52 FISHERIES OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 



lasting profits, and those most suitable to the inhabitants of 

 the country, and to the growth of the Colony. For what each 

 resident is able to earn at it will pay him very handsomely 

 each year for his trouble, and as this industry only opens 

 after the land has been sown, and finishes before harvest, the 

 industrious worker is able to make a good thing out of it 

 without abandoning the culture of his land as the coureurs 

 de bois do. 



''Canadians are skilful, and if they wish to do so they 

 will not take long to become as clever as the Basques in the 

 whale fishery. 



"There is reason to hope that they will be attracted to 

 this industry by the good prospects of profit, providing the 

 establishment of the fishery is persevered in, but the person 

 who is anxious to embark in it is not financially strong and 

 will have trouble to meet the necessary expenditure. 



"The last harpooners for the Sieur de Riverin have been 

 taken by the shippers from Bayonne to Quebec. I question 

 whether he will be able to pay the costs, but he has positively 

 promised me not to give up, and the Intendant will do all 

 that he possibly can to sustain him. ' n 



RIVERIN AT MATANE. 



Riverin established the headquarters of his Gaspe fishery 

 in 1688 at Matane. He was filled with enthusiasm for the 

 excellence of its harbor, which could accommodate ships of 

 200 tons, and with the richness of the surrounding waters 

 in fish. He told M. de Seignelay that he could employ 500 

 boats at a time in the fisheries of the neighboring waters. 

 Twenty leagues of the Gulf thereabouts were described by 

 him as swarming with cod, which were of the very finest 

 quality and suitable for shipment to Spain and to the Le- 

 vant. As for the whale fishery, Riverin declared that he 

 had seen fifty whales at a time on the surface of the water. 



i Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle- 



France. Vol. II., pp. 3, 4. 



