454 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES, 
and are spread out upon the land to the depth of a few inches to a foot, and occasionally stirred or 
kicked about by the fisherman who may chance to be on watch for the purpose of noting the 
weather and calling all hands in case it becomes necessary to take in the fish. The place selected 
for freezing is usually a clean gravelly beach above high-water mark, or a surface of crusted snow 
and ice, or, in case-‘no such spot can be found, clean grassy land is occasionally used. If the day 
is cold they can be frozen at once, but if warm they must be kept on the vessel till night before 
spreading, or, in case of a continued thaw, they must be salted or thrown away. Herring kept 
over three or four days before they are frozen are not considered equal to those frozen immediately, 
as the scales of the former are apt to come off, which very much injures their appearance, while 
the latter remain constantly fresh and bright. 
There is often a lively competition between the trading vessels as to which shall secure the 
largest amount of fish in the shortest time. This generally results in a rise in the price, as one 
vessel will frequently outbid another, and it sometimes occurs that much more is paid for the bait 
than it is actually worth. Another method adopted by the captains is that of winning the favor 
of the fishermen This is especially noticeable by the vessels visiting the Newfoundland coast. 
In this region the captain who is kindest is the one who will have the preference of the fish taken 
by them. The Newfoundlanders are not slow to improve the opportunity of asking and accepting 
favors, and in the bait as well as the herring fishery many of them often board the vessel as soon as 
she reaches the harbor. Capt. D. E. Collins, in speaking ofa visit to Newfoundland in the summer 
of 1879, says: “It is customary in most of the baiting-places of Newfoundland for the fishermen 
to flock aboard of an American vessel as soon as she anchors, and it is not unusual to see a dozen 
or twenty on deck at once, all eager to gather and retuil the fishing news and to make arrange- 
ments for baiting the vessel. If near meal-time they may also be attracted by the hope of getting 
an invitation to eat, and thereby a ‘square meal,’ for there is a great difference between the food 
of American fishermen and that of the average Newfoundlander.” In another place, while 
speaking of the competition between the vessels in securing a supply of bait, Captain Collins 
adds: “There being twen'y-five sail of bankers here (Carboniere, Concepcion Bay), and all wild 
to get it with as little delay as possible, it follows, as a matter of course, that every possible effort 
is put forth by each. The price having reached 40 cents per hundred none of them felt like 
going beyond it, but every other artifice has been resorted to, and the Newfoundland fisherman, 
who was fortunate enough to have a good catch of squid, has been the subject of more attentions 
than were ever lavished upon a belle of society, and, for the time being, the bait-fisherman is 
master of the situation. The cook, too, with a full appreciation of the influence of a good dinner 
upon a hungry fisherman, keeps a well-spread table below always ready, and takes care to invite 
the fishermen below for a ‘bite.’ It is scarcely necessary to add that generally they are in no 
way loath to accept the invitation, and they rarely fail to do justice to the occasion.” 
This same fact is noticeable to an equal or even greater extent in the frozen-herring fisheries 
during the winter months, and we learn of instances where twenty to twenty-five natives have 
been fed at one time, the cook being kept constantly busy preparing food for them during the stay 
at the island. 
In return for tbis kindness some of the fishermen improve the opportunity of their visit to 
steal certain articles belonging to the vessel, and, unless they are carefully watched, a good many 
things are lost in this way. 
Mr. Augustus Dower, who visited Fortune Bay in the winter of 1879~’80, says in his journal 
of January 9: “ We bought sixty-nine barrels of frozen herring from a Bay-the-North schooner, 
the crew of which stole two shovels, a bucket, and a pair of oars. We searched their vessel 
