302 LABRADOR 



Progress in methods of catching the fish more quickly 

 and safely, and with less personal exposure, has also marked 

 the lapse of the years, though the primeval hand-line and 

 hook is still the only gear to which many of the poorer men 

 can attain. A hook-and-line man with work and tolerable 

 fortune should catch an average of fifty quintals a year. 

 As he has practically no expense but the purchase of salt, 

 his average catch, along with his other possible sources of 

 revenue, will afford a living. He has less anxiety as he 

 has no valuable nets to lose, for which many mortgage 

 all they possess and then lose the nets. He is certain never 

 to make an absolute blank, and he has considerably more 

 time for other work. But he can never nowadays get 

 " rich " in worldly possessions, and therefore nearly all aspire 

 to "get twine," if they can. 



The main difficulty with hook-and-line fishing is the 

 difficulty of obtaining bait. Caplin are excellent bait, 

 but when they are plentiful, cod can feed on live ones, and, 

 being glutted, do not take the hook well. When cod are 

 plentiful still on the banks, the caplin have left the fishing 

 grounds. Lance, a fish like a small eel, have to be hauled 

 at the bottoms of inlets far from the fishing grounds, and 

 even then are not always obtainable. Crews of men have 

 to spend all day rowing to get enough to supply the com- 

 bined crews that have spared a man apiece to send them. 

 Most bait, to be of service, must be quite fresh. The enter- 

 prising Captain Bartlett of Turnavik, Mr. Croucher at 

 Battle, Mr. Grant at Blanc Sablon, now use small steamers 

 for no other purpose than to get bait and carry fish and 

 salt. Squids are seldom obtainable in Labrador. But 

 some men have barrels of salt squids sent down. They 



