BEITISH, COLONIAL, AND OTHEB CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 559 



Q. By whom was he paid? A. The account was made up in the 

 office and the balance struck by the accountant, and they would be 

 paid by the firm of Rennie, Stuart & Co. 



Q. And you also supplied them? A. Yes. 



Q. You supplied them with the outfit to prosecute the fisheries, 

 and you also supplied them with the necessaries of life for their fami- 

 lies, didn't you ? A. Well, that was optional. They did not always 

 get what they required in that way, but there were very liberal 

 advances made. 



Q. You mean of the necessaries of life ? A. Sometimes, and some- 

 times the men would be young men and would not require it. 



Q. Well, in this case, who owned the boats? A. The planters 

 owned the boats. 



Q. That is, your dealers? A. Yes. 



Q. For instance, the firm of Rennie, Stuart & Co.? A. No; they 

 were the merchants. 



Q. Well, the men that were hired did not own the boats? A. No. 



Q. They were the middlemen that owned the boats and that en- 

 gaged the crew outside and brought them into the office of the mer- 

 chants? A. Yes. 



******* 



Q. Then you sold to these fishermen their provisions, the neces- 

 saries of life for their families, while they were gone, didn't you? 

 A. To a limited extent that is true, but the planter generally took 

 charge of that part. 



Q. How do you mean ? A. He superintended it. 



Q. That is, he bought it from the firm? A. Sometimes he would 

 have it himself. There would be sometimes traders doing business 

 apart from the boats, and owning the boats. 



Q. Suppose the planter does not keep a shop? A. Then it is 

 bought from the merchants; sometimes it is charged to the planter 

 and sometimes to the men. 



Q. It was all credit? A. For the most part it was credit. 



Q. It was all but universally credit, was it not? A. No; not all 

 but universally. 



#**#*#* 



Q. To whose employ did you next go ? A. I went to the firm that 

 succeeded Wm. Grieve & Co., carried on under the name of David 

 Steele. 



Q. How long were you with them? A. I think eight years. 



Q. Were they engaged in the same sort of business ? A. The same 

 sort of business. 



Q. With whom were you next? A. That is all. I served no others 

 except one house, where I stayed but a short time, waiting for an 

 opening when I first came to the country. After leaving Steele I 

 started for myself. 



Q. How many years ago did you start for yourself? It is no mat- 

 ter about the exact date. A. It is 25 years ago. 



Q. Then you have been in this business of supplying the planters 

 and fishermen in one capacity or another about 35 years? A. Not 

 quite as long as that. About 30 years. 



Q. You have not fished yourself ? A. I have not, except for pleas- 

 ure. Sometimes I have run out with them. 



