FISHERIES OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 



79 



The Sieur de Courtemanche had already, however, re- 

 presented to the Council the undesirability of permitting es- 

 tablishments on the 



of wood there and Autograph of De Courtemanche. 

 the quantity which 



would be consumed by the wintering of a number of people on 

 the coast, which might interfere with the supply of wood re- 

 quired by visiting fishermen for constructing scaffolding for 

 the drying of fish. 



The Council consequently refused the desired permission 

 but recommended that Lesdors and Hue be advised to settle 

 at He Roy ale. 1 



CONSTANTIN AT LABRADOR. 



Constantin, already mentioned as a 

 grantee of fishing rights in Labrador, 

 was credited with having been "one 

 of the first from Canada to discover 

 and explore the coast of Labrador, the 

 country of the Esquimaux. 2 Because 

 of the information to this effect, con- 

 cerning Constantin, which had reach- 

 ed the king, and because Constantin 

 had also established a fishery on the 

 coast in virtue of a concession which 

 had been accorded him by the Sieurs 

 de Vaudreuil and Begon, Govern- 

 or and Intendant of the country, His Majesty "being," as 

 the record has it, "in Paris on the 31st March 1717, and 

 wishing to favor the establishment of the said Constantin on 



Louis XV. 



1 Ordre du Conseil de Marine, le 23 fevrier, 1717. See "Corres- 

 pondance echangee entre les autorites Franc.aises et les gouverneurs 

 et intendants." Publics par ordre de la legislature de la province 

 de Quebec. Vol. I, p. 126. 



2 Archives de la Marine. B.14. Page 234. 



