V EXLI5RIS ROBERT GIBSON Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2009 witii funding from Ontario Council of University Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/compendioushistoOOcoon COMPENDIOUS HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN PART OF THK PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK, AND OF THE DISTRICT OF GA8PE, LOWER CANADA. BY ROBERT COOWET. The lowest genius may afford some light, Or give a iiint that had escaped your sight. REPRINTED IN 1896 BY D. G. SMITH AT CHATHAM, MIRAMICHI, NEW BHUNSWICK, FROM ONE OF THE ORIGINAL COPIES PRINTED HY JOSEPH HOWE, AT HALIFAX, IX 18.32. TO JOSEPH CUNARD, Esq. ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NEW BRUlfJSWICK. Sir, Despising the expression of that opinion, which, possibly, may attempt to torture the tinsophisticated language of sincere esteem, into the feigned or servile compliment of flattery, to you, do Ifrankly confess, that the oppoitunity which the cojnpila- tion of this little work affords me, unreservedly to acknowledge my obligations to your friendship, is a delightful recompense for lohatever of care, anxiety, or fatigue, the execution of the task has involved. When circumstances, familiar to all the respectable inhabitants of Miramichi, interrtqited my profes- sional studies, through your disinterested sympathies, did <i munificent Providence kindly bestow an affectionate, and an unshri?iking friend. Therefore, to you. Sir, do I now dedi- cate this unpretending effort, and poor though the offering he, rest assured, that in the presentation of it, far loftier motives Influenced me, than any private considerations would suggest. — The faithful duscharye of the important duties of a Le<ji- slator, has obtaiived for you the merited approbation of a dis cerniiuj constiitiency ; the registered decisions of the Bench, eloquently viiidicate your integrity as a magistrate;—and the magnanimity that nnifoimly pervades youi mercantile pursuits, has invested your professioiud reputatioti ivith the distiiujuish- ing traits of liberality and enterprize. These, Sir, are the pri- mary reasons that more immediately influence me, ivhUe to the series of facts they enumerate, I have now the honoi- to add another. By subscribing myself, Your obliged, and Gmteful Servant, ROBERT COONEY. Halifax, May, 1832. CONTENTS. Page. Introduction, ..... i General Description, - - - - 14 County of Northumberland, - - - 25 County of Kent, ...... 127 County of Gloucester, .... igl Natural History, .... 227 Resources, ..... 277 District of Gaspe, - ' - - - 281 [ It affords me unqualified pleasure to state, that I have, during my resi- dence in Halifax, enjoyed an uninterrupted access to the Town Library, the Commercial Reading Room, the Mechanics' Institute, and the other Lite- rary and Scientific Associations, which so eminently distinguish this enlight- ened metropolis ; and therefore, do I now, to the respective Directors and Managers of these Societies, unfeignedly tender my assurances of regard and esteem.) R. C. PRINTER'S NOTE. The general demand for Cooney's History of the northern part of New Brunswick and the fact that copies of the original edition, printed at Halifax by the late Honorable Joseph Howe, in 1832, are very difficult to obtain, together with the merits of the work itself and the importance of preserving it as a valuable his- torical record, have induced me to reprint it. The book as now reproduced — from the introduction to the last page—is a faithful copy of the original, (with the exception of a few corrected typographical errors, such as are apt to occur in any printed matter.) The num- ber of pages and of lines to a page, as well as the be- ginning and termination of every line, are the same, so that any references in other works, to Cooney's History, by page or line, will apply to the present edition, exact- ly the same as to that pruited by Mr. Howe in 1832. D. G. Smith. Chatham, New Brunswick 1896. INTRODUCTION. Although we protest against the unwarrantable vani- ty, that would hetray us into the institution of a com- parison between New Brunswick and other Colonies one will im- of Great Britain ; we feel satisfied that no peach our consistency, if we briefly allude to the rise and progress of the maritime strength and commercial prosperity of the latter : thence modestly hinting, that her Colonies have eminently contributed to both. Considerations of this kind, though perhaps destitute of any intrinsic utility, are on this occasion recommend- ed by a sort of natural pertinency, inasmuch as they may exhibit the general importance of Colonial posses- as sions ; and embody an expression of the sentiments, well as an avowal of the principles, cherished by the inhalabints of this Province in particular. 1 :: i I.NTHO0rCTK»K iiiukf thi'si' pi't'liiuinary I .iiii, iiii»i«-«.