352 



tho jmst five or six years I liavo soon on nn nvcrn^tc^ iltirinytlic fisliirif; wnxnn over a Iminlred American 

 fisliiiif,' vessels in and near (lie waters where 1 lislieil, and I have nlleTi liiiind it dilli idl In koi'|i mit !•( 

 their way. Tlmse Anieriean vessels taki' all kinds ul' lish — naickerel, cudtish, and halibut. Un hoard 

 these vessels there arc! honi sixteen down to ten luen on eaeli." 



l! 



i 



Isaac Arcliibaltl, mcrcliant, Cow Bay, Cnpc Breton : — 



''The Anicrieiiiis in this hay have ulten )iria'li-eil thmwin;; liait nvcilicard, and t1ni. enticin,'; tho 

 inaekerel fiH'-shdre." 



John Pencil, fislicrnmn, Cow Jiuy, Cape Hntoii, rislud from Cupe North to Scuti-rif, 

 and in Cow flay : — 



"The AiiuTican-- lish IViini ihiei^ miles (ilV-shiac rln.-i' up to the hind I'or mackerel, and cmne in 

 among us in.--hiiie lisheinien ami lake the lish away li'iin ns." 



James Fraser, nia.'ster mariner, Sydney : — 



" hnrinj,' the past lun ve.ns 1 ha\e >een liln American vessel,, (i>h in Sydmy harlmur I'or nuii'kerel 

 in one day, and laine lleils df AnaTiean li-^hinj; ve.-.--els visit cur harhour diidy Ibr the pur] 'ise ol' 

 catchin;^ niaekerel duviiiv I lie maekcrel -reason year aller y ar." 



John Ferguson, Cow Bay, Cape Bictoii: — 



'■ I liave seen IViini luity In lilix Ann'ii(an \esscls pa- throuph the 'Kittle" between Sca'erie 

 and Jlain-a-Dien, in one ilay." 



John Murphy, fisliorman, LinL:,an, Cnpc flreton : — 



"Dnrini.' the ]iast livcia' si\ years I have eaiijihl niarK-cvrl in-shore aivmnd l.in^'an harlmur, .nid List 

 year I Imve st'^n IVoin ten lo liri"cn sail nt Anierieiin vi'ssols cnjia-ied in lakinjj mackerel. 



"Tho .Vmericaii naa'kerehnen wlm lish ananal here eomc arnnnd the siaithcrn iindea.stern e(<ast3 of 

 Cnpo IJretnn, and all the eodlishand lialibnt lislu-rmen ecime anaind tho same way.' 



Angus Mathcson, fisherman, Sythiey, Cape Breton : — 



"1 have eanirht them in Sydney Ifarlionr. nnlil the licjtt(an oF the Imnl lunched the ijround. The 

 .Vmerieans always cianr in->horr I'nr the markfrol, and when they did lait lish them in-shore they hnited 

 them oft' to lii'vond the three ndles." 



At a time wlicn the imaginative liiculties of the learned American Aj^ent and Consul 

 had not been appealed to by tiieir Government, — at a time when it had not yet been dis- 

 covered that the Americans derived their title to our iislu'rics from tiio achievements of a 

 Massachusetts army and navy, oiu' American friends had another basis to rest their claim, 

 also not to be found in the Treaties. Until quite recently, American fishermen were 

 under the firm impression that the mackerel was an American born fish, from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Newjiort, Hock [sliuid, Cape llcnlopeu, Cape Jlay, and other places on the 

 American coast.^, wliicli were and are spawning grounds. Under that notion, wliatcver 

 mackerel was to be found in Canadian waters, were iiotliing but tlie migrating iiroduct of 

 the fertile American coasts. Tliat theory was touchingly impressed upon the minds of the 

 Joint High Commissioners during the winter and in the early spring which preceded the 

 Washington Treaty. The mackerel of the Canadian waters were represented as a species 

 of strayed chicken or domestic duck and [ligcon, which tiie owner had the right to follow 

 on his neighbour's farm. At that time they iiad no interest at all in depreciatinpj our fish, 

 for Canadian mackerel were then quoted at the highest rates on the markets of Gloucester 

 and Boston ; this was avowedly the case. 'I'licy had even prepared statistics for the Cen- 

 tennial, in which these fish were at the highest ])ricc quoted on these markets, because it 

 was only the prodigal son wliicii was thus offered. These fish were considered then their 

 property, and why should tlicy endeavour to depreciate the value of their property? Some 

 of the British Joint Higii Commissioners, under this strong assertion of right, felt a deep 

 commiseration for the proprietor of the poultry in being restricted to certain grounds in 

 the execution of a search warrant for the recovery of his property ; and in order to repair 

 the cruelties of the Convention of 1818, tiiey were — like a facetious American writer — 

 prepared fo sacrifice all their wives' relatives to do something at our expense for the 

 United States, as an atonement for that long injustice. 



While these notions were prevalent, our American friends had no interest in depre- 

 ciating a jiroperty wliich constructively was their own. In a long article on the fisheries, 

 published in the New York " World," of the loth April, 1871, not quite a month before 



