NEWFOUNDLAND 



NEW GUINEA 



459 



in the reign of Henry VII., by John Cabot, and the 

 event is noticed by the following entry in the 

 accounts of the privy-purse expenditure : ' 1497, 

 Aug. 10. To liym that found the New Isle, 10.' 

 It was visited by the Portuguese navigator, Caspar 

 <le Cortereal, in 1500 ; and within two years after 

 that time regular fisheries were established on its 

 shores by the Portuguese, Biscayans, and French. 

 In 1578, 400 vessels, of which tifty were English, 

 were engaged in the fishery. Sir Humphrey Gilbert 

 (q.v.), with his ill-fated expedition, arrived in St 

 John's Harbour, August 1583, and formallvtook pos- 

 session of the island in the name of Queen Elizabeth. 

 In the return voyage the expedition was scattered 

 by a storm, and the commander lost. In 1621 Sir 

 George Calvert (afterwards Lord Baltimore) settled 

 in the great |>enin*ula in the south-east, and named 

 it the Province of Avalon. The history of the 

 island during the 17th and part of the 18th cen- 

 turies is little more tlian a record of rivalries and 

 feuds between the English and French fishermen ; 

 but by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) the island was 

 ceded wholly to England, the French, however, 

 retaining certain privileges in connection with the 

 catching and drying of fish on the coast extending 

 from Cape Bonavista on the east to Point Riche 

 on the west. By the treaty of Versailles (1783) 

 the boundaries were so changed as to extend 

 from Cape John on the east to Cape Kay on 

 the west, and at the same time the t rench were 

 promised 'freedom from interruption by the com- 

 petition of the British.' This promise the French 

 construe and urge so as to prevent the develop- 

 ment of the resources of the interior adjacent to 

 coasts over which their rights extend, and much 

 friction consequently exists l>etween the French 

 and the people of Newfoundland. A governor was 

 appointed, in 1728. The present form of govern- 

 ment, established in 1855, consists of the governor, 

 an executive council, or cabinet of seven memliers, 

 a legislative council of fifteen members (appointed 

 by the crown ), and a general assembly of thirty- 

 six members (elected by the people). Everyman 

 of twenty-one years of age, a British subject and 

 two years a resident in the colony, is entitled to 

 vote at election-.. 



See L. A. Ampach, The History nf the Island of New- 

 foundland ( 1827) ; Little, T/te fjorfnimriit nf Newfound- 

 land ( 1855) ; W. Frascr Kae, Newfoundland to Manitoba 

 I lx-il i ; Murray and Howley, Geological Surrey of Aeic- 

 foundland (18X1); Hatton and M. Harvey, Newfound- 

 land (18831; Howley, EeeUiiaitic.nl Hiftora of Ifew- 

 faundland (1S88), and French Treaty Rujhti (1890); 

 Harvey, Ntwfounillanil at it it in 18!>4 ' Prowse, A 

 Hutory of Newfoundland. For map, nee CANADA. 



Newfoundland, a breed of dogs originally 

 introduced into England from the island of New- 

 foundland, where they were used for draught pur- 

 poses. As the mastiff at that time was scarce, ami 

 the St Bernard hail not yet appeared in England, 

 the Newfoundland l>ecame exceedingly common, but 

 has been eclipsed in popularity of late years by the 

 other two breeds mentioned. In general appear- 

 ance the Newfoundland is a large and imposing dog, 

 mild in expression, but showing great strength. 

 The head should be large, with ears falling close ; 

 ii'M-k long, if possible ; loins strong and well 

 ribbed up, a point seldom seen in this breed ; tail 

 long and powerful, as it is used greatly when 

 swimming; coat, long and wiry; colour, black 

 without any white markings. Much discussion 

 was caused by Sir E. Landseer's well-known picture 

 of a black and white dog entitled ' A Distinguished 

 Member of the Humane Society '( 1838). An at- 

 tempt was made to prove that the black and white 

 dog was the true Newfoundland; but it is now 

 generally regarded as a cross from the black. The 

 . lack and white variety, now known as the Land- 



seer Newfoundland, has been kept pure for many 

 generations ; it is now almost as pure, and cer- 

 tainly as handsome, as the original variety. The 

 Newfoundland is a splendid water-dog, and takes 

 to the sea at an early age. He is also a natural 



retriever, and, though himself too heavy for field 

 work, has l>een extensively used to found the 

 ordinary retriever. From iiis formidable appear- 

 ance, combined with docility and intelligence, he 

 makes a capital watch-dog, for which purpose he is 

 extensively used. 



Newgate, a celebrated London prison, stands 

 at the western extremity of Newgate Street, 

 opposite the Old Bailey. The exterior presents 

 lii;,h dark stone vails, without windows. It was 

 long the chief criminal prison of city and county, 

 but is no longer used for prisoners to be tried at 

 the Central Court, and is in the hands of the 

 Court of Aldermen. The earliest prison here was 

 in the portal of the new gate of the city as early as 

 1218; and hence the name. Alxnit two centuries 

 afterwards it was rebuilt by the executors of Sir 

 Kichard Whittington, whose statue with a cat 

 stood in a niche, till its destruction by the great 

 fire of London in 1066. The present edifice was 

 erected in 1780, but the new buildings were greatly 

 damaged by fire in the Gordon Riots of that year 

 (see Boswefl's Johnson under that date), when 300 

 prisoners, felons as well as debtors, were released 

 and let loose upon the public. This awful scene 

 is described by Dickens in liamaby Jltiffye. After 

 the passing of the Prisons Bill in 1877 Newgate, 

 iM.'ing considered a very costly and redundant 

 establishment, was gradually disused, and is now, 

 except during sessions or when the gallows is in 

 requisition, practically closed. The A'eivgate Cal- 

 endar contains biographical notices of the most 

 notorious murderers, burglars, thieves, and forgera 

 who have been confined within its walls. See 

 Griffiths, Chronicles of Newgate ( 1884). 



New Granada. See COLOMBIA. 



New Guinea, an island of Australasia, the 

 largest in the world except the Australian con- 

 tinent, from which it is separated by the shallow 

 island-studded Torres Strait, 80 to 90 miles wide 

 at its narrowest part, almut the meridian of 

 the York Peninsula. There is now no doubt 

 that the two regions at one time, probably during 

 the Miocene epoch, formed continuous land, ana 

 an upheaval of less than sixty fathoms would 

 suffice again to unite them. The hundred-fathom 

 line, as determined by Wallace, would also include 

 the insular groups of Jobi, Biak, Suk, Mafor 



