344 SEA FISHERIES 



Finally, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Brazil buy cod 

 directly from St. John's in Newfoundland. The cod 

 exported by Labrador is known as " Shore-cured Labra- 

 dor/' a very dry but not highly salted fish, exported to 

 Brazil and the West Indies ; and " Damp Labrador," a 

 damp and very salt fish, like the French article, with 

 which it competes in the Mediterranean markets. The 

 prices of " shore-cured " tend to rise and those of 

 "damp" to fall from year to year. 



If I am reproached with the brevity of this commercial 

 sketch, I must reply that this book is not an encyclo- 

 paedia. I have given these few figures with the inten- 

 tion of giving some idea of the general trade in fish ; 

 and I have tried to show that in spite of the capital 

 importance in the economy of Europe of such largely 

 productive countries as the British Isles, Holland, and 

 Norway, and of such centres as Basle, the fish market 

 is nevertheless very widely dispersed, and that there is a 

 regular interchange of merchandise between the various 

 maritime nations, of which we must look for the prime 

 cause in the narrow localisation of species. 



