16 FISHERIES OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBFC 



were erected, stages and other appliances for the splitting, 

 cleaning, salting and drying the fish and extracting the oil 

 from the liver. The amazing abundance of smaller fish near 

 the shore in their season, such as the herring and the 

 mackerel, afforded opportunities for profit which could not 

 have been allowed to pass unimproved. Perhaps, however, 

 the whale might have been a more tempting object of pur- 

 suit, at least to the more daring, from the excitement which 

 its capture occasioned, and the large profit to be obtained at 

 a single stroke! These monsters of the deep were then to 

 be found even on the New England coast, and were killed 

 in the manner that has been common ever since. When struck 

 near the shore, their carcasses might be towed to land near 

 the fishing establishment and the oil extracted there. Or if 

 farther at sea, it would be cut up there and the pieces brought 

 in the vessel to be disposed of in the same way. Seals and 

 walruses, which were then abundant, would be treated in a 

 similar manner. All this would require the erection of store- 

 houses, no doubt rude enough, for the storage of salt and 

 other supplies necessary for their work or for trading with 

 the natives, and afterwards for the storage of fish, oil, etc., 

 for shipment, as well as vats for the rendering of the blubber. 

 There must also have been small huts for men to live in while 

 on shore. Thus there would be the appearance of a small 

 fishing village, which during summer would be the scene of 

 busy activity, and which might form the foundation of a 

 permanent community. ' n 



THE HARBOUR OF BREST. 



This harbour has been the subject of much ridiculous 

 legend, though from the fact that it was being sought in 1534 

 by the fishermen met by Cartier in the Straits, it was, ap- 

 parently, already at that time a rendez-vous. It was simply 



i The Portuguese on the North-East coast of America, by Rev. 

 George Patterson, D.D., in Proceedings of the Royal Society of 

 Canada, Vol. VIII. (1890) 



