FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK, 129 



old — was lost at sea on her next voyage. The captain and two of the crew 

 were drowned, and the survivors, after enduring much suffering while lashed 

 to the wreck, were finally taken off and returned home to tell the particulars 

 of this ill-fated episode. 



From the day she first sailed out of Gloucester harbor — looking like a 

 yacht, with a crowd of canvas spread to the breeze — to the time she lay 

 a helpless and dismantled wreck on the bosom of the storm-swept Atlantic, 

 she was continually meeting with ill fortune. 



Quite as strange tales, nay, even more marvellous ones, could be related 

 of the good or ill fortune of individuals, and the varying experiences of dif- 

 ferent persons often form the topic of conversation on board the fishing 

 vessels. 



Thank goodness, the superstitious belief in men being Jonahs often meets 

 with a rebuff so severe as to hinder it from becoming anything like a gen- 

 eral one ! I was present once when one skipper enquired of another — nod- 

 ding his head at the same time in the direction of a man who was at work 

 on the vessel — "Are you going to carry that man?" Receiving an affirm- 

 ative reply, he continued, "You won't get any fish then; he's a regular 

 Jonah." The reply was, "Jonah, or no Jonah, he goes this trip anyway." 

 As the trip in question was a successful one, nothing more was heard about 

 the man being a Jonah, though, to tell the truth, he had been so considered 

 by many of his associates. 



Another similar instance may be mentioned. A young man who has 

 sailed from Gloucester several years, had, for a while, rather hard fortune, 

 and it was whispered that he was one of the much-to-be-shunned Jonahs. 

 Nothing else could be said against him, since he was an excellent fisher- 

 man, daring, energetic, and, withal, a pleasant shipmate. "But, he is a 

 Jonah !" the credulous exclaimed, whenever the vessel he sailed in failed to 

 make a good trip. His luck changed, however, after a time, and thereafter 

 those who previously had felt much opposed to being shipmates with him 

 were glad to sail in the same vessel that he did. Meeting with him, not 

 long ago, I was pleased to learn that he was enjoying better fortune than 

 formerly. In reply to my enquiries as to his present success, he said : 

 "Wherever I have been this year I have been lucky. It don't make any 

 difference now what vessel I go in, I always get a good trip — the fish are 

 sure to be there.'' One can readily imagine how gratifying such a change 

 must be to a person who previously had met with undeserved ill-fortune. 



But it often happens that some poor fellow has a "streak" of hard luck 

 really astonishing, so much so, indeed, that it is not wonderful that, after a 

 while, his acquaintances come to have superstitious feelings about him. It 

 matters not how much he may change from vessel to vessel, his luck follows 

 him, and, the strangest oE all is that the vessels which are unfortunate while 



