Chapter X. The Colony of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon 



The history of the little archipelago of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, a 

 satellite of the great island of Newfoundland, is intimately related, since 

 most ancient times, with that of the cod fishery. Jacques Cartier relates 

 that he saw on his second voyage, June 5, 1535, "the islands of Saint- 

 Pierre, " where he found "many vessels from France and Brittany. " But 

 if the vessels which came to fish the coast of Newfoundland or on the bank 

 neighboring Saint-Pierre profitted at times from this anchorage, no attempt 

 at colonization of this landing place was attempted, for the neighboring 

 great island was considered as belonging to France. 



The archipelago, which is separated from Newfoundland by an arm of 

 the sea 20 kilometers at narrowest part, is made up of three principal 

 pieces of land: Saint-Pierre, Grande Miquelon, and Petite Miquelon, the 

 latter more commonly called Langlade. 



With a length of 7-1/2 kilometers and a width of 5-1/2 kilometers, an 

 area of 2, 600 hectares (6425 acres), Saint-Pierre is much the smaller of 

 the three. It is hardly more than an islet with a hard and rocky soil sprin- 

 kled with spiny vegetation and scrubby evergreens. 



The two Miquelons are much more important with 11, 500 hectares 

 (28, 416 acres) in Grande Miquelon and 9, 000 hectares (22, 239 acres) in 

 Langlade. These two islands, cultivated in certain parts, support some 

 cows and sheep, and one finds on Langlade small groves of true trees at- 

 taining a height of 6 to 7 meters. 



Grande Miquelon and Langlade, joined since 1781 by a sandy isthmus 

 10 kilometers in length scattered with debris from the sea, extend over 43 

 kilometers. Until the end of the 18th century they formed two distinct 

 islands. From 1757 to 1781, the year the isthmus formed, they were sep- 

 arated by a channel about 485 meters wide and 330 meters long, the depth 

 of which was more than four meters at low tide, permitting the passage of 

 all fishing vessels. 



In 1713, by the Treaty of Utrecht, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, depend- 

 encies of Newfoundland, followed the lot of that great island and became 



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