THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY QUESTION. 1 75 



That no alien or stranger be permitted to take bait, or fish in any of the rivers, 

 lakes, creeks, harbours, or roads in Newfoundland between Cape Race or Cape Bona 

 Vista, or in any of the islands thereunto adjoining. 



Soon after the accession of William III. to the throne of England, 

 war was declared between England and France, arising from the 

 jealousy and the ill-feeling evinced by King Louis XIV. of France 

 consequent on the deposition and banishment of James II., and in 

 that declaration of war of the 7th May, 1689, the following paragraph 

 appeared. 



" It is not long since the French took licences from the English 

 Governor of Newfoundland to fish in the seas upon that coast, and 

 paid a tribute for such licences as an acknowledgment of the sole 

 right of the Crown of England to that island ; and yet of late the 

 encroachments of the French upon our said island, and our subjects 

 trade and fishery, have been more like the invasions of an enemy 

 than becoming friends, who enjoyed the advantages of that trade 

 only by permission." 



By the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697, which terminated the war of 

 the Revolution, the supremacy of the Crown of England was firmly 

 established over Newfoundland. 



GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



The island of Newfoundland is situated at the mouth of the river 

 St. Lawrence, by which it may be said to form an immense lake of 

 water called the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with two outlets to the 

 Atlantic, the one north by the Straits of Belle Isle, the other south 

 between Cape Breton Island, and Cape Ray. 



The island has tTie form of a great triangle, and is 370 miles in 

 length, and 290 miles in breadth, aijd covers not less than 400 

 leagues of coast-line, 1,200 miles, deeply indented, especially on the 

 eastern and the northern shores. 



The appearance of its coasts is sad and mournful, yet grand in its 

 sadness; the lands are high, and rather sombre, without verdure, and 

 the sea breaks with fury upon its desolate cliffs. 



In the interior, nature is beautiful, but savage in its beauty, 

 consisting of umbrageous lakes, innumerable torrents, which rush 

 impetuous to the sea, impenetrable forests of fir and of birch 

 abound, and as the traveller leaves the coasts, his march is a 



