in the Woods r»,..ChHr»ctcr Fire of 1826,.. ore, &c. New Bruns- iDgitude 65° r more than ic entrance; sels entering . The land east coast of ar the shore d which, the mber. This inches, and e importance liin the last quantities of was scarcely adventurers, ose who first acted thither formed for prize. The seded almost every other pursuit ; and the waters of the river beinii^ much disturbed by vessels, boats, and rafts of timber, &c., an extraordinary decrease in quantity has fol- lowed in the salmon fishery. On tlie south side of Miramichi, a little within its entrance, lies Bay de Vin, where ships occasionally load, and where there is safe and sheltefMl anchorage : on the north, is the bay and settlement of Negowack, where ships also load, but where there is not much shelter. Houses are thinly scattered along each side of the river ; but little cultivation appears. About twenty miles up, on the sout'li side, stands the town of Chatham, where several merchants are settled, who have erected stores and wharves. Four miles further up, on the north side, is the town of Newcastle, where there is a Court House, Church, and some other public buildings.* A little above Newcastle, and a short distance below the confluence of the two great arms of the river, the south west and north west branches, there is a small Island, on which there are stores and a mercan- tile establishment. On the banks of the three branches of this river there is a very thinly scattered population, who employ themselves chiefly in hewing timber dur- ing winter in the woods, and in rafting it down the river, in summer, to where the ships load. On the various branches of this beautiful and majestic river, * The public buildings at Newcastle were consumed by the fire or 1825. The erection of a Court House, Jail and Barracks, is now in contemplation, and will likely be commenced without delay. » I I ! r 111 ill 164 NEW BRUNSWICK. ki fertile tracts of intervale land abound, which might be cultivated to profitable advantage, if. the country were once settled with people of steady rural habits. Tiic lumberers, who compose probably more than half the population, never will become industrious farmers ; and the cultivation of the soil is consequently neglected. The timber trade, which, in a commercial as well a$ political point of view, is of more importance in employing our ships and seamen, than it is generally considered to be, employs also a vast number of people in the British Colonies, whose manner of living, owing to the nature of the business they follow, is entirely different from that of the other inhabitants of North America. Several of these people form what is termed a " lumbering party," composed of persons who are all either hired by a master lumberer, who pays them v/ages, and finds them in provisions ; or, of individuals, who enter into an understanding with each other, to have a joint interest in the proceeds of their labour. The necessary supplies of provisions, clothing, &c., are generally obtained from the mei^chants on credit, in consideration of receiving the timber vi-hich Uie lumberers are to bring down the rivers the following summer. Th^ stock deemed requisite for a " lumber- ing party" consists of axes, a cross-cut saw, cooking utensils ; a cask of rum ; tobacco and pipes ; a sufficient quantity of biscuit, pork, beef, and fish ; pease and pearl barley for soup, with a cask of molasses to sweeten a decoction usually made of shrubs, or of the tops of NEW BRUNSWICK. 165 the hemlock tree, and taken as tea. Two or three yokes of oxen, with sufficient hay to feed them, are also required to haul the timber out of the woods. When thus prei>ared, these people proceed up the rivers, with the provisions, &c., to the place fixed on for their winter establishment; which is selected ns near a stream of water, and in the midst of as much pine timber, as possible. They commence by clearing away a few of the surrounding trees, and building a camp of round logs j the walls of which are seldom more than four or five feet high ; the roof is covered with birch bark, or boards. A pit is dug under the camp to preserve any thing liable to injury from the frost. The fire is either in the middle or at one end ; the smoke goes out through the roof ; hay, straw, or fir branches are spread across, or along the whole length of this habitation ; on which they all lie down together at night to sleep, ivith their feet next the fire. When the fire gets low, he who first awakes or feels cold, springs up, and throws on five or six billets ; and in this way, they manage to have a large fire all night. One person is hired as cook, whose duty is to have break- fast ready before daylight ; at which time all the party rise, when each takes his "morning," or the indispen- sable dram of r«to rum, immediately btfore breakfast. This meal consists of bread, or occasionally potatoes ; with boiled beef, pork, or fish, and tea sweetened with molasses : dinner is usually the same, with pease soup in place of tew, and the supper resembles breakfast. These men ait enormous caters, and they also drink ' W 166 NEW BRUNSWICK. I great quantities of rum, which they scarcely ever dilute. Immediately after breakfast, they divide into three gangs ; one of which cuts down the trees, another hews them, and the third is employed with the oxen in hauling the timber, either to one general road leading to the banks of the nearest stream, or at once to the stream itself : fallen trees and other impediments in the way of the oxen are cut away with an axe. The whole winter is thus spent in unremitting labour : the snow covers the ground from two to three feet from the setting in of winter until April ; and, in the middle of fir forests, often till the middle of May. When the snow begins to dissolve in April, the rivers swell, or, according to the lumberers' phrase, the "freshets come down." At this time all the timber cut during winter is thrown into the water, and floated down until the river becomes sufficiently wide to make the whole into one or more rafts. The water at this period is exceedingly cold ; yet for weeks the lum- berers are in it from morning till night, and it is sel- dom less than a month and a half, from the time that floating the timber down the streams commences, until the rafts are delivered to the merchants. No course of life can undermine the constitution more than that of a lumberer and raftsman. The winter snow and frost, although severe, are nothing to endure in comparison to the extreme coldnes of the snow water o( the freshets i m which, the lumberer is, day after day, wet up to the middle, and often immersed from head to foot. The very vitals are thus chilled and sapped ; NEW BRUNSWICK. 167 and the intense heat of the summer sun, a transition, which almost immediately follows, must further weaken and reduce the whole frame. To stimulate the organs, in order to sustain the cold, these men swallow immoderate quantities of ardent spirits, and habits of drunkenness are the usual con- sequence. Their moral character, with few exceptions, is dishonest and worthless. I believe there are few people in the world, on whose promises less faith can be placed, than on those of a lumberer. In Canada, where they are longer bringing down their rafts, and have more idle time, their character, if possible, is of a still more shuffling and rascally description. Premature old age, and shortness of days, form the inevitable fate of a lumberer. Should he even save a little money, which is very seldom the case, and be enabled for the last few years of life to exist without incessant labour, he becomes the victim of rheuma- tisms and all the miseries of a broken constitution. But notwithstanding all the toils of such a pursuit, those who once adopt the life of a lumberer seem fond of it. They are in a great measure as independent, in their own way, as the Indians. In New Brunswick, and particularly in Canada, the epithet " lumberer" is con- sidered synonymous with a character of spendthrift habits, and villainous and vagabond principles. After selling and delivering up their rafts, they pass some weeks in idle indulgence; drinking, smoaking, and dashing off, in a long coat, flashy waistcoat and trow- sers, Wellington or hessian boots, a handkerch' '^ \f 1 V ill 168 NEW BRUNSWICK. II fly P. \ »!' many coUmrs round the neck, a watch with a long tinsel chain and numberless brass .seals, and an vm- brella. Before winter they return again to the woods, and resume the pursuits of the preceding year. Some exceptions however, I have known to this generally true character of lumberers. Many young men of steady habits, who went from Prince Edward Island, and other places, to Miramichi, for the express purpose of making money, have joined the lumbering parties for two or three years j and, after saving their earnings, returned and purchased lands, &c. on which they now live very comfortably. -' ^' From 800 to 1,000 cargoes of timber have been imported annually for some years from British Ame- rica, and this trade employs about 6,000 seamen, who are exposed to every variety of climate. The timber trade is very important as a nursery for sailors, and it is besides of great value to P^ngland, in the value of freights and timber, which are princi- paliy paid for by the production of British labour. On the most convenient streams, there are several saw mills, from which the qur atity of boards and deals re- quired are brought down the river for shipping. Ship building has alsio occupied the attention of the merchants, aboul twenty large vessels having been built on the river. - >t i f *. In October, 1825, upwards of a hundred miles of the country, on the north side of Miramichi river, became a scene of the most dreadful conflagration that has perhaps ever occurred in the history of the world. NEW BRUNSWICK. 1(39 In Europe, we can scarcely form a conception of the fury and rapidity with which the fires rage through the American forests during a dry hot season ; at which time, the underwood^ decayed vegetable substances, fallen branches, bark, and withered trees, are as inflammable as a total absence of moisture can render them. When these tremendous fires are once in motion, or at least when the Hamcs extend over a few miles of the forest, the surrounding air becomes highly rarifled, and the wind naturally increases to a hurr- cane.^ It appears that the woods had been, on both sides of the North West branch, partially on fire for some time, but not to an alarming extent, until the 7th of October, when it came on to blow furiously from the north-west, and the inhabitants on the banks of the river were suddenly alarmed by a tremendous roaring in the woods, resembling the incessant rolling of thunder ; while at the same time, the atmosphere became thickly darkened with smoke. They had scarcely time to ascertain the cause of this phenomenon before all the surrounding woods appeared in one vast blaze, the flames ascending more than a hundred feet above the tops of the loftiest trees, and the fire, like a gulf in flames, rolling forward with inconceivable celerity. In less than an hour Douglastown and Newcastle were enveloped in one vast blaze, and many of the wretched inhabitants, unable to escape, perished in the midst of this terrible fire. The following account is taken from a Miramichi paper of the 11th October : — " More than a hundred • See Note M Appendix. 170 NEW BRUNSWICK. miles of the shores of Miramichi arc laid waste, inde- pendent of the north west branch, the Baltibog, and the Nappan settlements. From one to two hundred people have perished within immediate observation, and thrice that number are miserably burnt or other- wise wounded ; and, at least two thousand of our fellow creatures are left destitute of the means of subsistence, and thrown at present upon the human- ity of the Province of New Brunswick. ~ ■' " The number of lives that have been lost in the remote parts of the woods, among the Lumbering Parties, cannot be ascertained for some time to come, for it is feared that few were left to tell the tale. " It is not in the power of language to describe the unparalleled scene of ruin and devastation which the Parish of Newcastle at this moment presents ; out of upwards of two hundred and fifty houses and stores, fourteen of the least considerable only remain. The Court House, Gaol, Church, and Barracks ; Messrs. Gilmour, Rankin and Co.*s, and Messrs. William Abrams and Co 's Establishments, with two Ship5s on the stocks are reduced to ashes. " The loss of property is incalculable, for the fire, borne upon the wings of a hurricane, rushed upon the wretched inhabitants with such inconceivable rapidity, that the preservation of their lives could be their only care. " Among the vessels on the river, a number were cast on shore ; three of which, namely, the ships Concord of Whitby, and Canada of North Shields, V M^ NEW BRUNSWICK. 17|, together with the Brig Jane of Alloa, were consumed ; others were fortunately extinguished after the fire had attacked them. , , „ " At Douglastown scarcely any kind of property escaped the ravages of the fire, which swept off the surface every thing coming in contract with it, leav- ing but time for the unfortunate inhabitants to fly to the shore j and there by means of boats, canoes, rafts of timber, timber-logs, or any article however ill cal- culated for the purpose, they endeavoured to escape from the dreadful scene, and reach the town of Chatham, numbers of men, women, and children, perishing in the attempt. " In some parts of the country the cattle have all been destroyed, or suffered greatly, and the very soil in many places has been parched and burnt up, and no article of provisions to speak of has been rescued from the flames. " The hurricane raged with such dreadful violence, that large bodies of timber on fire, as also trees from the forest, and parts of the flaming houses and stores, were carried to the rivers with amazing velocity, to such an extent, and affecting the water in such a manner, as to occasion large quantities of salmon and other fish to resort to land ; hundreds of which were scattered on the shores of the north and south west branches. " .^--- .. ..^.. ... ,., j-., *' Chatham at present contains about three hundred of the unfortunate sufferers, who have resorted to it for relief, and are experiencing some partial assistance, 1*1 172 NEW BRUNSWICK. 11 hit and almost every hour brings with it great numbers from the back settlements, burnt, wounded, or in a most abject state of distress ; and it is reported that nearly two hundred bodies have been actually des- troyed. The ravages of the fire extended as far as Frederic- ton, on the River St. John, where it destroyed the Governor's residence, and about eighty other houses ; and to the northward, as far as the Bay de Chaleur. At the lowest computation, five hundred lives were lost. I . If the benevolence and charity of mankind were ever manifested in a more than common degree of feeling for their fellow-men, it was assuredly on this memorable occasion. Clothing and provisions were sent from the neighbouring colonies immediately on the accounts of the distress arriving. Sir Howard Douglas, the Governor, crossed the country at once, to ascertain the full extent of the calamity. Sub- scriptions for the relief of the sufferers were raised to an amount hitherto unexampled, in Great Britain, in the United States, and in all the British American Colonies. ., , . Miramichi may now be said to have completely surmounted the misery and loss occasioned by the ravages of so terrible a calamity. Newcastle is again rising from its ashes, and will in a few years likely con- tain as many houses, and as large a population as formerly. The country laid waste by the insatiate element is of little value, it is true, in comparison NEW BRUNSWICK. 173 with its former worth. The timber has been des- troyed, and the land impoverished, on which, tree* common to sterile soils are springing up. 1 have often heard it observed by people unacquainted with America, that the lands would become valuable by being cleared of the woods by fire, and that immense labour in reclaiming the forest lands would thus be saved ; but no opinion can be more erroneous. Settlers who know the value of wilderness lands always choose those covered with the heaviest and largest trees ; and the strongest objection that can be made to a piece of land, is its having been subjected to fire, which withers the trees, and effectually exhausts the soil, in conse- quence of its producing afterwards two or three crops of tall weeds, which require more nourishment than the same number of corn crops would. If the lands were, immediately after a fire, brought under cultivation, they would then be equally valuable to those cleared in the nsual way ; but as these great fires seldom level the large trees, they are in consequence of losing the sap, much harder and mon^ difficult to cut down than green wood ; and, by being all charred, ex- ceedingly disagreeable to work among. The clearing of ground, on which the trees are all in a fresh growing state, is therefore preferred to that which has been subjected to fires, which seldom consume effec- tually more than the underwood, decayed fragments, and the branches of the large trees. The trees cut down for the timber of commerce,, are not of the smallest importance in respect to clearing the lands ; I 174 HUW fiRVtiHflQH, I although I have heard it urged in England as an ^gument in favour of the timber trade. The lum- berers choose the trees that they consider the most suitable, and not one in ten thousand is esteemed so. . Almost every description of forest trees would be valuable for different purposes, if once landed in the United Kingdoms ; but the principal part of the cost is the freight across the Atlantic, and in order, there- fore, that a ship may carry the greatest possible quan- tity, the largest and straightest trees are hewn square, and not brought round to market as the trees cut down in England are. The timber trade of America has been attended with loss to almost every merchant engaged in it. The causes of which are numerous, but principally arising, first, from the low price of labour and naval stores in the northern king- doms of {Europe, enabling the people of those countries to export timber to Great Britain at extremely low prices} and secondly^ from the lumberers not being able, or indeed willing, to pay the debts t hey con- tracted with the merchants, in consequence of the depreciated value of timber. Many adventurers, also, without any capital, from witnessing extraordinary gains having been occasionally made by the merchants, entered into this business, and who, having nothing to losCj ventured into daring speculations, which were ex- cesedioglyjnjurious to ^regularly established noi^rchants.f^ ^. I , * The most absurd objections are made, either fVom interest or prejudice, against American Timber, althoogb for most purposes it it equal, and for mfiiiy, superior to that from Norway. One of NEW BRUNSWICK. 