The seal affords one of the most important fishing interests of Newfoundland. This industry may continence any day from Feb. 25th to March 5th. according to the winds —a n.e. wind up the coast vith ice, which the first strong westerly wind clears away. At the beginning of the present century, the seal-fishing was carried on with vessels of from 30 to 40 tons, manned by 8 or 10 men. Vessels of from 70 to 180 tons, manned by from 25 to 90 men, were substituted for these, the most suitable being ves sels of from 120 to 140 tons. About 1866, steamers were introduced into the seal-fish ing, and they have proved so serviceable that it is probable that this kind of vessel will, by and by, be used exclusively in these fisheries. In proportion to the population of _Newfoundland, its religious institutions are ample, while education is within reach of all classes, government grants to the district schools being liberal.
There are no railways in the island, and its peculiar configuration renders even road making a matter of great difficulty. There are no roads across the island; they are confined chiefly to the south-eastern and south-western sea-board, There is weekly com munication for nine months in the year between Newfoundland and Europe. In the colony and connected with it, 400 tn. c lines of telegraph have been •constructed, and the Atlantic telegraph has its western terminus on this island.
The early history of Newfoundland is involved in obscurity_ It was discovered, June 24, 1497, in the reign of Henry VII., by John Cabot; and the event is noticed by the following entry in the accounts of the privy-purse expenditure: "1497, August 10, To hym that found the New Isle, £10." It was visited by the Portuguese navigator.
Gaspar de Cortereal, in 1500; and within two years after that time, regular fisheries bad been established on its shores by the Portuguese, Bisenyans, and French. In '1578, 400 vessels, of 50 were English, were engaged in the fishery. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with his ill-fated expedition, arrived in St. John's harbor, August 1583, and formally took possession of the island in the name of queen Elizabeth. In the return voyage, the expedition was scattered by a storm, and the ecminander lost. In 1621, sir George Cal vert (afterward lord Baltimore) settled in the great peninsula in the s.e., and named it the Prorince of Aralon. The history of the island during the 17th and part of the 18th centuries, is little more than a record of rivalries and feuds between the English and French fishermen; but by the treaty of Utrecht (1718), the island was ceded wholly to England; the French, however, retaining the privilege of fishing and drying their fish on certain portions of the coast. A governor was appointed in 1728. The present form of government, established in 1855. consists of the governor, a legislative council (appointed by the crown). and a general assembly (elected by the people). The coast of Labrador on the mainland, and the island of Anticosti, have been included, since 1809, within the jurisdiction of the governor of Newfoundland.