44 liOADS AND RAILWAYS. 



tliuse givw into small towns. St. Jolnvs in particular made great 

 strides. The laws, however, against the cultivation of the soil, 

 and the erection of dMolling houses, were enforced up to the be- 

 ginning of the present centmy. In 1790 one of the Governors 

 2)ublicly announced that he "was directed not to allow any 

 possession as private property to l^e taken or any right of private 

 projjerty ^vhatever, -to Ise acknowledged in any land whatever 

 which is not actually employed in the fishery in the terms of the 

 Act, 10 and 11 William III." In 1799, Governor Waldegrave 

 ordered fences which had been erected enclosing a 2jiece of 

 ground to be torn down, and jirohiliited chimneys even in the 

 tenqjorary sheds. The people were thus confined to the sea- 

 margin, in small isolated settlements, the only inter-communi- 

 cation being by sea. Though the progress of the Colony was 

 thus seriously retarded, still the hardy pioneers held their 

 ground and increased in nuudjers, thus proving that there were 

 among them men of the right stamp for building up a new com- 

 munity — men of moral worth and force of character, who saw in 

 the midst of their rough surroundings that here was a spot which 

 might one day be made into a desii'alile home for themselves and 

 their children. 



THK I>AWN. 



A liettcr day at length dawned. Tlie foolish and cruel laws 

 were relaxed, and in 1813 grants of lands to settlers were for the 

 liist time permitted. Agriculture on a small scale immediately 

 commenced around each settlement. Those who Avere interested 

 in keeping the country unsettled had all along sedulously incul- 

 cated the lielief that both in regard to climate and soil the 

 island was wholly unsuited to agriculture. This view was 

 speedily disproved when restrictions were removed, but to this 

 ilay is not wholly eradicated. 



A NEW ERA— ROAD MAKING. 



It was soon found that no pi'ogress could be made in the culti- 

 vation of the soil till roads were constructed. The year 1825 

 \\-a.> rendeied lueinortible by the coustructiuu of the tirst road, 



