tons of ice to save it from being destroyed. This ice could not have been supplied anywhere nearer than Cape Sable or Liverpool, and there would have been great risk of losing the fish in attempting to reach that place. I was the only one who could supply this at Prospect, and shipped it at the usual rate of $2.50 per ton, and this whole fare of halibut was thus saved and $3,700 at Gloucester. Two fares of halibut were saved in the same way by my supplying ice at Prospect last year. I never carried on the mackerel fishery in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but I am aware, from the United States fishermen themselves, that they catch their mackerel within the three mile limit, as they term it, on our coasts. I never heard anything to the contrary from any mackerel fishermen.

About 100 American cod-fishermen on an average are supplied at Prospect with bait and ice, and very often they run in from the codfishing ground on our coast in eight or nine hours for a fresh supply, and usually run in three or four times, on an average, from the Western Bank, and about twice, on an average, from the Grand Bank of New. foundland. Many of the American cod-fishermen fishing on the latter Bank are supplied with fresh bait and ice at Canso, which is more convenient than the Newfoundland coast in May and June for that purpose.

W. B. CHRISTIAN.

Sworn to at Halifax, in the county of Halifax, this 31st day of August, A. D. 1877, before me.

JOHN DOULL, J. P.

No. 272.

In the matter of the Fisheries Commission at Halifax, under the Treaty of Washington.

I, ALEXANDER MCDONALD, of Port Hood Island, in the county of Inverness, fisherman and trader, make oath and say as follows:

1. I have been engaged in fishing and in a fish tradinge stablishment for the past fifteen years, and have had large opportunities for personal observations and experience in the business.

2. Under the Reciprocity Treaty I have known as high as five hundred or five hundred and fifty American vessels engaged in fishing on this coast during one season. After the Reciprocity Treaty the number became much less. These have carried on fishing on the coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and the Magdalen Island and Gaspé. Each vessel averages about 60 or 70 tons, and has a crew of about fifteen men. They fish for mackerel and codfish chiefly, but catch some hake, halibut, and herring.

3. The American vessels usually carry about three hundred barrels of mackerel per trip each vessel, and from 600 to 1,000 quintals of codfish. They make on an average three trips per season. During the Reciprocity Treaty the price of mackerel was about $15, American currency, per barrel.

4. The cod fishery on this coast is about the same as usual. There has been something of a falling off in the mackerel fishery in this part during the past year or two, but I do not regard this as permanent. I believe that mackerel always exist in great quantities along our coast, and I know no reason why there should not be as productive a catch dur ing the next eight years as in the eight years past. The prospects for

the present season, so far as I can learn, are good, and more American vessels are coming to these parts this season than for two or three years past.

5. The American fishing-vessels begin to arrive here in May each year for bait to carry on the cod fisheries. In July they come for mackerel, and continue fishing along the coast until as late as November. The American fishermen are in the habit of throwing offal, &c., overboard, the effect of which is liable to glut the fish and injure the young. About here, so far as I have the means of knowing, Canadian fishermen are more careful in their mode of carrying on fishing than the Americans.

6. About two thirds of the entire American catch during the Reciprocity Treaty was taken within three miles of the shore; and I think since the Washington Treaty the proportion is about the same.

7. The inshore, fisheries are much more valuable than those outside, and the privilege of using them is very important, because when it comes late in the autumn nearly all the fish are taken inshore, and if the American vessels could not fish inshore it would shorten their season. 8. After the Reciprocity Treaty, the practice of the American fishermen of throwing bait overboard to entice the mackerel outside was considered an injury to our boat fishermen.

9. The American fishermen do catch bait within three miles from the shores here to some small extent, both herring and squid; but the larger portion of the bait used by them now is bought from our people. 10. It is a great advantage to American fishermen frequenting Canadian waters to be allowed to land and dry their nets and cure their fish, and it is so recognized by them.

11. It is also a great advantage to Americans to be allowed to transship their cargoes. It enables them to take more fish and make more trips each season.