175 To the southward of Mirnmichi, New Brunswick t-x- tends about 75 miles along the Straits of Northumber- land to Cape Tormentine. On this coast are the harbours of Rechlbucto, Buctush, Cocalgne, Shediac, and the harbour of Chemoguee for small vessels. The shores of this district are low ; and sandy downs, in many places, form a border to the coast. The soil is generally of a fertile description, but very thinly inhabited, and many thousands of settlers might be located on the vacant lands, lying between the sea and the river St. John. , . ) Rechibucto harbour has a sand bar across the entrance, but at high water ships drawing sixteen feet water may cross over it : within the last few years these objeotioDii is at the same time untrue and ridiculoud, that is, its being more congenial to the propagation of bugs than other wood. It has been confidently stated in some of the public prints, that not only do the trees in the fiirest abound with these dis- gusting insects, but that the timber when landed Trom the ships has swarmed with them. 1 need only observe, that there can be little difference between European and American Timber as far as regards the one being more genial to the increase or bugs than the other: they are exceedingly rare in the wooden buildings in America, except in the oldest houses in the towns ; and it is well known thatthere are few ofthe old houses in the towns in England that are not infected with those loathsome Vermicula. The dura- bility of American Timber is also questioned : the yellow pine is certainly not so durable as the red pine of Norway, although for many purposes it is much better adapted. The Pitch Pine, Red Pine, and Juniper, or American Larch, will, I am firmly con- vinced, last as long as any wood of the same genus growing in any part of Europe. The Hemlock, a large tree ofthe firtribe, is, I consider, the most durable wood in the world ; and it possesses the peculiar property of preserving iron driven into it, either under water or exposed to the air, from corroding. ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ^^ hi ^S lit lU j;2 S Hi ■" ||_U_ f."^ KS '^ """ Uil Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716) 872-4503 ?v 37 s> ■'V ^^%^^ "^^V^ 4g^ 176 NEW BRUNSWICK. vast quantities of timber have been exported from this place. The inhabitants are principally engaged as lumberers, agriculture being a minor consideration. Buctush is also a bar harbour, and a port from which timber is exported, but not on a large scale. Cocaigne lies to the southward of Buctush : its entrance is intricate even for small vessels ; but ships of considerable burthen may load within the bar. Several cargoes of timber have been exported from this place, and here also a few ships have been built. The population is small. Shediac is a small bar harbour with a scanty po- pulation, who have divided their labour between hewing timber and a little farming. The entrance to Chemoguee river is shallow ; some of the lands are under tolerable cultivation, and agri- culture and rearing cattle occupy the principal attention of the inhabitants. Between Chemoguee and Cape Tormentine there are many very extensive and well cultivated farms. The soils resembles that of Prince £dward Island, which is immediately opposite ; and here the distance across is not ten miles. From Miramichi, north, to Point Miscou, at the en- trance of the Bay de Chaleur, the distance is about 70 miles. The sea coast and back lands of this district are very low, and the shore nearly altogether fringed with sandy ridges, or small sand Islands, within which, are lagoons with shallow entrances. To Tracadie, the prin- cipal of these places, several thousand tons of timber are NEW BRUNSWICK. 177 Hnnually Imuled out of the woods, and rafted to Miramichi. To the northward of these places, and near the passage of Shippigan, which divides the Island of that name, from the Continent, are situated the small and shallow harbours of Little and Great Pomouch, inhabited by a few Acadian French. The population along this coast is scattered thinly near the water, and subsist by the means cf fishing, raising potatoes, and a little grain, and hewing timber. -. r'r » f i in m i I 'n n 11' 2a '/ ^ 17a NKW BRUNSWICK. CHAP. XV. [> I ». i Bay do Chaleur,...Mi8cou,...SbippigaD,...St. Peter's,* ••Rutti- fOUcbe,....Bonaventure,... . Carlisle,.. Gaspe, &c. ...Climate ol the District ofGaspe,.. ..Whale Fishery,.. ..Island nf Anti- ooati,.. Magdalene Islands,. .Acadian French,.. Canadians, &c. jlHIS Bay, or rather Gulf, and the River Rusti- gouche, which falls into it, divide Canada and New Brunswick, Cape Mackerall, (Maquereau) on the Canadian side, and Point Miscou on the south, distant from each other 15 miles, form the entrance to this bay. Point Miscou is in latitude 47° 58, and in longi- tude 64** SO*. The length of this magnificent Gulf from Point Miscou west, to the mouth of the River Rustigouche, is about 85 miles. In one place it is 20 miles broad} in others from 15 to 30 miles. On the Canadian or north side, the land rises into lofty moun- tains : on the south side, except within 20 miles uf the head of the bay, the interior country is low; although along the shores the cliffs are in some places perpendicular. In 1534, The famous and intrepid French Naviga- tor, Jaques Carticr, sailed into this bay, previous to his discovering the St. Lawrence. From the intensity of the midsummer heat, which he then experienced, he gave it the name of Bay de Chaleur. BAY DE CHALEUR. 179 Miscuu Island is about 10 miles round. Here the French, previous to the conquest of Canada, had an extensive fishing plantation, conducted by the " Com- pany of M iscou." The remains of their buildings, &c. still appear, [n IS19, when 1 was ashore on this Island, there was living on it but one family, consist- ing of a disbanded Highland soldier, of the name of Campbell, his wife, son-in-law, and two daughters.* He settled on this spot from his attachment to raising cattle ; as it affords excellent pasturage in summer, and as it produces also plenty of hay to feed them with during winter. There is a safe and deep harbour formed between this Island and the Island of Shippi- gan. The entrance to it, from the Gulf, must not be attempted, as it will scarcely admit boats; but the other from the bay has water sufiiciently deep for large ships. There is little wood on this Island : the trees are dwarf birches and firs. Shippigan is about 20 miles long, low, and sandy, ana produces bent grass, fir and birch trees, shrubs, and a great abundance of cranberries, blueberries, &c. I ' * Three of this Tamily wore, I have learned since, drowned ; the boat in which they were attempting to oroBS over to Cara- quette, having filled on a reef about two miles fVom the land. One of these was the unmarried daughter. Her appearance whs certainly intoreslini;, when I taw her, and I could not help think- ing at the time, that it was a matter or regret to see her wearing out life on an island thirty miles Trom any one but her own family. A black servant that I had with me, told me alter we \etl, that she was anxious to escape flrom her prison, and would gladly do so then, if she could. Three months after, the unfortunate girl was drowned. 180 NBW BRUNSWICK. The passage between it and the Continent, being at the eastern entrance choakcd witii sand, has unlv seven or eight feet depth of water ; but the channel leading from the Bay dc Clialeur is deep an. I broad ; but on each side of which, flat, rocky, and sundy shal- lows stretch out two or three miles from the land. On this Island, and on the main land opposite, there are about fifty families of Acadian French, whose princi- pal occupation is Ashing. The soil is tolerably fertile, and produces wheat, potatoes, and oats ; which, how- ever, the inhabitants raise but in small quantities. A few cargoes of timber have been exported from Ship- pigan ; and a considerable quantity of red and yellow Pine is hauled out of the woods during winter to Pomouch, a few miles to the southward ; and from which place, large rafts of timber have frequently been poled along the shore, 60 or 70 miles, and delivered at Miramichi. Caraquette is situated a few miles west of Shippi- gan. There is an Island at the entrance which forms the harbour : on each side of this Island there is a deep but intricate channel. A long, populous, but straggling village extends several miles along the south side of Caraquette Bay ; at the head of which, stands the old Catholic Chapel, in one of the most beautiful spots in the world; at least it is so during summer and autumn : on one side of it is a beautiful transparent stream, issuing from between the crevices of a rock; on tlie other, before the skirts of a luxuriant forest of birch and maple, are a few acres of green sward, on which the liAY DE CHALEUB. 181 villagers delight to repose ia fine weather, during the interval between Mass and Vespers. In front of this spot n beautiful view opens of the harbour, Caraquctte island, and a broad pros])ect of tlie Bay de Chuleur. Jn the middle of the village, and on pretty high ground, the new stone Church stands. It is a large plain building, with a high spire, and one or two bells. The inside is lined with pictures of a showy, but cheap description. The inhabitants, however, fell great re- luctance in abandoning the old chapel, which, with every object surrounding it, had been for twenty or thirty years familiarized to them, and they were anxious, although the distance was very inconvenient, to build the new one on the same spot. The soil about Caraquette is very fertile. I have seen as fine wheat growing there as in any part of America. The inhabitants of this place and Shippigan, particularly the women, show more of the features and colour of the Mic-Mac Indians, than any of the Acadinns that 1 have elsewhere seen. This circum- stance arises from the first settlers, of whom they are descended, having intermarried with the savages. These people employ themselves principally in the Cod and Herring Fisheries, and depend only as an auxiliary means of subsistence, on the cultivation of the soil, which they leave in a great measure to the management of the women and younger sons. There are some excellent grindstone quarries in this place. Red ochre, also, of excellent quality, abounds. Between Caraquette and Nipisighjt Bay, there are 182 NEW URUNSWICR. r U three or four small Acadian Settlements, the inhab- itants uf which live by fishing. On the east side of Nipisighit (or St. Peter's) is situated the new flourishing settlement of New Ban- don ; the inhabitants of which went from Ireland a few years ago, and have, by confining their labour entirely to agriculture, and by persevering industry and good management, succeeded in rising, from com- parative poverty, to the acquisition of considerable property in land and cattle. St. Peter's is the harbour of Nipisighit Bay ; there is a bar across the entrance, but large brigs can load inside of it. The River Nipisighit winds and branches over a great extent of the northern part of New Bruns- wick. I have before observed, that it appears to be in a line of contact, between a region of sandstone to the eastward, and a part of the vast granitic range of the Alleghanies. For some years, several ships have loaded with timber at this port ; to which business the inhabitants have directed a great portion of their labour. The number of settlers in this place is inconsiderable; but I believe, that a great population might be located advantageously on the lands watered by this river. There are two or three merchants at St. Peter's, and it is the port of entry under St. John, for all the harbours on the south side of the Bay de Chaleur. < > , > . , The River Rustigouchc, which separates Canada from New Brunswick, falls into a spacious harbour at the head of the Bay de Chaleur. This majestic river RUSTIOOUCHE. 183 and its numerous appendant streams, branch over more than 2,000 square miles of New Brunswick and Canada. The largest stream running into it from the north is the Matapediash, rising in a lake of that name, situated in the middle of the county of Cornwallis, in Lower Canada. From one of the southern streams of the Rustigouche, the distance to the river St. John is but a few miles ; and by this route the Courier travels with letters to New Brunswick, or Canada. A road to open a direct communication between the settle- ments on the Bay de Chaleur and Canada, by the lake Metapcdiash, has been contemplated. Next to u public road from Fredericton to the St. Lawrence, I consider a road that would enable the inhabitants of the Bay de Chaleur, particularly those on the north side, to have a direct and certain intercourse with Quebec, an object of the greatest importance to this neglected, and almost forgotten, but still valuable part of Canada. A profitable salmon fishery was, for many years, followed on the River Rustigouche, which has, for some time, been declining ; and the timber trade seems to be almost supplant'sig it altogether. I have been told by those longest seil'ed on the river, that an extraordinarv decrease in the number of salmon annually frequenting it has taken place : this may be in consequence of its waters being much more dis- turbed than formerly. The inhabitants at what may be considered the harbour of Rustigouche, and those at the thinly in- IK- Is 184 LOWER CANADA. hnbitcd settlements of Nnuvelle, Trncadigasli, uiid Cascapcdia, consist of ti mixed population, of English, Scotch, Irish, American, and Acadian French, who employ themselves in the dift'erent occupations of fishing, hewing timber, and farming on a very humble scale. Eight miles up the Hustigouche, there is an Indian Chapel, and here they occasionally form a small village of fVigwams'f which, after a few weeks, they soon displace, and, packing up these portable habitations, with all their stock, embark with them in their canoes, for some other part of the country. The land, on each side the river Rustigouche, is high and mountainous. In some places the river appears to have actually broken through ramifications of the great chain between it and the St. Lawrence. In the valleys and along the river where interval lands abound, the soil is capable of producing luxuriant crops of grain, and all sorts of green crops. The trees, particularly the fir tribes, grow to immense heights and sizes, and a great timber country may be opened on this river. The quality is in great repute among the timber dealers in England, especially in the port of Liverpool, and considered equal to that imported from Miramichi. The greatest difficulty to surmount appeared, to me, to be the hauling or bringing it out to the rivers, as the best timber groves are in the valleys, behind the mountainous ridges, which in most places follow the winding of the streams. The indefatigable spirit of the lumberers, however, is such, that they I isTKK r or (i \siM'. \Qh ytw'ti'oun: iiaUiriil ohsluitcs Ihiil wuuUI st.ifrfrt'r tlii> rt-so- iutioi) ot utiier people . 'I'iu y cut the timber, iitid haul it, ill winter, to piiiees where tliere is often no water either in summer or winter; but which, they well know, will be overflown when the spring-thaws dissolve (he snow on the mountains, and in the woods. There are three or four timber merchants at Rus- tigouehc harbour, who have exported several cargoes of timber during the last few years. Purl of the sal- mon caught in this river arc sold to the traders, who carry them to Quebec or Malifax; and the rest cxjiortcd direct to the West Indies. The country between the Bay des Chaleurs and the River St. Lawrence, is in Lower Canada, and fornix the district of Gaspe. The harbour and river of Bonuventure, on the north side of the bay, is about thirty miles below Rusvi- gouehe. On each side of this small harbour, which iit high water will admit brigs of near !.'()() tons, there is ;v thickly settled population of industrious .-icoiliuu Frtm h. These people have much simplicity in their manners, and strangers always meet with kindness and hospitality among them. They are principally engaged in the herring and cod fisheries ; next to which, they derive considerable assistance from the cultivation of the soil. They build boats and fishing vessels for themselves ; and, during winter, some of the young men have, since 18l7» spent part of their time hewing timber in the woods; this, however, is an employment which they 2h 4;' i U % 180 PAKT ul LOWER CANADA, do not seem t'ond of. There is a Cntliulic Churcli in this village; nnd on the beach, near the mouth of the hitrbuur, there arc suit stores, fish houses, &c. Carlisle is the principal place in the district of Ciaspe. It is laid out for a town, and its situation during summer is agreeable and beautiful. There is Si substantial and handsome stone building here, in which the district court is held, and in which there is also a jail.* The population is composed of pcoph* from different parts of America and Europe, and the character of the majority of them is consiuered not of ihe most honest description by the inhabitants of the neighbouring settlements. Two miles below Carlisle is the settlement of Paspabiac, inhabited chiefly by Acadian French, who employ themselves principally in fishing. Here are also several people from Jersey, at-tached to the respectable fishing establishment of Messrs. Robin and Co. The harbour of Paspabiac admits only very small schooners and boats; hut * I saw in t8l!)tlio judge or this rourt and liis brother, who had bren a captain in the army. Thoy were certainly as pcrrcct pictures or penury as could well be discovered io any country ; and both men were oriiboral education. They livedina smallhousewilh- out a servant ; they cooked for themselves, and washed and mended their own clothes, which were patched all over with various colours, which they seldom subjected to the influence or soap and water. The judge was formerly a lawyer at Quebec, but said to bepromoted to ihe bench of tho district of Gaspe by the joint efforts of the bar of which he was a member, in order to get rid of so dirty and penurious a being. Hoarding money was the apparent object uf tlieir existence. The military man died since, I believe, ofa fever ; the judj^c soon after committed suicide. He left a considerable fortune. DISTRICT OF GASPK. in? .