84 



and preserve it nearly in a perpendicular direction, so tnat the herrings 

 may strike it and become entangled in its meshes. 



Nor ends his dialect here. Chebacco-boats and small schooners are 

 known to him as pinJcics, pogics, and jiggos. He knows but little about 

 the hours of the day and night; everything with him is reckoned by 

 the tide. Thus, if you ask him what time he was married, he will 

 answer, "On the young flood last night;" and he will tell you that he 

 saw a certain man this morning about "low-water slack;" or, as he 

 case may be, "just at half-flood," "as the tide turned," or "two hours 

 to low water." If he speaks of the length of line required on the dif- 

 ferent fishing-grounds, he will compute by '■^ shots i'' and by a shot he 

 means thirty fathoms. If he have fish to sell, and is questioned as to 

 their size, he will reply that they are '■^ tivo-quintaV^ fish, by which he 

 means that fifty will weigh one hundred and twelve pounds. 



He is kind and hospitable in his way; and the visiter who is treated 

 to fresh smother, duff, and jo-fioggcrs,* may regard himself as a decided 

 favorite. He believes in witches and in dreams. The famous pirate 

 Kyd buried gold and treasures in Money Cove,t Grand Menan, he is 

 sure; and he has dug for it many a tune. His "woman" is the "best;" 

 the harbor he lives in is "the safest;" and his boat is "the fastest and 

 will carry sail the longest." When determined upon going home, 

 whether he is upon the land or the sea, he says, " Well, I'll up killock 

 and be off'." 



The man I have described is no countryman of ours, and was to be 

 seen playing the soldier on the easterly side of the St. Croix during 

 the recent very wordy but bloodless war on the Aroostook, which was 

 terminated by the treaty of Washington. But some oi his qualities of 

 character, and forms of speech, are common to most of the class to 

 which he belongs ; and the nets, knives, and other gear, are in general 

 use. 



* Potpie of eea-birds, pudding, and pancakes— the fisherman's three P.'s 

 t So called from the popular belief that Captain Kyd buried two hogsbeadi of tressure 

 there. 



