132 THE LABRADOE PENINSULA. chap. xxix. 



before his cottage-door, facing the sea. Nothing hinders tlie 

 population of Xatashquan from increasing by immigration 

 but the fear of not being able to obtain a title to the land 

 which the squatter may occupy. All the settlements on 

 the coast have been made as yet without the consent of 

 the Seigneurs of Mingan, and the difficulty of procuring 

 that consent would be very great, as they are not only 

 numerous, but scattered throughout England, Canada, 

 and the United States. It is unquestionably the interest 

 of the Government of Canada to protect these httle self- 

 supporting colonies, to encourage the fisheries, and create 

 the nucleus of a navy in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. With 

 amazing wealth lying untouched at her feet, Canada has 

 expended tens of thousands in disputing the rights of the, 

 Hudson's Bay Company to the distant north-west, but has 

 not been careful to secure peaceful possession for a race 

 of fishermen on the shores of her own seas, which can 

 become, through them, sources of inestimable wealth, 

 and in time of trouble a secure defence. 



The country fit for settlement on the immediate shore 

 may be said to terminate at Wapituagan ; from that point 

 the coast trends more to the north, and acquires an aspect 

 indescribably desolate, but some miles from the coast the 

 country is far more promising. What a vast field is 

 here for the revival of that encouragement to fishing 

 establishments and villages which existed in the time of 

 the French rule within the Straits of Belle Isle ! This is 

 scarcely the place, however, to discuss this important 

 question, and it may well be reserved for a distinct 

 chapter. 



