2778 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. All the while from 1840 to 1868! A. Yes, all the time I was mas- 

 ter except two years, when I did not go to the bay. 



Q. During that period of time have you been in the bay a good deal ! 

 A. Some years I went to the bay two trips, some years but one trip, 

 and some years not at all. 



Q. Have you done any fishing on the American coast as well as in 

 the bay ? A. I have. 



Q. What sort of proportion does the fishing on the American coast 

 bear to the fishing in the bay ? Did you fish most on your coast or 

 most in the bay? A. I fished more in the bay than on the coast, 

 although I have done fully better on our own shores in seasons than I 

 ever have in the bay. 



Q. You say you went fishing first in 1834. Where did you go ? A. 

 I did not go into North Bay in 1834. I fished on our own shores. 



Q. When was the first year you went into the bay ? A. In 1836, in 

 the Good Hope. 



Q. When was the last yea,r you were in the gulf? A. 1868. 



Q. Did you find any difference in the fishing in 1868 from what it was 

 in 1836, and, if so, what was the difference ? A. la 1836 we did but 

 little. We had a targe vessel, Good Hope, with 13 or 14 men, and got 

 65 barrels. We proceeded there some time in July, and arrived home at 

 the latter part of September. 



Q. How often after that did you go into the gulf? What is the total 

 number of consecutive years you have beea in the bay? A. I have been 

 there 21 trips. 



Q. You have then got a pretty good knowledge of what the gulf fish- 

 ing has been from 1836 to 1868. How does the gulf fishing compare 

 now with what it was when you first went there ? A. I have not been 

 there since 1868, and of what has been done since I have little knowl- 

 edge except what I have read. 



Q. From 1836 to 1868, 1ms there been a great change in the bay fish- 

 ing, or was it pretty much the same? A. In the gulf it used to vary. 

 Some years there would be pretty good fishing, and other years it would 

 be pretty slim. 



Q. Where was your general fishing-place in the gulf ? A. On Banks 

 Orphan and Bradley, and at Magdalen Islands. At Magdalen Islands 

 I fished mostly always, and I found better fishing 15 or 20 miles from 

 the land, on the north side of the Magdaleus, and round Bird Rocks, 

 than anywhere else. I have caught some mackerel along at Point Mis- 

 cou, in the range of North Cape, Prince Edward Island ; but one-half of 

 the mackerel we got at Magdalen Islands and round Banks Bradley and 

 Orphan. 



Q. During these 21 years, how much fishing did you do within three 

 miles of the laud ? A. To the best of my judgment, I will give you the 

 facts. I had the day and date for all the items, but in 1863 we had a 

 fire, and it was burned up, and therefore I will give you them the best 

 I can from memory. I never thought any thing about it till a week ago, 

 when I overhauled my memory, and I can give it to you. The first 

 year, in the Good Hope, we got 65 barrels of mackerel ; none were 

 caught within the limits. I think we caught about 35 barrels in one 

 day, about 8 or 10 miles to the northward of Magdalen Islands. 



Mr. THOMSON called attention to a memorandum from which witness 

 was reading. 



WITNESS said the paper was a memorandum he had made out of the 

 years he had been in North Bay and where he caught the mackerel. 



