These orders were never entirely executed. The "French of the West 

 Coast" established in the region of the Bay of Saint-George and the peninsula 

 of Port-a-Port, were from the first excepted, with the full consent of the 

 French fishermen who found among them a better welcome and numerous serv- 

 ices. In other bays, the presence of settlers of English origin was accepted 

 and even sometimes encouraged by the fishermen, among whom many took the 

 custom of entrusting the guard of their establishments during the winter to 

 families settled in the neighborhood. 



*•&■* 



The Newfoundlanders did not fail to profit from this tolerance. At the 

 period of resumption of the French fishery, the population of the island, al- 

 most entirely of English origin, amounted to 70,000 souls. The islanders, 

 who could settle only on the coast where they pursued more and more the di- 

 verse industries of the local fishery, occupied themselves unceasingly to con- 

 quer the space they needed. Little by little, islets of colonization sprang up 

 on the French Shore, at the same time that families of the English race came 

 to settle next to little Acadian communities on the west coast. 



During some years this systematic but still very diluted intrusion did not 

 provoke any complaint on the part of the French fishermen, who could install 

 themselves on the shore in less precarious conditions than they had had in the 

 preceding centuries. 



Conforming to the treaties, of which the local representation of British 

 authority made itself a vigilant guardian, these establishments consisted only 

 of light wood construction, but although this temporary character was im- 

 posed on them, the guardianship from which they benefitted in the interval be- 

 tween seasons assured them the benefit of a certain effective permanence. 

 Fishing platforms and cabins could thus be made the object of careful construc- 

 tion thus ameliorating, in a certain measure the working conditions and the 

 lodgings of the shore crews. 



The dock or fishing platform constituted a kind of wharf built on great 

 squared pilings from the nearby forest and of which the terminal platform pro- 

 jected sufficiently seaward that unloading of fish could be done at all stages of 

 the tide. 



On its part which bordered the beach, the construction supported a cov- 

 ered shed in which the fish were prepared for drying. The fishermen also 

 baited their lines there in those stations where this method of fishing was used. 

 The salt also was kept in this place sheltered from the rain. 



53 



