JOHN 'S. 189 which consumed a great number of houses, stores, and wharfs. It was suspected, from the frequent occurrence of these fires, and particularly from the apathy with which the lower classes observed the activity that the sailors and the military displayed in extinguishing them, that they had been occasioned by incendiaries ; but the most vigilant search and minute investigation led to no such discovery. The scarcity of provisions and the dread of famine, it is true, urged the labouring classes to pillage, and to disregard authority. Another cause also contributed to make these people desperate. The repeated losses of the merchants, and the ruinous state of the trade, were such, that they could only afford to supply the planters to a certain extent. The consequence was, that thousands of fishermen and labourers were reduced to want, and they, on different occasions, became a lawless banditti, and broke open the stores of the merchants to obtain provisions. In a country like Newfoundland , shut out for some months, in a great measure, from the rest of the world, scarcity of provisions is the most terrible calamity that can possibly occur. Had the magazines not been saved from the fire which took place in winter, the inhabitants, it is believed, would have inevitably starved. It is not probable that Newfoundland will ever again experience such distress ; and John's appears to have surmounted the destruction to which it was subjected. The houses since erected, are built in a much more comfortable style than formerly, although