14 LABRADOR 
Reals; and the voyage of Estevan Gomez conducted the 
Spaniards also to the northwest fisheries. What is now 
Bradore Bay was long known as Baie des Espagnols; and 
in 1704 there were still to be seen there the ruins of a Span- 
ish fishing establishment. 
The English were slower in recognizing the value of 
the new fisheries than the French or Spanish. They did 
not realize at first that Cabot had opened to them a source 
of revenue more valuable than the fabled wealth of Cathay. 
But gradually they too awoke to the possibilities of the 
new fisheries. They threw themselves into competition 
with the French, and appropriated to themselves a large 
part of the fishing-grounds. The French were driven back 
to the west coast of Newfoundland, along what is known as 
“the French shore.’’ A study of the names on the map of 
Newfoundland will show the limit of their fishing opera- 
tions; from Bonne Esperance to Cape Charles, the names 
are almost wholly French. It was not until about 1763 
that the English entered upon the Labrador fisheries at all. 
A part of the history of Labrador which still remains 
to be worked up is the story of the French Canadian 
settlements along the so-called Quebec Labrador. No 
full account of these settlements has yet been published; 
the facts lie buried in the archives at Paris and Ottawa. 
Most of what has found its way into print has been of the 
most unreliable and mythical character. Nothing more 
instructive could be found, for instance, of the way in which 
history is sometimes manufactured than the legend of the 
town of Brest. In 1608 there was published in Lyons, 
France, a little book, the only surviving copy of which is 
