THE COD-FISHERY 



vanced, these have been joined by large fleets from the 

 United States and even from France and Holland, and 

 for the next five months these men, drawn from every- 

 where, will fish together more or less amicably, for the 

 Banks are a sort of "No-man's land," beyond the juris- 

 diction of either Great Britain or the States. 



In the height of the season there will be something like 

 seventy-five thousand vessels on the grounds not includ- 

 ing steam-tugs, carriers, and the like of from 50 to 200 

 tons burthen ; many of them schooners (two-masters, 

 with square fore-topsail and fore-top-gallant), but the 

 majority of them cutters and yawls. Each of these 

 vessels carries half a dozen or more small boats dories, 

 as they are termed from which most of the fishing will 

 be done. And therein lies the danger of the work ; for 

 the dories are often obliged to travel a great distance 

 from their ship, and are only too easily swamped through 

 carelessness in overloading, or lost in the darkness or the 

 fog. 



The most popular quarters of the district are Flemish 

 Cap, Brown's Bank, and St. George's Bank the last- 

 named, situated in the far south-east corner of the ground, 

 producing the finest cod-fish in the world. 



Until lately two methods of catching were in vogue ; 

 by hand-lines and by the French trawl. For a great 

 number of years the second system struggled hard with 

 the first and older plan, and, as will be seen from the last 

 chapter, many French crews still prefer the hand-line. By 

 the time French trawling had gained the sway among 

 British and American fishermen, a third contrivance the 



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