294 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
cf Newfoundland, which had been secured to her by the Treaty of 
Utrecht in 1713. 
On the 7th October, 1763, a royal proclamation was issued (3rd 
Geo. III) with the object of enabling British subjects to reap “ the 
great benefits and advantages ” accruing from the said conquest, and to 
that end it was decided to erect within the countries and islands ceded 
and confirmed to Us, by the said treaty, 
Four distinct and separate Governments ; 
viz. Quebec, Hast Florida, West Florida, and Granada. The only one 
of these of interest to us at present, is Quebec. Its boundaries are 
clearly and distinctly defined, as follows :— 
“ Firstly, the Government of Quebec, bounded on the Labrador 
“Coast by the River St. John, and from thence by a line drawn from 
“the head of that river through the Lake St. John to the south end of 
“the Lake Nipissing, etc....” 
The rest, namely the western and southern boundaries of the 
province, do not interest us, till we come to the final course, viz.: “ and 
“from thence (i.e. C. Rosieres on the 8. side of the River St. Lawrence) 
“ crossing the mouth of the River St. Lawrence by the west end of the 
“Island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid River St. John.” 
From this description we learn, firstly—That the word “ Coast” 
does not mean merely the high-water mark or a line from headland to 
headland, but it includes the hinterland, as far as the head waters of the 
River St. John. I have to anticipate a little here, to say that in the 
acts and proclamations which follow, the expression used is always the 
“Coast of Labrador,” though distinctly meaning the coast with the land 
behind it, to some distance. 
In the present case the land from the mouth of the River St. John 
to the head waters of the same river, a distance of one hundred and 
twenty miles inland is called “the Coast,” and Quebec accepts that 
interpretation of the word. 
Secondly. The above description throws light on the hitherto in- 
explicable words of the Newfoundland Royal Instruction already quoted, 
viz., “a line to be drawn due north and south from Blane Sablon to the 
52nd degree of North Latitude.’ A glance at the map will show that 
the “ Head Waters of the River St. John are situated exactly on the 
52nd parallel of Latituae. Now when, by the proclamation of 6 Geo. 
IV (1825), the dividing line between Quebec and Newfoundland was 
removed eastwards from the River St. John to Blane Sablon; as there. 
