THE FISHING FLEET. 69 



inclosure forms an oblong semicirde of water ; the outlet to this 

 natural bay is a narrow strait in which the water is only nine feet 

 deep at high tide. Of necessity, only small crafts, such as the nu- 

 merous fishing vessels here abundant from Newfoundland, United 

 States, and other localities, can pass this opening. On the other 

 side is a similar bay, formed by the retreating sides of the other 

 part of each island, from which it is easy to gain the open water 

 again. 



In this harbor it is no uncommon sight to see a hundred ves- 

 sels of all kinds and descriptions at anchor. Of these the majority 

 are from different harbors in Newfoundland, while of the others 

 many are from the Magdalen islands, and some from Nova Scotia ; 



numerous French crafts and a few American are also occasionally 

 seen. 



It is a pretty sight, I assure you, to see this out-of-the-world 

 region so thoroughly alive and stirring, as it is in the summer, 

 with all these small vessels from different parts Of the world congre- 

 gated here, often by hundreds, filling the bay from head to entrance ; 

 while others remain outside flitting about from place to place as 

 occasion may require, all engaged in the same pursuit of fishing. 

 The following partial list of the localities with the number of ves- 

 sels sent out from each in 1878 will give you a ghmpse of the 

 business of the season. Halifax, 8 ; Quebec, 4 ; Newburyport, 2 ; 

 Britain (Ang.) , 2 ; Gaspe, i ; Boston, i ; Nova Scotia, 2 1 ; New- 

 foundland, 13 ; total, 52. These are but a small part of the num- 

 ber that were actually seen in Bonne Esperance harbor during 

 the summer of 1878 ; but these were registered as dealing more 

 or less directly in fish, and most of them remaining more or less 

 of the season in or near that locality. Bonne Esperance and 

 Salmon Bay, the latter being an establishment owned by New- 

 foundland parties, and situated about two miles away, are the 

 largest fisheries this side of Blanc Sablon on the northeast, or Nat- 

 ashquan on the west ; the former locality is only about twenty miles 

 away while the latter is some three hundred. It is a great sight for 

 the simple inhabitants dwelling near these fisheries when the vessels 



