302 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. CHAP. xvin. 



The fishermen generally remain on the fishing grounds 

 until four or five o'clock in the afternoon, after which they 

 hasten ashore, in order that the cod they bring may be 

 split and salted immediately, before they have time to 

 heat or soften. 



The months of June, July, and August, are the most 

 favourable for the cod fishery ; it is then that the cod 

 resorts to the coasts, either to spawn or in pursuit of 

 caplin and the launce, on which it feeds, and because these 

 fish, which serve as baits for it, are abundant and easy to 

 take ; for it must be borne in mind that there is no fishing 

 without fresh bait, the cod not being at all partial to salt 

 fish. It is only on the great banks, where the cod feeds 

 chiefly on Crustacea and mollusca, that it bites at all freely 

 at a hook baited with salt herring or salt caplin. It is 

 therefore most essential for the fishermen to be always 

 well provided with fresh fish for bait, and they accord- 

 ingly have herring, caplin, and launce seines, which they 

 make use of every evening and every morning, to provide 

 themselves with a sufficient quantity of little fish for the 

 day. The fishing from the beginning of the season 

 to August 15 is called the. summer fishing; what is 

 carried on after that date is called the autumn fishing. 

 All the cod taken until September is salted and dried for 

 the purpose of being exported to foreign countries ; what 

 is taken from September to the close of the fishing season 

 is merely salted and packed in barrels, and in that state 

 it conies to the Quebec and Montreal markets. 



Great care and attention as well as labour are required 

 in the preparation of cod fish for foreign countries. And 

 besides these, stores and other buildings for salting them 



