2758 AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



to the other side of the island and keep going round the island, or per" 

 haps go to Magdalen Islands or Bay Chaleurs or Escuminac. 



Q. Would they come back again that season ? A. Very likely. They 

 keep cruising round all the time, as a general thing. If they go lib 

 Magdalen Islands and have good fishing they hang round there. 



Q. It is essential to the success of the vessels that they have the right 

 to go wherever the mackerel are ? A. To make it successful I should 

 say so. 



Q. You were asked some questions with regard to the exports of the 

 island and the provisions consumed and you said you thought they 

 were much exaggerated. "What means have you of forming an estimate 

 of the catch of mackerel, say in Kings County ? A. It was in 1876 we 

 were examining, I think. I know very nearly the number of barrels I 

 caught and what I exported. 



Q. I am not questioning your own catch ; I am speaking with regard 

 to the catch of the island. What means have you of knowing what 

 mackerel, cod, or other fish were caught by the people of King's County, 

 for instance? A. I have not any means of giving an accurate state- 

 ment. 



Q. Were you there that year ? A. Yes. 



Q. In King's County ? A. I was there but not for the purpose of 

 making any special inquiries. The only knowledge I have is from what 

 I heard and what I could gather as to the number of barrels the differ- 

 ent localities had taken. I cannot say I give it accurately, but I ap- 

 proximate it to the best of my judgment. 



Q. In that judgment you may be astray? A. Yes, I may be astray. 



Q. You made a guess at it, judging it from your own business ? A. I 

 did very much so, and from what I could hear. 



Q. Do you know that there are fishery officers at Prince Edward Isl- 

 and, and have been since confederation ? A. Yes. 



Q. Take Mr. Samuel Clark, fishery officer of Prince County; is he a 

 respectable man ? A. Yes; very much so. 



Q. A man on whose judgment you could place some confidence ? A. 

 In farming matters, yes ; not in fishing matters. 



Q. A man in whose veracity and integrity you would place confi- 

 dence? A. Yes. 



Q. He stands very high in the county ? A. Yes ; and is very much 

 respected. 



Q. Do you know that he made it his business to inquire at the differ- 

 ent establishments what their catches were ? A. I don't know that he 

 did. I don't know that he ever inquired at my place. He might have 

 asked some of my men. 



Q. He might have asked some of your head men ! A. Yes. 



Q. He would not willfully put down anything that he knew to be 

 wrong ? A. I should not suppose so. 



Q. He is not a man to do so ? A. No. 



Q. In 1876 the exports are put down as of the value of 8169,000 ? 

 A. Yes. 



Q. That is probably below the mark, is it not ? A. I should think it 

 was not above the mark. 



Q. Quantities of fish leave the island, go to Shediac, and are shipped 

 from there without being entered ? A. Yes. 



Q. Do you know that as a matter of fact ! A. They always clear out 

 the custom-house, but whether those quantities go into the returns at 

 Charlottetown I don't know. We generally take clearances at Tignish, 

 and sometimes when the vessels are half or three quarters loaded, and 



