2052 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. Although you admit that it is windier arouud the Magdaleu 

 islands than it is elsewhere in the gulf, you still think that it is safer 

 for vessels to be there than anywhere else in the gulf? A. Yes. 



Q. How do you account for that! A. I was in the big gale of 1851 

 in the bay in the bight of Prince Edward Island and we then nearly 

 lost the vessel and all hands; but if we had been at the time at the 

 Magdalen Islands we could have hoisted the jib in no time and shifted 

 around the islands and come to anchor. 



Q. Was not this gale of 1851 an exceptional circumstance ? A. Yes. 



Q. Do you think that you would have been safe during that gale at 

 the Magdalen Islands ? A. Yes ; we could have laid under the lee of 

 the islands. 



Q. You think that you would there have been safe? A. Yes; because 

 the wind blew east all the time. 



Q. Are not the Magdalen Islands low-lying islands, over which the 

 wind blows? A. They make a breakwater for us. 



Q. Would it have been possible for you to have lain anywhere about 

 the Magdalen Islands during that gale without beiug lost ? A. It would 

 have been safe for us to have lain there. 



Q. You think so? A. Certainly. 



Q. Which way was the wind blowing at the time ? A. About straight 

 east at first; it then turned to the northeast and afterward to the north- 

 west. 



Q. Where about the Magdaleu Islands would you have lain during 

 that storm ? A. Under Cow Head, on the southwest part of the islands. 



Q. Is that a high bluff? A. It is quite high; it is high enough to 

 aftbrd shelter. 



Q. And you still state that in your opinion the Magdalen Islands are 

 safer than any other part of the gulf; is that the general opinion of 

 navigators in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or are you alone of that opinion ? 

 A. I do not know about that, but this would be my opinion, if I was 

 in the bay-fishing I would prefer the Magdalen Islands to Prince Edward 

 Island for fishing. 



Q. Is that the general opinion ? A. I say I do not know of anybody 

 else's opinion, but it is mine. 



Q. You have surely heard opinions regarding it. Is it not the general 

 opinion that the neighborhood of the Magdaleu Islands is a very dan- 

 gerous place? A. As I said before, it is windier around these islands 

 than in other parts of the gulf, but as regards the question of safety, 

 fishermen would rather fish there than in any other part of the bay. 



Q. Is it not the general opinion that the neighborhood of these islands 

 is very unsafe? A. The general opinion is that the bight of Prince 

 Edward Island is the worst part of the bay, because if a northeast gale 

 comes on while you are there you cannot get out. 



Q. Are there not around the island Cascumpeque, Souris, and George- 

 town Harbors? A. I was never in Cascumpeque Harbor, but I was in 

 Malpeque Harbor once, and I was glad to get out. The water was quite 

 shoal. 



Q. And you were never in Cascumpeque Harbor or Souris Harbor? 

 A. I was in Souris Harbor. 



Q. Can you not run around the cape to the other side of the island 

 and get under the lee as well as about the Magdaleu Islands ? A. Yes, 

 if you are fishing up that way, but I was fishing in the bight of the 

 island. 



Q. Why did you not run into ons of the harbors? A. The water is 

 oo shoal. 



