FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 131 



been stuck in the hand, is immediately thrust into a piece of pine so that the 

 wound will not be sore. Just how and why the blow on the fish's head 

 should have any efifect on the body from which it has been previously torn, 

 and why sticking the point of a hook into a piece of wood should make any 

 difference in the healing of a wound, are subjects for the curiously inclined 

 to investigate. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to mention the belief in 

 horseshoes warding off witches, etc., as among the superstitions peculiar to 

 fishermen, since the belief in the efficacy of these objects to prevent ill for- 

 tune is now seemingly recognized in the highest society, if one is allowed to 

 judge by the gilded horseshoes conspicuously displayed in the parlors of the 

 fashionable. 



"The earth has bubbles, as the water has; and these are of them." — Shakespeare. 



The above engraving gives a capital view of the old Fort and Gloucester 

 Harbor in 1837. The Grand Banker and pinkey lying at anchor look as 

 natural as can be. There is a vast difference in the appearance of the old 

 Fort property of to day from that of forty-five years agone. Thcait had but 

 one building besides the ruins of the Fort — now it is covered with dwellings 

 and storehouses, and its entire water front converted into fine wharves, 

 forming one of the most valuable pieces of property in the city. 



