THE COD-FISHERY 



their harvest from the sea rather than from the land ; 

 and inasmuch as the proceeds of the sardine and herring 

 fishery are insufficient to meet the needs of the population, 

 it is not unnatural that the bolder fishermen men into 

 whose very blood the sea seems to have worked its way 

 should be willing to risk their lives in one of the most 

 paying branches of their trade, even though it is carried 

 on twelve hundred miles away from home, and even 

 though that particular kind of fishing is attended with 

 greater danger than any other. 



Twelve hundred miles of the Atlantic ! And in a craft 

 that, by the side of a steamer (which itself requires ten or 

 twelve days for the passage), looks like a toy boat ! Yet 

 the light-hearted Bretons appear to see little to fear in 

 the venture. In some cases they are buoyed up with 

 their piety, and their trust in the Higher Powers ; in 

 others, they feel secure in their belief in some little pet 

 superstition of their own. Doubtless there is a good 

 deal of fiction about the " dangers of the deep." Perhaps 

 most of us have a very exaggerated idea as to the 

 number of seamen who are drowned in the course of a 

 year ; nor is it to be denied that many of the deaths 

 which do occur can be traced to carelessness or fool- 

 hardiness on the part of someone or other. At the same 

 time, there is unquestionably a large loss of life every 

 season, and no fishermen contribute more to the sad list 

 than the cod crews. 



Before the Breton fleet starts, the crews make every 

 effort to invoke the protection of Heaven. If a boat is 

 going out for the first time it must be solemnly conse- 



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