DANGERS OF THE FISHERIES. 115 



good harbor. With a sudden change of wind they would have been exposed to the dangers of a 

 lee shore, which, in their disabled condition, would probably have resulted in the loss of the vessel. 



DANGERS IN HARBORS. 



To a person unacquainted with a seaman's life it might seem probable that vessels in harbor 

 would be free from danger, but this is not always the case. There have been instances of great loss 

 of property, and even of life, in the case of vessels in harbor at the time of the disaster. These losses 

 are sometimes due to the insecurity of the harbors during gales. More especially is this the case if 

 there is a large fleet of fishing vessels at anchor together with coasting vessels, which are not so well 

 provided with cables and anchors. Sometimes a vessel of the latter class will strike adrift, and, 

 coming in contact with others, will be the means of driving them ashore. Many losses of this kind 

 have occurred in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, where several of the places resorted to by fishermen 

 for shelter are simply "one-sided" harbors, affording protection to the vessels when the wind is in 

 certaiu directions and are open to other winds. Mention has already been made of losses at Pleas 

 ant Bay and Cheticamp, which are two shelters of this class, where many serious disasters have 

 occurred. 



On September 8, 18G9, a severe hurricane occurred on the New England coast, in which se\ eral 

 Gloucester vessels were lost in shelters of this insecure kind. Serious disasters have also taken 

 place at Souris, Prince Edward Island. Many losses have also occurred in harbors thought to 

 be secure. Among these may be mentioned several disasters that have occurred at Port Hood, 

 Cape Breton, Malpeque or Richmond Harbor, Prince Edward Island, and many other harbors along 

 our coast and that of Nova Scotia. Instances of losses occurring in harbors of this kind might be 

 multiplied, but this is probably not necessary, since those interested iu the subject can find numer- 

 ous disasters of this kind recorded in newspapers printed in the large fishing ports. 



DANGERS FROM ICE. 



Dangers to fishing vessels.— The danger from collision with ice is one to which the ves- 

 sels engaged iu the Grand Bank, Newfoundland, Cape North, Labrador, and Greenlaud fisheries 

 are particularly liable. 



In the latter part of winter and in early spring large masses of field ice, as well as many 

 icebergs, drift far south, covering a large extent of the eastern fishing grounds, including Flemish 

 Cap, Grand Bank, Saint Peter's Bank, and Bauquereau, and ice has in some seasons extended so 

 far to the westward as to drive the vessels from parts of Western Bank. There are periods of a 

 few years in succession when the fishermen are troubled but little by the floating ice, but there is 

 more or less danger each spring on the Banks, and still more danger while making passages to and 

 from them. 



For several weeks in the springs of 1875 and 1S7G the wbole of Banquereau and Green Bank, 

 part of the Western Bank, and the greater part of the Grand Bank, were covered with immense 

 fields of drifting ice. Many vessels were driven from the fishing grounds and obliged to lay by, 

 waiting for the ice to recede. Several of them were iu collision with the ice or it drove foul of them 

 when they were at anchor. Some vessels received considerable damage, their planking being so 

 badly chafed as to necessitate repairs. It is not positively known that any vessels engaged in the 

 Grand Bank fishery met with very serious damage by collision with ice during those seasons, but 

 it is supposed that the loss of the James L. Shute and Janet Middleton, in the spring of 1870, was 

 caused iu this manner. This seems the. more probable as the ice, for some weeks about the time 

 they were on their passage to the Grand Bank, was drifted from 15 (<> 100 miles south of the lati- 



