64 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF NEWFOUNDLAND 



all which 

 were sepa- 

 rate and 

 lined the 

 east coasts 

 of Avalon 



was Still the fisherman's chief summer resort; there Sir W. 

 Alexander's colonists were enticed away, and there Portuguese 

 and English fishermen fought.^ Probably St. John's was the 

 last settlement, because it was the foremost fishing-ground 

 and mart, and colonists avoided it for fear that English fishers 

 would absorb them, foreign fishers resist them, and both 

 displant them. Sir H. Gilbert wished to dominate the 

 international situation, and he went straight to St. John's. 

 Merchants like Guy wished for trade, not politics, so that they 

 hid themselves in safe, secluded corners. Lord Baltimore, who 

 went nearest to the focus of strife, fell amongst enemies ; but he 

 too yearned for peace, and left Ferryland to his successors. 



A glance at the map will show that the inner colony of 

 1 6 10 was nominally full. There was North Falkland Colony 

 between Trinity and Bonavista Bays; Cuper's Cove or 

 Harbour Grace Colony between Trinity and Conception Bays ; 

 St. John's Colony between Conception Bay and Petty 

 Harbour; Lord Baltimore's colony between Petty Harbour 

 and a headland between Fermeuse and Aquafort; South 

 Falkland Colony between this headland and a headland south 

 of Renewse, and, south of South Falkland, Vaughan's colony 

 at Trepassey. Each of these six little colonies, except St. 

 John's, extended to a meridian which lay west of the east 

 coast of Placentia Bay. How far these settlements were 

 effectual can only be inferred from evidence later than 1662, 

 when French rivalry stimulated men's memories or imagina- 

 tions. Even then no English settlement on the east or any 

 other coast of Placentia Bay was ever alleged to have existed, 

 except one recent plantation by a man named Isaac Dethick, 

 and we only hear of one Irish (?) settler in St. Mary Bay, 

 which lies between Trepassey and Placentia Bay. On the 

 other hand, the side of Newfoundland which was turned to 

 Europe was very much alive and very English, so that 

 foreigners were scarcely seen between Trepassey (whence 

 ^ Ante, p. 58. 



