The king was very anxious to develop the fisheries of the colony. “His Majesty,” writes the minister, “wishes you to induce the inhabitants to unite with the merchants for this object, and to incite them by all sorts of means to overcome their natural laziness, since there is no other way of saving them from the misery in which they now are.” ** “I wish,” says the zealous Denonville, “that fisheries could be well established to give employment to our young men, and prevent them from running wild in the woods;” and he adds mournfully, “they (_the fisheries_) are enriching Boston at our expense.” “They are our true mines,” urges the intendant Meules; “but the English of Boston have got possession of those of Acadia, which belong to us; and we ought to prevent it.” It was not prevented; and the Canadian * All the above examples are drawn from the correspondence of the governor and intendant with the minister, between 1680 and 1699, together with a memorial of Hazeur and another of Riverin, addressed to the minister. Vitry’s porpoise-fishing appears to have ended in failure. In 1707 the intendant Raudot granted the porpoise fishery of the seigniory of Riviere Ouelle to six of the _habitans_. This fishery is carried on here successfully at the present day. A very interesting account of it was published in the Opinion Publique, 1873, by my friend Abbé Casgrain, whose family residence is the seigniorial mansion of Riviere Ouelle. ** Mémoire pour Denonville et Champigny, 8 Mars, 1688. fisheries, like other branches of Canadian industry, remained in a state of almost hopeless languor. * The government applied various stimulants. One of these, proposed by the intendant Duchesneau, is characteristic. He advises the formation of a company which should have the exclusive right of exporting fish; but which on its part should be required to take, at a fixed price, all that the inhabitants should bring them. This notable plan did not find favor with the king. ** It was practised, however, in the case of beaver skins, and also in that of woodashes. The farmers of the revenue were required to take this last commodity at a fixed price, on their own risk, and in any quantity offered. They remonstrated, saying that it was unsalable; adding that, if the inhabitants would but take the trouble to turn it into potash, it might be possible to find a market for it. The king released them entirely, coupling his order to that effect with a eulogy of free trade. *** In all departments of industry, the appeals for help are endless. Governors and intendants are so many sturdy beggars for the languishing colony. * The Canadian fisheries must not be confounded with the French fisheries of Newfoundland, which were prosperous, but were carried on wholly from French ports.