DANGERS OF THE FISHERIES. 125 



Danger from drifting ice. — During the latter part of winter and in early spring the halibut 

 catchers on the Grand Bank and Banquereau are in danger of drifting ice, which may separate 

 the dories from the vessels. In the spring of 1875 several dories got astray in this way, though 

 they were afterwards picked up and the men were returned to their vessels or brought into port. 



Dangers of being blown out to sea. — The liability of fishermen, who are engaged in the 

 shore fisheries in small boats or dories, to be blown off to sea by sudden and high winds is a dan- 

 ger to which this class are especially exposed. Instances of fatal results from this cause are not 

 uncommon in most of the fishing communities, and narrow escapes from perilous positions have 

 been frequently recorded. A mishap of this very kind is vividly described in Celia Thaxter's 

 "Isles of Shoals": 



" One of the most hideous experiences I ever heard befell a young Norwegian now living at the 

 Shoals. He and a young companion came out from Portsmouth to set their trawl, iu the winter fish- 

 ing, two years ago. Before they reached the island, came a sudden squall of wind and snow, chilling 

 and blinding. In a few moments they knew not where they were, and the wind continued to sweep 

 them away. Presently they found themselves under the lee of White Island Head; they threw 

 out the road-lines of their trawl, in desperate hope that they might hold the boat till the squall 

 abated. The keepers at the light-house saw the poor fellows, but were powerless to help them. 

 Alas! the road-lines soon broke, and the little boat was swept off again, they knew not whither. 

 Night came down upon them, tossed on that terrible black sea; the snow ceased, the clouds flew 

 before the deadly cold northwest wind; the thermometer sank below zero. One of the men died 

 before morning; the other, alone with the dead man, was still driven on and on before the pitiless 

 gale. He had no cap nor mittens ; had lost both. He bailed the boat incessantly, for the sea broke 

 over him the livelong time. He told me the story himself. He looked down at the awful face of 

 his dead friend and thought 'how soon he should be like him'; but still he never ceased bailing — 

 it was all he could do. Before uight he passed Cape Cod and knew it as he rushed by. Another 

 unspeakably awful uight, and the gale abated no whit. Next morning he was almost gone from 

 cold, fatigue, and hunger. His eyes were so swollen he could hardly see ; but afar off, shining- 

 whiter than silver iu the sun, the sails of a large schooner appeared at the edge of the fearful wil- 

 derness. He managed to hoist a bit of old canvas on an oar. He was then not far from Holmes' 

 Hole, nearly two hundred miles from the Shoals! The schooner saw it and bore down for him, but 

 the sea was running so high that he expected to be swamped every instant. As she swept past, 

 they threw from the deck a rope with a loop at the end, tied with a bow-line knot that would not 

 slip. It caught him over the head, and, clutching it at his throat with both hands, in an instant he 

 found himself in the sea among the ice-cold, furious waves, drawn towards the vessel with all the 

 strength of her crew. Just before he emerged he heard the captain shout, 'We've lost him!' Ah, 

 the bitter moment! For a horrible fear struck through him that they might lose their hold an 

 instant on the rope, and then he knew it would be all over. But they saved him. The boat, with 

 the dead man in it all alone, went tossing, heaven knows where." 



An early accident of this kind is recorded by a chronicler of colonial history: 



"In January, 1641, a shallop, with eight men, would go from Piscataqua (though advised to 

 the contrary), on the Lord's day, towards Pemaquid, but were by the northwest wind driven to sea 

 for fourteen days; at length they reached Monhegiu, and four of them in this time perished with 

 the cold." 



Danger from drowning. — In considering the various dangers to which the fishermeu are 

 exposed by the upsetting of boats and by being thrown overboard, it is well to remember that 

 the men have little chance of saving themselves by swimming, however expert they may be. 



