56 



modification of that devised by heathen Carthage and Rome, for the 

 government of distant colonies, was abohshed, or since captains in the 

 royal navy, who came to the island in the spring and returned to Eng- 

 land at the close of the fishing season, ceased to rule and to consider 

 the inhabitants as " subject to naval discipline;" and persons are now 

 ahve who were the victims of the merchants " at home," who, armed 

 with ordinances and instructions of the Lords of Trade and Plantations, 

 insisted upon the entire control of the business, and of the domestic ar- 

 rangements of the residents. 



For the first time, in a history of more than three hundred years, a 

 legislative body, similar to those of other British colonies, assembled 

 in Newfoundland in 1833. The only material changes of previous dates 

 were those wliich related to the administration of justice, and which 

 allowed tlie people the forms and principles of jurisprudence, in place 

 of the decrees and the decisions of the knavish and despotic "admi- 

 rals" in command of fishing vessels, and the quarter-deck mandates of 

 their successors. 



A few miles back from the coast, Newfoundland is almost an un- 

 broken wilderness. The inhabitants, as a body, are as ignorant of the 

 interior of the island as are others. To them, and to all the world, the 

 colony is known for its fisheries, and for these alone. To enumerate 

 St. John, Ferr3dand, Fugo, and Burin, and the settlements on the bays 

 of Concepcion, Trinity, Bonavista, Fortune, Bull's, Placentia, and St. 

 Mary's, is to recall almost every place of note. There was no free 

 port until 1828, and no bank until eight years later. From the dis- 

 covery of Cabot to the arrival of a bishop of the church, was three 

 hundred and forty-three years. The population in 1806 — about two 

 and a quarter centuries after the attempt of colonization by Gilbert — 

 was less than twenty-six thousand. It was less than seventy- four thou- 

 sand in 1836 ; and but ninety-six thousand six hundred and six in 1845. 

 It remains to speak of the fishing grounds; of the manner of catching 

 and curing, and of the iiabits of the persons who are employed in the 

 fishery. As the vessel or "bank" fishery has been abandoned by the 

 English, an account of it is reserved for the third part of this report. 

 The boats used for the shore fishery require from two to four men each. 

 The number of boats in 1838, was 6,159; and in 1845, 9,989. The 

 fishing is performed within the harbors, and early in the season, near 

 the land. The men stand while at their toil, and each is able to tend 

 more than one line. At times the fish fasten to the hooks so rapidly, 

 that the fishermen display great activity. A boat is often filled in two 

 or three hours. On the shores are "stages,"' or buildings erected on 

 posts, and projecting into the sea, to allow boats to come to them as to 

 wharves or piers. The fish are carried to these "stages," where, in 

 the hands of the "cut-throat," the "header," the "spHtter," and the 

 "Salter," as four classes of the "shoresmen" are called, they are pre- 

 pared for the "dryer." When sufficiently salted, they are washed, and 

 transported on "hand-barrows" to tlie "flakes," where they are spreatl 

 and dried. Once cured, they are piled in warehouses to await sale or 

 orders for shipment. The " Salter" and the "dryer" should be careful 

 and expert men ; the one to distribute the salt with a skilful hand — the 

 other, that damps and rains do not injure the fish while exposed in the 



