THE COD-FISHERY 



crated by the parish priest. The smack, decorated and 

 covered with sail-cloth or a tarpaulin, is blessed and 

 sprinkled with holy water in the presence of the armateur, 

 i.e. the owner, or the man at whose expense she is fitted 

 out and of the crew ; then follows the ornamenting of 

 the cabin with religious and other pictures, a crucifix, or 

 an image of La Sainte Vierge, and alack! paper 

 flowers. This little function is followed by a meal of 

 bread and jam, cake, and wine; and, later, by what 

 Englishmen would call a sing-song. 



The final preparations for departure in February or 

 March are picturesque in the extreme, and, by contrast, 

 the start of an English fleet seems prosaic and unroman- 

 tic. The stores, the barrels of salt, the lines, and the 

 handkerchief-wardrobes have all been taken aboard ; the 

 boats are gay with flags ; the tugs are lying off the quay, 

 waiting to tow them out to sea, two, three, or four at 

 a time ; and the men are now only waiting to receive the 

 Church's benediction, and to bid farewell to the relatives, 

 friends, and sweethearts who have flocked down to the 

 harbour. From a little temporary altar set up on the 

 quay, the priest, preceded by enfants de chceur bearing 

 lighted candles, incense, and holy water, carries the Sacred 

 Host round the harbour ; the fleet is solemnly blessed, 

 good-byes are said, and the boats are soon off" on their 

 long voyage. 



With fair weather, the " Icelanders " have two periods 

 of comparative leisure to look forward to ; the journey 

 out and the journey home. The crew consists of seven or 

 eight hands, and an Iceland yawl can be managed 