■ Church in louth of thf &c. : district of its situation a. There is ing here, in hich there is •d of pcoph- ope, and the iiiered not of itants of the elow Carlisle ed chiefly by principally in from Jersey, kblishment of of Paspahiac boats ; but is brother, who lainly as perfect 17 country ; Hiid imallhousewilh- ihed and mended various colours, soap and water. d to be promoted sfforts or tbfl bar or so dirty and lareot object uf iovc, ofn Tevcr; I a considerable shiph and large bcluMincrs ridi' iit anchor with sulVty all summer in the road. The Ash ^torcn, JhikrK^ ^cc. are ranged along a very fine beach, where the people connected with the fisheries iire incesHuntly employed during the summer and autumn; in winter ihey retire back near to the wouds. A few milc!i below I'aKpuhiur is situated the small harbour and scttlenu'nt of Litfl< Nouvelle ; below which, m far alon^^ the cdast as cape Desespoir, the land and soil assuinf* a rugged and rather barren appearunoc. Port Daniel is the best harbour witliin the bay Do Chaleur, and the features of its scenery are darit, wild, and prominent. There are but a few families in this place, and they appeared to me to be in great p«)V(rly. It is convenient for fishing; but the soil mar the shore is rocky and barren. Great and little Pabos, and Grand Hiver, arc small harbours with intricate entrances, situated along the coast between port Daniel and cape Desespoir. The inhabitants, few in number, support themselves by the means of fishing and a little cultivation. The soil near the shore is indifferent; but at some distance back, and along the streams, there arc several fertile spots. Percd is the oldest fishing settlement in this dis trict. Immediately over it mount Joli rises abruptly, and its romantic: summit ascends to the cloud.». This mountain or cape i consider to be the first risic or commencement of the great Alleghaney chain. This immense granitic range, branching into numerous . I i»! >'. M ir>n r,o wr.n can An v. r.iiuilicalions, follows a courso iicuily j)ar!ilU'l to flif St. Jy.ivvrencr; !in«l then, to tho eastward ol ImIm- Clmmplaiii, beads to the Southward, until it is fin;i!ly tost by dipping into the Carolinas. ' '' Ijonaventiirc fshmd lies about a mile e&sl iVoiu Perce. Its south, east, and north sides ])resent inac- cessible elifls. On the west, opposite Pere6, boats may always land, wliere there are two or three fishinir plan- tations established by industrious adventurers from .lersey. This Island and Peree arc both important fishing ports, and the inhabitants arc all fishermen. TheehanncI between Perce and Bonaventure Island is deep, and without rocks or shoals, with the excep- tion of Roc Perce, which stands at the northern entrance. This extraordinary and picturesque rock is near 200 feet hiiijh, of a zigzag narrow shape, and about 300 feet long; it has two arches or openings through it, suHicicuMy large to iKow boats carrying sail to pass under. The settlement of Perc& has its name from the rock : the Canadian French having called it Rot Pciity from its appearance. About two miles to the northward of this place, the inhabitants say that two English men of war were wrecked, which belonged to the squadron, (Com- modore Phipps's) that attempted to take Quebec in J 721, and that the sailors after landing perished from cold and want of food. This may be true, as few of Phipps's ships were ever heard of. The most super- stitious stories of apparitions having often been seen, an tntrniice of the great Uiver St. Lawrence. It is with- in the latitudes of 49° b\ and 49° 55', and longitudes 61° 54', 65° 30'. The whole of its north coast is high, and without harbours. The water close to the clills is very deep, and there are some coves where vessels may take shelter with the wind blowing otf the land. The south shore is low ; the lands wet and swampy, and covered with birch and fir trees. There is a bar harbour near the west point, which will admit small vessels. It can scarcely be said, that this Island has any rivers, if that called Jupiter Uiver be not an exception. On the south the water is shoal, but the soundings are regular; flat rocky reefs extend a considerable distance from the east, west, and some other points : sandy downs line a great part of the south coast, within which, there are lagoons or ponds, Hlled by small streams, running into them from the interior. During stormy weather and high tides, the sea frequently makes its way over the sands into these lagoons, out of which also, there are small streams running into the gulf. Shipwrecks have frequently occurred along the shores of Anticosti, and the crews have in many instances perished after landing, from severe cold and want of food. Government has established a station with a family at each end of the Island, and posts, without inhabitants along the shore, with directions to per- sons who have escaped from shipwreck, where to proceed. ANTICOSTI. 19S lere is a bar Of the interior of this Island we know but little. It is covered with woods, chiefly dwarf spruce, white cedar, birch and poplar ; the trees appear to be all of low and stunted growth. Near the shore, the land appears unfit for cultivation. A few spots of tolerable soil arc, it is true, met with ; but the want of harbours, and the severity of the climate, are insuperable ob- jections to its settlement : it is a seigneury under the Government of Canada, and belongs, I believe, to a private family at Quebec. The Indians, who on their hunting excursions, have penetrated into the interior, have informed me, that the lands are swampy or wet, with the exception of a few hills. Bears, foxes, hares, and sables, are very numerous. Partridges, snipes, curlews, plovers, &c. abound. -• i '^ . . ^ • M' ill:.' ;. , MAGDALEN ISLANDS. This cluster of Islands is situated within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 60 miles distant from Prince Edward Island, and 65 miles distant from Cape Breton. They are the property of Sir Isaac Coffin, who appears to take very little interest in them. The inhabitants, about 500 in number, are Acadian French, who live principally by the means of fishing. In the month of April, they go in their shallops, among the fields of ice, that float in the Gulf, in quest of seals ; and in summer, they employ themselves in fishing for Herring and Cod. The soil of these Islands is a light sandy loam, 2c Ji • I' 194 MAGDALEN ISLANDS. i ' resting on freestone. It yields barley, oats, potatoes, and wheat would likely grow, but the quantity of soil fit for cultivation is no more than the fisherman will require for potatoc gardens, and a little pasture. Some parts are covered with spruce, birch, and juni- per trees j others are formed into sandy downs, pro- ducing bent grass, cranberries, juniperberries, and various other wild fruits are very abundant. A few miles to the north, Brion and Bird Islands are situated. Multitudes of Aquatic Birds frequent them for the purpose of hatching. I have seen shal- lops loaded with eggs, in bulk, which were brought from these Islands for sale, to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The Magdalen Islands are under the Government of Canada, and the inhabitants are amenable to the courts at Quebec, 600 miles distant : a most incon- venient regulation, when they are so much nearer Prince Edward Island. There is a chapel, in which a priest, sent from Quebec, officiates. Plentiful fishing banks, from which the Americans of the United States derive the principal advantage, abound in every direction near these Islands. The descendants of the French, n ho settled in the colonies now possessed by Great Britain, are distin- guished by the appellations of Jcadiam and Canadians. The former were principally settled during the French government in Nova Scotia, then called Acadia : the latter in Canada. The Acadians arc now to be found FRENCH ACADIAN!. J 05 (as before mentioned) in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton, always by themselves in distinct settlements. They are averse from settling among other people; and I have not been able to discover more than four instances of their intermarrying with strangers. They profess the Roman Catholic faith, and observe the most rigid adherence to all the forms of their Church. Their general character is honest and inoifensive. Religi> ously tenacious of their dress, and all the habits of their forefathers, they have no ambition to rise in the world above the condition in which they have lived since their first settling in America. I'he dread of being exposed to the derision of the rest, for attempt- ing to imitate the English inhabitants, is one, if not the principal cause that prevents individuals among them^ who would willingly alter their dress and habits, from doing so. In Prince Edward Island, the Acadian women dress nearly in the same way as the Bavarian broom-girls. On Sundays their clothes and linen look extremely clean and neat ; and they wear over their shoulders a small blue cloth cloak, reaching only half way down the body> and generally fastened at the breast with a brass broach. On week days they are more carelessly dressed, and they usually wear sabots (wood shoes.) The men dress in round blue cloth jackets, with strait collars, and metal buttons set close together ; blue or scarlet waistcoats, and blue trowsers. Among all the Acadians in Prince Edward Island, I never knew but .^ v^-. ( 1 196 FRENCH ACADIANS. % one person who had the hardihood to dress differently from what they call ** notre fa9on." On one occasion he ventured to put on an English coat, and he has never since, even among his relations, been called by his proper name, Joseph Gallant, which has been sup- planted by that of " Joe Peacock." At Arichat, the Acadians, both men and women, sometimes depart in their dress from the fashions of the Acadians, and wear coats and gowns. At Cara- quette, I observed also a partial deviation from their usual dress. Some of the men wearing coats, and a few of the women wearing gowns. The head dress of the women on the south side of the Bay de Chaleur, is, I believe, peculiar to themselves : instead of the Bavarian-like small caps, worn by all the other Acadi- ans, they delight in immense muslin caps, in shape like a balloon. The women in all the fishing settlements are per- fect drudges. The men, after splitting the fish, leave the whole labour of curing to the women, who have also to cook, nurse their children, plant their gardens, gather what little corn they raise, and spin and weave coarse cloth. The old worn clothes, they either cut into small stripes, and weave as waft into coarse bed covers ; or they untwist the threads into wool, which they again spin and make into cloth The Acadians are nearly destitute of education : scarcely any of the women, and few of the men, can read or write, and, like all ignorant people, it matters not of what religion, are exceedingly blgotted and superstitious.* * I WM told by different persons in Prince Edward Island, • /' FRENCH ACAOIANS. IJ»7 They labuur under the iinpressioii, that justice is not, under tlie British Government, administered tb^' following ancrdutu. At St. Eleanor's, Colonel Compton, tu wliom tlio Township of St. Eleanor's brlnn^s, lived about thirty years ago. Near his house is a small livor, Uic entrance of which opens early in the spring ; at which time it is usually fre- quented by flocks of wild geese, t^t. Eleanor's was then popu- lously settled with Acadian French ; and duiing the residence of Colonel Compton, one of (he inhabitants, (Louis Arseneux,) died without the usual consolatory attendance of a Clergy msin, there being but one Priest at the time on the Island, who lived about 70 miles distant, and whu eould not, it appears, come in time to hear the confessit n of the dying num. Louis, it seems, was one of those Acadians who did not surrender when the Island was taken ; and while lurking about in the woods, he iound two Englishmen sleep- ing, during tho summer beat, under the shade of a tree. Louis considering them his natuial enemies, as well as the eonqucrois of his country, felt no scruple in killing them with his hatchet. The murder, however, made Louis miserable, and his conscience was a most troublesome one to him as long as ho lived ; although his dying hour only developed the mysterious cause of his misery. A little ailer bis death, a solitary wild goose made its appcaiance, in the opening of the ice, at the mouth of the river, near the village ol St. Eleanor's. The young men, who weie all considered such good $hot$, as to be able to hit a goose at 100 yards distance with a musket ball, fired fiequently, but inefl'ectually at this one ; which they at last began to think invulnerable. At this time, there was on visit at Colonel Compton's, an Iiish Oflieer, belonging to the trcops stationed at Charlotte Town. He had with him an excel- lent double barrelled gun, and the Acadians beseeched him to tiy its viitues, by shooting the wondeiful goose. He accom- panied them, crept within shot of the object, and being (although « Catholic himself,) amused at their superstitious fears, be at the m( menl he was apparently going to fire, started up, as if in gieat terror, and told the Acadians, that no one must attempt filing again at what they took for a wild goose, that his gun possessed the pecu- liar and wonderAil property, when he aimed with it at a supernatu- ral object, of exhibiting it to bim in its proper form, and that what m !• Sdward Island, M 1 W^ 1 " "m ;■ jmm^ .^•isfeJ^i/. J iifti CANADIANS. r^ii impartially to them, in the courts of law ; and this has arisen perhaps entirely from the conduct of the justices of the peace ; many of whom, appointed in the settle- ments, arc stupid ignorant men; and I regret to say, that 1 have often known them to make iniquitous and unjust decisions against the Acadians. The descendants of the French, settled on the north side of the Bay de Chaleur, are mostly Acadi- ans ; hut, from their intimate intercourse with Que- bec, and the Canadians, are a more intelligent and respectable people than the other Acadians, whom they, as well as the Canadians, denominate " Les Sauvages." There is not probably in the world a more con- tented or happy people than the Canadian peasantry. They are, with few exceptions, in easy circumstances ; and are fondly attached to the seigneurial mode of set- tling on lands. In all the Canadian settlements, the Parish Church is the point around which the inhabi- tants like to dwell ; and farther from it than the dis- tance at which the sound of its bell can he heard, none of them can be reconciled to settle. They are not anxious to become rich ; but they always possess the necessary comforts, and many of the luxuries of tliey had vainly attempted to shnot, was the ghrst ofL'-uis Arscneaz, who would doubtless haunt St. Eleanor's until a Clergyman wai sent for, to deliver his soul From the pains of purgatory. A deputa- tion ol'young men were immediately despatched fur the Priest, the goose disappeared, and the good Aeadian$ rejoiced in having per- formed a religioas duty, which tho felicity of their lost friend randered neneuarv. CANADIANS. 199 life. Their food consists of bread, butter, cheese, milk, tea, fish, flesh meat, &c. dressed in their own style. They are fond of soups, which are seldom how- ever, even in Lent, of a mcuirre description. Every Canadian has one or two horses, drives his Calashe in summer, and Cabriolle in winter. Their farms are small, and often subdivided amon^ a family. Their system of agriculture is tardy, but so great is the fertility of the soil, that with very negligent culture, they always raise abundance for domestic consump- tion, and something to sell for the purchase of articles of convenience and luxury. • .■ u • .v , We discover among the Canadians, the customs and manners that prevailed among the peasantry of France, during the reign of Louis XIV. They are the legitimate descendants of the worshippers of that Monarch, and the Cardinal de Richlieu; and to this day a rigid adherence to national customs prevails among them : neither is example, nor the prospect of interest, sufficiently strong to induce them to adopt the more approved modes of husbandry, or any of the other methods of shortening labour, discovered during the last and present centuries. Contented to tread in the path beaten by their forefathers, they, in the same manner till the ground ; commit, in a like way, the same seeds to the earth ; and in the same style do they gather their harvest, feed their cattle, and prepare and cook their victuals. They eat, dine, and sleep at the same hours, and observe the same spirit in their devo- tions, with as ample a propartion of all the forms of their religion, as their ancestors. ; , . , I; i 200 CANADIANS. The amiisemciits of former timest are also com- mon iunon^ thorn, at their weddings, feasts, and dnnces. They delight in driving in Calashes, and in Cabriolles : in dancing, fiddling, skating, &c After vespers, they pass the evenings of Sundays in diversions ; always, however, without disorder or drunkenness. .... The houses of the Canadians, are, with few cxcep. tions, built of wood ; and the outside walls painted or whitewashed. They generally contain a large kitchen and sitting room, and two or more bed rooms, partitioned with boards oft' the sides and ends. They have seldom more than one chimney, which is in the kitchen, and in which there is also a double stove ; and, in the sitting room, there is another. The Churches, .which are usually built of stone, with their neat spires cased with tin, are interesting features in the scenery along the banks of the St. Lawrence. Politeness seems natural to the Canadians. They never meet one another without putting a hand to the hat, or moving the head ; and the first thing taught a child is to say its prayers and make a bow, or curtsey, and speak respectfully to a stranger. Much merit is certainly due to the Priests : they watch carefully over the morals of their parishioners, and conduct them- selves, not only as individuals, hut as a body with praiseworthy correctness. No country has been treated with so much indul- gence, by its conquerors, as Canada. The Canadians not only enjoy in the fullest extent the free exercise of their own religion, with the revenue allowed under CANADIAN FRENCH 901 the Frt'iifh Govcrninrnt fo Auppnrt it ; but thoy arc in all civil mnttcfai /rovrrncti by their own laws, accord- ing to lilt Cnstuiin' (If Paris, which is the text book of the Cnnudi.'Mi F.awver. TIjp revenue of the Catholic churcli in Caniulu I have always considered enormous ; and if the clergy are not, and will not always continue to be, distinguished for more nuekness, and want of ambition as an ecclesiastical body, than the history of the world has hitherto afforded an example of, their wealth may before long be rendered dangerous to the existence of the British Constitution in Canada.