THE COD AND COD—-FISHERY 301 
kind whatever existed along this same area, and now only 
two small lighthouses on dark, wintry nights serve to guide 
these fisherfolk along more than one thousand miles of coast. 
This fact becomes more significant when one remembers 
that most of the craft are, as has been stated, obliged to 
run along the reefs and islands, and are not able to keep to 
the open sea and run home “‘on the outside.” The average 
mariner would consider that at least a good chart of the 
journey on which the vessels were bound was a prime es- 
sential, without which no one would be likely to venture. 
But regretfully we must add that no such thing exists. 
The present survey is so imperfect that in many places only 
dotted outlines indicate the actual shore-line, while many 
shoals and hidden dangers are either inaccurately placed 
or not marked at all. 
Fortunately, the tides of the southern part of Labrador 
are, as far as navigation goes, practically unimportant, 
though they are often, and more especially with northwest 
to northeast winds, too strong for the big nets. 
The rise and fall of the tide is about six feet as far as 
Cape Harrigan. But as Cape Chidley is neared, the tides 
grow stronger and rise higher, till in Hudson Strait they 
rise thirty-five to forty feet, and run six to eight knots an 
hour. Boiling whirlpools and eddies seethe in the current 
of Gray Straits, and navigation in a schooner is, even at 
best, both difficult and dangerous. 
In view of all the dangers, one must feel proud of this 
crowd of emigrant fisherfolk,— proud of their physical 
courage, their self-reliant resourcefulness, of that big heart 
which makes them willing to “venture out” early each 
summer. 
