304 



mvolving the loss of vessel and cargo ; and thai confiscation also awaits 

 ihose wlio, in the same barbarous precincts, presume to use a bait- 

 mill ! The degree of civilization in colonial legislation is wonderful, 

 and witliout a parallel, except in Tunis or Tripoli.* 



As the conclucUng topic, we pass to examine into the causes of the 

 seizure of our vessels, by ships of the crown and by the colonial cutters, 

 for alleged " aggressions." 



Chronological order is not material to the inquiry, and will be dis- 

 regarded. In many cases we have die seizing officer's own account. 

 Thus says one : 



•'I found the said American schooner Rebecca at anchor, cleaning 

 fish and throw'ing the offal overboard. It being fine weather, and they 

 having three barrels of water on board, with a sufficient quantity of 

 wood, I detained her, and took her to St. John." 



Again, reports the same officer to his superior : 



*' I found the American fishing schooner William anchoring in Gull 

 cove ; the weather was fine until after she got in, when it came on 

 foggy, with light breezes ; and they having two barrels of water on 

 board, which myself, Mr. Tongeau, and boat's crew subsequently usetl 

 from, and plenty of wood, I detained her." 



Still again : 



*' I received information from the fishermen at Gull cove, as well as 

 from the master and crew of the fishing schooner Minerva, of Grand 

 Menan, that an American schooner was at anchor at Beal's passage. 

 I went out from Gull cove, and saw her there ; at nine o'clock in tlie 

 evening I boarded her, which proved to be the American fishing 

 schooner Galeon, and found all the crew asleep. On questioning the 

 master the reason of his being there, he told me he had com.e to throw 

 the gurry (offiil of the fish) overboard. They not being in want of wowl 

 or water, and a fine fair wind for them, I detained her, got her under 

 weigh, and ran for Gull cove, a direct course for their fishing ground. 

 What the crew of |he last mentioned vessel asserted in their protest is 

 not true. I never said that I would release their vessel, but told them 

 that it was not in my power to do it, as they had decidedly violated 

 the treatyof convention between England and the United States ; but as 

 they pleaded poverty, saying their vessel was their sole support, I told 

 them I would recommend their case to Captain Hoare, of tlie Dotterel, 

 my comm;mding officer." 



The schooner Battelle was seized for setting nets in a hai'bor, and lor 



* As an instance of the falsehoods ref?ortcd to in Nova Scotia to inflame the minds of the 

 coloniiil fisheruien, I cite the followincr paraf,'raph which appeared in a Halifax paper in 1845: 



" Mac/cerel Jisliery. — About four hundred vessels engaijed in the mackerel tishery (from t\w 

 coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton) arrived at the port of Gloucester (United States) on 

 Sunday, September 27. 'I'heir cargoes a»era^fed one hundred barrels. Thus this tleet had 

 upwards of forry thousand barrels of fish — pr(!tty piekinfrs enough ! The whole catch of our 

 provincial iishermen will not exceed ten thousand barrels." 



There is one other " iish story'' equal to this, namely: Some six hundred years ago, a woman- 

 jish direct from the ocean made her api)earaHee among the fishermen of Holland, w 1th whom 

 she lived awhile in great amity ; but desiring finally to see her children, she took alfectionate 

 leave of the kind l>utchnjen, and retunicd to her old home in the sea, where, for aught that 

 appears iu history, she is alive at this day. Tlie skii)pers above raentioneil reported falling in 

 with her on the "c(»ast of Nova Scotia and Cape iiretou" m 1845, but the veracious HalifaJt 

 editor euppresses the importaut fact. 