* Knowledqc is power — so is wealth ; and the members of the Canadian Parliament are not such ignorant men as many imagine : neither do the Catholic clergy want intelligence. The wealth of the clergy with the influence which they and the seigneurs (or lords of the manors,) possess over the people will, if they find it their interest, enable them to shake the authority of any governor. At the same time, I do not believe that there is in the world a more peaceable, or more tractable people than the Canadians. From interest, as well as gratitude, they are bound to feel a strong attachment for the British Constitution. And ihey are well assured that, were they subject to the government of the United States, Ihey would not be blessed with the mighty privileges which they now enjoy. Whether principles now exist, that will hereafter unfold themselves in effecting the indcpen(!ence of the Canadas, is at • See note N. 2 d \K I 202 CANADIAN FRENCH. m^j present extremely speculative. The retention of Can* ada during, and since, tiie American revolutionary war, and the brave resistance made last war by the Cana- dian Militia, must be attributed to the privileges and advantages which the people of Lower Canada enjoy under the British Government; and not to anv animo- sity they cherished towards the citizens of the United States. The district of Gaspe affords many tracts of soil fit for the raising of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, &c.; and the climate, although nearly as cold in winter as in Sweden, is, in summer and harvest, very warm, and of sufficient length to ripen to perfection all the kinds of grains and vegetables that grow in England. The ungranted fertile lands are capable of receiving and supporting a population of forty to fifty thousund; but it would not be wise to locate more than 2000 annually. KeiDfounblantv^ CHAP. XVI. Geueial Description, &c Climate. . ..Principal Settlements.. Soil, Agriculture, and Productions Labrador, &c. jLhe Island of Newfoundland is situated nearer to Europe than any of the Islands, or any part of the Continent, of America, and lies within the latitudes of 46°, 40*, and ST, ST, and longitudes of 52", 25', 59°, 15'. It approaches to a triangular form, and it is broken and indented with broad and deep bays, and with innumerable harbours, coves, and rivers. Its configu- ration is wild and rugged, and its aspect from the sea IS far from prepossessing, which was likely the cause of unfavourable opinions respecting its settlement having been entertained. The interior of this large island remained un- explored since its discovery, until Mr. Cormack, in 1823, accompanied by Indians, undertook and accom- plished an arduous journey across the island, from Trinity Bay to St. George's Bay. He found the 204 NEWFOUNDLAND. country bioken and intersected with rivers and lakes ; the general structure of the soil, rocky, with numerous tracts of moss, aiul with very little w(jo(l except on the banks of the rivers, where poplars, birches, and spruce firs grow. He found granite to prevail as the base of the soil, and schistus, red sandstone, quartz, gypsum, limestone predominated on the surface. He also dis- covered specimens of iron and copper, and met with red, white, and black ochres, sulphuiet of iron, &c. Near the centre of the island, he discovered a beautiful block of Labrador felspar, the largest known, being about 4 feet by 2^ feet. Although Newfoundland was the first discovered of all the British colonies, yet it is, in reality, the most imperfectly known in Great Britain : it has been described as thickly wooded, which is not the case; trees of any size are only found within the bays near the water, and along the rivers ; and on the Atlantic coast there is but little wood of any value, except for fuel, and the building of small boats. In the northern parts of the island, where the most extensive forests abounded, fires have destroyed the largest trees, which have been succeeded by those of a different and smaller species ; so that although the island has probably a sufficient quantity of wtod growing on it for its own use ; yet it certainly cannot afford to export any, nor can it supply, as has been asserted, large masts for the navy. The climate has generally been misrepresented, and declared to be unusually severe, humid, and dis- NEWFOUNDLAND. 205 agreeable: on the east and south coasts, when the winds blow from the sea, humidity certainly prevails, and during winter the cold is severe. The harbours on the Atlantic shore are not so long frozen over as the most southerly of those within the Gulf of St. Law- rence. On the west coast from Cape Kay, north, and in the interior, the atmosphere is generally clear, and the climate is much the same as that of the district of Gasp6, in lower Canada. There is no country where the inhabitants enjuy better health, or where, notwithstanding the fatigue and hnrdbhipi to which a fisherman's life is subjected, more of them attain ,to longevity. During the summer months the days and nights, are, with few exceptions, very pleasant. The temper- ature of the atmosphere is indeed frequently hot about mid-day, and often oppressively so ; but in the mornings and evenings, and at night, exceedingly agreeable. As there are nearly five degrees of latitude between the southern and northern points of Newfoundland, it follows that there is a considerable difference in the duration and severity of winter ; the climate of Con- ception Bay may probably be considered as possessing the mean temperature of the island. The most dis- agreeable periods are the setting in and breaking up of winter ; and especially at the time when the large fields of ice that are formed in the hyperborean regions, are carried along the coast by the northerly winds and currents. . , 306 NEWFOUNDLAND. The population of Newfoundland is about 90,000, consisting of English, Scotch, and Irish, or their immediate descendants ; the natives, now dwindled to a few families of Mic-macs, Mountaineers and Boethics (Red Indians) are not included. The principal settlements are St. John's, the seat of government; Harbour Grace, Carboneer, and seve- ral other smaller places in Conception Bay. In Trinity Bay, and also in Bonavista Bay, there are several set- tlements. The most northerly permanent plantation is on the small island of Twillingate, off Exploits' Bay, in latitude 49". ■ '' ' Between St. John's and Cape Race, the principal harbours and settlements are Bay of Bulls, Brigus, Cape Broyle Harbour, Ferryland, Fermose, and Renowes. , ^ -... Ferryland is the oldest place in Newfoundland, and there is a considerable extent of the surrounding land under cultivation ; it was planted originally by Lord Baltimore. In Trepassy Bay, between Cape Race and Cape Freels, there are several families settled. In the south part of the island there are three great bays, namely, St. Mary's, Pljcentia, and Fortune : these have within them countless harbours, and contain a great part of the population of Newf mndland. Placentia was the chief settlement which France planted ; they had it strongly defended, and endeavour- ing, at that period, to drive the English altogether out of the fisheries, were frequently molesting and NEWFOUiNDLAND. 207 rmose, and annoying them. There are but few inhabitants in the district between Fortune Bay and Cape Ray : it is every where indented, like the east coast of Nova Scotia, which it resembles, with harbours ; but the lands, especially near the sea, are rocky, thinly wooded, nnd with scarcely any soil fit for cultivation. On the west coast, particularly at St. George's Bay, where there is a settlement, there are tracts of excellent land with deep and fertile soils, and covered in many places with heavy timber : coal, limestone, and gypsum abound in great plenty in this part of the island. At the heads of the bays and along the rivers there are many tracts of land formed of deposits washed from the hills i the soil of which tracts is of much the same quality as that of the Savannahs in the interior of America. These lands might be converted into excel- lent meadows, and if drained, to carry off the water which covers them after the snows dissolve, they would yield excellent barley, oats, &c. The rich pas- turage which the island affords, adapts it in an eminent degree to the breeding and raising of cattle and sheep, and I believe that it might produce a sufficient quan- tity of beef to supply its fisheries. From the earliest period of the settlement of New- foundland down to the present time, objections have been made and obstacles have been raised in order to discourage its cultivation. That the fisheries of this colony constitute its political and commercial value and importance, no one acquainted with it can deny ; but, at the same time, when we consider the depressed ; if w. 208 NEWFOUNDLAND. i state of its fishery ever since the French and Americans, with the eminent advantages they possess, (particularly the French), obtained a participation of this great branch of our commerce, I have no hesitation in as- serting that were it not from the auxiliary sup- port which the inhabitants derived for the cultiva- tion of the soil, they could not have existed by the production of the fisheries alone ; and as they other- wise would have had to remove to the neighbouring colonies or to the United States, the probable conse- quence would be, that the Americans and French would before this have enjoyed the benefit of expelling us altogether from supplying foreign markets with fish. In comparing Newfoundland to any other country, I consider that the western Highlands of Scotland bear a striking resemblance to it, and there is nothing that the latter will produce but what will grow in the former. The winters of Newfoundland, it is true, are colder, but in summer again the weather is for a con- siderable time very hot ; and there is not so much bog or moss land in Newfoundland, except in the northern parts, as in the western Highlands. The natural productions of Newfoundland are trees of the fir tribes, poplars, birches, a few maple trees, wild cherry trees, and a great variety of shrubs : blue- berries and cranberries grow in great abundance, also small red strawberries, and several other kinds of wild fruit. English cherries, black, r^d, and white currants*, gooseberries, &c. ripen in perfection. LABRADOR. sdd Natural grasses grow^ particularly in the plains, all over the country. The wild animals are bears, deer, wolves, foxes, otters, martins, minks, muskrats, squirrels, and all the aquatic and land birds common to the northern parts of America. Musquitos are in many parts numerous and troublesome; and a great variety of other insects are common. The Newfoundland dog is a celebrated and useful animal, well known. These dogs are remarkably docile and obedient to their masters ; they are very serviceable in all the fishing plantations, and are yoked in pairs and used to haul the winter fuel home. They are gentle, faithful, and good-natured, and ever a friend to man ; at whose command they will leap into the water from the highest precipice, and in the coldest weather. They are remarkably voracious, but can endure, (like the aborigines of the country,) hunger for a great length of time, and they are usually fed upon the worst of salted fish. The true breed has become scarce and difficult to be met with, except on the Coast of Labrador. The Coast of Labrador, in consequence of the fisheries carried on in its harbours, is more intimately connected with Newfbundland than with any other part of North America. This vast country, equal in square miles to the British Isles, France, Spain, and Germany, does not, including all the natives, possess a thousand inhabitants. Its surface is as sterile and naked as any part of the globe. Rocks, swamps, and water, are its pre- 2 c i! 1 '! 1.1 210 LABRADOR. ▼ailing features; and in this inhospitable country, which extends from 50" to 64** north latitude, and from the longitude of 56° west, on the Atlantic, to that of 78° west, on Hudson's Bay, vegetation only appears as the last efforts of expiring nature. Small scraggy poplar, stunted firs, creeping birch, and dwarf willows, thinly scattered in the southern parts, form the whole catalogue of trees; and herbs and grass are also in sheltered places met with ; but in the most northerly parts different varieties of moss and the lichen are the only signs of vegetation. The climate is, in severity, probably as cold as at the poles of the earth, and the summer of short dura- tion. Yet, with all these disadvantages, this country, which is, along its coasts, indented with excellent har- bours, and which has its shores frequented by vast multitudes of fishes, is of great importance to Great Britain. The whole of the interior of Labrador appears, from the aspect of what has been explored, and from the reports of the Esquimaux and other Indians, to be broken up with rivers, lakes, and rocks. The wild animals, which are principally bears, wolves, foxes, otters, and beavers, are not numerous, but their furs are remarkably close and beautiful. '• '' Insects are, during the short space of hot weather, numerous in swampy places. In winter they exist in a frozen state ; and, in this condition, when introduced to the influence of solar heat, or the warmth of fire, are soon restored to animation. ;fr > , y' l"'y •>**:-, \ *..._Xa"» s LABRADOR. 211 The phenomenon of Aurora Borealis is uncommonly brilliant in Labrador ; and I have no doubt but that it possesses, from the increased and increasing variation of the compass, a most powerful magnetic influence ; but this I leave to the determination of the speculative philosopher. Minerals are said to abound in Labra- dor, but very little is known either of its geology or mineralogy. .^■»^ - i •riiV-;-. » oit ■ ( t. . » 1 ■ (•;,!,'• Viif' li..' ' '.1 •■ :■■'■' " ' ' ' ■ ' ' .li',.!!.'! (.• f'l '-t. ■•' ' • ■-■■'■ H'(' ■ j|'■ ••^lOl '.'j . ■ ■ ''' '■'"' ■ '' ' ' ' . ■- -jt'ii ii';'i .. •■■ '■ •.'■■•. '.- -)H'i'i•); ii^in on -•:!■■ •• -' Hl^ 11 4 I i i 'f i I .In Kt(»toun&lattl»« CHAP. XVII. Discovery anct History. Newfoundland, though it occupies no celebra- ted part in the history of the New World, has, notwith- standing, at least for two centuries and a half after its discovery in 1497 by Sebastian Cabot, been more of mighty importance to Great Britain than any other Colony. And it i^ doubtful if the British Empire could have risen to its great and superior rank among the nations of the earth, if any other power had held the possession of Newfoundland; the fishery of which, having ever since its commencement, furnished our navy with a great proportion of hardy and brave sailors. France made a claim to Newfoundland, under pretence of priority of discovery ; alledging that the fishermen of Biscay frequented the Banks even before the first voyage of Columbus, and that Veranzi after- wards discovered it sooner than England. These pretensions, however, could constitute no right to France, as Cabot, by the most undoubted authority, discovered and landed on the Coast several years before. NKWIOUNDLANO. 213 and took possesion uf this island, and the island of St. John (now Prince Edward Island), and from the latter carried away three natives to England. He also discovered the Continent of Norembegua, the ancient name of all that part of America situate botween the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Virginia.*" The fir^t attempt made by the English to make a settlement in Newfoundland, was in the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII, at the recommendation of Messrs. Elliot and Thorn, who traded there with leave from the Crown, and to such advantage, that an expedition was made at the expense of a Mr. Hare, a merchant of eminence, and his friends, for the purpose of planting Newfoundland. From their igno- rance of the nature of the country, they failed in their attempt, and were reduced to great wretchedness through famine and fatigue. From this period until 1579 all thoughts of prosecuting the discovery and settlement of Newfoundland were relinquished, al- though we had then fifteen ships engaged in its fisheries. About this time Captain Whitburn, who was employed by a merchant of Southampton, in a ship of three hundred tons, put into Trinity Bay, where he was so suQce^ful, that with a full cargo of fish, &c. he cleared the expenses of the voyage. He afterwards repeated Uie voyage, formed an acquaintance with the na|tiT€s, and during his residence Sir Humphrey Qi^beift Qil^ved in Newfoundland with three ships, wit)^ H. commission from Queen Elizabeth to take ppase^sion of the island for the Crowns .'>u :nuy^> ^ u> • Vide Hakluyt'i Voyages— De Thon— Herrara. Hilt. Oea. Amer. Rajrnal. ( 1 ,1 ' '1 1', III ( i !• i 'i 1 ' ■ ! li 1 ii M (I 214 NEWFOUNDLAND. After this we find no mention of Newfoundland until 1585, when a voyage was made there by Sir Bernard Drake, who claimed its sovereignty and fishery in the name of Queen Elizabeth ; and seized upon several Portuguese ships laden with fish, oil, and furs. The most active spirit of discovery and commercial enterprise was at this period begining to rouse the people of England ; but the war with Spain, and the terror of the Grand Armada, checked, although it did not subdue, the ardour of the most sanguine of those who were bent at planting newly discovered countries ; and fifteen yearspassed away before another voyage was made to Newfoundland. The spirit of trade and discovery was again revived in England by Mr. Guy, an intelligent merchant of Bristol, who wrote several judicious treatises upon colonization and commerce ; and by the arguments of this gentleman several persons of distinction applied to James I. for that part of Newfoundland lying between the capes of St. Mary and Bonavista, which they obtained in 1610, under the designation of ''The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the Cities of London and Bristol, for the Colony of Newfoundland." This patent was granted to the Earl of Northampton, the Lord Chief Baron Tanfield, Sir John Doddridge, Lord Chancellor Bacon, Lord Verulam, &c. and was in substance, ** That, whereas, divers of His Majesty's subjects were desirous to plant in the southern and eastern parts of Newfoundland, whither the subjects of this realm have for upwards of fifty years past been e-K NIWFOUNDLAND. 