110 



NORTH AMERICAN FISHERIES. 



[18C3 



newly erased surface of paper; it is also largely employed by 

 Cabinet-makers for making a superior transparent varnish. The 

 essential oil is very fragrant and imparts a most agreeable odour 

 to leather, and to it books in Russia owe their inviting smell. 



' o 



WHITE CEDAR. 



Thuya Occidentalis, Cedre Blanc, Arbor Vita. 

 The White Cedar never attains any great height, and is so 

 universally known as the occupant of Cedar Swamps, that any 

 lengthened description is uncalled for. The wood is soft, smooth, 

 extremely light, and possesses an aromatic smell. It retains a 

 permanent shape, and is so extremely durable as to have led to 

 the saying, " as sound as a Cedar post." It is chiefly used for 

 fences and the sleepers of cellars, and from it the Indian shapes 

 the ribs of his frail bark. 



The North American Fisheries.* 



English commerce is an affair of the last three centuries, and 

 really began on an extensive scale in the prosecution of these 

 very fisheries. An enterprising German, Dr. Pauli, who had 

 before brought to light the Saxon treasures of the Bodleian, has 

 lately discovered in the accumulated dust of the tower, which he 

 had the bravery to penetrate, a quantity of curious and instruc- 

 tive correspondence, concerning the trade of the island with the 

 continent prior to and at the time of the discovery of America, 

 when the Low Countries and the free towns of Germany con- 

 trolled the commerce of the world. The more shame to English- 

 men that this work has been done by a foreigner. It is evident 

 that at that time there was little foreign commerce of magnitude 

 in English hands. Newfoundland was discovered by Cabot in 

 1497, but many years passed away before the English fishermen 

 took advantage of the rights they had acquired thereby. Harry 

 the Bluff was too much oecupied with his wives and the Pope to 

 pay that attention to the extension of the foreign power of the 

 kingdom which had characterized the latter years of the reign of 

 his more vigorous father. In 1517 there were only about fifty 

 vessels at Newfoundland — English, French, Spanish, and Portu- 

 guese. The reign of Queen Elizabeth was distinguished by a 

 more vigorous aid to this branch of national wealth. A succes- 

 sion of laws was passed for the encouragement of the fisheries, and 

 the capital of the country was largely embarked in the business. 

 In 1577, there were fifty English vessels on the Banks, and in 

 1603 two hundred, employing 10,000 men. Sir Humphrey 

 Gilbert had taken possession of the island in 1583, in the name 

 of Her Majesty, and planted a colony there. The sad fate of 

 this heroic man is familiar to all through the touching poem of 

 Longfellow. It was not thought beneath the dignity of the first 

 men in the realm to enrich, or attempt to enrich theroselyes by 

 these adventures. Raleigh took them under his protection, and 

 Bacon was one of the patentees to plant a colony "in the south- 

 ern and eastern parts of Newfoundland, whither the subjects of 

 the realm have I een used annually in no small numbers to resort 

 to fish." The fisheries increased so rapidly, and became so pros- 

 perous, that large numbers made the island their permanent 

 home, and began boat-fishing from the shore, which so "seriously 

 affected the sea fisheries that in 1670, instead of two hundred 

 as in the beginning of the century, there were only eighty Eno- 

 lish vessels employed there. The alarm was sounded by the 

 merchants interested in the trade, and the same year a Govern- 

 ment force was sent out to drive away British fishermen and des- 

 troy British property in a British colony. The destructive mea- 

 sure had the desired effect; in four years after the annihilation of 

 the rival boat fisheries the vessels employed had increased to two 

 hundred and eighty, and the men to nearly 11,000. The des- 



* Frojn Fisser's Magejtine for November 



tructive wars with France which marked the eighteenth century, 

 seem to have sometimes repressed and sometimes advanced this 

 interest in the Island of Newfoundland. They resulted at last in 

 driving the French out of the continent, since which time the 

 boat-fishing has gained upon that carried on in vessels, until there 

 are at present but eighty of the .latter. The boats now number 

 ten thousand, and produce an annual yield of a million quintals, 

 valued at £600,000. The total annual produce of the fishing 

 interest of the colony is estimated at about £1,000,000. 



The fish are caught near the land, with lines, and as often as 

 the boat is filled, the catch is put ashore, where the " cut-throats," 

 the " headers," the " splitters," the " dryers," and the " salters," 

 pass them through from stage to stage till they are converted into 

 the identical salted codfish which constitute the Saturday's din- 

 ner and the Sunday's breakfast from Hudson's Bay to the Poto- 

 mac. 



The fluctuations of the French fisheries in these waters have 

 been very striking. In the early part of the sixteenth century, 

 they had a dozen vessels there from the coasts of Normandy and 

 Britany. In the beginning of the seventeenth century they 

 employed 150 vessels in this branch of industry — how large 

 a portion off Newfoundland, we are not able to state, but 

 probably a large one. In the middle of the eighteenth centuiy, 

 after the last fearful struggle of the reign of the magnificent Louis, 

 but before the contest under his successor which lost the Canadas 

 to France, nearly six hundred French vessels, employing 30,000 

 men were engaged in codfishing. The magnificent fortress of 

 Louisburg was erected, at an expense of fifty millions of livres, to 

 protect their interest, and control the continent of America and 

 the surrounding seas. It fell into British hands in 1763, and 

 was entirely destroyed. The French have now the right to fish, 

 off a certain portion of the coast of Newfoundland, and also with- 

 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and occupy as a rendezvous for their 

 vessels in these rough seas the two desolate islands of St. Pierre 

 and Miguelon, only two leagues in extent, and without wood or 

 fuel. By the help of a large bounty (fifty francs per man on the 

 outfit, and from twelve to tw-enty francs per metric quintal on the 

 produce,) they succeed in maintaining four hundred vessels and 

 twelve thousand men in this business, and produce annually from 

 three to five hundred thousand quintals of fish. From thissource 

 though not a commercial nation, they are assured of an unfailing 

 supply of seamen for the national marine. There is no better 

 school for sailors than those seas. We have crossed them often, 

 and rarely seen them quiet. The mingling of the current of the 

 Gulf stream, setting up from the Bay of Mexico, densely charged 

 with caloric, which it retains even until it settles about the Brit- 

 ish shores, with the ice-charged stream from the north, produces 

 a constant restlessness in the air above and the water below. 

 Even if engaged in the boat-fishing oft' the Coast of Newfound- 

 land, or about the Islands of St. Pierre and Miguelon, the French 

 fishermen must pass through these seas; if engaged upon the 

 Grand Bank, the most extensive submarine elevation in the world, 

 and abounding in shoals of fish, he anchors with his little vessel 

 of one or two hundred tons in deep water in the midst of them, 

 and pursues his occupation in strong boats till the " fare " is 

 secured, and then takes it to St. Pierre for curing. The interest 

 could not be supported without a large bounty. It requires 

 larger vessels and a greater outlay of money than the rival colo- 

 nial boat fisheries, and is carried on with the disadvantages of a 

 distant home and uncertain market. It is to be regarded rather 

 as an element in French national strength than as an item in the 

 national prosperity and wealth. 



The Newfoundland and Labrador seal fisheries, one of the 

 most valuable branches of this dangerous industry, were created 

 by the French invasion of the British cod-fishing grounds, and 



