172 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHEEIES. 



On either quarter-rail, just aft the main shrouds, two pieces of joist were fastened. These were 

 supports for the splitting tables. The steering apparatus was a wheel, which, with its box, was 

 placed exactly opposite the cabin companion-way. 



ORDINARY FORM OF RIGGING. In her rigging the vessel did not vary much from other fore- 

 and aft schooners. She carried fore and main sails, one jib, gaff-topsail, and staysail. Besides 

 these sails of ordinary type was a sail devised for keeping the vessel's head to the sea when riding 

 at anchor on the Banks, and hence called a "riding-sail." This riding-sail is triangular in shape, 

 and of the pattern known in some places as a " shoulder-of-mutton-sail." At all times, save when 

 the vessel is fishing, this sail is stowed in the hold. When the vessel is at anchor on the Banks 

 this sail is set in its place. The mainsail is furled iu the ordinary manner, and the head of the 

 riding-sail is hoisted to the head of the mainmast. The luff is secured by ropes passing around the 

 mast. 



To the fisherman this sail is invaluable. Lying at anchor, as the vessel does, she must have 

 her head brought to the sea and wind in some way or the rolling is extremely inconvenient. While 

 on the Bank the riding-sail was not usually taken down, and, in case the skipper desired to shift 

 a berth, this sail, with the foresail and jib, were enough to give the vessel proper steerage way, 

 and, indeed, a respectable speed. When the mainsail was needed for any long passage the riding- 

 sail was taken down, unbent, folded up, and stowed away. When the vessel is anchored on the 

 Banks with her riding-sail set, she is sometimes said to " have gone to housekeeping." 



SEAWORTHINESS AND SPEED. Builders manage to make their models not slow and sure, but 

 often very fast. The secret of their speed lies in the enormous surface of sail they spread out 

 to the wind. Knowing how stiff a boat he has, the skipper is not afraid to cany sail in a strong 

 breeze, and often can make a record of which no yachting man would feel ashamed. Our sailing 

 last summer was often very exciting. The run from Arichat to Cape Broyle we made in forty 

 hours, and we logged 11 knots an hour during part of the first night; nor was this a very unusual 

 rate of speed, for we attained it on several other passages. I was told, also, of one vessel, which, 

 during the fall of 1877, iu a run from Canso home, logged 13 knots an hour during seven consecu 

 tive hours. .Nor is this high speed unusual among the fishing smacks, so that often they overtake 

 merchant vessels that happen to be running the same course, and leave them to drop out of sight 

 astern. Their best point of sailing, however, is generally by the wind, as they lay very close. 



The navigating of the vessel is part of the skipper's duty, and is sometimes a very crude sort 

 of navigation. He has with him one or two charts, a pair of parallel rulers, a log, and sometimes a 

 quadrant. The chart covers the region from Cape Cod to longitude 40 or thereabouts, and, after 

 the plan of the best charts, is spotted with compasses on which the variation of the needle is allowed 

 for. By referring to these, in laying out his course, the skipper is saved all mathematical computa- 

 tion by doing all his reckoning by reference to the magnetic meridian. Our log was a patent one 

 and gave vry good results. The skipper always used this in reckoning his distances from laud, 

 and made occasional quadrant observations also for determining his position, but these latter did 

 not succeed as well as the log. One cause of the mal-success was, perhaps, that he referred to 

 almanacs, distributed gratis, for his declination. 



Yet the skippers, though they run a good deal by guess, have coasted along shore and over 

 the Banks so much that they seem to find their way with comparatively little trouble. As we ran 

 in to Saint Pierre I saw an illustration of this. I was on deck at midnight, and the skipper said 

 the red light of Saint Pierre ought soon to appear. We kept on NW. some time longer, but the 

 light did not heave in sight. Finally, some two or three hours later, since the light did not yet 



