4 -.^/^% 7- ^' ^0^^^'inot on Canada's Ma'-inj and Fisheries, 



ocean to ocean are of the same races who, from times immemorval, hare 

 l>een fr.mous for their achievements on the seas. They take a.-* much pr^?e 

 as the men of Devon themselves in the ref-ord of Grerivi^ie, GiJberf, 

 Frobisher, Raleig]i, Drake, and all those gallant men Trhose names are so 

 indissolubly associated with the maritime triumphs of the parent S^ate^and 

 with the history of discovery on the continent of America. If there is an 

 era in English hi.<tory most interesting to Canadians, it is that Elizabethan 

 n:cc when Enj^land laid deep and tirm the foundations of her maritime 

 !«uperiority. and her adventurous sons, above all tbe sea-worthies of Devon, 

 went forth to plant her flag in prima vista, in the ice-boiiad regions of Ihe 

 North, or on the islands and shores of the tropics. 



But whilst the energy and enterprise of the British races have, to so large 

 an extent, made Canada what she is now, we must not forget that it was to 

 England's ancient rival across the Channel that we owe the first settle- 

 ments on our shores. Tbe Basques, the Bretons, and the Normans, them- 

 selves a maritime people by virtue of descent and occupation, were the fir>t 

 to till the ** deep sea pastures" of American waters. From Dieppe, St 

 Maio, Rochelle, and other seaports of France, came those maritime adven- 

 turers who, in frail craft bardl}' larger than the smallest fishing schooners 

 on our coast, dared all the dangers of the unknown seas, and planted the first 

 colonies on the banks of the St. Lawrence or on the shores of Acadie. With 

 wonderful discrimination they selected those harbours and bays which are 

 naturallv best adapted for trade, and modern enterprise has not denied in 

 ^ single instance the wisdom of their choice. Quebec, Montreal, and New 

 Orleans still remain to attest the prescience of tbe French pioneers 

 Louisbourg, it is true, is now only the abode of a few fishermen, but its 

 natural position for trade is unrivalled, and sooner or later we must see a 

 town rise above the green mounds which now alone remain to tell of its 

 greatness in the days of the French regime. 



The early history of Canada is a record of tumult and war, and if we 

 would follow her commercial and maritime progress we need not go bick 

 manv years. Traffic in fish and fur was prosecuted to a limited extent 

 during those times when the French and English were establishing them- 

 selves on this continent, and struggling for the supremacy. Next followed 

 the War of Independence, and many years later tbe war of 1812-14, to the 

 injury of Canadian industry, then in its very infancy. But since those 

 warlike times in the early part of the century, there has been an era of 

 peace, only disturbed by the political dissension and strife of 1836-7, and 

 Canada has been able to go steadil_v forward on the path of commercial and 

 industrial progress. Year by year, since 1815, the pioneer has advanced 

 np the St. Lawrence, and made his settlements in tbe western province. 

 Craft of various sizes soon commenced to whiten the waters of the lakes, 

 and eventually the population and commerce of the West so increased that 

 canals had to be built to give speedy and secure access to the ports of 

 Montreal and Quebec. Railways followed canals, and steamers the clumsy 

 schooners and tlat-boats of old times, while cities and towns grew with unex- 

 ampled rapidity throughout the province, where not a single settlement of 

 any importance exi->ted iu the days of French rule on the St. Lawrence. 



