Effective reoccupation of the islands took place June 22, 1816. Two 

 transports, the Caravane and the Salamandre, brought 150 families who, 

 with the exception of a small contingent of French emigrants, had formerly 

 been established on the islands a total of 645 people. A police force for 

 the colony also came. 



With the aid of the government, the colonists rebuilt the town of Saint- 

 Pierre and the village of Miquelon. Times were difficult at first, and the 

 government had to furnish, for the first three years, an important part of 

 the subsistence of the colony. 



In 1817, however, the local fishery was vigorously undertaken. Many 

 boats which had been rebuilt, some of them 60 years old, were launched. 

 In the year 1817, 24 long-boats and barks, and 271 wherries were outfitted 

 for the coastal fishery. 615 men were employed aboard them, of whom 514 

 were brought ,for the season from France by 38 vessels coming for the great 

 fishery. One of the vessels, the Saint-Louis, transported 85 passengers 

 both ways. 



The year 1818 saw the outfitting of the first two Saint-Pierre two- 

 masted vessels, of which one, the Espoir, had been constructed at Saint- 

 Pierre the same year. 



In 1819, two of the two-masters, including the Espoir, and six long- 

 boats, outfitted for the Gulf fishery. Their fishing permits mentioned 

 "From Cape Saint-Jean, passing to the north, as far as Cape Raye, but 

 conforming to the regulation of February 13, 1815. " 



In the course of the 19th century, the colonial outfitting acquired a 

 real importance, by reason of the increasing number of two-masted ves- 

 sels put into service. 



These two-masters were excellent small vessels varying from 40 to 

 60 tons, the equivalent of 1000 metric hundredweight of cod. The crew 

 was 20 men for the bank fishery and almost double for the shore fishery 

 in the Gulf, which included the shore men for drying the cod. Most of 

 these vessels were built at Saint-Pierre, where the shipyards were very 

 active between 1855 and 1880. 



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