chap, iv.] WEST INDIES. 271 
the climate renders the crops of wheat altogether 
precarious. It was proved, that in the years 1779, 
1780, 1781, and 1782, the scarcity in Canada had 
been such, as to occasion the export of all bread, 
wheat, and flour, to be prohibited by authority; 
and it was shewn that, at the very time of the in¬ 
quiry, a ship in the river Thames was actually 
loading with flour for Quebec. On the whole, it 
appeared that, although in favourable seasons (as in 
1774) there might sometimes be found an overplus 
of grain, beyond the consumption of the inhabi¬ 
tants, yet that a regular and sufficient supply could 
by no means be depended on from that province; 
that the frequency of disappointment must prove 
an insurmountable obstruction to new inhabitants 
settling there with a view to the cultivation of 
wheat; and, with regard to lumber, the price of 
labour in Canada was such, as to cut off ail hopes 
of supply from thence, even if the navigation had 
been subject to no delay and obstacle whatever. 
Respecting Nova Scotia, it was shewn that it 
never had, at any one period, produced grain suffi¬ 
cient for the sustenance of its inhabitants: it had 
never exported any lumber worthy the name of 
merchandise ; and so far from having any to export, 
it appeared that a considerable importation into the 
province was at that time taking place, from the 
opposite side of the Bay of Fundy, to enable the 
new settlers at Port Roseway to build houses for 
their own residence. 
