FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 



127 



only one who has been or still is, guilty of the same follies?" He adds, in 

 a foot note : "In 1825 the Duchess de Berri visited a watering place in 

 France, and indulged in sea bathing. Sea water and fish which were after- 

 wards taken from the spot were articles of immense value, and sold at 

 enormous prices. Indeed, those persons who could not purchase a whole 

 fish gladly possessed themselves of a few scales or a fin! The water where 

 the 'royal person' had been washed, when bottled, and offered for sale, was 

 known as 'Berri wine.'" Well may Sabine ask, "Have fishermen in any 

 age been guilty of greater folly than these fashionable people of France?" 



Among the New England fishermen the superstitious belief in the various 

 signs and omens that will be spoken of farther on, is by no means univer- 

 sal. On the contrary, many of the most intelligent pay little attention to 

 what they call "old women's yarns." Among the superstitions of the New 

 England fishermen may be mentioned the following: 



First — A belief in lucky and unlucky sailing days. Almost from time 

 immemorial Friday has been considered an ill-omened day upon which to 

 begin a voyage. Nor has this belief been confined to fishermen alone, but 

 has been shared in common by all seamen. At present, little regard is paid 

 what are called unlucky sailing days by the Gloucester fishermen. This is 

 no doubt due, in a degree at least, to the sharp competition that has sprung 

 up among the fishermen, and it is not an unusual sight, when a fine Friday 

 comes after a period of bad weather, to see a large fleet spread their snowy 

 canvas and sail away for the fishing grounds. 



That the beginning of a voyage on Friday has been followed by both 

 good and ill results in an equally great number of cases might easily be 

 shown. I can relate two opposite instances out of my own experience, as, 

 doubtless, could many others. 



In the Spring of 1864 I started on a codfishing trip to Cashes, sailing on 

 Friday. This trip, though not disastrous, was an eventful one, and did not 

 prove so successful as circumstances had led us to expect. On one occa- 

 sion during the trip, having to take the place in a dory of one of the crew 

 who was sick, I went astray in the fog, and was out several hours — the only 

 occurrence of that kind that ever happened to me. Another day the vessel 

 caught fire in the forecastle, during the cook's absence, and while the rest of 

 us were busy dressing fish. The first knowledge we had of it was the burst- 

 ing of flames out of the forward companion-way. The fire had made such 

 progress that we succeeded in subduing it only with the greatest difficulty 

 and at considerable personal risk. One night, the man on watch, in trying 

 to change the "net-swing," to which was attached a gang of herring nets, 

 lost his hold of the rope, and away went the whole lot, drifting off with the 

 tide. Prompt action on our part saved the nets, though it was not looked 

 upon as a particularly lucky incident to have to turn out at midnight and 



