I have seen as many as thirteen vessels at one moment fishing close inshore, but of course the whole were outside the limit before they could be approached. The inhabitants of Port Daniel complained that, prior to this season, the Americans were in the habit of hauling their seines in the bay, greatly to the loss and impoverishment of the inhab itants.

The inhabitants of Gaspé Basin and the neighborhood complained of the behavior of an American, Mr. Ebenezer Marshall, of the schooner S. T. Marshall, last year. They stated that he hauled his large seines on Sandy Beach, forming the harbor, and had brought to land large numbers of young codfish, which were useless to him.

The spot always had been a favorite breeding-place for the cod, and they feared that its character would be totally changed, and great loss to them ensue, if that practice was pursued.

They also stated that they feared the mackerel would avoid the bay for a season if the seining was persisted in.

With regard to the best method of protecting the fisheries during the ensuing season, I beg to make this suggestion :

That in the Gulf of St. Lawrence the stations 4, 5, and 6 be placed under a senior officer, so that any one of the cruisers under the altered system might be able to refer any question or difficulty to him. The senior officer would then be able to clear up questions, and explain matters of a delicate character, on the spot. He also would be able to relieve the cruiser, in the event of a capture having been made by her, by receiving the necessary witnesses on board, instead of the capturing ship being kept off her station for a length of time.

The fact of being able to communicate on the spot with a superior immediately engaged in the same duty would naturally strengthen the position of those engaged in an arduous duty of the character for the first time, and lessen the isolation now experience.

In my opinion, it requires a personal acquaintance with those engaged in the fisheries, and also a knowledge of the class of officials met with, to be able to detect the subterfuges to which they have recourse in order to gain their ends.

With respect to the Dominion cruisers, and their fitness for the duty required of them, I am prompted to make the following remarks:

Of those which I have fallen in with, the Ella T. Maclean draws too much water to be a serviceable cruiser.

The England is too indifferent a sailer to be of much service.

I observe that I have omitted to mention that the master of the S. T. Marshall last year, and complained of to me, is the same Ebenezer Marshall in command of her when captured.

I have, &c.,

No. 40.

E. HARDINGE.

[Extract of a despatch from Captain Phillimore to Vice-Admiral Fanshawe.]

SPHINX, HALIFAX, November 15, 1870.

SIR: With reference to Article III of the fishery restrictions, I have to inform you that the most plentiful sorts of fish on the western coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence are salmon, cod, ling, mackerel, and herring; and the best baits that are used for catching them are small

kinds of fish, which are easily obtained by dragging those parts of rivers which become small pools at low water.

Salmon, cod, and ling are found at the mouths of rivers where these boats are, and in about the same proportion of number.

Mackerel and herring naturally come into shallow water at certain seasons to spawn, and are then in the best condition for human food; but they can be enticed, and very easily, if along a bank, to more than three miles from the coast, and then caught there by a vessel standing out to sea, and throwing overboard large quantities of bait as she goes along. These fish are cured and packed on board the fishing vessels directly they are caught, it being necessary to do so in order to preserve them. As the nearest principal markets for the sale of fish are New York and Boston, and as there is a tax in the United States on fish landed from British vessels, but none from American, and as fish are more plentiful near the coast, it follows that the fishing business on this coast is most profitable when it can be carried on close to the shore, and under American colors. Also, as fishing is apparently most profitable under American colors, and there is an American law which prevents a British-built ship from ever being able to sail under American colors, it follows that the shipbuilders in the United States have a better market for their fishing schooners than the British. On the other hand, it is a disadvantage to the United States Government for vessels to fish under their flag, for they lose the tax which they would get were the fish to be landed at their seaports from British vessels instead of American.

The residents about the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence have informed me that their inshore fishing this season has been good, and that they attribute this in a great measure to the American fishing schooners having been kept off the coast. Large numbers of these schooners have been fishing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this year, and have been frequently seen doing so within three miles of the coast, notwithstanding the precautions that have been taken to prevent them. These fishing schooners generally go about in fleets, and their crews are made up of a mixture of all nations, with but a few bona fide Americans among them. These men receive no wages, but a certain share of the proceeds of the sale of the fish caught during the

No. 41.

[Extract from a letter from Commander Knowles, of Her Majesty's ship Lapwing (No 10 A), dated 7th November, 1870, addressed to Vice-Admiral Fawnshawe, commanderin-chief.]

PORT HOOD.

2. The inshore fishing in the vicinity of the port has by all accounts been far above the average, the mackerel coming in through the Gut of Canso about the commencement of June, when there was an immense catch in this harbor; they then went northward toward East Point, and off Sea-Wolf Island and Chettican.

The herring fishery here has been excellent; the summer herrings came in in July, the fall herrings for three nights in September, and I believe that as much as ten thousand barrels were caught off Henry Island and outside Smith's Island.

The cod fishery here has not been remarkable.

This port seems to be a great harbor of refuge for the American schooners; about fifty of them were frequently at anchor at a time, and previous to the treaty large supplies were obtained from the storekeepers on shore, but owing to the constant presence of a man-of-war the traders now derive but little if any profit.

The general feeling here is that the abrogation of the license system and stringent manner in which the laws have been enforced have had the effect of greatly improving the catch of the inshore and coast fish

ermen.

N. B.-Although, as will have been observed, some of the foregoing correspondence appears in the form of extracts, the selections so made have been introduced in their present shape simply for the sake of brevity; and to avoid wearying the attention of the Commissioners with matters irrelevant to the present inquiry.

No. 42.

No. 43.

List of fishing-vessels boarded on fishery stations Nos. 4 and 5 between the 25th of July, 1870, and 21st of October, 1870.