PERIOD FROM 1871 TO ll'Od. 689 



(2.) 



Deposition of John Rumsey. 



CENTRAL DISTRICT, ST. JOHN'S, to wit: 



The examination of John Rumsey, of St. John's, master mariner, 

 taken upon oath, who saith : 



On or about the 14th November last I sailed from St. John's to 

 Fortune Bay for a cargo of herring. I arrived in Long Harbour, 

 Fortune Bay, about Christmas last. I found about 200 schooners 

 there looking for herring; twelve of the schooners were Americans; 

 my schooner was called the Briton, six hands all told. I got most of 

 my herring between Christmas and the 8th of January. Most all the 

 schooners in Long Harbour lay inside of Woody Island. Woody 

 Island is about three miles from the entrance of Long Harbour. On 

 the northern side, rather above the island, there is a fine beach about 

 a mile long. This is the best hauling place in Long Harbour, and 

 most all the herrings were taken there. It is only this year and last 

 year that the American schooners have brought down very large seines 

 for catching herring. I have been informed that some of these seines 

 were 250 fathoms long and 35 fathoms deep. The seines which our 

 Newfoundland fishermen use are about 120 fathoms long and from 

 8 to 13 fathoms deep. In the first week in January there were four 

 or five American schooners who had the beach above mentioned 

 barred for herring. The mode of inbarring for herring is as follows : 

 When a place is selected, generally a smooth beach with deep water 

 outside free from rocks, a party is sent ashore with a long line from 

 one end of the seine ; the seine-boat then goes off with the seine, makes 

 a long sweep, and the other end of the seine is then brought into the 

 beach also; then the crew begin to haul together on both ends of the 

 seine with long seine lines running fore and aft up and down the 

 beach; four or five seines thus barring herring would cover all the 

 hauling ground on this long beach I have spoken of, and would 

 occupy all the best ground for hauling herring in Long Harbour. 

 On the first Sunday in January the beach was barred by four or fivo 

 large American seines. On that day after dinner, a large number of 

 people belonging to the crews of the Fortune Bay schooners then 

 in Long Harbour went over to the beach, and I was informed there 

 were 600 or 700 Newfoundland fishermen there. The Americans 

 had barred the herring, and were hauling on their seines on the 

 Sunday morning. The Newfoundland fishermen told the American 

 captains to take up their seines or they would take them up for them. 

 All the American seines were then taken up which were set on a 

 Sunday except one; this one the American captain who owned it 

 refused to take up. The Newfoundland fishermen then hauled it 

 ashore, took the herrings out of the seine, and according as they 

 hauled the seine out of the water they tore it up. I saw the seine the 

 next day, Monday, on the beach, and it was completely destroyed : 

 it was an old second-hand seine, and very rotten. I have been for 

 thirteen or fourteen years carrying on the herring fishery in Fortune 

 Bay, and during that time I have never known our Newfoundland 

 shermen to haul herrings on Sunday. If the American fishermen 

 were permitted to bar herrings in the way that they were doing at 



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