ANTICOSTL 



the rivers are deep and rapid, salmon attain the largest 

 size. The largest river on the island is Jupiter, and. in 

 comparison with the rivers on the mainland, it is little 

 better than a brook. 



" The varieties of sea fish are so many that I cannot pre- 

 tend to enumerate them all. Of whales there are at least 

 two varieties, viz. the Greenland whale and the grampus. 

 One of the latter rose close to my canoe as we were 

 paddling along the north shore. I imagine he was follow- 

 ing the capelin. My rifle being ready in my hand, I put 

 two bullets into him in the region of his back fin. The 

 commotion he made was so great, that for a moment I 

 thought it was all up with us. The water was coloured 

 with blood and oil. We never saw the monster again, but 

 his carcase was found by some fishermen two or three 

 days after I left the island. 



"In the month of June the capelin come in shore to 

 spawn, followed by all the hungry monsters of the deep. 

 Each tide leaves thousands of these little fish high and 

 dry on the beach. After a storm I have seen cartloads of 

 dead capelin on one little strip of beach, and I have fished 

 up enough live ones out of the water with one scoop of 

 my kettle to do for breakfast. They are the best bait for 

 codfish. 



" On the 23rd June we met a schooner cod-fishing close 

 in shore, and I went on board for a short time. They were 

 fishing in about three fathom water, and we could see the 

 bottom actually paved with codfish. I caught a dozen 

 for ourselves in about fifteen minutes ; my next neighbour 

 on the deck of the schooner caught three times as many, 

 grumbling all the time that it was the worst fishing season 