12. The privilege of procuring bait both by catching it and purchasing it in Canadian waters and ports is a great advantage to American fishermen; and though they are getting in the habit of buying it rather than catching it, yet this is done simply because they find it more profitable to do so, and not because there is any difficulty or obstacle in catching it.

13. I do not see how the Americans could carry on the cod and other deep-sea fisheries around our coasts without the privilege of resorting to our waters and ports to procure bait. It would compel them to make at least one less trip every season, and it would be less convenient for them in every way.

14. It is likewise a valuable privilege for Americans to be able to resort to our ports to procure ice and other supplies and outfits. Large numbers of American vessels are coming to Port Hood every season for this purpose, and I consider it a great advantage to them.

15. The value of the rights which the Americans acquired by the. Treaty of Washington to fish in our waters and to get bait and supplies is very great. I would not fix a money value, but it enables them to fish with much greater facility, to take more trips each season than they could possibly do otherwise. Without these privileges just referred to they would have to abandon our fishing grounds altogether, or nearly

so.

16. The privilege granted to Canadian fishermen to fish in American waters is no advantage that I know of whatever to Canadians. I never heard of a Canadian vessel using these waters, and know of no reason whatever why they should.

ALEXANDER MCDONALD.

Sworn to at Port Hood, in the county of Inverness, this 21st day of July, A. D. 1877, before me.

ALEXANDER GILLIES, J. P.

No. 273.

In the matter of the Fisheries Commission at Halifax, under the Treaty of Washington.

I, ANGUS GILLIES, of Port Hood, in the county of Inverness, justice of the peace, make oath and say as follows:

1. For the past eighteen years I have been a part of the time engaged fishing about the coasts of British America, and during all that period I have been familiar with the fishing business done here. I have been engaged on board of American fishing-vessels during that time, and have been myself master of a vessel, and have otherwise had pretty large opportunities of becoming familiar with the general business.

2. I have known as many as five or six hundred American fishingvessels engaged in fishing on these coasts during one season under the Reciprocity Treaty. Each vessel would average about sixty or seventy tons, and was manned by from twelve to fifteen men. The average cargo of mackerel would be three hundred barrels, and the average cargo of codfish would not be less than from five to seven hundred quintals. 3. After the Reciprocity Treaty the American fishing fleet on this coast declined very much, and their business materially lessened. They were not able to take as many trips during the season. Their mackerelfishing, which was chiefly inshore, fell off very much.

4. Now, the American cod-fishing in the gulf is about as large as ever. They get bait to carry it on in our waters, and from our traders. Their mackerel-fishing has greatly fallen off, which has been caused chiefly by the result of their mode of fishing, which has injured the ground. This has been done by their system of seining, and of throwing bait and offal overboard, which has caused the mackerel to be less sharp in biting. The other cause of the falling off in the mackerel-fishing is the low price of mackerel in the American markets, which makes the fishery less valuable and profitable. If the price of mackerel should go up, I believe the Americans would fish for mackerel now as much as ever.

5. The richest and best grounds for mackerel fishing are within three miles of the shore. Most of the mackerel are caught there. When I was on board of an American vessel, we took nearly all our mackerel inshore.

6. The best mackerel-fishing we ever had along this coast was after the Reciprocity Treaty was terminated and the American vessels were kept off our grounds by the cutters. Our Canadian fishermen had the best catch then that ever they had, because they were undisturbed. When the Americans have the right to come within three miles, they watch our boats taking mackerel, and come up close to us, and then throw bait overboard in large quantities, and entice the fish away from the boats. They could not do this if they were not allowed to come inshore, because our boats take the fish in the bays and harbors, and within a mile from the shore; and it is only by coming close up to us that they can entice the mackerel away. Their vessels often run down our boats, and it is with difficulty that we escape out of the way.

