22 EEV. GEORGE PATTERSON 



From the ship " Stark Odder " £ 65 19 6 



brig " Hariott " 1,458 12 4 



And from a schooner from Miramichi about 340 barrels pickled 



salmon, not yet brought from the island, supposed worth... 410 



£2,300 5 



"We should mention that the same system in regard to the disposal of wrecks was 

 adopted at the beginning that has continued to the present time. The wreck was taken 

 charge of in the name of the commissioners. The men of the establishment were employed 

 as long as the wreck held together and the weather was tit, in saving anything of her equip- 

 ments or her cargo of value. After that they might also be employed in saving copper or 

 old iron from her remains. The property saved was drawn to the central station, stored 

 there, and afterward shipped to Halifax, where with the wreck it was sold for the benefit of 

 all concerned. A portion of the proceeds, the amount being determined by Halifax 

 merchants, was retained as salvage, from which an allowance was made to the men connected 

 with the establishment. 



At first the ai-rangements for visiting the island seem to have been imperfect, as might 

 have been expected in a first attempt at the establishment of such an institution. As we 

 have seen, the first winter there was a scarcity of provisions. Two winters after, the number 

 to be fed being increased owing to a wrecked crew being on the island, Mr. Morris says 

 that no provisions being saved from the wreck, all the cabbages, potatoes, turnips and small 

 stores were equally divided, and that he had been under the necessity of killing some of the 

 horned cattle or the wild horses. The government from time to time hired a vessel to visit 

 them, carrying supplies and bringing back wrecked goods. But these visits were irregular 

 and far between, so that they were sometimes put to inconvenience for want of necessaries. 

 On November 3, 1808, Mr. Morris complains that he had sent for articles for his family as 

 well as for liis men, but that none, not even l)lankets ordered, had been sent, that he feared 

 the winter for his children, and that it was with difficulty he could persuade the men to 

 remain till spring. He mentions at the same time another trouble : "We have lately been 

 alarmed in a surprising manner by rats and mice in incredible numbers, but with our dogs 

 and a new-invented trap I hope soon to exterminate them. The traps take from fifteen to 

 twenty a night." At this time there were sixteen soiils on the island, more than half of 

 tlicin women and children. 



For fuel they were dependent upon drift timber which came in considerable quantities 

 to the south side of the island, or the remains of wrecks or their cargoes. But, probably 

 from want of means of hauling it or opportunity of laying it up to dry, he complains some- 

 times of the difficulty of obtaining firewood for his family. We may mention that ever 

 since this has been the main, and for the most of the time the only, source of fuel. A 

 timber-laden vessel will supply wood for all purposes for years. The shipping of goods from 

 the island is in any case a work of such difficulty and even danger, that it does not pay to 

 ship the timber, and it is therefore purchased for the uses of the establishment. We may 

 add that the timber thus cast upon the island is sometimes manufactured into shingles or 

 sawn into lumber, and thus proves quite a gain. 



The legislature, for the circumstances of the province at the time, showed a commend- 

 able liberality in the support of this establishment. lu 1802 they voted £500 (|2,000), 



