CHAP. XXV. IMPOKTANCE OF HARBOUES. 81 



A well-protected harbour and town, at the west end in 

 Ellis Bay, would be invaluable to the fisheries of the Gulf ; 

 and as the north point of Anticosti is only fourteen miles 

 and a half from the western extremity of the Mingan 

 Islands, a harboiu- of call and of refuge at Fox Bay at 

 the eastern extremity of the island would be of great 

 advantac^e to the commerce of tlie Gulf as well as to the 

 fisheries. As a naval station Elhs Bay would command 

 both entrances to the river, and in fact control the entire 

 Gulf The corresponding station on the mainland might 

 be on the south at Gaspe Bay, of which Admiral Bayfield 

 says : ' The admirable Bay of Gaspe possesses advantages 

 which may hereafter render it one of the most important 

 places, in a maritime point of view, in these seas ; it 

 contains an excellent outer roadstead off Douglas Town, 

 a harbour at its head capable of holding a numerous fleet 

 in perfect safety, and a basin where the largest ships might 

 be hove down and refitted. On the Labrador coast, 

 Mingan Harbour is not more than fourteen miles from 

 North Point.' If Gaspe Bay should be considered 

 too far out of the great hue of communication by land 

 between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada, the 

 magnificent Bay of Chaleurs offers every advantage wdiich 

 can be desired for a great inland terminus open for the 

 greater part of the year; about 110 miles from Pdviere 

 de Loup, where the Grand Trunk Eailway of Canada 

 terminates. The Bay of Chaleurs is twenty-five miles 

 wide from Cape Despau" to the celebrated Miscou Island, 

 and seventy-five miles deep to the entrance of the magni- 

 ficent river Eistigouche. Within this bay the chmate is 

 far superior to that of the adjacent Gulf; fogs seldom 



VOL. II. G 



