THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 95 



of the Seven Years' War had the same detracting results. 

 The carrying trade between New England and the West 

 Indies actually increased during part of this time; but 

 this was due not so much to the quantity of fish and lum- 

 ber to be exchanged as to the enhanced value of these 

 commodities through the fortunes of war. When in 1758 

 Louisburg was again besieged by an army, under Lord 

 Amherst, the victory that attended the British arms was in 

 a large measure due to the courage and energy of the men 

 of the New World. Nearly one-third of the effective men 

 of Massachusetts were engaged in this second expedition. 

 In the House of Commons it was stated at this time that 

 of the seamen employed in the British navy ten thousand 

 were natives of America. 1 



It will be well to consider the economic condition of the 

 fisheries during the score of years previous to 1763. The 

 condition of the British colonial fisheries at the time of 

 the treaty of Aix la Chapelle in 1748 is best set forth by 

 William Douglass, who gives us an insight from personal 

 investigations into the state of the larger fisheries of cod 

 and whale and of smaller fish as well. The New England 

 winter dry cod were of prime quality and would bear water- 

 ing; they were best for Bilboa market, since they retained 

 their mellowness and would stand land-carriage to Madrid. 

 In Great Britain and Ireland, fish were not reckoned mar- 

 ketable if under eighteen inches from the first fin to the 

 setting on of the tail. August and September were the 

 best months for selling a cargo in the Roman Catholic 

 countries, since their Lent supply was exhausted by that 

 time. 



Salt for the New England fishery came from Salt-Tor- 

 tugas, Cape de Verde Islands, Turks Island, Lisbon and 

 Bay of Biscay. The salt from Tortugas generally reached 

 New England about the middle of April. More salt-burnt 



i Elliott, The United States and the Northeastern Fishery, p. 10. 



