Within a year after Cabot’s voyage, fishermen from Devonshire, England, were on the Newfoundland coast, and several years later Portuguese and French fishermen were competing with them for the right to share in the phenomenal catches. Though claimed by the British by right of discovery, Newfoundland became a kind of “no man’s land.” Its coast was frequented by hordes of daring men, partly fishermen, partly traders, most of whom were not above a little piracy now and then. In 1578, four hundred fishing vessels were coming here every year. Of these nearly half were French. The English dominated even then, and a quarter of a century later ten thousand men and boys from the west counties of England were spending their summers in the fisheries, as catchers at sea and dryers on shore. It is estimated that the annual catch of the English vessels was worth one hundred thousand pounds, a huge sum in those days. The “Merchant Adventurers” of England, who gained most of the profit, tried to set up a monopoly. They did their utmost to drive the French from the fishing grounds and shore stations, and discouraged all attempts to colonize Newfoundland, spreading false reports that the country was desolate and uninhabitable. At one time there were laws forbidding a fishing vessel from taking any settlers to Newfoundland and requiring it to bring back to England every man it carried away. The “Fishing Admirals,” as the ancient profiteers of that industry were called, even secured an order to burn the homes of the fishermen on shore. Indeed, it was not until 1711 that England changed her cruel policy toward Newfoundland and organized the colony under a naval government. [Illustration: Most of the people of Newfoundland get their living directly or indirectly from the codfish industry. The bulk of the catch is shipped abroad from St. John’s, chiefly to the warm countries of the Mediterranean and the West Indies.] [Illustration: The fisherman’s work has only begun when he has caught the cod. After cleaning them, he and his family must spread the fish out to dry every day, and stack them up every evening until they are “made.”]