MISCELLANEOUS. 

 Statistics of the fisheries of the Island of Cape Breton. 



1189 



* Of these, 17,200 barrels mackerel in 1847, and 14,050 barrels in 1848. 

 FISHERIES OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



Prince Edward Island is in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and is one 

 hundred and seventeen miles long. 



Cabot, in 1497, after losing sight of Newfoundland, and on the 24th 

 of June, saw other land, to which, in honor of the day, he gave the 

 name of St. John. The discovery was assumed to be this island, and 

 it bore the name of St. John for a long period. The French, claiming 

 that Verrazani was the first discoverer, granted it in 1663 to the 

 Sieur Doublett, a captain in the navy, to be held by him in vassalage 

 of the royal company of Miscou. The Sieur's associates were two 

 companies of fishing adventurers from St. Maloes and elsewhere in 

 France, whose settlements upon the island were confined to places on 

 the coast suited to their pursuits. 



The French from Nova Scotia and Cape Breton emigrated thither 

 until the government, to prevent the depopulation of Louisbourg, pro- 

 hibited fishing except in certain harbors. 



In 1758 the isle St. John surrendered to the British; and at the 

 peace of 1763, was permanently annexed to the crown of Great 

 Britain. The population was about 6,000. There were several 

 thousand "black cattle" owned by the inhabitants at this time; and 

 the cultivation of the soil was so extensive that it was called the 

 "granary of Canada." Among the proprietors of land in 1775 was 

 General Charles Lee, who owned a tract of ten thousand acres, on 

 which he had expended about five thousand dollars. As he had been 

 an officer in the British army, and had served in America, it may be 

 presumed that this estate was a grant from the crown.* 



At the peace of 1783, the isle St. John became the home of several 

 of the "tories" or loyalists of the Revolution, and, the following year, 

 was formed into a colony and called Prince Edward Island. The 

 population in 1806 was less than 10,000; in 1841 it was upwards of 

 47,000. 



* General Charles Lee was a colonel in the British army, and served in America in 

 the French war. He lost the favor of the ministry by his course in the revolutionary 

 controversy, and entered the service of Congress. His dislike of Washington was the 

 cause of his ruin. He died at Philadelphia in 1782. 



