It was not England alone to which the fisheries of Newfoundland were of value. France was equally in earnest in her desire to gain control of the coveted territory. [Sidenote: 1696 A.D.] She had one or two small settlements, and she had been able by one happy stroke to gain possession of the whole island. The triumph, however, was not enduring, for England speedily reclaimed all that she had lost. [Sidenote: 1713 A.D.] By the treaty of Utrecht, when Louis XIV. was reduced by the victorious arms of Marlborough to the last extremity of exhaustion, France ceded to England all her claims upon Newfoundland; preserving still, however, her right to participate in the fisheries. Down almost to the close of last century Newfoundland was without any proper government or administration of justice. England would not recognize the island as a colony, but persisted in regarding it as a mere fishery. The substitute for government was probably the rudest device which has ever been adopted by any civilized country. [Sidenote: 1690 A.D.] The master of the fishing-vessel which arrived first on the coast was the “Admiral” for the season, charged with the duty of maintaining order among the crews of the other ships, governing the island from the deck of his vessel. The great industry of Newfoundland--her fisheries--was always prosperous, and yielded large gains to the mother-country. But her infant settlements struggled up to strength and importance in the face of many discouragements, which were negligently or wilfully inflicted. The area of Newfoundland is equal to two-thirds that of England and Wales, and her population is one hundred and fifty thousand. For three hundred and fifty years after Cabot’s discovery the interior of the island had never been explored by Europeans, and was wholly unknown, excepting to a few Indian hunters. Only so recently as 1822 an adventurous traveller accomplished for the first time a journey across the island. The enterprise was attended with much difficulty and some danger. The country was found to be rugged and broken. Innumerable lakes and marshes opposed the traveller’s progress, and imposed tedious deviations from his course. The journey occupied two months, during which the traveller and his Indian companions were obliged to subsist by the chase. No traces of cultivation were discovered, and no inhabitants. The natives of Newfoundland were the only race of American savages who persistently refused to enter into relations with the white men. They maintained to the end a hostile attitude, and were shot down and finally exterminated as opportunity offered.