526 COD-FISHING IN LABRADOR. 



should it blow hard during the night. You see, reader, that the life of a 

 Labrador fisherman is not one of idleness. 



The capelings have approached the shores, and in myriads enter 

 every basin and stream, to deposit their spawn, for now July is arrived. 

 The cods follow them, as the blood-hound follows his prey, and their 

 compact masses literally line the shores. The fishermen now adopt an- 

 other method : they have brought with them long and deep seines, one 

 end of which is, by means of a line fastened to the shore, while the other 

 is, in the usual manner, drawn out in a broad sweep, to inclose as great 

 a space as possible, and hauled on shore by means of a capstan. Some 

 of the men in boats support the corked part of the net, and beat the 

 water to frighten the fishes within towards the land, while others, armed 

 with poles, enter the water, hook the fishes, and fling them on the beach, 

 the net being gradually drawn closer as the number of fishes diminishes. 

 What do you think, reader, as to the number of cods secured in this 

 manner at a single haul ? — thirty, or thirty thousand ? You may form 

 some notion of the matter when I tell you that the young gentlemen of 

 my party, while going along the shores, caught cod-fish alive, with their 

 hands, and trouts of many pounds weight with a piece of twine and a 

 mackerel-hook hung to their gun-rods ; and that, if two of them walked 

 knee-deep along the rocks, holding a handkerchief by the corners, they 

 swept it full of capelings. Should you not trust me in this, I refer you 

 to the fishermen themselves, or recommend you to go to Labrador, where 

 you will give credit to the testimony of your eyes. 



The seining of the cod-fish, I believe, is not quite lawful, for a great 

 proportion of the codlings which are dragged ashore at last, are so small 

 as to be considered useless ; and, instead of being returned to the water, 

 as they ought to be, are left on the shore, where they are ultimately eaten 

 by bears, wolves, and ravens. The fishes taken along the coast, or on 

 fi shine-stations only a few miles oft", are of small dimensions ; and I be- 

 lieve I am correct in saying, that few of them weigh more than two 

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

 The fish are liable to several diseases, and at times are annoyed by para- 

 sitic 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. 



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