108 FISHERMEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 



vessel upon the shore is not always attended with fatal consequences. In many cases the shores 

 are sandy, and the crews are enabled to land in safety before the vessel goes to pieces. In some 

 instances the vessels are forced ashore by patting on a great amount of sail, so that the men can 

 land dry-footed when the tide ebbs. It is frequently the case that vessels are launched again, after 

 the gale has abated, without suffering any serious injury. When this is not possible, the fish are 

 landed and sent home, and the fittings and stores, and even the hull itself, sold at auction for the 

 benefit of the owners. The American vessels are so strongly and well built that even after they 

 have been sunk they are sometimes sold at auction as they lie under water, and afterward raised 

 and refitted for active service. 



The best chance for safety, in cases where it is seen that a vessel must go ashore, is to run 

 them bow first upon the laud, especially where the beach is sloping. When this is doue, all sail 

 that the vessel is capable of carrying is spread. 



DANGERS WHILE MAKING PASSAGES TO AND FROM THE FISHING GROUNDS. 



Fishing vessels making passages at any season of the year are subject to the same 

 dangers as other sea-going crafts. In summer the dangers are comparatively few, for the winds 

 are usually moderate, and in warm weather the crew is in better condition to handle the vessel 

 properly and to meet any exigencies that may arise. Tremendous hurricanes, however, sometimes 

 occur in August and September, and at times there are gales even during the other summer 

 months. Two of the most remarkable hurricanes in recent years were those of September 8, 1S69, 

 and August 24, 1S73, both of which caused a great amount of destruction to life and property in 

 the fishing fleet. At the time of the hurricane of 1873 .several vessels were on the passage home 

 from the Grand Bank. They were deeply laden with fish. Some vessels were lost and many 

 met with serious damage and narrowly escaped destruction. Mention of a few instances of this 

 kind will perhaps suffice. The schooner B. D. Hawkins, of Gloucester, was caught in a hurri- 

 cane in the vicinity of Sable Island. At first she was hove to under a two reefed foresail, which 

 was later reduced to a three-reefed. After lying in this manner for some hours, she began to drift 

 toward the northwest bar of Sable Island and was soon in shoal water. It became necessary to 

 lake, in sail and to anchor, but the wind blew with such violence that the anchor would not hold 

 and the vessel drifted into only 11 or 12 fatkoms of water. As she would certainly be lost unless 

 something were doue to check her onward course, the spars were cut away and let go "by the 

 board," and, with considerable difficulty, were cleared from the wreck. With the masts gone, she 

 presented a much smaller surface to the wind, and as the current set to windward the anchor 

 held and she rode out the gale. After the gale, jury-masts were rigged and the vessel worked 

 toward the land. She was finally towed to Port Hawkesbury, in the Strait of Oanso, to be 

 repaired. 



The schooner Sarah 1'. Ayre, of Gloucester, which was also on her passage home from the 

 Grand Bank, encountered the hurricane in the vicinity of the eastern part of Banquereau. The 

 wind blew with such violence that it was soon impossible to keep sail on the vessel. She was kept 

 nearly head to the sea by the aid of a, " drag" rigged to the anchor, which was paid out more than 

 tun fathoms. After drifting for a lew hours the anchor caught bottom on the shoal pari of Ban- 

 quercau in from 1(1 to 20 fathoms of water, and where the sea ran so high and sharp that for a 

 time it was thought that the vessel would founder. The crew, however, witli difficulty succeeded 

 in catting the cable. The vessel then drove under bare poles before the -ale, broadside to the sea, 

 and wind. By throwing out oil the force of the waves w as so reduced that she met with little 



