34 Mr W. E. Corniack on the Natural Hiatory and 



to the changes of temperature in their element, arising from the 

 seasons, and with the supplies of food which invariably accom- 

 pany these changes. The bank-cod seems to be the most sta- 

 tionary. 



As we advance northward from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, 

 the migrations of the cod assume a more decided character, 

 and it strikes in in greater abundance. This holds as far 

 north as fishing-posts have yet been established on the coast 

 of Labrador. The same applies to the migrations and abun- 

 dance of the other fishes inhabiting these seas, more* especially 

 of those connected with the cod, and they arise together from 

 the same general causes. In the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, 

 Lat. 45° 48°, particularly along the shores of Nova Scotia, New 

 Brunswick, Canada, and the adjacent islands, where shell-fish 

 are more abundant than farther to the north, and where, 

 perhaps, in consequence, more other fishes remain during the 

 winter, the herring * arrives in spring, about the same time that 

 it arrives on the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, in 

 April and May, when the cod, in consequence, becomes proba- 

 bly equally abundant at all places ; but afterwards, worlds of 

 food arrive on the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador ; first 

 the capelin, over the shores of both these countries, and then, 

 again, the cuttle-fish, around the shores of Newfoundland ; they 

 never failing to bring in with them their hosts of cod, and to re- 

 tain them at these shores during the summer. Neither the cape- 

 lin, nor any equivalent, ever appears at the countries farther 

 south, although the cuttle-fish visits, and sometimes in consider- 

 able quantities, the east coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton : 

 Hence the pre-eminence of Newfoundland and Labrador as a 

 fishing-station, over every other part of the northern hemisphere. 



At Labrador, and in the north part of Newfoundland, where 

 the length of the summer is not more than six weeks or two 

 months, the hook and line are often laid aside for the seine ; for 

 it is necessary that enough of cod should be taken within the 

 first two or three weeks, otherwise the remainder of the warm 

 weather would not be sufficient to dry it. Hence the cod-fishery, 



• The Alewife or Gaspereau visits the coasts of the countries just named, No- 

 va Scotia, &c., but is never met with at Newfoundland, nor farther north. 