7. The privileges which the Americans gain by the Treaty of Washington in being allowed to catch fish inshore, and to catch and buy bait, and to procure ice and outfits at our ports, I am safe in saying, is worth at least half as much to them per season as their whole fisheries on this

coast. I do not see how they could carry on their great cod-fisheries if they had not the privilege of getting bait and ice from us. All bait is got inshore, and the great part of it very close to the shore.

AGNUS GILLIES. Sworn to at Port Hood, in the county of Inverness, this 23d day of July, A. D. 1877, before me. JOHN MCKAY, J. P.

No. 274.

In the matter of the Fisheries Commission at Halifax, under the Treaty of Washington.

I, JAMES O. FRASER, of Saint John's, Newfoundland, having been duly sworn, do depose and say that I have carefully examined the accounts of the government of the said island, and compiled therefrom the cost of erecting and maintaining the light-houses and fog-alarms between Cape Ray and Cape Race, and from thence to Quirpon, and that the annexed statement marked A, contains a true statement of the average annual expenditure for the maintenance of said light-houses and fog-alarms, and as deponent believes of the original cost of the said light-houses and fog-alarms.

In answer to Mr. Foster's question, I say that caplin continue upon the Newfoundland coast for a period of from five to seven weeks. Halifax, Nova Scotia, fourth day of September, A. D., 1877. JAMES O. FRASER.

Maintaining light-houses and fog-whistles on the coasts of Newfoundland, between Cape Ray and Cape Race, and from thence to Quirpon.

No. 275.

In the master of the Fisheries Commission, at Halifax, under the Treaty of Washington.

I, JOHN BETHELL, of West Barcrow, in the county of Shelburne, fisherman, make oath and say as follows:

1. I have been engaged in taking fish for the last seven years inshore, by means of a trap set one hundred and fifty fathoms from the shore, lowwater mark. We take in this trap all kinds of fish, principally mackerel, pollock and herring. Last year we took one hundred quintals of haddock. We take in each year about five hundred barrels of both mackerel and herring. Out of this, on an average each year, there would be one hundred and fifty barrels of mackerel.

2. Last year I supplied thirty-three Canadian schooners with bait and ice, besides supplying seventy-eight boats engaged in the inshore fisheries. The Canadian vessels took on an average of twelve dollars' worth of bait to each vessel. The boats take on an average of three dollars' worth of bait. Last year we supplied about forty tons of ice to Canadian ves. sels; this year about the same. Last year is about an average year's supply to Canadian vessels and inshore boats. This year we would have sold double of this supply to Canadian vessels if we had the bait. During the past four years I have supplied on an average ten American vessels. They took on an average between twenty and thirty dollars' worth of bait. The Americans always are very anxious to get this bait, and if they have bait they are almost always sure of fish.

JOHN BETHELL.

Sworn before me this 29th day of August, A. D., 1877.

D. SARGENT,

J. P. for the County of Shelburne.

No. 276.

In the matter of the Fisheries Commission at Halifax, under the Treaty of Washington.

I, EDWARD D. TREMAIN, of Port Hood, in the county of Inverness, collector of customs, make oath and say as follows:

1. I have been, from information received from American fishermen and otherwise, somewhat acquainted with the fisheries on the coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and the Magdalen Islands for some years past.

2. Among the last years of the Reciprocity Treaty, I believe that about eight hundred American fishing-vessels were yearly engaged in the fisheries along our coasts from the Strait of Canso northward. I should estimate the total tonnage of the American fleet in these waters at that time to be over fifty thousand, and as many as ten thousand men engaged. Their occupations embraced principally mackerel and codfish, but I believe herring, haddock, hake, and halibut were also taken.

3. The American fishermen begin to arrive on our coasts about the first of May each year, and continue their operations till about the tenth of November. Their vessels average about three trips per season. 4. American vessels were, under the said treaty, in the habit of frequenting this locality for the purpose of landing, procuring extra bait, obtaining sets of sails, getting men and outfits for extra trips, and occa