170 



treaty, as well as those on the eastern coasts of Maine, are less gene- 

 rally known, and may properly claim attention. 



Of the distant, Newfoundland is the oldest. That vessels from 

 Boston fished there as early as the year 1645, is a fact preserved in 

 the journal of Governor Winthrop. The "great bank," which has 

 been so long resorted to, is said to be about two hundred miles broad 

 and nearly six hundred miles long. In gales the sea is ver}' high, and 

 dense fogs are prevalent. The water is from twenty-five to ninety-five 

 fathoms deep. The edges of the bank are abrupt, and composed of 

 rough rocks. The best fishing grounds are between the latitudes of 42 

 and ^6 degrees north. The " bankers,*' as the vessels employed there 

 are called, anchor in the open sea, at a great distance from the land, 

 and pursue their hazardous and lonely employment, exposed to perils 

 hardly known elsewhere. The fish are caught with hooks and lines, 

 and (the operations of splitting and dressing performed) are salted in 

 bulk in the hold, from day to day, until the cargo is completed. The 

 bank fish are larger than those taken on the shores of Newfoundland, 

 but are not often so well cured. 



The first American vessel which was fitted for the Labrador fishery 

 sailed from Newbury port towards the close of the last century. The bu- 

 siness once undertaken, was pursued with great energy, and several hun- 

 dred vessels were engaged in it annually previous to the war of 1812. 

 A voyage to Labrador, unhke a trip to the Banks of Newfoundland, is 

 not without pleasant incidents even to landsmen. The coast is fre- 

 quented for a distance of ten or twelve degrees of latitude. It has 

 been preferred to any other on account of its security, and a general 

 certainty of affording a supply of fish. Arriving in some harbor early 

 m June, an American vessel is moored, and remains quietly at anchor 

 until a full " fare" has been obtained, or until the departure of the fish 

 requires the master to seek another inlet. The fishing is done entirely 

 in boats, and the number usually employed is one for about thirty tons 

 of the vessel's register. Here, under the management of an expe- 

 rienced and skilful master, everything may be rendered systematic 

 aiid regular. As soon as the vessel has been secured by the necessary 

 anchors, her sails and light rigging are stowed away, her decks cleared, 

 her boats fitted, and a day or two spent in fowhng and sailing, under 

 color of exploring the surrounding waters and fixing upon proper sta- 

 tions for the boats, and the master announces to his crew that they must 

 try their luck with the hook and line. Each boat has now assigned to 

 it a sliipper, or master, and one man. At the time designated, the 

 master departs with his boats, to test the qualities of his men, and to 

 mark out tor them a course for their future procedure. 



The love of power, so common to our race, is exemplified even here, 

 since the shippers of these boats, though commanding each but a sin- 

 gle man, often assume airs and exercise authority which are at once 

 ridiculous and tyrannical ; while their ingenuity in explaining the causes 

 of a bad day's work, reall}^ occasioned by idleness, or by time spent 

 in shooting sea-birds, frequently puts the patience and the risibihty of 

 the master to a severe trial. If fish are plenty, and not too distant 

 from the vessel, the boats are expected, in good weather, to catch two 

 loads in a day. Their return, if laden, is the signal for the dressing- 



