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1.
ARTHUR DE GOBINEAU
The
Comte Arthur de Gobineau, diplomat by profession, visited Newfoundland
in 1859. France had charged him with making inquiry into the problems
between French and English on the coast called the French Shore
where France had exclusive fishing rights which it became more
and more trouble to exercise in light of the growing number of
English that little by little peopled the island of Newfoundland,
mainly the coasts. Within the framework of this mission it is
not surprising that he visited the settlement at Red Island. This
is what he saw:
In
a few hours we came in view of Red Island where we were to visit
a perfectly normal, legal settlement, since it was purely French.
Red
Island is a sort of raised cone which faces Mainland. Between
its narrow shores and those of the latter, a multitude of small
boats, each occupied by two men, were busy fishing cod. One saw
them in a ray of sunlight which, in that moment, pierced the clouds
and brightened this bustling scene of men standing in
their boats to let out one line, whilst another retrieved a line
which had slept for a time in the water. The fish caught accumulated
in the bottom of each boat. The schooners circulated in the midst
of this animation and before our eyes hoisted the French colours.
We disembarked on Red Island.