274 APPENDIX TO BRITISH CASE. 



by the terms of the Convention of 1818, and they, therefore, intend to dispatch, 

 as soon as possible, a small naval force of steamers, or other small vessels, to 

 enforce the observance of that Convention. 



In the mean time, the Colonial papers are in raptures, looking for- 

 ward to the advent of a golden age by the adoption of their construc- 

 tion of the Treaty, and by the determination of the Home Govern- 

 ment to maintain it. There is a prodigious flourish of trumpets upon 

 the occasion, and it is obvious that every colonist believes that this 

 large force has been assembled for far more important purposes than 

 to watch smugglers or the common trespasses of fishermen. 



Now, what are these " encroachments," thus denominated and de- 

 nounced by the British Government, and by their Representative 

 here? There are not wanting the means of answering this question. 



For a series of years the Colonial authorities have complained of 

 our fishermen for fishing in all the large bays in the Bay of Fundy, 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Chaleur, and elsewhere, In 

 1842 these complaints assumed quite an imposing appearance, and a 

 resolution passed the Legislature of Nova Scotia, embodying their 

 supposed grievances in a distant form, with a view to decisive action. 

 A case was stated by the Governor embracing all the points they 

 contended for, which was transmitted to the Government, with a 

 request that the opinion of the Advocate and of the Attorney Gen- 

 eral might be taken upon the various questions propounded. Among 

 these questions was the following: 



3d. Is the distance of three marine miles to be computed from the indents 

 of the coast of British America, or from the extreme headlands, and what is to 

 be considered a headland? 



There are two curious facts in connection with this proceeding 

 worthy of a passing notice. 



The first is, that in the case stated by the Nova Scotia Government, 

 it is asserted that, at the Peace of 1783, a Treaty was entered into 

 between the United States of America and Great Britain, by which 

 the people of the former country obtained the right "to take fish 

 on the Grand Bank," &c. A greater historical error could hardly 

 be committed in this matter, which the Treaty itself, as well as all 

 contemporaneous accounts, contradicts. What influence the state- 

 ment may have had upon the subsequent opinion, I know not. It 

 certainly leaves but little respect for the careful action of those who 



prepared the document. 



163 The second curious fact, though of a different nature, con- 

 cerns the Governor Lord Falkland who gravely tells the 

 Secretary of State, while sending him this paper, that " the people 

 of the colony have not been wanting in efforts to repel the incursions 

 of the NATIVES of the United States upon these fishing grounds," &c. 

 This dignitary seems to have supposed that the aboriginal popula- 

 tion yet possessed our country, as the term native is, by common 

 consent, applied to the primitive inhabitants of a region. 



The case thus stated was referred by the Home Government to 

 the Advocate and Attorney General, who decided every point in 

 favour of British, or, rather, of colonial interests. It is, probably, 

 well for the peace of the two countries, if the course of England is 

 to be guided by the views of these functionaries, that nothing more 

 was asked ; for I suppose a negative upon such questions of national 



