 According to an official report sent to the Board of Trade in 1749 by Captain Smith, commander of the guard ship at Canso, there were 48 schooners and 393 shallops fishing the grounds off Ingonish.The community's population at that time was estimated to be approximately 300.Mica was very plentiful and was mined to some extent at Ingonish prior to the late 1800s.