MISCELLANEOUS. 



1191 



in 1775, laid out the works on Bunker's Hill, and who was retained by 

 Washington as chief of the engineer department of the continental 

 army.* 



The Magdalene islands are thinly inhabited, at the present time, by 

 fishermen, many of whom are the lineal descendants of the Acadians, 

 who made the first permanent settlement in North America, under De 

 Monts, the original French grantee of Acadia, or Nova Scotia. The 

 fishermen of Acauian descent retain to this day the dress, the customs, 

 language, and religion of their ancestors. 



The herring fishery at these islands at times is very extensive. The 

 catch, in some seasons, has been from eighty thousand to one hundred 

 thousand barrels ; and as many as one hundred and fifty vessels from 

 the United States have been seen there at once. The quality of the 

 fish is, however, poor, and the curing and packing carelessly performed. 

 I have seen whole cargoes that, unfit for human food, were entirely 

 worthless, except as dressing for grass lands. 



Large seines are used in the fishery, and hundreds of barrels are 

 often taken at a single haul. The inhabitants welcome the arrival of 

 our fishermen, and treat them kindly. No serious difficulties have 

 ever occurred, and in no part of British America, probably, have the 

 relations of the people of the two nations been more intimate or more 

 harmonious.f 



By a singular arrangement, these islands are included in the govern- 

 ment of Canada. As communication with the capital of that colony 

 is interrupted by ice and inclement weather nearly half of the year, 

 and is generally free with Nova Scotia, annexation to the latter is 

 much to be desired. 



Statistics of the year 1848. Exports. 



* Whether Colonel Gridley retained the ownership of these islands until the Revolu- 

 tion, and lost them in consequence of the part he took in that event, is unknown to 

 me. But the Magdalenes were a second time granted by the British crown. The 

 last grantee was the late Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, who, at his decease, is understood 

 to have bequeathed them to Captain John Townsend Coffin, of the royal navy, to be 

 held by him and his heirs male, in strict entail. Captain Coffin leased these islands 

 for the term of his life, it is believed, in the spring of 1852, to Benjamin Wier, of Halifax, 

 and John Fontana, a resident at the Magdalenes. 



t Perhaps the year 1852 forms an exception. There was a difficulty of some sort in 

 the spring, but the exact facts have not been ascertained. The Halifax Sun, in giving 

 an account of the trouble, says: "The Americans, not satisfied with infringing the 

 provisions of the treaty by casting their nets side by side with the British residents 

 and subjects within the limits prescribed, per force of numbers and audacity took 

 possession of the fish in the nets of their competitors. The indignant residents rallied 

 in strong force; an American vessel and crew were captured in way of reprisal, and 

 taken into harbor. The Americans during the night following gathered in their 

 strength, and triumphantly 'cut the vessel out, ' leaving the skipper, however, in 

 durance under lock and key. " 



