226 THE LABKADOR PENINSULA. chap. xsxv. 



of the herring, caphii, and launce. If the French have 

 an abundant supply of bait, the fish hnger on the banks 

 as a feeding-ground. The tonnage fitted out yearly for 

 the French bank fishery slightly exceeds 18,000.* 



The right to dry and cure fish on shore is of the 

 greatest importance, as not only are fish so cured of much 

 superior quahty, and consequently command a market 

 where indifferent samples are unsaleable, but facilities for 



* The anxiety witli which tlie assent of the Goverament of Newfound- 

 land to the ' convention with France ' was expected hy the British Govern- 

 ment, may be inferred from the following extract from the despatch addressed 

 by the Secretary of the Colonies to Governor Darling- in 1857 : — 



' Such are the outlines of the treaty, which I now transmit to you. 

 Deeply anxious as they are to effect the settlement of questions so com- 

 plicated, and so pregnant with probable mischief to both countries, Her 

 Majesty's Government have, nevertheless, not thought themselves justified 

 in departing from that rule of colonial government which is now so firmly 

 established in British North America. They have thought that in regard 

 to matters affecting the soil and the population of Newfoundland, the con- 

 cm-rence of the legislature of Newfoundland itself should be sought before 

 any treaty stipulations could be put into execution, and that the aid of 

 Parliament (notwithstanding its paramount constitutional power in ques- 

 tions of treaty, affecting as they do, directly or indirectly, the empire at large) 

 ought, except in an extreme case, to be reserved for the purpose of com- 

 pleting whatever the local legislature' may not have strict legal power 

 to effect. 



' Probably the simplest course would be to recite the treaty in a single act, 

 and give it force of law in the island as far as this is needed ; but this I 

 notice by way of suggestion only. You will observe, lastly, that although 

 Her Majesty's Government have expressly submitted the treat)' to the assent 

 of the Newfoundland legislature, they have for their part promised to give 

 their best endeavours to procure the passing of the necessary laws. They 

 are most desirous that these words should be taken as expressing their 

 strong anxiety to effect this arrangement, and the conviction that to miss 

 this opportunity of coming to a settlement will be to cause great incon- 

 venience and probable future loss to Newfoundland. For there can be no 

 doubt that the final failure of a negotiation so long continued vinll tend to 

 encourage both parties to resort to the full exercise of their existing rights. 

 When the expectation of ultimate agreement upon disputed points is at an 

 end, there will, it must be feared, be little encouragement left for com- 

 promise or mutual forbearance.' 



