FISHERIES. 189 



They are greatly attracted to the island which can furnish 

 the northern States with commodities much needed by 

 them, viz. fish, farm produce, and a cool summer lounge 

 for dried-up Yankee citizens. It has been proposed to 

 connect the Bay of Fundy with the Straits of Northumber- 

 land by cutting a canal across the isthmus, a distance of 

 15 or 20 miles. When this is done the markets of the 

 United States will be close at hand. 



The good harbours and excellent fishing grounds of 

 Prince Edward Island are of an importance that cannot 

 be over-estimated. Codfish, mackerel, and herring abound 

 on the entire coast. Salmon strike in also, and are taken 

 in small quantities, but owing to their having no spawn- 

 ing ground this fishery is declining. The streams are all 

 dammed, and the fish get no protection. Lobsters are 

 very plentiful indeed, and hundreds of thousands are 

 taken annually and put up in tins for exportation. The 

 oyster beds of the island are very rich, and their value in 

 these times of dear] oysters ought to be enormous. On 

 all parts of the coast, up every river and creek, the 

 remains of oyster beds occur. Elsewhere an allusion has 

 been made to the agricultural value of these old beds ; the 

 molluscs of which they were composed were in all proba- 

 bility destroyed by the action of ice, but the living beds 

 are also mines of wealth. The Prince Edward Island 

 oyster, though large, is well-flavoured. They are raked 

 up in an indiscriminate manner, with hardly any regard 

 to season. As the supply has as yet been fully equal to 

 the demand, no steps have been taken to cultivate or 

 protect them. These oysters were evidently appreciated 

 by the Micmac Indians, the aboriginal inhabitants of the 



