171 



crew, who are left on board, to begin a scries of operations wliich, 

 when completed, leave the fish in the }()rm in wliich the consumer buys 

 them. From the dressing-table the fisli are thrown down the hatch-way 

 to the sailer, who commences the process of curing by sahing and 

 placing them in layers in the bottom of the vessel. If the master in- 

 tends to remain on the coast until his fish are ready for»market, they 

 are commonly taken on shore as soon as caught, and there dressed, 

 salted and dried, before being conveyed to the vessel. If, on the con- 

 trary, it be his intention to dry them at home, as is now the common 

 practice, the Salter's duty is the last that is performed abroad. The 

 bait used in the Labrador fishery is a small fish called capelin. This 

 small but useful fish seldom remains on the fishing-ground for more 

 tJian six weeks in a season; a time which is long enough for securing 

 a full supply, and which an experienced and energetic master does 

 not often allow to pass away without one. The average produce of 

 this fisher}' may be estimated at about ten quintals to every ton of the 

 vessels emplo3'ed in it, though the best masters are dissatisfied when 

 they f lil to catch a fourth or fifth more. 



The selection of a master is a point so important to owners that a 

 word upon his (qualifications will not be amiss. Besides all the respon- 

 sibilities at sea which devolve upon a master in the merchant service, 

 he has cares and anxieties, which are unknown to that branch of mar- 

 itime adventure. His passage being safely made, the master of the 

 merchantman is relieved by the counsel and assistance of the owner or 

 consignee. But it is not so with the master of the fishing vessel. Du- 

 r'mg the period devoted to fishing, his labor is arduous in the extreme; 

 and come what will, in the desolate and distant regions which he visits, 

 his own sagacity and prudence are his only rehance. If, as not unfre- 

 ([uently happens, he be so unfortunate as to have among his crew two 

 or three retractory spirits, who seek to poison the minds of all the rest; 

 if others, who boasted loudly, before sailing from home, how well and 

 quickly they could use the spUtt'ing-hiife, or how true and even-handed 

 they were in distributing the salt, prove too ignorant to be trusted ; or 

 if every man under his charge, without being dogged or incapable, is 

 still of so leaden a mould as to rcMuain immovable under promises of 

 bounty or [)romotion ; — these difficulties must be but new induceuKnits 

 to use extraordinary personal exertions, and to preserve his reputation 

 at the expense of his health and strength. Even if there are n(me 

 of these embarrassments to contend with, his ordinary employments 

 require an irf»n frame, and an uiiconcjuerable resolution. 



A fiiend who h;is seldom fiiled to accomplish wli.it he has under- 

 taken, and whose life has been full o(" daring enterj)iises, has often as- 

 sured njc, that while on the Labrador shore, his duty and the fear of 

 making a '■'■ Irrokcn voyage^^ kept him awake and at his post full twenty 

 hours every day throughout the time employed in taking fish. "Once," 

 said he, '*! was chxelved b}' every man that 1 had on board my ves- 

 sel, my mate alone excepted. Each shipped, as is usual, to pertiirm a 

 particidiu- service, and each boastcil of his accomplishments in e;ilching, 

 dressing down or saltingawav; l»ui there was nciihei" a ljooiI ImciIiiliu, 

 an ;idroit splitter, nor a safe sailer, ;iniong them all. iMy siiuiiiou was 

 paialiil enough. I was interested in the loss or gains ot" tlu; voyage, 