816 mdlnnd until Sir Bernard lishcry in the jpon several I furs. 1 commercial to rouse the >ain, and the although it t sanguine of ly discovered tefore another Phe spirit of 1 England hy Bristol, who onization and liis gentleman ) James I. for een the capes y obtained in Veasurer and the Cities of Mrfoundland." ^Northampton, n Doddridge, &c. and was is Majesty's louthem and the subjects lars past been Med annually, in no small numbers, to resort to fish — intending thereby to secure the trade of fishing to our subjects for ever ; as also to make Home advantage of the lands thereof, which hitherto have remained un- profitable ; wherefore His Majesty now grants to Henry £arl of Northampton, (and forty-four others herein named,) their heirs and assigns, to be a Corpora- tion with perpetual succession, &c. by the name of the Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the Cities of London and Bristol, for the Colony and Plantation in Newfoundland, from north latitude 46" to 62**; together with the Seas and Islands lying within ten leagues of the Coast ; and all mines, Sic. saving to all His Majesty's subjects the liberty of fishing there, &c." '^ ' ^ Mr. Guy went to Newfoundland as conductor of the first colony, which he settled in Conception Bay, and remained there two years ; during which time he contracted, by his courteous and humane conduct, a friendship with the natives. He left behind him some of his people, to form the foundation of a colony ; but, as the fishery was the main object of the English, the planting of Newfoundland was not attended to. In i6 14 Captain Whitburn, who had ma&^everal fishing voyages, carried with him this year a commis- sion from the Admiralty to impannel juries, and inves- tigate upon oath divers abuses and disorders committed amongst the fishermen on the coast. By this commis- sion he held, immediately on his arrival, a Court of Admiralty, where complaints were received from an P 216 NEWFOUNDLAND. f ■ ffil •'^"JMhI 'sfl^V ' ' S^^^^^B' 'M 1 '9B' 'IHHm '■'■ hundred and serenty masters of vessels, of injuries committed, variously affecting their trade and naviga- tion. In 1616 Doctor William Vaughan, who purchased firom the patenteer a part of the country included in the patent, settled a small colony of his countrymen, from Wales, in the southernmost part of the island, (which he named Cambriol,) now called Little Britain. He appointed Whitburn governor, and his scheme was for the fishery of Newfoundland to go hand in hand With his plantation.* In 1621 Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Bal- timore, obtained a grant from King James, of that part of Newfoundland situated between the Bay of Bull's and Cape Saint Mary's, in order that he might enjoy that free exercise of his religion (being a Catholic) which was denied him in his own country. The same spirit drove at this time crowds of Puritans to New England. How it was managed to grant this property to Sir George Calvert, without invading the ri^ht of the company, of which it certainly formed a part, is not accounted for. Sir George sent Captain Edward Wynne, who held thr.,' commission of governor before him, with a small colony, and in the meanwhile embarked his fortune and talents, and engaged all the interest of his friends in securing the success of his plan. Ferryland, the place where Wynne settled, was judiciously chosen. He built the largest house ever erected on the island, with granaries, storehouses, &c. * Aoderson on Commerce, Vol. I. 495. l^. NEWFOUNDLAND. 217 , of injuries and naviga- tib purchased )r included in countrymen, »f the island, Little Britain. I his scheme hand in hand rds Lord Bal- imes, of that 1 the Bay of that he might ng a Catholic) jr. The same litans to New ; this property g the right of led a part, is Vynne, who him, with a embarked his he interest of >lan. settled, was st house ever ■ehouses, £ic. and was, in the following year, reinforced by a number of settlers, with necessary implements, stores, 8cc. He erected a salt-work also, which was brought to considerable perfection ; and the colony was soon after described, and with truth too, to be in a very flourish- ing condition: and so delighted was the proprietor, now created Lord Baltimore, with the prosperity of the colony, that he emigrated there with his family, built a handsome and commodious house and a strong fort at Ferryland, and resided many years on the island. About the same time Lord Falkland, then Lord Lieutenant, sent a colony from Ireland to Newfound- land; but Lord Baltimore's departure soon after for England, to obtain a grant of that part oi the country called Maryland, prevented the growing prosperity of his colony, which he called Avaton, but which, how- ever he still retained and governed by his deputies. In the course of about twenty years, after Lord Baltimore planted Ferryland, about three hundred and fifty families were settled in fifteen or sixteen parts of the island ; and a more decided interest in its affairs was taken than at any former period. This led on a part of the inhabitants to apply for some civil magis- trates, to decide matters of dispute or disorder among them; but the measure was strenuously opposed by the merchants and ship-owners in England concerned in the trade, who petitioned the Privy Council against the appointn^ent of any governor to manage the affairs of Newfoundland, and the prayer of this petition W8» absurdly enough granted. 2f L.'l ^-VHd 218 NEWFOUNDLAND. I i» In 1774, however, further application, by petition to the King, was made for a governor ; and the petition being referred to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, their Lordships proposed, that all plantations in New- foundland should be discouraged ; and that the com- mander of the convoys should compel the inhabitants to depart from the island, by putting in execution one of the conditions of the Western Charter. His Ma- jesty was induced to approve of this report ; and under its sanction the most cruel and wanton acts were com- mitted on the inhabitants : their houses were burnt, and a variety of severe and arbitary measures resorted to for the purpose of driving them from the country. , The extent to which the cruelties committed on the inhabitants had been carried, induced Sir John Berry, the commander of the convoy about this time, to represent to Government the policy of colonizing Newfoundland. His advice, however, was not attended to. ' In 1676, on the representation of one John Down- ing, a resident inhabitant, His Majesty directed that none of the settlers should be disturbed : but in the following year, in pursuance of an order in Council, that had been made on the petition of the Western Adventurers, the Committee of Trade, &c. reported, that notwithstanding a clause in the Western Char- ter, prohibiting the transport to Newfoundland of any person, but such as were of the ship's company, the magistrates of the western ports did permit passen- gers and private boat-keepers to transport themselves NEWFOUNDLAND. 219 , by petition i the petition Plantations, ons in New- lat the com- i inhabitants cecution one r. His Ma- ;; and under s were com- 'e burnt, and s resorted to country, ommitted on ed Sir John ut this time, )f colonizing not attended John Down- iirected that but in the in Council, ;he Western cc. reported, estem Char- )undlaud of s company, rmit passen- t themselves thither, to the injury of the fishery ; and they were of opinion, that the abuse might hereafter be prevented by those magistrates, the vice-admirals, and also by the officers of the customs. A petition, on the part of the inhabitants of New- foundland, soon followed this representation, and in order to investigate the matter fully, it was ordered that the adventurers and planters should each be heard by their counsel. The question was thus seriously argued, and afterwards referred, as formerly, to the Committee for Trade; but no report seems to have been made on this occasion, and no steps for regulating the settlement or fishery of Newfoundland were adopted until the Board of Trade, instituted in January 1697, took up the subject among others that come under their province. They made a report, which, however, applied more to tlpe defence of the island than to its civil regulations; and went no further than to express an opinion, that a moderate number of planters, not exceeding one thousand, were useful in the construc- tion of boats, stages, and other necessaries, for the fisheries. - ... .,, , ,,, The obstacles to the settling of Newfoundland arose out of the contending interests of the resident inha- bitants and those of the merchants residing in England, and the adventurers sent by them to Newfoundland. In 1698 the Statute 10 and 11, William and Mary, cap. 25, entitled " An Act to encourage the trade of Newfoundland" passed ; but, as the substance of this Act appears to embody the policy of former ',« 220 NEWFOUNDLAND. times, it tended to no purpose other than to legalize misnde, and the capricious will of ignorant men invested accidentally by it with authority. These persons were distinguished by the dignified titles, or rather nicknames, of admirals, vice-admirals, jind reaP'admirala. The master of the first fis^hing- vessel that arrived was the admiral — the next, vice- Admiral — and the third, rear-admiral, in the harbours they frequented. Few of these men could write their own names, and from this circumstance alone the absurdity of investing them with power must be appa- rent. .-. -.^ 1 .. • .,•;- "i _ \ . . ., .jj,,, • The report made in 1701 by Mr. Greorge Larkin, who went to the American settlements to make obser- vations, for the information of Government, contains many observations that deserve -attention. He fouad J>{ewfoundIand in a very disorder]|r and confused con- dition. The woods were wantonly destroyed, by rind- ing the trees. The New England men, (as is theif custom now \xk 1828 in majiy of our harbours), sold tbeir commodities cheap, in general ; but constrained the purchasers to take certain quar.itiesof rum, which the inhabitants sold to the fishermen, and which tempted thi^m to remain on the island, and leave their families i^ England a burden upon the pa^sh. The inhabid^nits, also, sold rum to their ^servants, who ^ot into debt, and were forced to hire ithemsdves in payment; ;so that one month's profuse living often left them in bondage for a year.* :, .. - ../ •;.,,;,),.. v -,.->'twT . - , -^ • Hiifl has b«eu common in all the Bnitish American Gdloniea, and prevails to this day. ..4.^,. NEWFOUNDLAND. 221 I Gcnonies, and The fishermen from New England were accustomed to inveigle away many of the seamen and servants, with promises of high wages; but these men were generally disappointed, and in the end became pirates. The inhabitants he represents as a profuse sort of people, who cared not at what rate they got in debt ; and that as the Act of King William gave the Planters a title, it was much to be regretted that propfer regula- tions were not made for their government, more particularly, as the island, from its having no civil power, was then become a sanctuary for people who failed in England. Upon complaints being made to the commander on the station, it had been customary for him to send his lieutenants to the different harbours, to decide disputes between masters of fishing vessels and the planters, and [between them again and their servants; but upora such occasions, Mr. Larkins alleges that those matters w^e conducted in the most corrupt manner. He that made a present of most quintals of fish was certain to have a judgment in his favour. Even the commanders themselves were said to be in this respect faulty. After the fishing season was over, mABtecs beat their servants, and servants their matters. The vr-ax with France, in 1702, as the French at that peiaod were masters of Canada, Cape Breton^ &c. and were also established in Newfoundland at Placentia, disturbed the fisheries and other afiairs of Newfound- land until the Peace of Utrecht. In 1708 the House of Commons addressed Queen ■Y--jg(ll«ii#««r:u^*. :jX:^-^' 222 NEWFOUNDLAND. Anne on the subject of the better execution of laws in Newfoundland, when it was, as usual, referred to the Board of Trade, which only went so far as to get the opinion of the Attorney General on the statute of King William. Two years after, fifteen very useful regulations were agreed upon at St. John's, for the better dicipline and good order of the people, and for correcting irregularities contrary to good laws and Acts of Parlia- ment. "- it' '■■ ;i'i''- ..ii»--'> t./ ■. . ■ ' 1 lu'.' . r,' These regulations, or by-laws, were debated and resolved on at courts, or meetings, held at St. John's ; where were present, and had all a voice, a mixed assemblage of merchants, masters of merchant ships, and planters. This anomalous assembly formed at the time a kind of public body, exercising executive, judicial, and legislative power. By the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Placentia, and all other parts of Newfoundland occupied by the French, were, in full sovereignty, ceded to Great Britain : the French, however, retaining a license to come and go during the fishing season. The Guipuscoans were also, in an ambiguous manner, acknowledged to have a claim, as a matter of right, to a participation in the fishery ; which the Board of Trade declared afterwards, in 1718, to be inadmissible. Government, about this time, as well as the mer- chants, began to direct their attention to the trade of the island with more spirit than they had hitherto shown. NEWFOUNDLAND. 223 on of laws in eferred to the ' as to get the atute of King il regulations etter dicipline br correcting Lets of Parlia- dehated and it St. John's ; ice, a mixed erchant ships, formed at the tig executive, ^lacentia, and by the French, t Britain : the come and go ambiguous as a matter Y ; which the 1718, to be 1 as the mer- o the trade of itherto shown. A captain Taverner was commissioned to survey its coasts. A lieutenant-governor was appointed to com- mand the fort at Placentia ; and a ship of war kept cruising round the island to keep the French at their limits. In 1729 it was concluded, principally through the representation of Lord Vere Beauclerk, the commander on the station, to establish some permanent govern- ment, which ended as Mr. Reeves observes, in the appointment, " not of a person skilled in the law, " as had been proposed, but a captain Henry Osborne, commander of His Majesty's ship the Squirrel. Lord Vere Beauclerk, who set sail for Newfoundland with the governor in the summer of this year, received a box containing eleven sets of Shaw's Practical Justice of the Peace ; being one each for the following places, which were respectively impressed on the covers in gold letters : — "Placentia, St. John's, Carboneer, Bay of Bulls, Ferryland, Trepassey, Bay de Verd, Trinity Bay, Bonavista, and Old Parlekin, in New- foundland ;" together with thirteen copies of the statute of King William, and the Acts relating to the navigation and trade of the kingdom. The commission delivered to captain Osborne, revoked so much of the commission to the governor of Nova Scotia as related to Newfoundland. It then goes on to appoint captain Osborne governor of the island of Newfoundland, and gives him authority to administer oaths to justices of the peace, and other officers whom he may appoint under him, for the better A • 1 i •.'•i0^^n*f!^A.. .^- _ sfcijEiiiip-**^* 224 NEWFOUNDLAND. administration of justice, and keeping the peace of the island. He was empowered, also, to erect a court- house and prison, and all officers, civil and military, were directed to aid and assist bim in executing his commission. The petty jealousies and interest of the fishing admirals, merchants, and planters, prevented Osborne and his successors, for a period of twenty years, from carrying into execution the objects and regulations contained in their commissions and instructions. Indeed the most disgraceful opposition to the civil government was made, particulnrly by the Ji^hing admirals. Complaints were frequently produced on both sides, and it is probable, as usual in such cases, that each of the contending pai ties were in fault. The aggressors, however, were assuredly those who opposed the civil authority, and whose conduct clearly shewed that their object was to deprive the resident inha- bitants of all protection from government. This contest continued until, it was found that, his Majesty's ministers were resolved not to withdraw the civil government from the Island. In the commission of the peaccj for the island, the justices were restrained from proceeding in ca^es of doubt or difficulty — such as robberies, murders, felonies, and all capital offences. From this restriction a subject of considerable difficulty and inconvenience arose, as persons who bad committed capital felonies could only be tried in England ; and in 175} s^ comn^iji^ion was issued to captain William Franqei X>|F)»ke, em- ■^*s»~^^— ■*'■ V_.^M NKW I'Ol'NULANU. 22^ 5 peace of the ect a court- md military, !xecuting bis f tbe fishing nted Osborne F years, from d regulations instructions, to tbe civil y the Jifhing produced on in such cases, in fault. Tbe e who opposed clearly shewed resident inba- nineut. This his M^esty's raw the civil the island, tbe V in cases of irders, felonies, ctiqn a subject nience arose, felonies cQuld CQjDQiDipsion 9 I)F»ke, em- powering biin to appoint coniinissioners of oyer and terminer for the trial of felons at Nevvtoiindland. A claim was presented in I7''4, Uy Lord Baltimore, to that part of the island originally granted to liis ancestor, and named by him " the province of Avaton." This claim was declared inadmissible by the Board ol Trade, agreeable to the opinion of the law oflieers ; and it has since then been relinquished. The peace of 1763, by which we acquired all the French possessions in North America, opened a most favourable opportunity for extending the fishery, to the decided advantage of these kingdoms ; and tlie Board of Trade, in bringing the subject under their consideration, applied for information to the towns in the west of England, as well as to Glasgow, Belfast, Cork, and Waterford, which had for some lime been engaged in the trade. In the year following a col- lector and comptroller of the customs were estab- lished at St. John's. This measure and tbe consequent introduction of the navigation laws, was complained of by the merchants in the same way as the appointing commissioners of the peace, and of oyer and terminer. The French, always, but now more than ever, anxious about their fishery, insisted on their having a right to the western coast, for the purpose of fishing, as far south as Cape Ray ; maintaining that it properly was "Point Riche," mentioned in the treaty of Utrecht. This claim embraced near two hundred miles of the west coast of Newfoundland more than what they had a right to by treaty ; and their authority being founded c2 g 220 NEWFOUNDLAND, only on nn uld map of Herman Moll, wns shown, with great accuracy, by the Board of Trade, to be alto- gether inadmissible. The coast of Labrador was, in I7fi.'i, separated from Canada and annexed to the government of Newfoundland. This was a very judi- cious measure ; but as the chief object of those who ;it that timt; frequented Labrador was the seal ifishery> the Board of Trade, at the recommendation principally 4)f Sir Hugh Paliffer, considered it unwise policy to separate Labrador from the jurisdiction of Canada ; and; accordingly, recommended his Majesty to reannex it. This was effected in 1774;* and in the following year an act was passed, the spirit of which was to defend and support the system of ship fishing carried on from England. Its principal regulations were, that the privilege of drying fish on the shores, should be limited to his Majesty's subjects arriving at Newfound- land from Great Britain and Ireland, or any of the British dominions in Europe. This law set at rest all that had been agitated in favour of the colonists. The American revolutionary war, during its con- tinuance, afJ'ected, in a very injurious degree, the affairs of Newfoundland. A bill passed in parliament prohibiting the people of New England from fishing at Newfoundland. This measure was loudly and strongly opposed by the merchants of London. The reasons alleged by ministers were, that as the colonies had entered into agreement not to trade with Britain, we were entitled to prevent them from trading with any other country. Their charter restricted them to • 14 Gen. HI. cap. 83, commonly called the Quebec Act. NliWKOUNDI.ANn. •227 lown, with o be alto- lor was, in :ed to the , very judi- those who leal ifishery, principally ie policy to )f Canada i J to reannex le following ich was to ling carried s were, that , should be , New found- any of the 3t at rest all onists. ng its con- degree, the . parliament Brom fishing oudly and ndon. The the colonies ith Britain, rading with ed thein to )ec Act. the Act of Navigation ; the relaxations from it were favors, to which, by their disobedience, they had no further interest. The Newfoundland Hsherics were the ancient property of Great Britain, and disposable therefore at her will and discretion : it was no more than just to deprive rebels of them. To this it was contended, that it was beneath the character of a civilized people to molest poor fishermen, or to deprive the wretched inhabitants of a sea coast of their food ; and that the fisheries being also the medium through which they settled their accounts with Britain, the cutting them off from this resource would only tend \o put a stop to their remittances to England. The fisherman also, would, by this measure, be driven into the immediate service of rebellion. They would man privateers, and would accelerate the levies of troops the colonies were making ; and being hardy and robust men, would prove the best recruits that could be found.