\ r-i , iiiilii(<-<l t^. •!' i»'iii;irks, t'i-(iiii a \ i>-\v < tin' iiijustiet* of some late niea- smt'.s of rolonial policy: as well as from a (li((nitied conception of onr own co-relative situation, as the snU- jects of a country, of wliich we a)e a constituent })art mulrr whose laws we live : hy whom we aiv protectee] i»f whose irreatn ess wt- jtai'ticipate : an<l to whose insti- tutions we are attaclied. Towanls the dose of the loth century, Veniee and (jlenoa were the only great connnercial powei's in En- rope. Between these two natioTis a similarity of pur- pt)se inspired mutual rivalshiji: but in trade, Venice maintained the pre-eminence. Slu.' engrossed the wht)le connnerce of India, then cairied on through the inte- rior of Asia, or hy way of Kgy pt and the Red Sea. America, comprising the great western Continent, and including almost innumeral)le fertile islands, was then a Terra Incoijuifti, or an unknown lan<l. Under these circumstances, the trade of England was very limited : we did little more than wander through the Mediterranean, or crawl along the coast of Africa. Tliis was the extent of our navigation : and the few ships employed therein, were, as Mell as our Naval stores, imported. We purchased all manufactured me- tals from Germany : we were <lependent on Portugal for ; bought American produce from Spain Sugar we ; and we had to pay tlie Venetians and (Jenoese for tlie conimtHliti>-s of India. INTROIMICriMX. 3 At this tiiiit', the it'veinu; of l-hit;l;iiiil «ii(i Dot exceed £;U),000 a year. Sueli was the state of our trade, and of our finance, when Elizabeth ascended the Throne. The cautiou.s jx>licy of Henry Vlt. had precluded us from the advantages of Cohinibus's f^ervice; but tlie li- berality of his <^rand-'laughter admitted us to a partici- pati<Mi of them. The intrepid navigator had, Vty pe- neti'ating beyond the imaginary pi'ecincts of the globe, erdarged the circumference of visible creation. At his touch the western boundary receded : and then Em- pires and Kingdoms issued from the sea, while the ndst that overshadowed it resolved itself into a woild. These discoveries inflamed the zeal of the <|ueen. and loused the eneri^ies of the nation : and havinof once in- haled the s[tirit of entei'pi-ise, wc enlisted science for our guide — ])ursue<I territory into its last retreat; and in the recesses of obscurity, established new <lonnnions. In prosecuting her research, Ei»glanil neither acknow- ledged an obstacle, nor recognizei.1 a difficulty. 8he neither calculated the dangei-, nor measured the dis- tance : her discernment tauglit her the value of ctnn- mercc, and her insular .situation convinced her of the necessity of its cultivation. She saw other powers en- riched Ity its possession, and she determined to lival them : the <lecree went forth, and the monopoly of the soutli was destroyed forever. Thfu did the (lenoese navy >hritd< into a few ^al lies ; ih'-n did romi>u-rcc sluml>er on the l.'osoiu of the ; 4 IN'rilODUCTION Adriatic : and tlit-ii did the produce of Brazil Uocome a drug on the Ta^jus. What England acijuircd by discovery, she retjiined l»y lilxnnl policy. Her new subjects learned civiliza- tion from her intercourse, and clemency from her ex- Colonies are trophies, ample. Her not spoils ; they were ac<iuired by research, not obtained by plunder and they have been preserved by conciliation, not held by massacre, as the Spaniards retained Mexico and Pe- ru ; and the Dutch Amboyna, and Surinam. The acquisitional character of our Colonies, as well as the capabilities they developed, frequently excited the envy of our maritime rivals, who in some instances by sinister policy, in others by open violence, endea- voured to dissolve the amiable connexion. Their jea- lousy, however, oidy inci'eased our influence, and im- paired their strength, for it always involved them in a war that weakened them in its progress, and humbled them at its close. At length oni' own iinpolicy, in no inconsiderable de- gree, accomplished what neither the subtlety, nor the power of our enemies could effect. A cabinet of Imbe- ciles, striving to extend the prerogatives of the crown, produced by their altra ism a general discontent through- out the New England Colonies. France surveyed the progress of the eruption with pleasure: she thought of Quebec and T.oiiisbnrg : and then regulated hei- inter- ference as insubordination advanced. * Encouraged by — INTRUDUCTION. 5 the fleets and armies of so great an ally, the Americans succeeded, and the thirteen Provinces became a Re- public. The French people, (groaning under a most oppressive despotism, viewed the struggle with intense anxiety ; every victory gained by the revolted colonists gratified and reproached them ; and the issue of the contest in- spired them with emulation. The besotted Court of V^ersailles had not sufficient penetration to perceive, that the revolutionary infection had been brought home.