61 



his royal ma^ilrr, by letters patent, gave him the territory beUvecn the 

 40th and 4Gth (l(\£Trecs of latitude, and in the following year De Monts 

 came in person to explore and take possession of his domains. Sixteen 

 years before the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth, he wintered npm 

 an island in the river !St. Croix, whieh, sinec the adjustment of the 

 boundar}- line between the United States and New Brunswick, has 

 been considered within the limits of Maine. This island is claimed by 

 the heiis of the late Genernl John Brew^er, of llobbinston. Itelics of 

 De Monts' sojourn upon it continue to be found. 



Annapolis — the Port Rm'al of the French — was founded before his 

 return, and is the oldest settlement in Nova Scotia. The "lieutenant gen- 

 eral of Acadia, and the circumjacent country," accomplished but little. 

 His patent allowed liim to "carefully search alter and to distinguish all 

 sorts of mines of gold and silver," and gave him the monopoly of the 

 ti-ade in furs. He seems to have confined his attention to m(>asures to 

 secure the latter; yet hsh were caught, cured, and carried to France. 

 A permanent fishery was established at Canseau. Acadia soon pass(^d 

 from De Monts into Catholic hands, while the English grant to Sir Wil- 

 liam Alexander, in 1621, embraced a large part of it. As the events 

 connected with our subject at this time appear in the account of the 

 French fisheries, there is nothing to demand our attention unlil aft(^r Nova 

 Scotia was permanently annexed to the British crown, by the treaty of 

 Utrecht, in 1713. 



DoAvn to the period of our Revolution, Nova Scotia was hardly known 

 except for its fisheries. The resident English population was so small 

 in 1719, th;it Pliillips, the military governor, was compelled to select 

 the council rccjuired by his instructions from his garrison. Thirty-six 

 years later, the w^hole number of inhabitants was estimated at only 

 5,000. In J7G0, the township of Liverpool was settled by persons from 

 Massachusetts, who designed to prosecute the salmon fishery, and who, 

 successlul in their labors, caught a thousand barrels in a season. They 

 were f(>llowed in 1763 by about one hundred and sixty liimilies from 

 Cape Cod, who selected the s}:w)t called Barrington, transported thither 

 their stock and fishing vessels, and founded one of the most considerable 

 fishing towns at present in the colony. The whole value of the imports 

 at this period was less than five thousand d(jllars. In truth, the House 

 of Asseml)ly asserted in 177-0, t)i;it the amount of money in Nova Scotia 

 was <£1,:J(,H), (or $4,S00) of which one-liflh was in the hands ofl'armers. 

 Such was the general condition. 



The settlement of Halifax, the capital, requires a more particular 

 notice. Thomas Cf/ram, a finnous [)rojector of the time, whose name 

 occurs often in the history f)f" Maine, engaged in a scliemeto commence 

 a town on the site of tliis ci^ly us early as the y<>;ir 171S, and his peti- 

 tion tor <i g7-;mt of land received a favorable report from the Lords of 

 Trade and Plantations; but the ugents of Massachusetts opposed his 

 plans, because they interfered with the freedom of the fisheries, and he 

 was compelled to abandon his purpose.* 



" It is mill, ill I'.rirkf'n roiiiiiKincrs of t'liylivml, tliiit Miijor Wiiliiiiii Marliliiim, (of tlw 

 fiuiiily of ^turUliaiu of l^ecca Hall,) wbu wus buru Lu IG^G, built tbu tir«t bouxe iu lluliiax, 

 Kuva Scotiu. 



