468 HISTOET AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



With these conflicting opinions it is impossible for us at so great a distance to arrive at any 

 positive conclusions as to the varying quantities of herring that resort to the islands each spring, 

 but it is certain that the size of the fleet has been greatly reduced by the loss sustained by natural 

 causes, such as storms and encounters with ice.* 



The great decrease in the demand and the uncertainty of reaching the grounds have also 

 played their part in reducing the fleet. The expense of fitting for the trip is considerable, and the 

 loss of time of both vessels and men when they could be profitably employed in other branches 01 

 the fisheries caused the parties interested to avoid uncertainties as far as possible. The loss sus- 

 tained by the owners on several occasions was so great as to cause them to exercise considerable 

 caution lest a repetition of the same should occur. The Gloucester Telegraph of May 25, 1870, 

 gives the following account of the fisheries in the spring of that year : 



" Five vessels of the Magdalen Island herring fleet arrived home on Monday and two yester- 

 day ; the balance of the fleet will soon be along. This fishery has proved an entire failure this 

 season, the vessels being unable to find herring, and returning home virtually empty. The failure 

 of this branch of the fisheries this season entails a large loss upon Gloucester, as an unusually 

 large fleet fitted away in this business, all of which have lost the time consumed on the trip, as 

 well as the considerable expenses of the voyage. The vessels are all of the first class, and might 

 have been profitably employed elsewhere. 



" The herring made their appearance on the coast and in the rivers fully a month earlier than 

 usual, and had disappeared before our vessels put in an appearance at their regular haunts at this 

 season. The fleet from the other fishing towns of New England, though much smaller than the 

 Gloucester fleet, met with the same ill success. Lamoine, Me., had ten vessels in this fishery, all 

 of which together did not secure enough to make a single full fare. Newburyport had two vessels 

 in the fishery, both of which have arrived home, one with 50 barrels of herring to show for a 

 month's work, and the other without a single herring." 



* "These islands [Magdalens] were visited on the 23d August by one of the most terrific hurricanes which have 

 ever yet swept the gulf, aud lasted till the 26th. At the beginning of the gale there were 83 vessels anchored in 

 Pleasant Bay. Of this number 48 broke away from their moorings and were stranded (10 on the shores of Pleasant 

 Bay and 38 in Amherst Harbor), and 26 were able to make the harbor and anchor in safety, while 9 rode out the 

 tempest with their anchors and cables. From what I have heard it must have been a fearful sight to witness these 

 little vessels struggling against the gale, and, finally conquered by the contending elements, strike against the rocks 

 during the cruel hours of darkness. It seems almost incredible that three persons only were drowned when we look 

 at the deep cliffs on which some schooners grounded. The unfortunate men belonged to the E. J. Smith, of Wellfleet, 

 United States, which vessel came ashore during the night under the cape at the entrance to Amherst Harbor and went 

 to pieces two hours afterwards. Some other vessels, such as the Diploma, Helen C. Woodward, and Emma L. Rich, 

 after tossing about and losing their anchors, ran ashore on a solid ledge at the foot of the Demoiselles Hill, where the 

 sea was breaking 100 feet high! The crews of these vessels would most probably have been lost had not two of the 

 islanders, Aime" Nadean and James Cassidy, seen them coming ashore. These hardy fellows let themselves down the 

 side of the cape by a rope, and were saved with the help of Cassidy's Newfoundland dog, which plunged into the surf 

 and seized the men, bringing them all on shore. Had it not been for this courageous behavior on their part, thirty- 

 one more lives would in all probability have been lost. 



"Among the stranded vessels was a Jersey bark, the Swift, Captain Le Selleur, who had onboard one hundred 

 and thirty fishermen from the islands, all returning from Blanc Sablons. Most luckily for her passengers she was able 

 to be guided to a sand bank at the entrance to the harbor when she lost her moorings. Had she gone a little to leeward 

 there would have been a fearful loss of life to chronicle. A steamer, the Commerce, from Boston, with the agent of 

 the insurance offices, Captain Proctor, and all the appliances on board necessary to haul off vessels, was sent by the 

 interested parties to give what assistance she could. Several schooners were got afloat, but I doubt if all will be as 

 lucky. The United States Government also sent a vessel, the revenue cutter Woodbury, Commander Barr, to render 

 what assistance he could in the way of transporting distressed fishermen back to their homes. Most of those ship- 

 wrecked men had, however, left in the schooner before she arrived. The gale will long be remembered by all 

 seafaring men, not only for its duration but for the destruction it caused to life and property all throughout our 

 gulf many are the families left fatherless and with scanty means of subsistence. Let us hope our shores will never 

 again witness such a storm, or at least that a great number of years will elapse before its occurring again." Sixth 

 Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries of Canada, 1872-73, Appendix B, pp. 53,54. 



