AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3413 



Q. And this occurs frequently ? A. I believe so; as I have said, I 

 never saw it myself. 



Q. In order to use these seines to great advantage,- is it not very de- 

 sirable that the fish should not be at all disturbed on their grounds in 

 these bays? A. Yes; otherwise the schools would be broken up. 



Q. Then, if the bait be disturbed to any considerable extent, and it 

 goes off, the cod would also be disturbed and follow! A. Yes; that 

 necessarily follows. 



Q. Now, with regard to the French, how do they carry on the fishe- 

 ries; are you aware? I do not now refer to St. Pierre and Miquelon, 

 but to other portions of the coast. A. I have seen the French fisher- 

 men at several harbors on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. 



Q. Will you mention the time when the fishing-vessels arrive from 

 France, and the tonnage of their vessels, and describe the means and 

 particular mode in which they carry on the fishery from their vessels in 

 one of these harbors on the northeast coast of Newfoundland where 

 they have the privilege of fishing ? A. I will describe what I saw in 

 the harbor of Fleur de Lis, which is situated on the northeast coast of 

 Newfoundland. It has always been a rather celebrated fishing station. 

 I think that three large vessels were there last year, and one of them 

 was a very large brig. 



Q. What was her size! A. I could not say exactly, but I think that 

 she was of 220 or 240 tons burden. 1 have a list of the tonnage of all 

 of them, which I obtained from Admiral Clone's report. 



Q. Without going into the particulars, I will simply ask you with re- 

 gard to the tonnage of these vessels between what figures does their 

 average tonnage vary ? A. Between 200 and 300 tons ; some of the 

 vessels on the northeast shore are of larger build. 



Q. At what season of the year do they arrive ! A. They arrive as 

 soon as the ice leaves the coast in other words, as soon as they can get 

 in ; very frequently they first go to St. Pierre and Miquelon, and if 

 they find that the ice is off shore, they leave there about the middle of 

 June. The first thing they do is to prepare their stages, and their fish- 

 ing-houses and bakery. They are always well provided with fresh 

 bread. They generally when they observe the cod come in after the 

 caplin, devote themselves in the first instance to seining them ; as soon 

 as the cod leaves the shore, which they do after the caplin has spawned, 

 they then first devote themselves to the taking of bait by means of bait 

 seines. They require a constant supply of fresh bait ; they then devote 

 themselves to what is called the process of line-fishing, and they con- 

 tinue this from day to day ; in the meanwhile they always have their 

 watchers out, watching for the schools of cod ; and the moment that 

 such a school is noticed they immediately take their seines and seine 

 the cod ; and this they continue until September, bringing the fruits of 

 their day's work inshore, letting the splitting and cleaning and drying 

 be done on shore by a regular corps of persons whom they bring out 

 for the purpose, completing their operations in the same way as New- 

 foundlanders are accustomed to do. 



Q. Then they remove from the coast of Newfoundland with their car- 

 goes of cod in September or October ? A. Yes. 



Q. Do they leave their stages in charge of some one f A. .Yes ; these 

 are generally left in charge of some resident. 



Q. How many men are usually employed in these vessels ! A. I could 

 not say precisely. I do not know, but the number is very large. 



Q. Could you give it approximately ? A. The number is 00 or 70. 



