8 THROUGH CANADA 



instrumental in minimizing collisions at sea to almost 

 a vanishing quantity. The only danger now comes 

 from a sailing-ship or the comparatively few steamers 

 not fitted with the apparatus. The Marconi has also 

 inaugurated on board ship the daily newspaper 

 which publishes all the salient doings on land and 

 sea. We were in possession of important news before 

 it was known in London ; the state of the markets, 

 the result of the principal cricket matches at Lord's 

 and the Oval, and the latest social and legal cause 

 CiHkbre. 



The fourth day we were in the Straits of Belle 

 Isle. The island from which it takes its name is 

 supposed to be one of the two Isles of Demons, the 

 other being Quirpon, a little further west, off the 

 northern coast of Newfoundland. It is now as it was 

 in the sixteenth century, wild and desolate, with 

 nothing to break the silence but the cry of the sea- 

 fowl, mingled with the shock of waves that break 

 against the rugged coast. The well-known fishery 

 was established at that early date, and French, 

 English, Spanish, and Portuguese vied with each 

 other for the treasures of the deep off the Newfound- 

 land banks. The imagination of these early pioneers 

 of commerce was the mint in which were coined the 

 remarkable stories which are woven into the history 

 of Demons' Islands. Old maps depict the occupants 

 as devils rampant, fully equipped with tails and 

 horns. The dark forest that stretched along the 



