52 



gies of quite a fleet are devoted during the winter months. A few 

 vessels only engage in what is known as the salt herring trade, the 

 majority of the fleet securing their fares fresh, freezing them thor- 

 oughly and stowing them in bulk, allowing their cargoes to remain 

 undisturbed until they are marketed in as good order as when taken 

 from the water. The Newfoundland herring trade was inaugurated 

 in the winter of 1856, and has been pursued with varying success 

 since that time. This fleet usually sails from the middle to the last 

 of November, with an outward cargo of such supplies as are likely 

 to find a quick demand among the herring fishers of Newfoundland, 

 which are exchanged for the products of the sea. The crews of the 

 fleet do not engage in fishing to any extent, being occupied in ta- 

 king proper care of the herring purchased of the local fishermen. 

 Having secured a cargo they return home, usually arriving in Jan- 

 uary and February, when a portion of their cargoes find a ready sale 

 to the Bank fleet, for bait, the rest being marketed in Boston, New 

 York and Philadelphia markets, for food, where they are in active 

 demand, especially during Lent. The business is an important one, 

 furnishing employment for the vessels and men at a time when they 

 might otherwise be compelled to lie idle, and providing the means 

 for the early embarkation of the Georges and Bank fleets in the late 



MODEL OF 



MAX, 1876. 



Winter and early Spring months. The business is also a godsend 

 to the people of Newfoundland, who are thus enabled to exchange 

 the products of their Winter fishery for the necessaries of life on 

 much more favorable terms than would otherwise be possible. The 



