338 LABRADOR 



" head rope," and hang down perpendicularly. The legal 

 mesh is not less than six inches in diagonal measure. At 

 the outer end, the line of nets, called a "fleet," is held by 

 heavy anchors, and then a pound is formed by turning 

 back with another net at an angle of forty-five degrees in 

 the direction from which the salmon are expected to strike. 

 At times yet another net is added, so that the triangular 

 pound is closed, leaving merely a door. The salmon do 

 not strike a net in daytime so readily as do sea-trout. 

 They seem, however, to get confused in the pound, and in 

 this most are taken. 



The Hudson's Bay Company, who are by far the largest 

 salmon buyers on the coast, own many nets. They also 

 own houses, or "posts," as they are called, at all the best 

 points of land in the long inlets, and the planters use these 

 and turn in half their fish as rent. For the balance they 

 get goods from the company's store. 



Most of the salmon catchers are fur trappers, although 

 those who live on the outside land do little or no "furring." 

 Indeed, many have fallen into poverty and have neither 

 traps, safe guns, ammunition, nor even clothing and food 

 to enable them to get out and face the Arctic cold of winter. 

 This is now the poorest class of men in Labrador. 



Formerly the Hudson's Bay Company had a large salmon 

 cannery in Eagle River. The building is still standing, but 

 the trade has been abandoned for want of sufficient fish 

 to maintain a scale of business large enough to enable them 

 to compete with British Columbia and other places. The 

 salmon industry is generally in a bad way, as the price of the 

 salted article has steadily declined, till this year instead of 

 $6 and even $8, only $3 a hundredweight was paid. The 



