60 FISHERIES OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 



interested. He charted his discoveries and in 1680 received 

 a grant of Anticosti as a reward. 



In those early days in the history of Canada the island 

 of Anticosti was considered a much more valuable property 

 than it is to-day, on account of its advantageous position as a 

 fishing station at the entrance of the Gulf, and the great 

 value of the fisheries immediately surrounding its coasts. Im- 

 mediately upon receiving his grant, Jolliet proceeded to take 

 possession of his island with the members of his family and 

 to enter upon its development. The census of 1681 shows 

 that Anticosti had a population of fourteen persons: Louis 

 Jolliet, his wife, four children, and eight servants. 



Sometimes the 

 first proprietor 

 o f Anticosti 

 spent his win- 

 ters on his is- 

 land, usually he 



Autographs of Louis Jolliet and his wife. during the 



winter months 

 in his Quebec home on Sous-le-Fort Street, fishing in summer 

 on the coasts of Anticosti or to the north of the Mingan 

 Islands, which islands, in partnership with Jacques de 

 Lalande, Jolliet had obtained a concession of from Fronten- 

 ac and Duchesne in 1679, for the purposes of seal and cod 

 fishing. Five to six thousands of salmon were sometimes 

 taken by Jolliet in one season out of the rivers of the north 

 shore. 1 His industry proved so successful that he furnished 

 most of the fish consumed at Quebec, and also the supply 

 needed for the soldiers; but the smaller barque employed 

 by him in his carrying trade proved inadequate for the de- 

 mands made upon it, and in 1685 he applied to the king for 

 the loan of a ship for four years, to enable him to increase 

 the output of his fisheries and also to employ as sailors a 

 number of young Canadians, who would otherwise, he urged, 



i Margry quoted by Ernest Gagnon in Louis Jolliet Quebec, 

 1902, p. 165. 



