134 THE COMMON COD. 



ment to these places is their vicinity to the polar 

 seas, where they return to spawn. There they de- 

 posit their roes in full security, and afterwards re- 

 pair, as soon as the first more southern seas are open, 

 to the banks for subsistence. — Few are taken north 

 of Iceland, and the shoals never reach so far south 

 as the straits of Gibraltar. 



Prior to the discovery of Newfoundland, the prin- 

 cipal fisheries for Cod were in the seas off Iceland, 

 and off the western islands of Scotland. To the for- 

 mer of these the English resorted near four hundred 

 years ago. In the reign of James the first, we had 

 no fewer than 150 vessels employed in the Iceland 

 fishery. 



The chief fisheries now are in the Bay of Canada; 

 on the great bank of Newfoundland, and off the isle 

 of St. Peter, and the isle of Sable. The vessels fre- 

 quenting these fisheries are of from a hundred to two 

 hundred tons burthen, and will catch 30,000 Cod 

 or upwards each. The hook and line are the only 

 implements used to take the fifh ; and this in a depth 

 of water of from sixteen to sixty fathoms. — The 

 great bank of Newfoundland is represented to be 

 like a vast mountain, above five hundred miles long, 

 and near three hundred broad ; and the number of 

 British seamen employed upon it is supposed to be 

 about fifteen thousand. 



The best season for fishing is from the beginning 

 of February to the end of April : and though each 

 fisherman takes no more than one fish at a time, an 

 expert hand will sometimes catch four hundred in a 

 day. The employment is excessively fatiguing, frc • 



