THE COD AND COD-—FISHERY 319 
months for their complement of fish. During all that time 
their crews are the good geniuses of the little havens in 
which they are anchored, and the “skipper”’ and his medi- 
cine-chest are in continual demand. 
The itinerary of these visitors is somewhat as follows: 
September, leave Labrador for the Mediterranean; thence 
in December to their homes; then cargo of slate or ore pos- 
sibly to Hamburg; in March, to Cadiz for salt; then to 
Labrador by June, and so on back again. Once home in 
the year, if all goes well. They make a modest living, and 
are able to retire before old age incapacitates them. Some 
are lost in the “roaring forties,’’ the latitudes in which they 
mostly ply their calling, and many are the stories of heroism 
and suffering on these vessels that the sea could unfold. 
On one occasion a skipper, deserted by his crew at Bonne 
Esperance, sailed his square-rigged schooner across the 
Atlantic alone to Gibraltar with a cargo of fish. Sometimes 
they will carry fish to the West Indies or Brazil, and then 
possibly return with molasses to St. John’s before taking 
a final cargo to the Mediterranean. I have seen a vessel 
leave in late October with ice on her sides, and every one 
muffled up. In three days she will run into the warm 
atmosphere of the Gulf current, the men will be in their 
shirt-sleeves, and a few days later they will be eating fresh 
fruit in Spain. A very favourite holiday among these men 
is to get a lift across as far as Genoa, and perhaps work 
a passage out from Gibraltar, or come out again by way of 
England. | 
Naturally there is considerable rivalry in making quick 
passages. The westward passages are always longest, 
the prevailing winds in the North Atlantic being from 
