35 



PART II. 



NEWFOUNDLAND— NOVA SCOTIA— CAPE BRETON— PRINCE EDWARD I&lr- 

 AND— MAGDALENE ISLANDS— BAY OF CHALEUKS— LABK.U)OK— KEW 

 BRUNSWICK. 



ENGLISH COD-FISHERY NEWFOUNDLAND. 



Newfoundland is the oldest colony of England in America. It is 

 said that in the public libfary of Venice there is a map, constructed by 

 Andrea Bianco, in 1436, which authorizes the conjecture that it was 

 known to fishermen before the voyage of Cabot, in 1497. The story, 

 to state its substance in a word, is, that the island ScornJiTa, or Stoxa- 

 Jixa, on the map, and the island of Newfoundland, are identical, be- 

 cause the codfish is called stock-Jish in the northern languages. 



The English resorted to Iceland* for the cod, previous to the year 



* The Icelanders, at the present time, derive their chief subsistence and profit from the sea. 

 They live principally on the shores and harbors, where fish are plentiful. The fishing season com- 

 mences in Februaiy, and closes in May. The fishermen wear a dress of leather, rubbed over 

 with train-oil until it is nearly impervious to water. They fish with line and hooks, baited 

 with shell-fish, or pieces of flesh. They have lately become acquainted with nets, and use 

 them in the herring fishery. When they leave the shore they take oft' their hats, and oSer up 

 a petition for success, and recommend themselves to the Divine protection in a prayer or 

 hymn. They then row to the fishing grounds, and continue there all day. In 1804 the total 

 number of boats employed was twenty-one hundred and sixty-three, namely : 208, with eight 

 and ten oars; 1,068, with four and six oars; and 887 of smaller size. Bessestaar is the seat 

 ef a good academy, with a collection (in 1826) of fifteen hundred volumes, which, says Malte 

 Brun, " is no doubt the most northern library in the world." Iceland, he observes, " produces 

 no salt ; but the water of the surrounding sea is fully as saline as that of the Mediterranean. 

 The salt which the Icelanders obtain from it gives a bluish tint to fish." 



Reikiavik, according to another writer, was selected as the seat of goverament " for the con- 

 venience of its harbor, and for the gravel beach — a thing of rare occurrence in Iceland." The 

 exports of fish from Reikiavik, in 1806, were much larger than from any other place. 



Tke Dutch cod-fishery is of importance. 



[Translation.] 

 STATE PAPER OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



No. 13. — Act of 6th March, 1818, for the encouragement of the Iceland cod-Jishery. 



We, William, by the grace of God King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange Nassau, Grand 



Duke of Luxembourg, &c. 



Be it known to all those who shall see these presents, or hear them read, greeting: 



Considering that the little, or Iceland, cod-fishery has been continually supported and en- 

 couraged by premiums out of the public treasury in behalf of those who carry on this branch 

 of industry, so important to the prosperity of the country ; 



And that the reasons which, in former times, pleaded for the allowance of those premiums, 

 have still, at the present time, their full force and weight : 



We have therefore heard our council of state, and, with the advice of the States General, 

 do hereby decree and direct : 



Article I. There shall be paid out of the public treasury a premium of five hundred guild 

 ers for every voyage of each ship, which, for account of our subjects, is fitted out in this 

 kingdom, and shall sail from one of its poits during the years 1818, 1819, and 1820, for Iceland 

 to carry on the little fishery — that is, the cod-fishery — between the sixty fifth and sixty-sevent 

 degrees of north latitude. 



