FISHERIES OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 11 



To the English of the days of Cabot, the discovery of the 

 fishery grounds of Newfoundland was a veritable Godsend 

 a piscatorial El Dorado, for codfish was gold in those old days. 



While the cod-fisher pursued his calling in the harbors 

 of the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts the more daring 

 spirits, chiefly the Biscayans, chased the seal and the walrus 

 in the Gulf and followed the dangerous trade of the whale 

 fishery. The head-quarters of the latter were the Magdalen 

 Islands, the Straits of Belle-Isle and the North East portion 

 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Judge Prowse, already quoted, 

 thus describes the life of some of these fishermen in those 

 early days: "They followed their quiet avocations armed to 

 the teeth. Each vessel mounted cannon, and his rude arms 

 always lay alongside the fisherman as he plied his oar and 

 cast his net. But they were merry souls amidst all the dan- 

 gers of the seas, wars, pirates, and rovers. Each week the 

 Admiral of the port retired, and at every change the new 

 official gave a feast to all. The cheap and generous wines 

 of Europe would then be freely circulated, and the sombre 

 woods of the little port be enlivened, perchance by the 

 chanson of the French or the rattling of the castanets and 

 lively airs on the Spanish guitar. If it was a Basque port 

 the fun would be fast and furious there would be the na- 

 tional Gaita (the bag-pipes) and song dance, and single-stick, 

 with broken heads, to enliven the feast. If there were Eng- 

 lish there, they would be admirals and rulers over all, and 

 woe betide the foreigner who disobeyed the West Country- 

 men's orders, or dared to do anything on Sunday but drink 

 and feast." 



THE COD FISHERIES. 



Of the fish which abounded in these waters the most im- 

 portant called by the natives "baccalaos" now rejoices 

 in the less musical names of "cod" and "morue," and during 

 the centuries that have intervened since its discovery there 

 by Europeans, it has brought vast fleets over the Atlantic 

 to gather the rich harvest of these ocean depths, which has 

 rewarded the toil of so many generations of fishermen. 