* All this unfortunately happened. From the evidence brought in support of their petition, by the London merchants, it appears, ^hai the four New England provinces employed in the fisheries of Newfoundland and the banks alone, about 48,000 tons of shipping, and from (iOOO to 7000 sea- men; and, that ten years before, since which time the fisheries had greatly increased, the produce ot the fisheries in foreign markets amounted to £S5,0{)O. What rendered them particularly valuable was, that all the materials used in them (the salt for curing, and the timber for building the vessels, excepted,) were • Andrews' History of the .'\mericaii Wui, Vol. 1, p. ;W), •228 NKWI OUNDI.AM). {Mirchiisc'd ill Jlrituiii ; and that the titli prucicds xvcro remitted in puyinent. liut the iiiorchuiits ot I'oolc and other places, engaged in the Newfoundland fishery, presented a second petition, in direct opposition to that of London. It represented, that the bill against the New England fishermen would not prove detrimental to the trade of Britain ; which was fully able, with proper exertions, to supply the demands of foreign markets ; that the British Newfoundland fishery bred a great number of hardy seamen, peculiarly fit for the service of the navy; whereas, the New England seamen were, by Act of Parliament, exempt from being pressed : that the fishing from Britain to Newfoundland employed about four hundred ships, amounting to 360,000 tons, and two thousand shallops of 20,000 tons ; navigated by 20,000 seamen. 600,000 quintals of fish were taken every season, the returns of which were annually worth, on a moderate computation, =£500,000. The New England colonies, in return, adverted to all the means, in their power, of distressing Britain, effectually, in her American concerns ; and, to efiect this measure, strictly prohibited the supplying of the British fishery on the banks of Newfoundland with any provisions whatsoever. This was a proceeding wholly unexpected in Eng- land. The ships fitted out for that fishery, on arriv- ing at Newfoundland, found their operations arrested, for want of provisions ; and not only the crews of the ships, but those who wciv settled in the harbours, Dci'fds wort' licr places, presented a of London, ew England the trade of it exertions, ts ; that the t numher of vice of the ;n were, by ressed : that td employed 60,000 tons, i; navigated h were taken lually worth, adverted to ing Britain, nd, to eH'ect lying of the nd with any clcd in Eng- ,', on arriv- ms arrested, le crews of le harbours, NKWFOIJNDI.AM). 'im were in uiiiini'til danger (»f perishing by famine. In- stead of prosecuting the fishing business they came upon, the shi|is were constrained to make the best of their way to England and other places, for provisions. In addition to this obstruction to the iisheries, natural causes co-operated. During the fishing season a storm, more terrible than ever known in these lati- tudes, arose, attended with circumstances unusually dreadful and destructive. The sea, according to vari- ous accoun^3, rose from twenty to thirty feet above its ordinary level ; and so suddenly, that no time was given to prepare against its effects. Some ships foundered, with their whole crews ; and more than seven hundred fishing crafts perished, with a great i)najority of the people in them. The sea broke in upon the lands where fish-houses, flukes, &c. were erected, and occa- sioned vast loss and destruction. By the third Article of the Treaty of Peace, signed at Paris in 1783, it was agreed that the people of the United States should enjoy, unmolested, the right to take fish on the banks of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; and, also, at all other places in the sea where they previously used to fish, and on the coast of Newfoundland ; but, not to cure their fish on that island. It was also agreed, that provisions might be imported to the British Colonies in British bottoms. This was strongly opposed by the western merchants, but unsuccessfully; and in 1788, upon the representations of the merchants connected with Canada it was proposed to bring a bill into Parliament for 2.30 NEWFOUNDLAND. preventing entirely, the supply of bread, flour, and live stock, from the United States ; hut this intention was abandoned, and the mode of occasional supply continued. The Board of Trade was abolished in 1782, and for the last years of its existence, scarcely any appears on its records relative to Newfoundland. Matters of trade and plantations were, for some years afterwards, managed by a committee of council, appointed iti 1784. By this time the practice of hearing and determin- ing civil causes became a cause of frequent complaint. Hitherto, no court of civil jusisdiction had been provided for the colony ; and while the island remained merely a fishery, carried on by vessels from England, the causes of actions were not of great magnitude; but now that the population had increased to consider- able numbers, and heavy mercantile dealings were frequent among them, discontent arose, from time to time, that led to the establishment of a new court, by a commission to Admiral Milbanke, who was sent out as governor in 1789. But, as heavy complaints were preferred by the merchants, as well as the plan- ters, against the proceedings of this court, an Act passed in 1792, empowering the governor, with the advice of the chief justice, to institute surrogate courts of civil jurisdiction in different parts of the island. The first chief-justice was Mr. Reeves, who published an interesting account of Newfoundland, with Acts of Parliament relative to its government. He was sue- NEWFOUNDLAND, 231 flour, and lis intention onal supply 1 1782, and any appears id. Matters •s afterwards, ippointed iifi ad determin- it complaint, n had been md remained om England, magnitude; 1 to consider- ealings were from time to . new court, ho was sent y complaints as the plan- >urt, an Act or, with the rogate courts the island, lo published with Acts of He was suc- ceeded (with the exception of the present judge, and his predecessor,) by weak men, who were usually influenced by their interests or their passions. The surrogate courts became, at once, grievous and exceedingly objectionable, as the judges were no other than the commanders, or lieutenants of His Majesty's ships on the station ; the pursuits and education of whom could not qualify them, however just their intentions were, for comnetent expounders of the intricate labyrinth of commercial laws. At the same time, it is but justice to remark, that the task was by no means agreeable to many of those ofiicers; and, with few exceptions, if they erred, it was not from the influence of fear or interest, but from an ignorance of matters that no one should expect them to understand. But in this way! the jurisdiction of Newfoundland was conduct- ed until 1824> when a bill was passed, intitled ^' an Act for the better administration of justice in Newfoundland, and other purposes." This Act, like all others passed, relative to Newfoundland, is experimental, and limited to continue in force only for five years. By the provisions of this Act, a chief-judge and two asssistant judges are appointed, and the island divided into three districts, in each of which a court is held annually. The regu- lations of this law are considered, by many residing both in the island and in connexion with the colony, in England, as not adapted to Newfoundland. One of the objections is, the salary of the judges, and the expense connected with their travelling, or going and returning by water to and from difl'erent parts of the island. • '- t I ih 2:^2 NliWFOUNDLANI). Some of" the old laws, which were probably neces- sary at the time they were passed, are still in force, and considered at the present time highly objectionable. One, in particular, the tendency of which was very clearly explained to me by an intelligent gentleman,* residing many years at St. John's, and lately returned from that place. By this law, which is of many years standing, and which I certainly consider to have been necessary at the time it was enacted, the merchant who furnishes the planters or fishermen with supplies in the early part of the season, has a lien on their property, of whatever kind ; but oply for the whole of that season ; and the consequence is, that if the planter or fisherman be so unfortunate, which very frequently happens, u- not to take a sufficient quantity of fish to pay for t' supplies, the merchant, as he must lose his claii; altogetherif he allow it to remain over till the follow- ing season, is under the necessity of seizing on all his debtor has, as it would otherwise fall into the hands of the merchants who supplied the same person the ensuing year. If this law were modified, so as to give the merchant a lien only on the fish, oil, fishing-tackle, and whatever else he supplied, and the property that the planter possessed at the commencement of the season, to be, in case of need, equally divided among his other creditors, many an honest man would be saved from ruin. Another evil, of serious consequence to the merchants themselves, arises out of this law: — When the planter or fisherman finds, after the middle of the season is passed, that he will not be able to pay • Chailes Fox Bennett, Esq. NRWFOIJNDLANI). 233 ^bably neces- still in force, tbjectienable. ich was very gentleman,* itely returned A' many years to have been nerchant who ipplies in the leir property, if that season; r or fisherman ' happens, u- to pay for t' >se his claii 11 the follow- ing on all his ito the hands le person the so as to give ishing-tackle, property that ment of the Ivided among an would be consequence f this law: — er the middle e able to pay for all the supplies he has received, his energy becomes checked, from the conviction that extra-industry will be of no benefit to him so long as he cannot pay the whole. It is certain, that none of the British plantations have been worse governed than Newfoundland, or in which more confusion has prevailed. By the consti- tutions granted to all the other colonies, a clearly defined system of jurisdiction was laid down ; but the administration of Newfoundland was in a great measure, an exclusively mercantile or trading government ; which, as Adam Smith very justly observes, " is perhaps the very worst of all governments for any country whatever," and a powerless planter or fisher- man never expected, or seldom received, justice from the adventurers, or the fishing admirals, who were their servants. Mr. Reeves, in his history of Newfoundland, states, ''that they had been in the habit of seeing that species of wickedness and anarchy ever since New- foundland was frequented, from father to son ; it was favourable to their old impressions, that Newfoundland was theirs, and that all the plantations were to be spoiled and devoured at their pleasure." There is no doubt but that so arbitrary an assump- tion, and practice, of misrule produced the consequences that severity always generates ; and that the planters soon reconciled themselves to the principles of deceit and falsehood, or to the schemes that would most effectually enable them to elude their engagements with the adventurers: the resident fishermen, also, 2 h (i I, 234 NEWFOUNDLAND. who were driven, from time to time, out of Newfound- laud, by the statute of William and Mary, generally turned out the must hardened and depraved characters wherever they went to. The measures adopted for the administration of the affairs of Newfoundland, during the government of vice-admiral Sir Charles Hamilton, the first resident governor, and since the appointment of his sucessor. Sir Thomas Cochrane, the first civil, and present, gover- nor, will likely lead to whatever is necessary for the better distribution of justice. • The peculiar circumstances of Newfoundland, as a great fishing colony, the greater part of the proceeds of which are remitted to England, in payment for British manufactures, and the depressed state of the fisheries, imperatively demands that no burden what- ever shall be laid upon those fisheries, either for the support of the executive or judicial powers, or for any other purpose whatever. Should His Majesty's minis- ters decide on laying an ad valorem duty on imports to Newfoundland, it will most assuredly, with the advan- tages that the Americans and French possess, annihil- ate the British fisheries at Newfoundland. This is not my opinion alone, but the opinion of the oldest and best acquainted with that colony. If public buildings are jae<;essary, or a more expensive form of government expedient, neither can be supported at the ^pense of the fisheries. ^ Desc Ti Nev fath danj than forn hous perp opp( less, at n fort. F Stan and situs is pi rocli pur] \ I 8T. JOHN S 235 Newfound- \fy generally i characters listration of government first resident tiis sucessor, esent, gover- ssary for the mndland, as the proceeds payment for [ state of the }urden what- either for the s, or for any esty's minis- •n imports to the advan- ess, annihil- This is not e oldest and lie buildings government S^pense of CHAP. XVUI. Description of St. John's, &c.> • • • Society' • • • Characteristics and pursuits of the inhabitants of Newfoundland- • ■ • Improvement of the town, and the opening of roads through the Island considered. 1 HE harbour of St. John's is on the east coast of Newfoundland. Its entrance is narrow, with twelve fathoms water in the middle of the channel. The only dangers, are, the chain rock, which lies a little more than half way from the entrance to the basin that forms the harbour ; and the rocks close under the light- house point. On the north side, the precipices rise perpendicularly, to an immense height; and on the opposite shore the altitude of the rocky cliffs, although less, is also great : on this side there is a light shown at night, near which there is a battery and a signal fort. Fort Townshend, the usual residence of the governor, stands immediately over the town. Forts Amherst and William, on the north, are also in commanding situations. Another battery, called the Crow's Nest, is pitched on the summit of a conical hill. The chain rock received its name from a chain placed there for the purpose of stretching across the strait, to prevent the 23(i ST. JOHN S. entrance of an enemy's fleet; and the harbour is, besides, so well commanded, by the different fortifica- tions, that it may be considered perfectly secure against any ordinary attack. The town is built chiefly of wood, it extends nearly along the whole of the north side of the port ; and there can scarcely be said to be more than one street : the others are no more than lanes. A few of the houses are built of stone, or brick, and some of the buildings are handsome ; but the appearance of the town, altogether, indicates at once what it has been — a mere lodging place for a convenient time — a collection of stores, for depositing fish, with wharves along the whole shore, for the convenience of shipping. The streets and lanes are irregular, and in wet weather extremely dirty. St. John's, like Halifax, and other towns built of wood, has suffered severely by fire. In the winter of 1815 great loss of property, and individual distress, was occasioned by a conflagration that took place; and on the 7th November, 1817, one hundred and forty houses, and £500,000 in value of property were destroyed by a like calamity. Another fire, which occurred on the 21st of the same month, destroyed a great part of the town that had escaped the conflagra- tion of the 7th ; and on the 21st of August following, the town experienced serious loss by a fourth calamity of the same kind. The houses, since erected, are built in a much more comfortable style than formerly. There are a greater number of shops, and a still greater number of public-houses, in proportion to its size, in St. fori asi am tin( tha one tow hal fish the ters for peo lan( hoo Ma rem in i not, - U- A side resp moi diff( (wh pec will inhi ST. JOHN S. 237 I harbour is, jnt fortifica- cure against it extends ji' the port ; )re than one es. A few and some of pearance of ^hat it has ent time — a lith wharves of shipping, wet weather ;, and other by fire. In d individual )n that took )ne hundred of property r fire, whicli destroyed a e conflagra- t following, th calamity reeled, are in formerly. still greater its size, in St. John's, than in most towns. Commodities were formerly very dear ; at present, shop-goods are as low as in any town in America ; and fresh meat, poultry, and vegetables, although not so low as on the con- tinent, are not unreasonably dear. i > '. i; The population of St. John's fluctuates so frequently, that it is very difficult to state its numbers, even at any one period. Sometimes, during the fishing season, the town appears full of inhabitants ; at others, it seems half deserted. At one time they depart for the seal- fishery ; at another, to different fishing stations. In the fall of the year the fishermen arrive from all quar- ters, to settle with the merchants, and procure supplies for winter. At this period St. John's is crowded with people, swarms of whom depart for Prince Edward Is- land, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton, to procure a liveli- hood in those places among the farmers during winter. Many of them never return again to the fisheries, but remain in those colonies ; or often, if they have relations in the United States, and sometimes when they have not, find their way thither. Society in St. John's, particularly when we con- sider its great want of permanency, is in a much more respectable condition than might be expected ; and, the moral and social habits of the inhabitants are very different from the description of lieutenant Chappell, (whom I very strongly suspect of arrogating more res- pect for himself than the best class of society would willingly acknowledge) when he represents the principal inhabitants as having risen from the lowest fishermen, i il •238 «T. JOHN S. and the rest composed of turbulent Irishmen — both alike destitute of literature. The fishermen, who are principally Irishmen, are by no means altogether desti- tute of education : there are few of them but who can read and write ; and they are, in general, neither turbulent nor immoral. That they soou become, in Newfoundland as well as in all the other colonies, very different people to what they were before they left Ire- land, is very certain. The cause is obvious — they are more comfortable, and they work cheerfully. When, after a fishing season of almost incredible fatigue and hardship, they return to St. John's, and meet their friends and acquaintances, they indulge, it is true, in drinking and idleness for a short time ; and, when the life they follow is considered, we need scarce be sur- prised that they do so, especially in a place where rum is as cheap as beer is in England.