AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2427 



Q. Were you on your way home in October ? A. No. 



Q. Had you then just come into the bay? A. I came in some time 

 in September. 



Q. How long did you wait there? A. We generally left the bay 

 about the middle of October. We used to do so. 



Q. At what time in October did you make such inquiries ? A. Per- 

 haps the first or perhaps the last of September. 



Q. And you found out that the boats were doing nothing? A. They 

 said they were not. 



Q. Then you did not try there ? A. No, not in there. 



Q. Was that the reason why you did not try in there? A. Partly; 

 that might have been partly the reason. 



Q. Did you ask what the boats had done, or usually did? A. No. 



Q. You then only made inquiry as to what the boat-fishers were doing 

 that day or that week, as the case might be? A. Yes. 



Q. How did you learn that the shore fisheries were useless and worth- 

 less ? A. From what we could hear. 



Q. What did you hear? A. What you are talking about don't 

 amount to anything as I can see. If we were in Port Hood Harbor and 

 wanted to know whether there was any fishing round about there or 

 not, we would see other skippers, &c., and find out in a very short time 

 whether they had done anything off shore or on, and if there were no 

 fish there we would go to what we considered the most likely place at 

 which we could get them. 



Q. I understood you to say yon did not make inquiries of any other 

 vessels, and that to mind your own business was as much as you could 

 do. Then you did inquire what other vessels had caught? A, Yes; 

 naturally so. 



Q. And did you find out what they caught ? A. No; I do not think 

 it. 



By Mr. Whiteway : 



Q. Are you part owner of the vessel of which you are now captain ? 

 A. No. 



Q. Were you part owner of the Knight Templar? A. No. 



Q. You fished on the Grand Banks from 1861 to 1866 ? A. Yes. 



Q. You were a hand then ? A. Yes. 



Q. You have been on the Grand Banks during the last two years ? 

 A. Yes. 



Q. And this is the extent of your experience in that fishing ? A. Yes. 



Q. How many men are on board of your present vessel ? A. Four- 

 teen, all told. 



Q. In the spring, when the vessel is fitted out, do each of these men 

 get a supply of articles to leave with their families an advance ? A. 

 I think so. I think that the firms supply them with outfits. 



Q. The owners of the vessel supply them with a sufficiency for their 

 families during their absence ? A. I think so, but I am not sure about 

 it. I know that as a general thing the families draw on the men. 



Q. During their absence, their wives or families get what they re- 

 quire? A. Anything in reason, of course. 1 understand so. 



Q. Is the ordinary cash price or a large profit charged for these arti- 

 cles ? A. I have never been a member of such a firm ; but I think they 

 get enough out of the business to run it of course a fair profit. 



Q. The firms do not charge the ordinary cash price in this rela- 

 tion ? A. Well, they ought not to ; they are not going to get cash ; 

 I think they make enough to get a living out of the business. 



Q. You know that they do charge a long profit ? A. No ; I do not 



