39 



for the moment, to have attempted to exckide the vessels of otlier na- 

 tions, or, at least, to have com{)elle(l an acknowlcdunient of subjection 

 to them as vested with proprietary rights. We find that, in 1585, a 

 fleet of ships under Sir Bernard Drake made prizes of several vessels 

 laden with fish and furs, which he sent to England. 



Sir Huinjjhrey Gilbert's voyage, disastrous as it was to himself and 

 to others, was still the direct means of exciting the atteutiou of his 

 countrymen to adventures, which, by virtue of his patent, could be 

 made under the protection of the crown, as to a British possession. I 

 incline to believe that the Newfoundland fishery had never yet become 

 tlie favorite of the English merchants. 



By the statute-book there were one hundred and fifty-three days in 

 a year on which British subjects were required to abstain from flesh, 

 and to eat fish, and the demand for the products of the sea was, of 

 course, immense. But the Iceland fishery was still prosecuted ; and, 

 that her people might not be molested there. Queen Elizabeth conde- 

 scended to ask the forbearance and protection of Chistian IV of Den- 

 mark, who claimed the Iceland seas as his own. 



The observance of the interdictions as to flesh on fish-days was 

 deemed of great moment, and among the tracts of the time was one 

 by John Erswick, who demonstrated the "benefits that grow to this 

 realm," by reason thereof, in terms that show he was a devoted parti- 

 san of the "fishmongers." 



The progress of the Newfoundland fishery during the ten years end- 

 ing in 1593 was rapid beyond example, and Sir Walter Raleigh de- 

 clared in the House of Commons that it was the stay and support of 

 the west counties of England. Yet it was subject to interruptions. 

 An example occurs in the case of Charles Leigh, a merchant of Lon- 

 don, who, in 1597, made a voyage with two vessels, and who, while 

 on the American coast, was assailed by the crews of French vessel^, 

 to the number of two hundred, who, landing pieces of ordnance, kept 

 up a discharge of shot until a parley was held and the dilticulty ad- 

 justed. 



As the sixteenth century closes, we record the commencement of 

 hostile relations between the fishermen and the red Indians of New- 

 founcUimd. 



Th( se Indians derived their food principafly from the sea. The 

 Europeans, in the course of their merciless warfare against them, de- 

 stroyed their canoes, their nets, and their villages. The Indians en- 

 deavored tom;iint;iin their rights of fishing, and bnively contended with 

 tlieir opponents, until resistance was vain. TIk^ fish tliey re(iuir(>d for 

 c/)nsumption could not, in the very nature of tilings, have diminished 

 th(; catch of their cruel rivals. Driven almost entirely from the sea, 

 finally, and unjustly deprived of all means of support, they were com- 

 pelled to plunder food to save themselves Irom starvation. Watched 

 and wiiylaid by their foes, they were sliDt down whenever they came 

 near any of the European fishing stations. In truth, whenevt>r and 

 wherever they were found, and whether r(3sisting, or impk)ring f<)r food, 

 tJiey were slain as men slay beasts of prey. Men, women, and chil- 

 dren w(!re slaughtered without discrimination ; and even those who 

 were too weak to raise the haaid of supplication, were not spared. In 



