2468 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. Mr. Davies asked you if you had this year seen any of the fish 

 schooling out off shore, and you told him no. Have you seen any mack- 

 erel schooling inshore ! A. I did not see a school of mackerel while I 

 was there. 



Q. Either inshore or out f A. No. 



Q. Have you seen any of the horse mackerel this year in the bay ? 

 A. No. 



Q. Mr. Davies asked you also about fishing along the coast of Prince 

 Edward Island, and you spoke of fishing about East Point back and 

 forth. How far off did you fish, as a rule, when you fished at the island I 

 A, This season ? 



Q. Yes. A. All the way from six to eight and ten miles. 



Q. Mr. Davies asked you why yon had not been to Banks Bradley 

 and Orphan this year, and you said there were no fish there. Did you 

 mean to say that the fishing at Banks Bradley and Orphan has fallen 

 off, as a general rule, or only this year ! A. I was not there, but I un- 

 derstood there was not anything there. I learned that by other vessels. 



Q. This year! A. At that time. 



Q. You told Mr. Davies you thought in old times that about three- 

 fourths of the mackerel caught in the bay used to be No. 1's how far 

 back do you mean ? Do you refer to this year, last year, or year before, 

 or a good while back ? A. A good while back. 



Q. How many years back ! A. Twenty or thirty. 



Q. You were also asked whether you left the bay on account of the 

 storm, and you said no! A. We did not leave on account of the 

 storm. 



Q. Then you were asked whether, as a rule, mackerel did not disappear, 

 when a storm came up, for a week, and were not to be found ; had you 

 found any mackerel just before the storm ? A. Yes ; I caught some the 

 day before. 



Q. Anything like a large catch ? A. No ; a very small one. 



Q. Now, with regard to the difficulty of measuring distances. What 

 do you think would be the value of a man's opinion who stood on shore 

 and said a vessel was three miles or three miles and a half off? A. He 

 would not have so good a chance to be right as if he was standing on a 

 vessel and looking at the shore. 



Q. It is in all cases a very uncertain sort of calculation ? A. Yes ^ 

 when the land is high it is more deceiving. 



Q. Have you not found yourself deceived very often in the measure- 

 ment of distances? A. Yes. 



Q. What do you think would be the value of a man's judgment in 

 stating that he stood on shore and saw a fleet of 200, 300, 400, or 500 

 vessels fishing within three miles of land ? A. It would not amount to 

 much. 



By Mr. Davies : 



Q. Did you understand what Mr. Trescot said to you ? A. He 

 asked me what I thought the judgment of a man would be worth about 

 the distance of a fleet of vessels off from the shore ; it would be uncer- 

 tain whether they would be within three miles or two miles. 



Q. What was the first year you came to the bay ? A. I think 1827 

 I did not go after mackerel, but codfish. 



Q. What was the first year you were in the bav for mackerel ? A. In 

 183o, I think. 



Q. Were the mackerel better then than in 1845 or 1855 ? A. No. 



Q. Not so good ? A. I don't think they were. 



