250 LIFE OP AUDUBON. 



handkercliief by the corners, they swept it Ml 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 is not, 1 believe, 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 fishing stations only a few miles off are of 

 small dimensions, and I believe 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 parasitic 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 detri- 

 ment of the other fishers. Some carry their cargoes to other 

 ports before drying them, while others dispose of them to agents 

 from distant shores. Some have only a pick-axe 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 circum- 

 stances, 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 

 beautifully 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 improvements which 

 I think might be made in the cod fisheries of the coast of 

 Labrador." 



