S8 Mr W. E. Corniack on (he Natural Historij and 



carry with them, are sufferers in an attack : These animals dart 

 backwards and forwards with a quickness which the capeUn 

 cannot escape. 



The cuttle-fish is supposed to impart the crimson colour whicli 

 the sea exhibits in various parts here, during the latter part of 

 summer. The water of the harbour of St John's, two miles in 

 extent, sometimes exhibits the phenomenon. 



It may be unnecessary to say that the migrations of the cod, 

 of the capelin, and of the cuttle-fish, are only once a year *. 



Of the Seals. — Newfoundland, owing to its projecting into 

 the Atlantic eastward from Labrador, intercepts many of the 

 immense fields and islands of ice, which, in the spring, move 

 south from the Arctic Sea. These fields of ice, in their origi- 

 nal formation, present, at their edges, a sufficient barrier against 

 the inroads of the ocean ; and they are so extensive, that their 

 interior parts, with the openings or lakes interspersed, notwith- 

 standing the rage of elements around, remain serene and un- 

 broken : Here are the chosen transitory abodes of millions of 

 seals,— here these animals enjoy months of peace and security, 

 to bring forth and nurture their young. Such fields collect 

 on the coasts of Newfoundland, and, as it were, offer to the in- 

 habitants the treasures they bring : l^he island is periodically 

 surrounded by them for many leagues in all directions, — the in- 

 habitants within the dazzling bulwark being as impotent to- 

 wards the rest of the world, as the rest of the world is towards 

 them. 



The all-efficient sun, gradually returning, liberates the fields 

 of ice from the shores to which they had for a time become at- 

 tached, and enables man again to expose himself with impunity 

 in his own element. 



In the month of March, upwards of 800 vessels, fitted out 

 for the seal-fishery, are extricated from the icy harbours on the 

 east coast of Newfoundland ; — the fields are now all in motion, 

 and the vessels plunge directly into the edges of such as appear 



* The cuttle-fish occurs in abundance in many of our estuaries and coasts, 

 "but has hitherto been considered as of no value. Now that it is known to 

 form an excellent bait for cod, and even for other fishing, it is not to be 

 doubted that it will in future, in this country, be used with equal advantage 

 and profit as a bait for the capture of our cod, ling, &c.— Ed. 



