2400 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



we are informed this is the best year they have ever had except one. 

 A. Well, if that is the case, why" I need hardly go again. I had better 

 give it up. 



Q. We don't deny that, and I may disclose to you that that is oar 

 theory. Now is it a good year or not ? A. It has been a poor year for 

 me, very poor. 



Q. Had you made no inquiries about others? A. I know about other 

 boats. 



Q. All along the coast they have a number of boats. Have you ever 

 asked how many f A. No ; I never asked that question. I suppose it 

 would be impossible almost to find out. 



Q. No, you would find out very easily. You could find out by reading 

 this evidence. You have never asked how they got on at other places I 

 A. I have asked boats tour or five miles below my place, and I have 

 asked them from. Rustico, aud they have done about the same as we 

 have. 



By Mr. Foster : 



Q. What good would fishing stages at Tracadie do you ? A. No good. 



Q. There are two or three of them where you are ? A. Four. 



Q. You have never been to Rustico Harbor f A. No ; but I have been 

 up as far as to meet the boats. We have been up along the coast right 

 off amongst the boats, and we have met the Savage Harbor boats. 



Q. Have you ever inquired of ths R istico b^nts ? A.. Yes. 



Q. What were you told about the quantity of the mackerel they were 

 catching ? A. They were doing about the same as we did. 



Q. Now, what were you told last year as to the success of the boats 

 through the whole season ? A. Last year, as far as I can tell, it was a 

 poor season. 



Q. Who told you so! A. Most everyone. They will tell you so 

 now. The people there will tell you so, the fishermen. 



Q. What is lee-bowing a vessel, and why do you say you don't know 

 what lee-bowing a boat is? Explain. A. Well, a vessel we lee-bow 

 under sail for mackerel, aud drift with the wind; in lee-bowing we come 

 under the vessel's lee and stop as near as we can under her lee-bow. 

 Then we throw bait, aud that bait gets underneath the other vessel 

 and tolls off the mackerel ; that is, sometimes it does and sometimes it 

 does not; then we drift away from the other vessel with the mackerel. 

 But the boats are at anchor, and spring up. There is no sail on the 

 boats at all. I have never hove to at all. 



Q. Why cannot a vessel lee-bow a boat at anchor ? A. Because the 

 boat is at anchor, and the vessel is under sail. 



Q. Explain why. I do not understand why you cannot lee-bow her. 

 A. Well, I might shoot up alongside, but 1 would drift away from 

 her. 



Q. How long would you be within a short distance of a boat at 

 anchor? A. I could not tell exactly, but we would drift away very fast. 

 We drift two knots an hour in the vessel I am in. 



Q. 1 don't understand why you could not draw the fish that the boats 

 are fishing away. A. I have seen that tried, and they could not doauy- 

 thing at all. 



Q. Why not? A. That I cannot say why not. They didn't get the 

 mackerel away. 



Q. Were the boats fishing in a school of mackerel, or fishing for mack- 

 erel from the bottom ? A. From the bottom. They were scattered from 

 a mile to a mile and a half apart. 



