PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 29 are fully answered, and in many surpassed, such as the raising of Indian corn, which I have done this year myself, and very good too, though it was not planted by more than a month so early as it ought to have been. In every other part of where I have been grain in general deteriorates, especially oats and barley; but here I have raised both this year to the full as good as the seed sown, which was the best I could purchase in Lon¬ don. The oats were of the Polish kind, as I judged our summer might resemble theirs in Poland, more than that of England , and be¬ lieve we would be right if we used more of the continental seeds of Europe than we do. I never met with nor heard of such an increase of potatoes as I was told of yesterday by two servants belonging to Captain Holland . One of them planted six bushels, and has from them raised two hundred bushels; the other had a hundred and sixty bushels from three. This they offered to take their oaths of. Wheat has not had a fair trial yet, but I have every reason, from what has been done, to think we may have it as good as anywhere; and as to garden stuffs, there is no country produces better. In short, my Lord, if only the proprietors will exert themselves, this Island will, in a short time, be the Garden of ." The British population in 1770, on Pat¬ terson's arrival, numbered only about a hun¬ dred and fifty families, but immigrants were beginning to come in, some coming of their own accord, but the greater part being sent to the Island by the few proprietors who were honestly trying to fulfil the conditions of their grants. We learn, from a letter of Chief Justice Duport to Lord Hillsborough , dated 15th October, 1771, that "since my last letter, dated the 3d ult, nine families are ar¬ rived here, sent by Lieutenant Governor Des- Brisay , to settle on his lot near Charlotte - town. About seventy persons are also ar¬ rived at Magpie, who are come on their own account, to seek a settlement on this Island, and I hope they will be accommodated to their satisfaction, as it will be an encourage¬ ment to others to follow them on the same lay." But it would seem that some of those coming to the Island were inclined to stray away, so, to offset the effect of this tendency, it was required that masters of vessels carry¬ ing passengers away from this Island must have a license to do so. In 1771 Mr. David Higgins was appointed a commissioner at Town, in Kings county, to keep a "Public Pass Office," agreeable to an ordinance of Council "for prohibiting mas¬ ters of vessels, or any other persons, from transporting or conveying away any persons out of this Island, without a license or pass." Offices, in consequence thereof, were estab¬ lished at the three capital towns in Queens, Kings and Prince counties. The policy of His Majesty's government," with regard to the settlement of these colo¬ nies, was decidedly opposed to their being peopled by emigrants from other parts of the empire. The authorities were afraid of loss of population and the land-holding class also were afraid of their tenants emigrating. This was probably the real reason for the objections to settling the colonies with people from Great Britain and Ireland. A provision of the grants was, "That the settlers so to be introduced be Protestants, from such parts of Europe as are not within His Majesty's dominion." In this connection, Lieutenant Governor Des- Brisay , who was in Ireland, incurred the dis-