﻿declared 
  that 
  about 
  Cape 
  Cod, 
  from 
  March 
  to 
  May, 
  there 
  

   was 
  " 
  better 
  fishing, 
  and 
  in 
  as 
  great 
  plenty, 
  as 
  in 
  New- 
  

   foundland 
  ; 
  " 
  while 
  his 
  companion, 
  Brereton, 
  predicted 
  that 
  

   "forasmuch 
  as 
  merchants 
  are 
  diligent 
  inquisitors 
  after 
  

   gains, 
  they 
  will 
  soon 
  remove 
  their 
  trade 
  from 
  Newfound- 
  

   land." 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  American 
  colony, 
  planted 
  at 
  Jamestown 
  in 
  

   1609, 
  owed 
  its 
  permanence 
  chiefly 
  to 
  the 
  abundance 
  offish 
  

   and 
  oysters 
  in 
  the 
  adjacent 
  rivers. 
  Its 
  founder, 
  Captain 
  

   John 
  Smith, 
  was 
  the 
  pioneer 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  fisheries, 
  and 
  

   in 
  his 
  writings 
  devotes 
  many 
  pages 
  to 
  the 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  

   methods 
  by 
  which 
  they 
  should 
  be 
  carried 
  on. 
  He 
  was 
  

   a 
  practical 
  fisherman, 
  for 
  his 
  vessel 
  in 
  1614 
  took 
  47,000 
  

   fish 
  off 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Maine. 
  He 
  realised 
  thoroughly 
  the 
  

   value 
  of 
  his 
  spoils. 
  " 
  And 
  is 
  it 
  not 
  pretty 
  sport," 
  wrote 
  he, 
  

   " 
  to 
  haul 
  up 
  two 
  pence, 
  six 
  pence, 
  and 
  twelve 
  pence 
  as 
  fast 
  

   as 
  you 
  can 
  hale 
  and 
  veare 
  a 
  line 
  ? 
  He 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  bad 
  fisher 
  

   cannot 
  kill 
  in 
  one 
  day 
  with 
  his 
  hooke 
  and 
  line, 
  one, 
  two 
  or 
  

   three 
  hundred 
  cods." 
  The 
  colonists 
  whom 
  he 
  planted 
  on 
  

   the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Chesapeake 
  have 
  handed 
  his 
  precepts 
  

   faithfully 
  down 
  to 
  their 
  descendants, 
  who 
  are 
  to-day 
  

   hauling 
  pence 
  up 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  faster 
  than 
  their 
  fore- 
  

   fathers 
  ever 
  learned 
  to 
  do. 
  The 
  fisheries 
  of 
  the 
  Chesa- 
  

   peake 
  region 
  yielded 
  in 
  1880 
  a 
  product 
  valued 
  at 
  nearly 
  

   eight 
  and 
  one-half 
  million 
  dollars. 
  

  

  The 
  Massachusetts 
  colonies 
  were 
  founded 
  with 
  still 
  more 
  

   special 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  fisheries. 
  We 
  are 
  told 
  in 
  Winslow's 
  

   " 
  Briefe 
  Narrative 
  of 
  the 
  True 
  Grounds 
  and 
  Causes 
  of 
  the 
  

   First 
  Planting 
  of 
  New 
  England," 
  that 
  when 
  the 
  Puritans 
  

   sent 
  agents 
  from 
  Leyden 
  to 
  King 
  James 
  to 
  gain 
  his 
  

   consent 
  to 
  their 
  going 
  to 
  America, 
  the 
  King 
  at 
  once 
  asked 
  

   " 
  what 
  profit 
  might 
  arise." 
  They 
  answered 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  

   word, 
  " 
  Fishing." 
  " 
  So 
  God 
  have 
  my 
  soul," 
  remarked 
  the 
  

  

  