238 BRITISH AMERICA.

interrupted and checked the enterprise of the fishing adventurers.

The peace of 1783 gave the French the saine add vantages as they enjoyed by the treaty of Fontain- bleau; and the right of fishing on all the British coasts of America was allowed to the subjects of the United States, in common with those of Great Bri- tain, while these were denied the same privileges on the coasts of the former. In restoring to France the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, it was con- tended that they were incapable of being fortified; while it is well known, that both these islands are, in an eminent degree, not only capable of being made impregnable, but that their situation alone would command the entrance to the Gulf of St Lawrence, if put into such a state of strength as it was in the power of France to put them.

After the American revolutionary war, the fish- eries of British America were prosecuted in New- foundland with energy and perseverance.

In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the herring, mackerel, and Gasperean fisheries, were followed, but only on a limited scale. At Percé and Pas- papiac, in the district of Gaspé, the cod fishery was carried on with spirit by two or three houses; and the salmon fishery followed at Restigouch, and at Miramichi. The cod fishery at Arichat, on the island of Madame, was pursued by the Acadian French settled there, who were supplied by hardy and economical adventurers from Jersey. The valu- able fisheries on the coasts of Nova Scotia, New