CHAPTER VIII. 



ANTICOSTI. 



AN attempt has recently been made by a company to 

 colonize the island of Anticosti. A number of families 

 from Newfoundland were induced by this company to 

 move to the island, where they settled in groups of a 

 dozen families or so. One of these settlements is at Bel 

 Bay, another at English Bay, and another at the south- 

 west point. But little success has as yet attended this 

 scheme. Some of the poor settlers would- have perished 

 of starvation in the winter if they had not been fed by the 

 Canadian Government. The latter is interested in the 

 success of this experiment, because if there were a self- 

 supporting population on the island, however small, it 

 would enable the Government to dispense with the stores 

 of provisions it has been hitherto obliged to maintain 

 there for the relief of shipwrecked mariners. For six 

 months of the year Anticosti is shut off from communi- 

 cation with the world. Some parts of the island are 

 capable of producing fair crops of potatoes, oats, hay, and 

 vegetables, and a few small farms in connection with 

 fishing stations could be made to pay very well. In the 

 fishing season all produce could be disposed of on the spot 

 for high prices to the fishermen, who are often short of 

 provisions and are always glad to get potatoes and other 

 vegetables. This is the only kind of settlement for which 



