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 Blane 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 
