CHAPTER VIII 

 THE COD-FISHERY (II) 



The American cod-fishery The Newfoundland Banks Dory work 

 Hand-line fishing Drawbacks to it French trawling No piracy 

 allowed Pulling up the trawl Clearing and rebaiting Cleaning 

 and drying The gill-net Its special utility Its mechanism. 



NOW as to the American cod-fishery, an industry 

 far more important and extensive than that dis- 

 cussed in the last chapter, and pursued on the 

 largest cod-grounds in the world the Grand Banks of 

 Newfoundland. These, forming one immense submarine 

 table-land, lie more than fifty miles to the south of Cape 

 Race, more than three hundred to the east of Cape 

 Breton Island, and are covered with water that varies in 

 depth from ten to a hundred and fifty fathoms. 



Sealing, the industry only second in importance to 

 codding in Newfoundland, finishes about the middle of 

 April, and within six weeks of that time the ground is 

 crowded with cod-crews, drawn from almost all nations 

 under heaven. Naturally the first to arrive are our own 

 hardy colonials from various parts of Canada, with a 

 sprinkling of Frenchmen from Miquelon and St. Pierre, 

 two little islands belonging to France, which lie a few 

 miles north-west of the Banks. Before June is far ad- 



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