CHAP. xvni. PROCESS OF CURING COD. 303 



down, and proper grounds for drying them in, are 

 essential. A fishing establishment on the coast of Gaspe 

 or the coast of Labrador, consists of a collection of large 

 and small wooden buildings, looking from a distance like 

 a village, some of which serve to lodge the fishermen 

 and other employes of the establishment, and others to 

 receive the fish, either in its fresh or salted state, and to 

 contain goods, the rigging of fishing vessels and boats, 

 provisions, salt, &c. 



There is, first, the house of the chief of the establish- 

 ment or of the agent in charge, generally placed in the 

 centre of the group of buildings for the storage of goods 

 and provisions. Near these are the sheds in which the 

 fishing tackle is kept, the workshops of the carpenter and 

 sail-maker, the blacksmith's forge, and lastly the stage, 

 placed as near as possible to the beach, on which are 

 performed the first operations in the process of curing 

 the fish. 



The stage is the most important building in a cod- 

 fishing establishment. It is a large wooden building, 

 covered with bark or turf on the coast of Labrador, and 

 with boards and shingles on the coast of Gaspe, at one end 

 of which is a wharf, called the stage head, extending far 

 enough into the sea for boats loaded with fish to come 

 alongside of it at low water. The flooring of the wharf, 

 formed of poles of fir, or more frequently still of spruce, 

 is divided into compartments, into which the fishermen, on 

 their arrival with boat-loads of fish, toss them one by one 

 with an implement called a pew. 



At the end of the stage nearest to the wharf are the 

 tables on which the cod is dressed ; in the middle is a 



