183 



tnus iiueriTipleu u. iioir employment; but rnnik the issue: the vessels 

 that kept thtnr positions under their storm-trimmed ibresails eseaped. 

 unharmed, and resumed their business early the next day ; while the 

 refugees were seen no more for four days, two of whieh were excellent 

 for fishing, and during that time many vessels caught from a quarter to 

 a third part of a lull iLire. 



What has been said of the operations on board, of a mackerel-catcher 

 at sea is to be received as giMieral only, since circumstances modify 

 and change the ordinary course, and since, too, some masters adopt 

 means to suit their peculiar whims and fancies.* 



As being more minute in some particulars, and somewhat different 

 in others, I insert the remarks of Captain McLaughlin, of Grand 

 Menan, as contained in Mr. Ptrley's excellent report upon the fisheries 

 of A'ew Brunswick, in 1S51. The captain professes to give the mode 

 of proceedings on board of American vessels in the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence and the Bav Chaleurs, and states that his observations are the 

 result ot ten years' expenence m the fishery. "The vessel," sa5^s he, 

 "starts for the fishing ground with the trail-line out: if it catch a 

 mackerel, the vessel is hove-to on the larboard side. The baiter stands 

 amidships, with the bait-box outside the rail: with a tin pint nailed to 

 a long handle he begins throwing out bait, while every man stands' 

 to his berth. If they find mackerel, the foresail is taken in, and the 

 mainsail hauled out with a boom-tackle. Then the fishing begins. 

 You haul your line through the left hand with the right, and not hand- 

 over-hand as 3^ou do lor cod: if you do, you are sure to lose your fish 

 after it breaks w^ater. When your fish is near coming in, you must 

 take it by leaning over the rail, to prevent its striking against the side 

 of the vessel, catching the line quick, close to the fish, with the right 

 hand, unhooking it, with a sling, into the barrel: with the same motion, 

 theyVo- goes out in a line parallel with 3'our own berth. You must be 

 quick in case a mackerel takes 3'our other line, and entangles your 



* The British mackerel fishery is unlike ours iu several paiticulars. The vessels employed 

 in it are smallor, nets are in more common use, and a much larger proportion of the fish 

 caught are consumed fresh. 



The average mnnl)er of fresh mackerel sold in London is upv/ards of one million £,nnually. 

 This fish was first allowed to be cried throiiudi the streers of that city on Sundays in \(\9<; and 

 the year following, Billingsgate, by act of Parliitment, was opened as a free market, with pei inis- 

 eion to the fishmongers to sell mackerel on Sundays, previous to the performance of divine 

 service. 



The Ixmdon market sometimes allows tlie fishemien to receive liberal reward for their toil. 

 In May, IrfOT, the first boat-Uad of mackerel sent tlu'ro sold at forty guineas tlu" himdred, or 

 for seven shillinirs each, (the count is six iM-<nr to the hundred:) iiu 1 tlie second fare brought 

 thiifccn ijuini-as the hmidred. But iu I>^I)h, tlie ]trice on the coasr, so large was tiie catch, was 

 one shilling only for si.xty fi.sh. Airain, in IH'iS, th(! snjiply was large, and more than thre»i 

 millions were sent to Lomlon. In ]f':Jl, the crews of sixteen iioats caunht in a single day 

 mackerel which sold for £.'),2.')"i, or aiiout twenty-five thousand dollars. Tu'o years later, 

 lfl,Sf)fl fish weri' brought on .shore on Sinidjiy l>y the crew of one Inmt. Iu IS'.M, a crew earned 

 in one night upwards of five himdred d«dlars. 



The English fishnieruieu ujake frequent coui|ila)nts against tiu-ir fVench competitors, and 

 petition to Parliament for protection. A luiickerel iioat, with suitable nets and other eqnip- 

 ments, may lie estimated to eost about two tiiousauil dollars. 



The Freneh mackerel fi.shery was establishril by l'orii|uet, near the close of the seventeenth 

 century, prineipally at Belleish!, on the coast of Biittaniiy. It has never acquired itreat im- 

 poitance. Tlie niimlier of vessels fnini Dieppe (a large fishing port) in 1*31) was only forty- 

 five, and the caJch vas valued at 'J-iiti.OOU livrca. 



