COD-FISHING AT LABRADOR. 527 



Some carry their cargoes to other parts before drying them, while others 

 dispose of them to agents from distant shores. Some have only a pickaxe 

 of fifty tons, while others are owners of seven or eight vessels of equal or 

 larger burden ; but whatever be their means, should the season prove 

 favourable, they are generally well repaid for their labour. I have 

 known instances of men, who, on their first voyage, ranked as " boys," 

 and in ten years after were in independent circumstances, although they 

 still continued to resort to the fishing ; for, said they to me, " how could 

 we be content to spend our time in idleness at home !" I know a person 

 of this class who has carried on the trade for many years, and who has 

 quite a little fleet of schooners, one of which, the largest and most beau- 

 tifully built, has a cabin as neat and comfortable as any that I have ever 

 seen in a vessel of the same size. This vessel took fish on board only 

 when perfectly cured, or acted as pilot to the rest, and now and then 

 would return home with an ample supply of halibut, or a cargo of prime 

 mackerel. On another occasion, I will offer some remarks on the im- 

 provements which I think might be made in the cod-fisheries of the coast 

 of Labrador. 



