1160 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



which bears date the 8th March, 1815, from which I desire to quote 

 the following: 



" The shores, the creeks, the inlets of the Bay of Fundy, the Bay 

 of Chaleurs, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Straits of Bellisle, 

 and the Coast of Labrador, appear to have been designed by the 

 God of Nature as the great ovarium of fish; the inexhaustible 

 repository of this species of food, not only for the supply of the 

 American, but of the European continent. At the proper season, to 

 catch them in endless abundance, little more of effort is needed than 

 to bait the hook and pull the line, and occasionally even this is not 

 necessary. In clear weather, near the shores, myriads are visible and 

 the strand is at times almost literally paved with them. 



"All this was gradually making itself known to the enterprise and 

 vigilance of the New England fishermen, and for a few seasons prior 

 to the year 1808, the resort to this employment had become an object 

 of attention, from the Thames, at New -London, to the Schoodic ; and 

 boats and vessels of a small as well as a larger size, were flocking to 

 it from all the intermediate parts of the United States. In the fish- 

 ing season, at the best places for catching the cod, the New-England 

 fishermen, I am told, on a Sunday, swarmed like flies upon the shores, 

 and that in some of these years, it probably would not make an over 

 estimate to rate the number of vessels employed in this fishery, 

 belonging to the United States, at from 1500 to 2000 sail, reckoning 

 a vessel for each trip or voyage, and including the larger boat fish- 

 ery; and the number, if the fisheries were continued, would shortly 

 be still further and very greatly extended." 



Also on p. 214 of the same work this statement is found : 



" The Coast and Labrador Fisheries are prosecuted in vessels of 

 from 40 to 120 tons burthen, carrying a number of men, according to 

 their respective sizes, in about the same proportion as the vessels on 

 the Bank Fishery. They commence their voyages in May, 

 700 and get on the fishing ground about the 1st of June, before 

 which time bait cannot be obtained. This bait is furnished by 

 a small species of fish called capling, which strike in shore at that 

 time, and are followed by immense shoals of cod fish, which feed 

 upon them. Each vessel selects its own fishing ground, along the 

 coasts of the Bay of Chaleurs, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Straits 

 of Bellisle, the Coast of Labrador, even as far as Cumberland Island, 

 and the entrance of Hudson's Bay, thus improving a fishing ground 

 reaching in extent from the 45th to the 68th degree of North latitude. 



" In choosing their situation, the fishermen generally seek some 

 sheltered and safe harbour, or cove, where they anchor in about six 

 or seven fathoms water, unbend their sails, stow them below, and 

 literally making themselves at home, dismantle and convert their 

 vessels into habitations at least as durable as those of the ancient 

 Scythians. They then cast a net over the stern of the vessel, in which 

 a sufficient number of capling are soon caught to supply them with 

 bait from day to day. Each vessel is furnished with four or five light 

 boats, according to their size and number of men, each boat requiring 

 two men. They leave the vessel early in the morning, and seek the 

 best or sufficiently good spot for fishing, which is frequently found 



