PROGRESS BY LAND, 1818-I910 171 



Thomas J. Cochrane, who, like General Macquarie in New 

 South Wales, was the first Governor with a long spell of office 

 (1825-34), devoted himself to road-making and agriculture. 

 Some of the roads which he planned were local roads, and 

 Others were through roads. Two local roads were to lead 

 from St. John's direct to Portugal Cove and to Topsail in 

 Conception Bay, each of which would reduce a sixty-mile 

 voyage by sea to a ten or twelve mile journey by land. Two 

 similar roads from Carbonear to Heart's Content, and from 

 Spaniard's Bay to New Harbour, were to cut off the neck of 

 the peninsula which separates Conception Bay from Trinity 

 Bay. In addition to these local roads, there were to be two 

 through roads from St. John's, one of which was to go by 

 Topsail to Holyrood at the head of Conception Bay, going 

 thence either to Placentia, which was then, and is now 

 a town of small importance, or else to Carbonear via Harbour 

 Grace, which was three miles from Carbonear, and was then, 

 and is now the second town in Newfoundland. Sir T. 

 Cochrane also built a road three miles out west from St. John's, 

 which was meant to go north to Torbay along the line of a 

 rough disused military road and south to Ferryland. But 

 things that are of the earth earthy move slowly in Newfound- 

 land, and these through roads were not complete until the 

 Fifties, when Wood's Almanac advertised a 'couch' (st'c) 

 running twice a week to Carbonear, and wagons running once 

 a fortnight to Placentia and Ferryland from St. John's. But 

 a stimulus was given to the construction and maintenance of 

 the local roads which have been mentioned and of other local 

 roads, of which that between New Harbour and Spaniard's 

 Bay was a fair track in 1828, and those between St. John's 

 and Portugal Cove, Carbonear and Heart's Content, Brigus 

 and Carbonear, Placentia and Little Placentia, Ferryland and 

 Renewse, were in working order (1840) long before the trunk 

 roads of which they were meant to be parts or adjuncts 

 were complete. The road between Brigus an^ Carbonear was 