* if i ; ; '; .a- i.> ..{ 'i; For many years, the officers of government, and the merchants, returned before winter to England; but, since the appointment of a resident governor, there has been also a more permanent state of society. It must be acknowledged, that sathe of the inhabitants who havB made fortunes in the country, were, and it is much to their credit, formerly fishermen, and these men are fully as polished in their manners, and are ek^ually intelligent as many of the principal merchatits in London, or in any of the other great trading towns * Mr. M6rris, of St. JoTin's, has, with great correctness, in a Ietter> to Lord Bexley, on the State of Society, Religion, Morals, and Education, at Newfoundland, described the character of the luhahitants. p. p. 76. Lohdlori, liffiS>. •■ '■'■ ST. JOHN S. 239 imen — both en, who are gether desti- m but who eral, neither become, in clonics, very they left Ire- is — they are lly. When, fatigue and meet their it is true, in d, when the ;arce be sur- e where rum lent, and the ^land ; but, emor, there society. It inhabitants vere, and it and these , and are merchants ding towns less, in a letter* and Education, ants. p. p. 76. !rs in the United Kingdom, who did not in early life re- ceive a liberal education. A great majority of the merchants at St. John's, as well as the agents who represent the principal houses, are men who received a fair education, in the mother country, for all the purposes of utility and the general business of life ; and, are certainly as intelligent as any merchants in the world. This observation will be found perfectly just, if applied to the merchants and principal inha- bitants in all the British colonies. The amusements of St. John's are much the same as in the colonies already described. There are three weekly newspapers published at St. John's ; and there is also a book society. A semi- nary of education was established in 1802, for edu- cating the poor, where about three hundred cliildren, protestants and roman catholics, are educated. It was established, I believe, principally through Lord Gambler, then the admiral on the station. The benevolent Irish society, established in 1806, by the present secretary of state for the colonies, then colonel Murray, and James M'Braire, Eiq. then a merchant of eminence at St. John's, but since retired to the banks of the Tweed, has extended the most beneficial relief to the aged and infirm ; and has also diffused the benefits of education among the children of the poorer classes, by supporting a school in which from two hundred to three hundred of both sexes are in- structed. A respectable school-house is now erecting by the society, to contain 700 to 800 children. /I ;i! 'i; 240 ST, JOHN S. The leading features of the character of the inha- bitants of Newfoundland, both at St. John's and all the out harbours, are, honesty, persevering industry, hardy contempt of fatigue, and a laudable sense of propriety in moral and religious duties. There are places of public worship at St. John's, and in each of the out harbours, in which there is an adequate population. The religious professions are members of the church of England, roman catholics, presbyterians, and methodists, each of whom have clergymen among them. In the principal out harbours, also, there are schools, where the rudiments of educa- tion may be acquired.* The inhabitants are employed, the majority wholly, and the rest occasionally, in the fisheries. Feeding cattle and a few sheep, and cultivating small spots of land, are, also, partial sources of occupation. The women, besides affording great assistance to the men, during the process of curing fish, make themselves useful in planting gardens and gathering the produc- tions of the soil. In all domestic duties they are correct and attentive ; and they manufacture th' : i .11 quantity of wool they have among them into strong worsted stockings, mittens, and socks. Capital offences are exceedingly rare, and petty * I have ortrn becu ainnsed at the descriptions drawn, by, I dare aay, very well mcaniuK persons, of the lamentable state of ignorance in which the inhaliiiants of Newfoundland, and of all the other colonies, are buried. Nothiim can he wore untrue. The people are better informed than the same cliutii in the United Kingdoms ; and often have I seen settlers in America laugliing at the ignorance of tne "new comers" as they generally term emigrants. tb< sec bit the 8(c Jol diti opt but ope Ba^ • and ton ica, sled fort roat r Nev resi( of t nex: side the; it w harl • with I necesi KT. JUHN S 241 I l! f the inha- n's and all 5 industry, le sense of St. John's, there is an ■essions are n catholics, ^rhom have It harbours, s of educa- rity wholly, J. Feeding lall spots of tion. The \.o the men, themselves the produc- are correct 31 quantity ng worsted and petty F dare say, very in which the es, are buried, irmed than the seen settlers in they generally thefts are scarcely known, while property is seldom secured by looked doors, as in the United Kingdom. In the winter season much of the time of the inha- bitants is occupied in bringing home fuel. Boats for the fishery are also constructed at this time ; and poles, &c. for fish flakes, are, or should be provided. There are, except in the immediate vicinage of St. John's, no roads in Newfoundland. Whether the con- dition and circumstances of the colony warrant the opening of roads to all the settlements, is questionable; but, I certainly think that a few roads are necessary, to open a communication between Conception and Trinity Bay, and between Conception, Placentia, St. Mary's, and Fortune Bays. It would be sufficient, for some year*, to make these, what are called on the continent of Amer- ica, bridle-roads; which would in winter answer for sledge-roads. Carriage roads in summer would, at least, for the present, be unnecesi.ary. There is now a tolerable road from St. John's to Portugal Cove in Conception Bay The propriety of granting a legislative government to ^Newfoundland, has been agitated for some time.* The resident inhabitants are, with few exceptions, in favour of the measure ; while the principal persons in con- nexion with Newfoundland, residing in England, con- sider that a legislative assembly would be injurious to the fisheries and to the best interests of the colony ; that it would be inconvenient for members from the out harbours to come to, and remain at, St. John's during * Mr. Morris, iu hit several pamphlets on Newfonndland, insists, with enthusiastic zeal, and, I am confident, with great honesty, on the necessity of granting a local govemmeut to Newfonndland. 2 i iii 'J, \ ,< I ,1 I 1 t-.i_i' 242 8T. John's. the sitting of an assembly ; that efficient members, who were permanent residents, could not be found in the island ; and, consequently, that giving it a representa- tive constitution, would be premature and unnecessary. There is no doubt, but, that the internal improve- ment of the colony would be promoted, and that matters of local utility would be better directed than at present by the Acts of a legislative government. The question is, whether the great business of the colony, that which makes it important to Great Britain — the fisheries, would also, at the same time, prosper ; and, whether directing the attention of the inhabitants to the cultivation of the soil, would not be injurious to the fish- eries. Here arises a doubt, the experiment of solving which, might be attended with dangerous consequences ; and for a few years longer, it will, perhaps, be the safer way to administer the government in its present form J making such alterations in the present laws, or such new ones, as may appear necessary by an Act of the imperial Parliament. As respects the town of St. John's, I consider it an object of, nut only great importance, but, almost imperative necessity, to have a municipal corporate government invested with the power of making by- laws for the management of all matters connected with the town.* « It is almost itnpossibte, in Acts of Parliament, to provide for the local improvements necessary in a town situated in a distant colony. In tlie provisions of an Act passed in 1820, for regulatini; the rebuilding of St. John's after the fires, there is a clause which directs, that where wooden buildings are erected, the streets must be fifty feet wide, and forty feet where stone houses are built. The consequence is, that one house i» pitched ten feet farther into the street than another. ST. John's. 243 M mbers, who »und in the representa- innecessary. lal improve- 1, and that ::ted than at ment. The the colony, Britain — the Dsper; and, itants to the 9 to the fish- t of solving nsequences ; laps, be the 1 its present jnt laws, or y an Act of . • r nsider it an )ut, almost 1 corporate naking by- nected with provide for the ant colony. In e rebuilding of t8, that where wide, and fortjr lat one house i* The situation of St. John's ; its excellent harbour, combining safety of access, and the natural means of being easily defended ; its fortifications, and its most convenient position for the chief-town of a great fishing colony, are sufficient considerations to grant the town a charter for its government and improvement. In this opinion most of those whom I know, either residing in the island or in connection wit!i it, coy.cut. V. r^ '] i I t I I •' 244 FISHERIES. CHAP. XIX. Fisheries of British America.* • • • Rise, progress, and present state of these fisheries.' • • • French and United States' Fisheries on the Coast of Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.* • • • Vast importance of these Fisheries, if exclusively possessed by Great Britain. The cod fishery on the banks of Newfoundland, and along the coasts of North America, commenced a few years after its discovery. In 1517 mention is made of the first English ship which had been at Newfound- land ; where, at the same time, fifty Spanish, French, and Portuguese ships were fishing. The French in 1536 were extensively engaged in this fishery; and we find, that in 1578 there were employed in it, by Spain 100 ships, by France 1 50 ships, by Portugal 50 ships, and by England only 15 ships.* The cause of the English having, at this period, so few ships in this branch of trade, was the fishery carried on by them at Iceland. The English ships, however, from this period, were considered the largest and best vessels ; and soon became and continued to be the admirals. The Biscayans had, about the same time, 20 to 30 vessels in the whale fishery at Newfoundland ; and • Halcluyt.— -Herrara. resent Rtate of s on the Coast Lawrence.' • • • sessed by Great idland, and meed a few ion is made Newfound- sh, French, French in ry; and we t, by Spain al 50 ships, luse of the lips in this )n by them , from this est vessels ; e admirals. !, 20 to 30 and ; and FI8HCKIES. 245 some English ships, in 1593, made a voyt^e in quest of whales and morses (walrus) to Cape Breton, where they found the wreck of a Biscay ship, and 800 whale fins. England had iti 1615, at Newfoundland, 250 ships, amounting to 1500 tons; and the French, Bib- cayans, and Portuguese, 400 ships.* From this period the fisheries carried on by England became of great national consideration. De Witt ob- serves, " that our navy became formidable, by the discovery of the inexpressibly rich fishing bank of New- foundland." In 1626 the French possessed themselves of and settled at Placentia; and that nation always viewed the English in those parts with the greatest jealousy : but, still the value of these fisheries to Eng- land was fully appreciated, as appears by the various Acts of Parliament passed, as well as different regula- tions adopted for their protection.f Ships of war were sent out to convoy the fishing vessels, and to protect them on the coast ; and the ships engaged in the fish- eries as far back as I676, carried about 20 guns, 18 small boats, and 90 to 100 men. By the Treaty of Utrecht, the valuable importance of our fisheries at Newfoundland and New England is particularly regarded. The French, however, continued afterwards, and until they were deprived of all their possessions in North America, to annoy the English engaged in fishing; and in 1734 heavy complaints were made by the English, who had established a very • Lex Mercatoria. t 2d and 3d Edward VL— Acts paned during the feign of Eliz. ; James I, cap. 1 and 2; 10 and 11 Williaa and Mary. \i 246 FISHERIES. extensive and profitable fishery at Canso in Nova Scotia, against the French, who annoyed them by instigating the Indians to commit outrages, by every means in the power of those who commanded the fortresses at Louisbourg, and other places in the neigh- bourhood. About this period, the inhabitants of New England had about 1200 tons of shipping employed in the whale fishery ; and with their vessels engaged in the cod fishery, they caught upwards of 23,000 quintals of fish, valued at twelve shillings per quintal ; which ihey exported to Spain and different ports within the Mediterranean, and remitted in payment for English manufa«ture ^172,000.* Notwithstanding the value of the fishery carried on by the people of New England, and the important ship fishery carried on by the English at Newfoundland, both together were of far less mag- nitude than the fisheries followed by the French before the conquest of Cape Breton. By these fisheries alone, the navy of France became formidable to all Europe. In 1745, when Louisbourg was taken by the forces sent from New England, under Sir William Pepperell and the British squadron, the value of one year's fish- ing in the North Americai* seas, and which depended on France possessing Cape Breton, was stated at ,£982,000.t In 1748, however, at the Treaty of Peace, England was obliged to restore Cape Breton to the French, in return for Madras, which the forces of • Anderson on Commerce, vol.2, 159— ibid, 332. t Sir William Pepperell's Jonmal. FISHERIES. 247 so in Nova ed them by Bs, by every manded the in the neigh- few England )yed in the jaged in the 300 quintals ntal; which ts within the t for English ng the value ew England, J the English far less mag- rench before heries alone, • all Europe. the forces m Pepperell year's fish- h depended stated at ty of Peace, eton to the le forces of 332. France had conquered two years before. By which means that nation enfayed the full advantages of the fisheries until 1759, uhcn the surrender of Cape Bre- ton, St. John's, and Canada, destroyed the French power in North America. By the third and fourth Articles of the Treaty of Fontainbleau, signed in 1762, it was agreed, " that the French shall have the liberty of fishing and drying on a part of the coasts of the island of Newfoundland, as specified in 13th Article of the Treaty of Utrecht ; and the French may also fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, so as they do not exercise the same but at the distance of three leagues from all the coasts belonging to Great Britain, as well those of the continent as those of the islands in the said Gulf. And, as to what relates to the fishery out of the said Gulf, the French shall exercise the same, but at the distance of fifteen leagues from the coasts of Cape Breton." " Great Britain cedes to France, to serve as a shelter for the French fishermen, the islands of St. Pierre, and of Mequelon ; and His most Christian Majesty obliges himself, on his royal word, not to fortify the said islands, nor to erect any other buildings thereon, but merely for the convenience of the fishery ; and to keep no more than fifty men for the police." In the history of the fishery, little of importance appears from this period, until the commencement of the war with America, France, and Spain, which molested and checked the enterprise of the fishing adventurers. The peace of 1783 gave the French V 11 248 FISHERIES. the same advantages as they enjoyed by the Treaty of Fontainbleau ; and the right of fishing on all the British coasts of America was allowed to the subjects of the United States in common with those of Great Britain, while these were denied the same privileges onr the coasts of the former. In restoring to France the islands of St. Pierre and Mequelon, it was contended that they were incapable of being fortified ; while it is well known that both these islands are, in an emi- nent degree, not only susceptible of being rendered impregnable, but, that their situation alone would com- mand the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, if put into such a state of strength as it was in the power of France to give them. After the American revolutionary war, the fisheries of British America were prosecuted in Newfoundland with energy and perseverance. