SCOTTISH WHITE FISHERIES. 351 



that they do not differ a pound of fifh from one 

 another. After they are packed from the vats, in 

 which they had been faked, great care is taken ta 

 keep them brimful of pickle, till the bungs are fixed 

 down, a day or two before they are fhipped. By 

 this care and attention, the Aberdeen falmon hath 

 acquired fuch a character abroad, that it generally 

 fetches the higheft price, and no queftions arc afked 

 refpecting the quality. 



Of the Seal, bajking Shark and Sea Dog Fi/herits. 



SEALS. 'Of thefe fifheries, that forthefeals fecms 

 to be the mod gainful. The fkin of the feal is tan- 

 ned and made into Ihoes, which generally go under 

 the name of dog- fkin fhoes, ancLare purchafed as fuch 

 at the rate of 10 {hillings a pairp by beaux and mac- 

 caronies. It alfo ferves for the bottoms of chairs, and 

 various other purpofes. The oil is ufed in cham- 

 bers, and fells, in time of peace, at 20!. per ton, 

 whereas that of the cod-fifh is burned in ftreet lamps, 

 and fells at 15!. 



The greateft feal fifhery is on the coaft of Labra- 

 dor in North America. The boats ufed in the cod 

 fifliery, upon the fh ores and bays of Newfoundland, 

 are about 50 feet in length, decked at both ends ; 

 they have two mads, a fhort bowfprit, are built of 

 fir or fpruce, and will fail on the wind, or as the 

 feamen term it, in the wind's eye. In the winter 

 feafon, when the cod fifhery is over at Newfound- 

 land, thefe boats, with 30 or 40 men in each, repair to 

 the frozen fhores of Labrador, where the winds and 

 tides often drive immenfe floats of ice into the bays, 

 and on thefe floats great numbers of feals. As the 

 boats belong to different merchants, the float of ice is 

 marked out in equal portions, and each boat's crew 

 are ftridtly limited to the part affigned them. Thefe 

 regulations being fettled, they attack the feals much 

 in the fame manner as captain Bobadil propofes to 

 deflroy an army of 20,000 men. 



The 



