Fisheries of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 53 



hand for the construction of stages and " fish-flakes." The soil 

 too, is generally excellent, and owing to the flatness of the coast, 

 the shore is every where easy of approach. For the establishment 

 of Fishing Stations by Merchants of capital and skill, or the 

 organization of Fishing Colonies on an extensive scale, this coast 

 offers rare advantages. 



The Bay of Chaleur likewise possesses many advantages for the 

 prosecution of the Fisheries. The whole Bay may be considered 

 one great Harbour, as throughout its entire breadth and extent, 

 there is not a single rock, reef, or shoal. During the summer, ifc 

 literally swarms with fish of every description known on the shores 

 of British North America ; and its ancient Indian name of " Eck- 



etaun Nemaaohi " — the Sea of Fish — well denotes its character. 



g 



The facilities for ship building are very great on the New Bruns- 

 wick side of this Bay. The timber is of excellent quality, and 

 noted for its durability, more especially the larch, which is 

 amounted equal to any in the world. Mr. MacGregor, M. P. for 

 Glasgow, late Secretary to the Board of Trade, in one of his offi- 

 cial Reports to that Board, says — " The larch-built vessels of the 

 Bay of Chaleur are remarkably durable. A vessel belonging to 

 Robin and Co., which I saw at Paspediac in 1824, I went on 

 board of again in 1839, in the port of Messina, where she was then 

 ■discharging a cargo of dry Codfish, to fee 1 the Sicilians. This 

 vessel, then more than thirty years old, was perfectly sound." 



The "bultow" mode of fishing for Cod, introduced by the 

 French at Newfoundland, and now being adopted by the English 

 residents there, might very probably be followed with advantage 

 by the fishermen dwelling on the New Brunswick coast. 



The "bultow" is described as a long line, with hooks fastened 

 along its whole length, at regular distances, by shorter and smaller 

 cords called snoods, which are six feet long, and are placed on the 

 long line twelve feet apart, to prevent the hooks becoming entan- 

 gled. Near the hooks, these shorter lines or snoods, are formed of 

 separate threads, loosely fastened together, to guard against the 

 teeth of the fiwh. Buoys, buoy ropes, and anchors or grapnels, are 

 ■fixed to each end of the line ; and the lines are always laid, or as 

 it is termed " shot" across the tide ; for if the tide runs upon the 

 end of the line, the hcoks will become entangled, and the fishing 

 will be wholly lost. These "set-lines" have been some time in 

 use on the coast of Cornwall, in England, and the mode is there 



