AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2855 



Q. Where did you reside the first year on the island ? A. Cascum- 

 peque, or rather Alberton, Cascumpeque Harbor. 



Q. Since then you have resided at Charlottetown ? A. Yes. 



Q. Xow, you have been in the fishing business, how have you prose- 

 cuted itf A. I have been engaged, owning and fitting out vessels, and 

 boat-fishing, and I have been purchasing mackerel from the first. 



Q. Have you had any stages anywhere ? A. Yes. 



Q. Where ? A. You mean the firm I 



Q. I don't want to ask you as to those that have been in charge of 

 your partner, but how many have you had charge of yourself ? A. I 

 have had charge of three. One at Rustico. 



Q. How long have you had that f A. Seven years. 



Q. What others? A. One on Grand River, near Georgetown, about 

 ten miles east of it, on the south side of the island, and another at 

 Cape George, Nova Scotia. 



Q. When you began to do business on Prince Edward Island, it was 

 about three years after the Reciprocity Treaty went into effect. Was 

 there much fishing done then by the inhabitants? A. There was Very 

 little. It was in its infancy. 



Q. Did they know how to take care of the fish they caught, to cure 

 them for market ? A. No ; it was sufficient to condemn fish in the 

 Boston market, so far as bringing good prices was concerned, that they 

 came from Prince Edward Island. That was the case previous to 1858. 



Q. Do you know how many barrels of mackerel were sent this year 

 from yourself and your partner to Boston ? A. I don't know that I can 

 give it exactly. I may approximate it. Only part of the catch has 

 been shipped. 



Q. Do you know what the catch has been of yourself and your part- 

 ner up to the present time whether it is still in hand or going for- 

 ward ? A. Do you wish to ask what quantity I am shipping or what is 

 the extent of the catch ? 



Q. What number of barrels of mackerel do your firm take, in the first 

 place, and then what do they buy ? A. The shipment will probably 

 amount this year to something like 7,000 or 8,000 barrels. 



Q. How much last year ? A. Can I refer to memoranda ? 



Q. Certainly. A. Our whole receipts last year were 4,534 barrels in 

 Boston ; about 300 were sent to Halifax ; in all, 4,834 barrels. 



Q. How much opportunity have you had to observe where the mack- 

 erel-boats fish off Prince Edward Island, and where the mackerel-ves- 

 sels fish ? A. My observations this summer. I have been at Rastico a 

 great part of the time, and I have had a chance to observe the places 

 where they fish, and have taken some notice, more than I have hereto- 

 fore. I have been buying fish since I went on the island, more or less, 

 and have a general idea, but nothing very accurate. In regard to boat- 

 fishing in Rustico, they fish in the early part of the season quite near 

 the shore, from one and a half to two and a half miles, and later in the 

 season, when the fish begin to move south, they have to go wide out for 

 them. 



Q. What do you mean by "wide out"? A. From four to eight miles. 



Q. Take last" mouth, run back to the middle of September or the first 

 week in September: within what distance from the shore were they fish- 

 ing? A. We have been fishing wide out. We have caught no fish 

 within four or five miles. 



Q. You sent Mr. Davies some mackerel the other day ; how far out 

 were those caught ? A. I answered that question before. 



Q. What has the quality of mackerel been this year at the island f 



