MISCELLANEOUS. 1219 



three marine miles be measured from the headlands, at the entrance 

 of such bays, so as to exclude them? 



3. Is the distance of three marine miles to be computed from the 

 indents of the coasts of British America, or from the extreme head- 

 lands, and what is to be considered a headland? 



4. Have American vessels, fitted out for a fishery, a right to pass 

 through the Gut of Canso, which they cannot do without coming 

 within the prescribed limits, or to anchor there or to fish there; and 

 is casting bait to lure fish in the track of the vessels fishing, within 

 the meaning of the convention? 



5. Have American citizens a right to land on the Magdalene 

 islands, and conduct the fishery from the shores thereof, by using 

 nets and seines ; or what right of fishery do they possess on the shores 

 of those islands, and what is meant by the term shore ? 



6. Have American fisherman the right to enter the bays and harbors 

 of this province for the purpose of purchasing wood or obtaining 

 water, having provided neither of these articles at the commencement 

 of their voyages, in their own country; or have they the right only of 

 entering such bays and harbors in cases of distress, or to purcnase 

 wood and obtain water, after the usual stock of those articles for the 

 voyage of such fishing craft has been exhausted or destroyed ? 



7. Under existing treaties, what rights of fishery are ceded to the 

 citizens of the United States of America, and what reserved for the 

 exclusive enjoyment of British subjects? 



These queries were sent to the law officers of the crown on the 8th 

 of June, and on the 30th of August they communicated their reply to 

 Lord Palmerston. They state that, in answer to the first query 



"We have the honor to report that we are of opinion that the 

 treaty of 1783 was annulled by the war of 1812; and we are also of 

 opinion that the rights of fishery of the citizens of the United States 

 must now be considered as defined and regulated by the convention 

 of 1818; and with respect to the general question, ' if so, what right? 

 we can only refer to the terms of the convention as explained and 

 elucidated by the observations which will occur in answering the 

 other specific queries. 



" 2. Except within certain defined limits, to which the query put to 

 us does not apply, we are of opinion that, by the terms or the treaty, 

 American citizens are excluded from the light of fishing within three 

 miles of the coast of British America; and that the prescribed distance 

 of three miles is to be measured from t V headlands or extreme points 

 of land next the sea of the coast, or o. the entrance of the bays, and 

 not from the interior of such bays or inlets of the coast; and conse- 

 quently that no right exists on the part of American citizens to enter 

 the bays of Nova Scotia, there to take fish, although the fishing, being 

 within the bay, may be at a greater distance than three miles from the 

 shore of the bay, as we are of opinion that the term headland is used 

 in the treaty to express the part of the land we have before mentioned, 

 excluding the interior of the bays and the inlets of the coasts. 



"4. By the treaty of 1818 it is agreed that American citizens should 

 have the liberty of fishing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, within certain 

 defined limits, in common with British subjects; and such treaty does 

 not contain any words negativing the right to navigate the passage of 

 the Gut of Canso, and therefore it may be conceded that such right of 

 navigation is not taken away by that convention; but we have now 



