176 The Frederick G erring, Jr. 



along the coast from headland to headland, and that the 

 jurisdiction of Her Majesty extends three marine miles out- 

 side of this line ; thus closing all the bays on the coast or 

 shore, and that great body of water called the Bay of Fundy 

 against Americans and others, making the latter a British 

 Bay. This doctrine of headlands is new, and has received a 

 proper limit in the convention between France and Great 

 Britain of August 2nd, 1839, in which 'it is agreed that the 

 distance of three miles fixed as the general limit for the 

 exclusive right of fishery upon the coasts of the two coun- 

 tries shall, with respect to bays, the mouths of which do not 

 exceed ten miles width, be measured from a straight line 

 drawn from headland to headland.' 



"The Bay of Fundy is from 65 to 75 miles wide and 

 130 to 140 miles long. It has several bays on its coast. Thus 

 the word bay as applied to this great body of water, has the 

 same meaning as that applied to the Bay of Biscay, the Bay 

 of Bengal over which no nation can have the right to assume 

 the sovereisfntv. One of the headlines of the Bav of Fundv is 

 in the United States, and ships bound to Passamaquoddy 

 must sail through a large space of it. The island of Grand 

 Menan (British) and Little Menan (American) are situated 

 nearly on a line from headland to headland. These Islands, 

 as represented in all geographies, are situated in the Atlantic 

 Ocean. The conclusion is therefore, in my mind irresistible 

 that the Bay of Fundy is not a British Bay, nor a bay with- 

 in the meaning of the word as used in the treaties of 1783 

 and 1818." 



Captain Knowlton testified that the nearest headland was Lis- 

 combe Point (on the east), which was about six miles from where 

 the Gerring was taking fish, and that the nearest headland to 

 iWestward was Taylor's Head, and that it is 27 miles from head- 

 land to headland in a straight line from Liscombe Point to Taylor's 

 Head. 



A careful reading of the plaintifif's evidence and of the 

 opinions of the courts does not leave it clear whether the theory 

 on which the case was prosecuted and the ship condemned was, 

 that the Gerring was, at the moment of seizure, within the three- 

 mile limit of the nearest Nova Scotia coast, or within the three- 

 mile limit of a line drawn from headland to headland. 



The evidence of Captain Knowlton, the first witness at the 

 trial, indicates the former theory, and at the same time shows 

 conclusively that the Gerring was outside of that limit. 



