THE MACKEREL-HOOK FISHERY. 285 
completed her fare and is homeward bound. Some of these are lying to, and are still fishing, while 
others have all sail set, and are heading for the Strait of Canso on their homeward way. A few 
miles to the northeast looms up the rugged shore of the Magdalen Islands, its high outline here 
and there broken by long stretches of sandy beach; a train of great white gannets crosses our bow, 
five or six of them rapidly flying close to the water; suddenly the leader disappears beneath the 
water, and his companions rise up for a moment and then plunge down head foremost after the fish 
which they see. The movement is perceived by other gannets, and they flock in from all directions 
and share the feast. As we speed along two or three of these birds, which have filled themselves 
to repletion, are swimming in our course, unable to rise, and, in order to escape, they disgorge their 
stomach-loads of fish and flap away just before the vessel reaches them. We now approach the 
fleet, and pass by the leeward vessels which are hove to, the starboard rails of which are lined 
with men excitedly plying their lines. Our skipper stands on the quarter with his glass to his eye, 
trying to determine which portion of the fleet is meeting with the best success. He selects a berth 
near the middle of the fleet, and thither he directs the course of the vessel by word to the steers- 
man. We thread our way in a zigzag course among the drifting vessels, sometimes escaping by a 
few inches only the thrust of a jib-boom, and again almost snapping off the main-boom of some 
other vessel. At length we approach the selected position and heave to, coming up sharply to the 
wind with the mainsail hard aback. The skipper takes his position at the main rigging and begins 
throwing bait, at the same time putting out his lines for trial. After the vessel is hove to, the men 
are lounging about the deck, yet in expectant attitudes. At a little distance from the rail stands 
a row of barrels, one opposite the berth of each man. These are called “strike” barrels. The lines, 
with the jigs attached, are coiled upon the cleats or lie upon the rails, each man having examined 
his own and prepared them for immediate use. - At last the skipper is seen to rapidly haul in his line, 
pulling a glittering mackerel over the rail, and, by the peculiar motion known to the fishermen as 
“slatting off,” the fish is jerked over his right shoulder into the barrel, while the drumming of the 
mackerel against the bottom of the barrel announces to the men that the fish have struck. ‘the men 
rush to their positions, and a scene of great activity and excitement begins. The fish are now within 
4 or 5 fathoms of the side of the vessel, but they soon come much nearer; looking over the rail we see 
their mottled backs as they swim to and fro alongside the vessel. The lines are shortened up as the 
mackerel rise, and now the time required for throwing over the jig and jerking it back with 2 mackerel 
fast to it is only a few seconds. The men throw out their lines, pull them in, and, without glane- 
ing at the fish, dexterously “ slat” them into the barrels, the jigs being torn out of their mouths 
by the same motion which casts the line back into the water; two twists of the wrist are sufficient 
to accomplish this feat. The mackerel are large—“ No. 1’s”—and in fifteen or twenty minutes the 
best fishermen have their barrels full. When a man’s barrel is filled he springs from the rail, rolls 
it back towards the center of the deck, and puts an empty barrel in its place. The fish may con- 
tinue actively biting for ten minutes or for several hours, but usually the sharp biting is over very 
soon, and the mackerel begin to “pick.” Now the work is less exciting, though much more exact- 
ing upon the skill of the fishermen. When the fish are “ picking,” a high-line fisherman will catch 
quantities, and the greenhorn will catch none, and even among the most skillful fishermen there is 
a great difference in their success at this time. 
It should be stated that all the time mackerel have been biting, four men have been actively 
employed in throwing bait over the side, at the same time attending to their lines like the remain- 
der of the crew. The cook heaves bait in the position farthest forward, and one of the boys in the 
