16 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



thither and purchased them. The moiety of the Plymouth planters 

 being £400. The island was sold that year by Mr. Jennings of 

 Plymouth, England, to the future Pemaquid patentees, and contin- 

 ued to be a favorite resort of fishermen.* 



Sir Fernando Gorges, who had taken a deep interest in the dis- 

 coveries in this country, and who had given a shelter and a home 

 to the natives whom Weymouth had kidnapped, while they were 

 in England, and listened attentively to their descriptions of their 

 country, fitted out, in 1616, an expedition under the command of 

 Richard Vines, Esq., to explore the country still more, with a view 

 to settlement. 



He came to anchor at a place which, in consequence of his win- 

 tering there, he called " Winter Harbor," a spot near the mouth 

 of Saco river, which river had been previously described by Champ- 

 lain, a French early voyageur and explorer, as being "three or 

 four fathoms in depth, and is well stored with fish." 



The Plymouth Colony Purchase a Fishery in Maine. 



The Plymouth colony, finding the fisheries in this section of the 

 coast much more productive than further south, purchased, in 1628, 

 of Monquine, Sagamore of Kennebec, a large tract of country ou 

 both sides of that river from Gusenock ( Gushnoc) up to Wesseruns- 

 kick. It is conveyed by deed, which is still to be seen in the 

 Register's office in Lincoln county, to William Bradford, Edward 

 Winslow and others, in behalf of Plymouth Company. This grant 

 was enlarged and confirmed to them in 1629-30. This patent gave 

 to them the control of the fisheries and trading sections on that 

 tract. The monopoly, or exclusive right to fishing in these waters, 

 for one or more years, used to be sold to the highest bidder at the 

 expiration of each lease, and thus the colony derived a profitable 

 income from their domain. This was continued until the lands be- 

 gan to rise in value, when the colony sold out to a company of 

 individuals known as the Plymouth Company, or proprietors. 



The Fishing Business becomes more Systematic and Increases Com- 

 merce. 



As population increased, the fishing business began to assume 

 more systematic arrangements and regular business forms. In 



♦ Folsom's Ilistory of Saco. 



