Newfoundland

Newfoundland, the oldest island colony of Britain, situated at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, North America; is about one-eighth larger than Ireland, and triangular in shape, the northern apex running close in to the coast of Labrador; inland the country is bleak, sparsely populated, and ill cultivated; lakes and rivers abound; the deeply indented coast provides excellent harbourage for the large fishing fleets that frequent it; minerals are found, including coal, iron, lead, and copper; agriculture and timber-felling are on the increase, but the fisheries—cod, salmon, herring, and seal—form the staple industry; the climate is more temperate than in Canada, although, subject to fogs; St. Johns (q.v.) is the capital; discovered in 1497 by John Cabot, seized by the English in 1583, and finally ceded to Britain by the French (who retained certain fishing rights) in 1713; Newfoundland possesses a responsible government, consisting of a popularly elected Assembly and a Crown-appointed Governor, and exercises political rights over the adjoining coast territory of Labrador.

Population (circa 1900) given as 198,000.

Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)