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick the herring, mackarel, and Gaspereau fisheries were followed ; but only upon a limited scale. At Perc^ and Paspapiac, in the district of Gaspe, the cod fishery was carried on with spirit by two or three houses ; and the salmon fishery followed at Restigouch, and at Miramachi. The cod fishery at Arichat, on the island of Madame, was pursued by the Acadian French, settled there, who were supplied by hardy and economical adven- turers from Jersey. The valuable fisheries on the coasts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, were, however, in a great measure overlooked or disregarded. FISHKRIES. 249 r ihe Treaty g on all the the subjects )sc of Great privileges oo ) France the IS contended led ; while it , in an emi- ng rendered ; would com- Tence, if put he power of the fisheries ewfoundland the herring, >llowed; but Paspapiac, is carried on the salmon Miramachi. Df Madame, ttled there, lical adven- m the coasts nee Edward e overlooked The last war with France drove the French again from the island of St. Pierre and Mequelon, and from the fisheries. At the peace of Amiens they returned again to these islands ; but were scarcely established before the war was renewed, and their vessels and property seized by some of our ships on the Halifax station. This was loudly remonstrated against by the French government. A combination of events occurred during the late war, which raised the fisheries, particularly those of Newfoundland, to an extraordinary height of pros- perity.* Great Britain possessed, almost exclusively, the fisheries on the banks and shores of Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; we enjoyed a monopoly of sup- plying Spain, Portugal, Madeira, different ports of the Mediterranean coasts, the West Indies, and South America, with fish ; and our ships not only engrossed * lu 1814 the exports were 1,200,000 Quintals Fish, @ 40s jg2,40O,00O 0*. . 20,000 Ditto Ck>re Fish, @ 12s 12,000 6,000 Tons Cod Oil, ©^£32 192,000 ' • 156,000 Seal Skins, @ 5s 39,000 , , 4,666 Tons Seal Oil, @ £36 167,976 2,000 Tierces Salmon, @ £5 10,000 1,685 Barrels Mackarel, @ 308 2,527 10 44,000 Casks Caplin Sounds and Tongues 44,000 2,100 Barrels Herrings, @ 25s 2,625 Beavers and other Furs 600 Pine Timber and Plank 800 400 Puncheons Berries 2,000 2 k ii ; 1 250 FISHERIES. the profits of carrying this article of commerce to market, but secured the freights of the commodities which the different countries, they went to, exported. It was by such eminent advantages as these that the fishery flourished, and that great gains were realised both by the merchants and ship-owners. The conclusion of the war was, however, followed by a depression more ruinous to our fisheries than had ever before been experienced. The causes that arrested their prosperity did not, by any means, arise merely from the changes necessarily produced by a sudden transition from war to peace ; but, from those stipula- tions in favour of France and America in our last trea- ties with those powders. It is very remarkable, that, in all our treaties with France, the fisheries of North America was made a stipulation of extraordinary importance. The minis- ters of that power, at all times able negociators, well knew the value of fisheries, not merely in a commer- cial view, but in respect to their being necessarily essential in providing their navy with that physical strength which would enable them to cope with other nations. The policy of the French, from their first planting colonies in America, insists particularly on raising seamen for their navy, by means of the fisheries. The nature of the French fishery was always such, that one-third, or at least, one-fourth of the men em- ployed in it were green men, or men who were never before at sea ; and they, by this trade, breed up from 4000 to 6000 seamen annually. sh( Ra gai n FISHERIES. 251 )niinerce to commodities ), exported. ese that the ere realised er, followed es than had that arrested arise merely by a sudden lose stipula- ur last trea- treaties with tvas made a The minis- nators, well a commer- necessarily tat physical 2 with other n their first ticularly on he fisheries, ways such, le men em- were never ;ed up from in ceding to France the right of fishing on the shores of Newfoundland, from Cape John to Cape Ray, with the islands of St. Pierre and Mequelon, we gave that ambitious nation all the means that her government desired for manning a navy ; and if we were determined to lay a train of circumstances, which, by their operations would sap the very vilals of our naval strength, we could not more effectually have done so than by granting a full participation of those fisheries to France and America. The former power immediately pursued the advantages acquired, agree- ably to the policy that was followed at all times by tlic French. Bounties were, and are, given ; which, if the fish be exported to meet us in foreign markets, is about equal to the expense of catching and curing; and which, if imported to France, is sufficient to protect against loss. No encouragement, however, is given, but with the proviso of creating seamen. The French have other advantages besides bounties, which the British fishermen do not possess. They obtain all their articles of outfit cheaper ; the wages of labour is, with them, lower ; and, they have also, as well as having the markets of the world open to them, a great home-market. St. Pierre Island, where the governor resides, is also made a depot for French manufactures, which are smuggled into our colonies. The ships of war which are sent from France to protect their fisheries, and all the other vessels engaged in the trade, make the har- . I . I 262 FISHERIES. hour of this island their rendezvous. The extent i<» which the French are carrying on their fisheries, and the number of men they have employed, are extraor- dinary. The great number of ships of war now in progress of building in France, and the vast numbCT of seamen, which have been rearing since 1815, to man them, show how determined that kingdom is on being once more a great naval power. By the Convention of 1818 the Americans of the United States are allowed to fish along all our coasts and harbours within three marine miles off the shore, (an indefinite distance,) and of curing fish in such har- bours and bays as are uninhabited, or if inhabited, with the consent of the inhabitants. The expert and industrious Americans, ever fertile in expedients, know well how to take the advantage of so profitable a con- cession. I From the sea-coast of Newfoundland t;eded to France, which comprehends half the shores of the island, and the best fishnig grounds, our fishermen have been expelled ; and have been under the necessity of resorting from two to four hundred miles further north, to the coast of Labrador, where they are again met by swarms of Americans. ' •■ ' By particular circumstances, and the better to accomplish their object, the Americans are known to act more in union, guided by one feeling, on arriving on the fishing coasts. They frequently occupy the whole of the best fishing banks to the exclusion of our FJSUKUIES. a.w extern t<» leries, and re extraor- ar now in ast number U5, to man is on being cans of the 1 our coasts the shore, n such har- inhabited, expert and ients, know ;able a con- l ceded to )res of the fishermen le necessity iles further are again better to known to on arriving occupy the sion of our fishermen ; and their daring aggressions have gone so far as to drive by force our vessels and boats from their slatiuns, and to tear down the British flag in the har- bours 9fMi hoist in its place that of the United States. They are easily enabled, fnom their vastly superior num- bers« to take all manner of advantage of our people. They fretjuently fish by means of seines, which they spread across the best places along the shores; and thus prevent the industry and success of the British fishermen. The crew of an American vessel, last year, which arrived on the coast of Labrador, anchored opposite a British settlement, cut the salmon net of the inhabitants^ set their own in its stead, and threatened to shoot any one who approached it. In order to take every advantage of the latitude granted them, the American vessels, during the day, when they apprehend the appearance of any of His Majesty's cruisers anchor three miles from the shore ; but as soon as night conceals their movements, they run under the lee of the land and set their nets for herring and mackarel. Another consequence, as our fishermen contend, of the Americans being permitted to fish so near the shore, is that the ofFal which they throw overboard, has the effect of driving the fish from the nearest banks, which renders the catch more diffi- cult and distant^ v-.-1t ^-'.- ;■'■•'..] 'I*, xpui.' "vr!* fl The net fishing, which, by the limits of three miles, was intented to be secured to our people, the Americans are ingenious and daring enough to perservere in prose- cuting ; and thus interfere with the very boat fishery of the poor men settled along the shores. I ' I I 2.54 FISHERIES. A contraband trade, also, is carried on by tlie American fishing vessels along different parts of the coasts. The right of entering the harbours of our colonies for wood and water affords an opportunity for smuggling ; at which there is not in the world a more expert class than the Americans. At the Magdalene Islands, and in many parts within the Gulf of St. Law- rence ; at Fox Island, and other parts of Nova Scotia ; and along the coasts of New Brunswick, an illicit trade is extensivf^ly persevered in. Rum, molasses, French, and East India goods, and American manufactures are bartered generally for the best fish, and often sold for specie. The French also sell brandy, wine, and French manufactures for the best fish, to our fishermen. The consequence of this smuggling trade is not merely the defrauding of his Majesty's revenue, but the very fish, thus sold the Americans and French, was legally and honestly due, and should be paid to the British merchant, who in the first instance supplied the fisher- men with clothes^ provisions, salt, and all kinds of fishing tackle. There are, indeed, such a multiplicity of courses pursued in these fisheries, by the Americans, ever apt in finding out all the methods which serve the purpose of gain, that it would be quite superfluous to recapitulate more than I have stated, uu.- '->};;!" In the shape of bounties, they are encouraged by their government ; and as they conduct their fisheries in the shape of expense and outfits cheaper than we do, and on a different principle, they are enabled to bring. their fish to market at half the price of ours. > KISHERIF.S. 2.').'> on by the arts of the )urs of our )rtunity for >rld a more Magdalene of St. Law- )va Scotia ; illicit trade es, French, factures are ten sold for wine, and r fishermen. I not merely >ut the very was legally the British the fisher- 1 kinds of nultiplicity Americans, 1 serve the >erfluous to Duraged by eir fisheries er than we enabled to >f ours. There are two modes of fitting out for the fishery followed by them. The first is accomplished by six or seven farmers, or their sons, building a schooner during winter, which they man themselves, (as all the Ameri- cans on the sea-coast are more or lesi seamen as well as farmers,) and proceed, after fitting the vessel with necessary stores, to the banks. Gulf of St. Lawrence, or Labrador ; and loading their vessel with fish, make this voyage between spring and harvest. The pro- ceeds they divide, after paying any balance they may owe for outfits. They remain at home, to assist in gathering their crops, and proceed again for another cargo, which is salted down, and not afterwards dried ; this is termed need-fish, and kept for home consump- tion. The other plan is, 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, hooks and lines, and for the salt necessary to cure their proportion of the fish. One of the num- ber is acknowledged master ; but he has to catch fish as well as the others, and receives only about twenty shil- per month for navigating the vessel : the crew have five-eighths of the fish caught, and the owners three- eighths of the whole. In these fisheries the Americans have annually en- gaged from 1800 to 2000 schooners, of 60 to 120 tons, manned with 3000. These vessels are employed again during winter in the coasting trade, or in carrying fish and other produce to South America and the west Indies. 2AU FISHEIIIES. Tu the deprecialioD of ihc vuluc ni' fiiili iit i'orrigii markftS/ caused by the prifileges thu» granted tht* French and Americani, and in n particular degree to the limited demand for fish oils in the home market, may be attributed, nearly altogether, the depressed and still declining condition of the British American fisheries. The heavy duties exacted in Spain, Portu- gal, and Italy, occasion, no doubt, less demand for Hsh in those countries than formerly : but, notwith- standing this circumstance, had we but retained our fishing grounds, we should not meet with such power- ful competitors in the markets of tlie world. Nothing could be more unwise than to allow either the French or Americans to enter the Gulf of St. Law- rence ; it is a Mediterraneartf bounded by our colonies, and those powers had neither right nor pretence to its shores or its fisheries. The provincial governments of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland have extended, it is true, every possible encouragement in support of the fisheries, in the shape of bounties ; but, as these are drawn from the colonial revenues, it is giving a direction to a portion of those funds to enable their fishermen to compete with their rivals, which would otherwise be judiciously expended on internal improvements. Yet, it is found absolutely necessary to grant these bounties to' protect the fishing adventurers from ruin. The Newfoundland fishermen receive no encouragemenli of this kind, nor can the condition and circumstances' of the colony afford any. The best protection that can now be extended to these ! Ii ih i'orrigii granted the It degree to •me market, e depressed h American ain, Portu- iemand fur ;l, nolwitk- etained our iuch power- • allow either of St. Law- ir colonies, !tence to its Scotia and ery possible Q the shape he colonial >n of those with their f expended absolutely the fishing 1 fishermen or can the afford any. ed to these ^ F1SHKRIEI4 •J57 fisheries is, not to lay even the smallest duty on any article that is either directly or indirectly required for the fisheries. As respects Newfoundland, in particular, there is not un individual living on the island but who is either immediately or distantly connected with the fisheries. FINIS. I fi 1 259 ' • ii APPENDIX. NOTE A.— Page 62. The exports from Great Britain to her American colonies consist principally of home manufactures. East and West India goods, Hoi- lands, brandies, wines, fruits, and a few other foreign articles, are also reshipped; but the proportion in value, of these, is tri- fling, when compared to the amount of British goods. The princi- pal articles exported to the North American settlements are, salt, and all kinds of fishing tackle, naval storrs of every description, wrought and cast iron, agricultural implements, earthenware, glass- ware, saddlery, manufactured leather, hardware, stationary, woollen, cotton, and linen goods, the greater part of which are of a coarse description, and manufactured expressly for exportation. To the principal towns in America fine cloths, linens, cottons, silks, and all manner of fancy goods, such as are to be found in the London shops, are exported. NOTE B.— Page 67. Pic-nic excursions are much in vogue all over America. To show how far these differ from any thing to which they may be compared in England, it may be sufficient to observe, that pic-nic parties generally consist of families of respectability, with their friends, who are on a perfectly intimate footing with each other. In summer some roman- tic spot is fixed upon, to which the party proceed ; if by water, which is most commonly the case, in an open boat; or if by land, in gigs, or in calashes, and on horseback. The ladies consider it as within their particular province to furnish the eatables. The gentlemen provide wines and spirits. At these parties there is usually less re- '-' I 2f)() Al'I'KMJIX »iraiiit and iiion enjoyiiuut than at the ar;!!M , NOTE F.— Page 73. The unsufTerable forwardness of sons of very worthy and industri- ous men, who emigrated from Scotland to America, is most disgust- ing. Their fathers, by steady labour, have generally acquired some property in land and cattle. The sons, seeing few in better circum- stances than themselves, begin to think, especially if ihey have been taught a little learning by an Irish schoolmaster, or by a disbanded soldier, that they should not labour for a living as their fathers did ; but, that " head work," or "scheming," will do better ; and they soon acquire the manners of the worst of the Americans. I perfectly concur with Mr. Harrison when he says, " that the ne plus ultra of impu- dence, rascality, aad villainy, is comprehended in the epithet Scotch- Yankee." NOTE G.— Page 95. An agricultural society has lately been established at Charlotte Town. His excellency the governor sent, when last in England, a beautiful high-bred stallion, and mare, to the island, and the country is improving very rapidly. The non-residence of Mr. Archibald, the chief-justice, is a matter of the greatest inconvenience to the distri- bution of justice. That gentleman resides in Nova Scotia ; but visits the island during the two terms of the supreme court. During the principal term, in February, he is, from the communication being closed, necessarily absent. This, as respects the colony, is unjust ; and however much I respect the character of judge Archibald, I am astonished that he remains in office to the manifest and decided incon- venience of the people of a valuable and increasing colony. I believe his excellency governor Ready feels the iaW force of the evil. A vast NOTES. 265 i \ I proportion of the duties of a judge devolves upon him, at his cham- bers, when the chief-judge of Prince Edward Island cannot be found, By the death of my excellent friend, the late attorney general, Mr. Johnston, this colony has sustained the loss of the best supporter of its legal and constitutional privilei its stock \ras allowed by legislativ^euactment in be increased, the new shares were sold at 175 per ciiit ; and, although the profits have shiot; then diminished greatly, shareH are still worth 140 percent. There is also a sawnits bank. A marine assurauct- company established, here by legislative charter, seems tn prosper; and it as been hithertO\ singularly fortunate in its rit an observer :, and creates* iiQ« deptroypr and. lie rcfttlg^oce- utaitUt as if in tlie inte-. each other^ emity of the nodification.