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92 Correspondence of Governor Sharpe.
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Letter Bk. I.
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pleased to acquaint My Lord therewith, & as these Indians
may possibly in a few years be no more, His Ldp will perhaps
be pleased to erect it into a Manour before that time tho he
cannot sett any Parcells of it out to Tenants till it be by the
present Inhabitants entirely relinquished — As there are some
Persons in the Province who have offered to apply & take out
Lycence for Piloting in the Rivers of this Province, upon Con-
dition His Ldp will forbid & prevent all other Persons who
do not take Lycence from engaging themselves as Pilots to
navigate Vessels up & down the several Rivers as well as the
Bay; You will be pleased to direct me how to proceed in this
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p. 78
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Affair & what Steps must be taken to prevent any Person not
having Lycence from acting in that Capacity: If the Merchts
would order all their Captains to take none but Lycenced
Pilots where such are to be had, or if a Policy of Insurance
could ever be forfeited by the Masters Refusal to take a
Lycenced Pilot where such a one was to be procured we should
find little Difficulty in executing his Ldps Instructions on this
Head, but if that be not Merchant Law & the Merchts will not
comply with the first Supposition, You will oblige me with your
Opinion & that of the Lawyers, whether His Ldp by his Pre-
rogative cannot forbid & prevent any Persons piloting without
Lycence, for unless such a Prohibition can be laid, no person
will apply for, or accept any Lycence at all, & if this be deter-
mined as I hope it will, you will be pleased also to acquaint me
with the Mode (that may be advised) or manner of prosecuting
or punishing such as shall continue to pilot in Opposition to
His Ldp's Prohibition, & you may be assured there shall on my
part be no Delay in asserting his Ldp's Right & Prerogative.
In my Letter dated last February I observed to you that it
had been found impracticable to disposses Persons of any
Surplusage Land, which they hold by Patents, in which such
Land is described by natural Boundaries, tho the Patents should
err considerably in the number of Acres contained therein
many Persons that were willing to join to their Tract some
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p. 79
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contiguous Land have taken out Warrant of Resurvey for the
Original Tract with Lycence to include any adjacent Vacancy
in their Resurvey; but there are I find by strict Enquiry among
the Inhabitants many Gent" who hold large Tracts of Land as
Surplus under extensive old Patents, who never will resurvey
the same upon the Conditions that are at present insisted on
by the Agent before He grants Warrant of Resurvey; who
requires on such Occasions the Arrearages for such Surplus
from the Date of the Patent: but if His Ldp would permit the
Patentee to have Warrant of Resurvey for his Land, upon
Condition he shall pay for the Surplus henceforward at the
original reserved Rent, there are none hardly in possession of
Surplus Land I am well informed but would immediately take
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