1 8 The Fishery Quest ion. 



peached. Nova Scotia, now permanently in 

 the possession of the British crown, was al- 

 most uninhabited. The agents of Massachu- 

 setts opposed its colonization, as New Eng- 

 land fishing vessels had already begun try- 

 ing for fares on its coasts. The military 

 government was obliged to fill up its council 

 from the garrison. The country remained 

 unfrequented, except as a fishing ground, until 

 1748, when Halifax was founded.33 The Eng- 

 lish colonists did not have lonor to wait for 

 the confirmation of their misgivings in regard 

 to Cape Breton. Considerable money had 

 been spent in making the town of Louisburg, 

 on that island, imposing, if not impregnable.^-* 

 Known as the '' Dunkirk of America," it was 

 the rendezvous of the French navy and mer- 

 chant marine and the centre of a lucrative 

 fishery. Disputes as to whether it belonged 

 to the Enorlish,. as within '* the ancient limits 

 of Acadia," had arisen in the commission 

 appointed under the treaty. It was asserted 

 that since the peace the French had carried 

 on "an unbounded fishery." The inconven- 

 ience of such prosperity and naval strength 

 between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia 

 was strongly urged, as well as the command 



