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in those maritime countries to the United States to engage in the 

 Gloucester fisheries. The present season three-score such were lost 

 by embarking in an unseaworthy vessel. The Nova Scotian is num- 

 bered among the best class of our fishermen. Bred to the business 

 from early youth, discontented with the inferior craft and methods 

 of his native land, ambitious for greater advantages than are afford- 

 ed him at home, he prosecutes his calling with a zeal that assures 

 success. If his habits are good and he makes a proper use of his 

 opportunities, there is nothing to prevent his rising to the part own- 

 ership and command of the vessel in which he sails, and many of the 

 smartest skippers of the fleet are of Nova Scotian birth. A consid- 

 erable percentage of the fishermen of to-day are from the Western 

 Islands, and as a general rule they are thrifty and provident, and 

 seldom fail to become landholders after a brief residence in this 

 country. There are also man}- Swedes, Norwegians and Danes on 

 the fishing force, men of character and intelligence, and often of no 

 inconsiderable culture, proving a valuable element in the community. 



Such are the occupations, and such the men, of the Gloucester 

 fishing fleet. The industry is an important one, furnishing a food 

 supply which the nation could not well do without. The field of op- 

 erations is an extensive and fruitful one, and it is tilled at great cost 

 of vitality and sacrifice of life. The men who engage in it do not 

 fail to find a certain pleasure in the pursuit, and it is doubtful if any 

 considerable number of them could be induced under any circum- 

 stances to exchange.it for other occupations affording more certain 

 and profitable results. Yet to paint a life upon the ocean wave with 

 roseate hues would be a false delineation. The fisherman's lot is one 

 of laborious toil and exceeding hardship, taken at its best. A lot 

 crowded with incidents, sometimes of a novel description, but too 

 often, alas ! of a sad and heart-rending character. A few such inci- 

 dents must suffice for these pages : 



Dec. 16, 1874, while the schooner Sultana was lying at anchor on 

 Grand Bank, a sudden motion was felt by those on board, and it 

 became evident that the craft was being carried through the water 

 by some unseen and unknown power. Looking forward, it was ob- 

 served that the cable was drawn taut, and that some " monster of 

 the deep " was attached thereto, and drawing the vessel along at the 

 rate of twelve knots an hour. Soon the}' obtained positive evidence, 

 as a mammoth whale came to the surface to blow, having the anchor 

 of the vessel hooked either into his jaw or blow-hole. There was 

 also another whale which swam near, evident!}" greatly astonished at 



