[49] OPERATIONS OF SCHOONER GRAMPUS. 539 



Ft. In. 



Depth, top of wash-strake to keelson 2 3| 



Length of foremast, above thwarts 9 6 



Mainmast above thwart 7 9 



Oars,2 17 6 



Oar,l 14 



Tiller 4 3 



A boat of this kind costs from $20 to $25 as a rule, but is often built 

 by the fishermen at a less expense. They do not, however, last nearly 

 so long as the "Yankee-built" boats, and, though available to a poor 

 fisherman who could not afford the more expensive craft, they are, 

 nevertheless, not so cheap in the end. They are manned by two or 

 three persons, one of whom is often a lad of twelve to sixteen years, 

 and they are employed chiefly in the shore cod-fisheries, though occa- 

 sionally they may engage in the capture of squid, herring, or other 

 species which frequent the coast. These boats are usually coated with 

 coal-tar. Thev are built " by the eye," as, indeed, are nearly all of the 

 Newfoundland fishing boats. No model or lines are used; the keel, 

 stem, stern-post, and stern are laid down, two or three frames erected, 

 and battens nailed to these; the other frames are made to correspond 

 more or less closely to the shape of the battens. After these are set up 

 the boat is planked. Necessity inspires ingenuity, and here, as else- 

 where, the fisherman must build his boat in most cases, or go without 

 one, the consequence being that he soon acquires sufficient skill for 

 this purpose, and, if he have a natural aptitude for such work, he may 

 produce excellent craft, and ultimately acquire local renown and some- 

 thing more than the rudiments of a boat-builder's trade. 



(0) Toulinguet fishing boats. — Toulinguet is the most northern village 

 of any importance on the east coast of Newfoundland, and, like all 

 other towns of that province, depends solely on the fisheries. In the 

 spring the inhabitants engage in the seal fishery, going out in small, 

 lightly built boats upon the fields of ice that crowd in against the coast 

 at this season, to hunt for herds of seals, which are often found on the 

 ice packs. In summer the cod-fishery occupies the attention of the fish- 

 ermen. 



But the boats which are used for hunting the seal are also employed 

 in the cod-fishery. Certain qualities are required in a sealing skiff, 

 which must be dragged for miles over the ice, and, since the light, 

 strong, swift boat needed by the sealer is also well adapted to the cod- 

 fishery of this locality, it is not surprising to find that larger craft, built 

 especially for cod fishing, have the same form of hull and style of con- 

 struction as the skiffs that are built for seal-hunting. 



Therefore the boats used at Toulinguet are of one type, a highly 

 specialized form of sealing punt, resembling somewhat the punts carried 

 on the sealing vessels sailing from St. John's, but much more symmet- 

 rical than the latter and constructed in a superior manner. 



In building these boats for the seal fishery the special object sought 



