31 



admit that "the cod-fishery could not exist.'' This -fishery-j says M. 

 Senac, "is a productive industry; and it fumishbs more than afifttijiart 

 of the whole nvmher of our seamen, andhij far the best portion of them- 

 There is no cheaper, better, or more useful school for the formation of seamen 

 for the navy, and none is more' capable of extension and development. The 

 doubling of the consumption and exportation of the produce of the fisheries 

 would furnish our fleets with twelve thousand more seamen." 



We have seen that when, in 1778, France embarked in our revolu- 

 tionary, struggle, her fishermen, absent at Nevsrfoundland, were recalled 

 to enter her ships-of-war. The same reliance is placed upon them 

 now. "War was apprehended in 1841, and IVI. Thiers followed the ex- 

 ample of the statesmen . referred to ; and M. Rodet affirmed that, 

 " without the resources which were found in the sailors engaged in the fish" 

 cries, the expedition to Algiers could not have taken place." 



These reasons are not only sufficient to justify, but to demand, 

 national encouragement. But it may be urged, in addition, that the 

 open or deep-sea cod-fishery differs from almost every other employ- 

 ment ; that in war it is nearly or quite destroyed ; that in peace it 

 cannot be pursued for more than four or five months in a year ; that 

 often skill and industry are insufficient to insure good fares; and that, 

 when success attends severe toil and exposure, the fishermen barely 

 subsist. The effects of a "bad catch" are, indeed, sad and calamitous. 

 The disasters of 1847 afford a recent and a forcible illustration. In 

 that year the French cod-fishery proved a failure. The quantity of fish 

 caught was scarcely a sixth part of that of former seasons ; and the 

 fishermen, discouraged, abandoned the business as early as the middle 

 of August. The labor of the summer and the expenses of repairs and 

 of outfits lost, the actual want of food and clothing until another year 

 came round was alone prevented by the bounty allowed by the gov- 

 ernment. 



The manner of fishing is now the only topic that, need claim atten- 

 tion. It is to be observed that the principal fishing-grounds are three, 

 and that on each there is a difference in the mode of operations and in 

 the size of the vessels. First, the fishery on the coasts of Newfound- 

 land, which has always been considered the most important, as being 

 more certain and employing the greatest number of men." The 

 vessels are of aU sizes — from thirty to two hundred, and even three 

 hundred tons. The latter size is, ho-vvever, rare. When the vessel 

 arrives on the coast, which is generally early in June, she is dis- 

 mantled. Her boats, with two men and a boy in each, are sent out 

 e%rery morning, when the weather will permit, to fish until night. On 

 the return in the evening, the fish taken are split, salted, and put in 

 "kenehes" or piles; remaining in piles a few days, they are "washed 

 out" and dried until they are fit to ship. These processes are re- 

 peated from day to day until the fare is completed, or the season has 

 passed awa.y. 'Towards the close of September, fishing is suspended, 

 and the vessels depart for France or the West Indies. 



The Grand Bank fishery is pursued in vessels of between one* and 

 two hundred tons burden, with two strong chaloupes, or boats, to each. 

 From sixteen to twenty men compose a cr,6w. The vessels proceed 

 first to St. Pierre, land thfe shore-fishermen and "curers," and thence 



