70 AMBROSE — ON ST. MARGAREt's BAY FISHING GROUNDS. 



and scanty visits of the mackerel to these, their old haunts. 

 One is the practice of catching them Avith the hook until late in 

 the autumn in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There thousands of 

 barrels of choice bait are daily thrown to the expectant 

 schools of mackerel by the many crews of American and other 

 fishermen, and thus like flocks or herds of shore animals, the 

 immense schools of these fish are detained by choice and plenti- 

 ful fare until very far l^eyond the old time in autumn, when 

 their custom was to leave the Gulf of St. Lawrence and trim 

 along these shoi'es on their western course. When they do 

 come now, their arrival is so late, that the frequent storms of 

 autumn, in many cases, prevent the seining of them at the outer 

 and more favourable stations. In support of this theory our 

 fishermen affirm that in the year 1856, when H. M. S. Styx 

 prevented the Americans from fishing in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, the mackerel ran out of the strait of Canseau and 

 -along these shores at their old season, a much earlier period 

 than usual, trimmed the shores much closer, and were 

 caught in far larger quantities and of a better quality than 

 common, all owing to the earlier and therefore calmer season 

 at which their visit to this Bay occurred. At all events, I am 

 credibly informed that in that autumn mackerel were taken 

 here with their mouths torn by the hook before the Styx inter- 

 fered with their would-be captors. 



The first run of mackerel strike in here about the loth of 

 May, and in one night will strike the shore for over a hundred 

 miles in extent, where not one was seen the day before. From 

 this fact some of our fishermen infer, that this first run comes in 

 directly from sea, and not coast-wise from the westward. Alter 

 striking the shore, they run eastwardly in immense schools, and 

 for several days in calm weather the whole surface of the ocean 

 outside of the mouth of the Bay, as far as the eye can reach, is 

 blue with the "break" of them, running with the mouth open and 

 partially out of water, in pursuit of " britt," a semi-transparent 

 fish, about an inch long, with eyes very large in proportion to 

 the size of its body, and thence called " eye-bait " by most of 

 our fishermen. At this season those britt swim along the sur- 

 face of the water. This first run of mackerel, which are No. 3'S; 



