As fishing constitutes the main object for which Newfoundland is visited or occupied, the number of persons to be found on it varies greatly at different sea sons of the year. Formerly none except a few poor fami lies passed the winter here ; and the governor himself, who was simply the commodore of the squadron appoint ed to protect the fishing vessels, used to live on ship board. For a long period, however, the number of wealthy residents has been progressively increasing ; a considerable quantity of capital has been vested in per manent establishments ; and the villages of Newfound land are gradually emerging from the condition of bleakness, and impurity, in which they once stood. St. John's, Placentia, Harbour-Grace in Conception Bay, have already the appearance of flourishing colonial towns ; comfortable, considering the climate and soil that surrounds them. All three are in the south-east portion of the island. St. John's is the seat of the governor, whose authority also extends over Anticosti, some smaller islands, and the adjoining coast of Labra dor. It is fortified by various batteries, which, toge ther with the peculiar security of its position, render it a place of considerable strength. The harbour, one of the finest in Newfoundland, is the general rendezvous where homeward bound ships join convoy. It consists of a bay formed by two mountains, both very steep, the south one almost perpendicular, which bend round towards each other on the eastern side, leaving a small entrance, which is appropriately denominated The Nar rows. Within this, which some rocks and shoals ren der a little dangerous, a ship (and only one can enter at a time.) finds smooth and deep water, extending for about two miles inland. The town stands at the head : it is built of wood, like all other towns here ; and the houses having generally but one story, make rather a mean figure, and, what is worse, are liable to dreadful calamities from fire. It is fast improving, however : some of the newer parts are even said to be elegant. It has a printing-press, from which a weekly newspaper issucs.—Placentia was long a French settlement : both it and Harbour-Grace are greatly inferior to St. John's. The remaining hamlets deserve no mention.
In their manners and character, the inhabitants of Newfoundland display most of the qualities and defects commonly to be found in persons similarly situated. The wealthier order prosecute trade with diligence, and show considerable address and dexterity in trans acting their affairs. Refinement or elegance of feeling is, of course, rarely met with. What would be its use, or where would be its place among warehouses of cod fish and train-oil ? The poorer class are in great part Irish, or descendants of Irish. Like other Irishmen, they arc indefatigable in labour, and can endure every privation without lamenting or seeming to notice it. Like other Irishmen, too, they are often irregular and barbarous in their way of life. When a fire breaks out in any of the towns, conflagration is not the only evil to be dreaded. Theft is frequent ; and St. Patrick's day, among other national festivals, is kept with an overflowing jollity, to which magistrates cannot look forward without apprehension. Some old observances, as that of the C'hriatmas Log, arc still generally attend ed to.
A little exuberance in such festivities might well be pardoned in a country where the circle of enjoyments is so narrow. The people toil throughout thc suminer amid moisture, and musquitoes, and heat : in winter their log-houses defend thcm but imperfectly from the severities of a worse than arctic climate ; and their bread requires all to be brought from Britain or Ame rica. Except fish, of which the employment is conti nual, and potatoes, with a few pot-herbs, the supply of which is inadequate, Newfoundland gives no constant store of food to its inhabitants. The precarious capture of deer rarely brings venison into the markei ; and seal flesh is a very imperfect substitute for beef. The only native beverage is a kind of beer prepared from the twigs of the spruce fir : it is said to be palatable. Tea, as well as fish. is used at every meal ; or else a decoc tion of the wisha capucoa, or Indian tea, a native herb, which the poorer classes employ instead.
The history of Newfoundland begins with the eleventh century, when Biorn, a aea.king, or pirate, of Iceland,
was driven thither by contrary winds in the year 1001. Biorn's colony will not detain us long. If they ever did occupy the island, they had become extinct before any traces of their existence had reached the more civilized nations of Europe ; and the country required again to be discovered nearly live hundred years after. John Cabot, (Giovanni Gabota,) the well known Venetian agent of Bristol, obtained a commission to make discoveries (at his own cost) front Henry VII. ; and during his first voyage, on the 24th June, 1497, came in sight of a head land, to which, regarding it as a lucky omen, he gave the name of Bonavista It was that cape of Newfound land which is still called so. After coasting the Ame rican continent as far as Florida, Cabot returned home with various productions of the countries lie had visited, and three natives of Newfoundland. " These were clothed in beasts' skins," says Fabian, " and spake such speech that no man could understand them ; and in their demeanour they were like brute beasts ; whom the king kept a time after ; of the which about two years after I saw two apparelled after the manner of Englishmen, in Westminster palace, which at that time I could not discern from Englishmen till I was learned what they were ; but as for speech, I heard none of them utter one word."* The newfound island was, not long after, visited suc cessively by Cotereal the Portuguese, and Cartier the French navigator. The excellence and the abundance of its cod, which had originally procured it the name of Bacalao,t soon attracted fishermen to the coast. Ves sels from England, France, Spain, Portugal, continued to frequent it during the whole of the sixteenth century ; but no permanent settlement was attempted by any of those nations. The English, to whom it of right be longed to colonize the country, at length exerted them selves, though for a time without success. Sir Hum phrey Gilbert, whose Treatise on the North-svest passage, 1579, late events have again brought into notice, lost both his fortune and his life in this enterprise. A Lon don merchant, named Hoare, had already tried it in 1536 ; and his trial had failed utterly : the ship's crew, to avoid absolute starvation, had been obliged to resort to the most horrible expedients; and even those would not have saved them, had tiny not been lucky enough to lay hold of a French ship loaded with provisions, which enabled the emaciated survivors to return home. But Sir Humphrey was not to be deterred by their fate, or vet by the unfortunate issue of his own first trial. Sharing the projective adventurous spirit of his half brother, the famous Sir Walter Raleigh, he determined to make a second and a greater effort, before the six years, during which Queen Elizabeth's patcnt allowed him to Lake possession of two hundred leagues round any point he chose to settle on, were expired ; and, accordingly, having sold all his estates to equip five small vessels, he embarked with 260 people in 1583. Sir Humphrey reached the bay of St. John's, and Look formal possession of the place, in presence of a great multitude of fishermen, who had seemed at first inclined to obstruct him ; Ile also procured some nzarcasite, which Daniel, his " experienced assayer," pronounced to be silver ore ; but here all his good fortune ended. AEX i0US to bring the southern countries also within the compass of his patent, Sir Humphrey prepared to sail in that direction. His crews hesitated to accompany him ; they mutinied, and part of them at length return ed home. The next occurrence was more lamentable still : one of the three ships which yet agreed to prose cute the voyage was wrecked shortly after the begin ning of it in a gale ; and above a hundred men perished with her. Disheartened by such a loss, all were decided for steering homewards, and Sir Humphrey at length consented also. He had suspended, not renounced his schemes. " If the Almighty should permit us to reach England in safety," said he, " I will set you out royally in the course of next spring." It was not so determin ed : Sir Humphrey's ship was missed by her companion one morning,—and never heard of more She had gone down over night ; and this high-minded gallant man, with all his golden hopes, was now swallowed in the deep, and calm as the dullest of his crew.