EPISODES 



425 



fcctly cured, or exceed six when taken out of the water. 

 The fish are liable to several diseases, and at times are 

 annoyed by parasitic animals, which in a short time render 

 them lean and unfit for use. 



Some individuals, from laziness or other causes, fish 

 with naked hooks, and thus frequently wound the Cod, 

 without securing them ; in consequence of which the shoals 

 are driven away, to the detriment of the other fishers. 

 Some carry their cargoes to other parts before drying 

 them, while others dispose of them to agents from distant 

 shores. Some have only a pickaxe of fifty tons, while 

 others are owners of seven or eight vessels of equal or 

 larger burden ; but whatever be their means, should the 

 season prove favorable, they are generally well repaid for 

 their labor. I have known instances of men who, on 

 their first voyage, ranked as " boys," and in ten years 

 after were in independent circumstances, although they 

 still continue to resort to the fishing; for, said they to me, 

 " How could we be content to spend our time in idleness 

 at home? " I know a person of this class who has carried 

 on the trade for many years, and who has quite a little 

 fleet of schooners, one of which, the largest and most 

 beautifully built, has a cabin as neat and comfortable as 

 any that I have ever seen in a vessel of the same size. 

 This vessel took fish on board only when perfectly cured, 

 or acted as pilot to the rest, and now and then would 

 return home with an ample supply of halibut, or a cargo 

 of prime mackerel. On another occasion, I will offer 

 some remarks on the improveiients which I think might 

 be made in the Cod-fisheries of the coast of Labrador. 



