7^ 



country is still unknown. Labrador still forms a part of the colony of 

 Newfoundland. The natives bear the general name of Esquimeauxs. 

 The resident inhabitants of European origin are English, Irish, Jersey- 

 men, and Canadians, who are emploj'-ed either on their own account, 

 or as the servants of others, as furriers, seal-catchers, and cod and sal- 

 mon fishers. 



The fishing establishments of the English and .Jersey merchants are 

 extensive and well conducted. They are engaged in the cod and sal- 

 mon fisheries, and in the taking of seals. In the year 1831, the value 

 of their shipments to Europe was upwards of $200,000. The number 

 of these commercial houses is from ten to twelve, who manage their 

 business at Newfoundland, either by the temporary presence of junior 

 partners or clerks, or b}' resident agents. 



The people of Newfoundland, averring that the French and Ameri- 

 cans have driven them from their own " bank fishery," resort to Labra- 

 dor. They employ two or three hundred vessels. A part make two 

 voyages in a season. The first fare is commonly cured on the coast; 

 but the second is carried home without dr3ang. Some of the merchants 

 of Newfoundland ship both cod and salmon directly to correspondents 

 in Europe; while others order their captains to return to the island and 

 unlade their fish and oil at their own warehouses. 



The Canadian fisheries are small. They send eight or ten vessels 

 to the coast, with eighty or one hundred men. They fish for cod and 

 salmon. They carry a pait of what they catch to Quebec, and send 

 a part to Europe. 



The colonists of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick adventure at Lab- 

 rador to a considerable extent; but they do not pursue the business as 

 regularly and with as much system as do those of Newfoundland. 

 Sometimes they send more than one hundred vessels in a year ; at 

 others the number is much less. They engage principally in the cod 

 fishery, making a single fare and curing their fish at home. 



The Labrador fisheries have "increased more than six-fold," says 

 Macgregor, "principally in consequence of our fishermen [the English] 

 being driven from the grounds now occupied by the French " since the 

 year 1814; and he estimates that about twenty thousand British subjects 

 are at present required during the fishing season in the catching, curing, 

 and transporting the various products of these remote seas. 



Statistics. 



