The astronomical observation of latitude was more useful in checking 

 estimated position for, when the boat had passed a long period at sea, the 

 daily errors of estimation would accumulate according to the laws of chance 

 and there would result an uncertainty of many degrees, as much in latitude 

 as in longitude. The observed latitude was, on the contrary, exempt from 

 accumulative errors, though perhaps imprecise, so that the result of an av- 

 erage of a series of daily observations approached more nearly the actual 

 latitude than one could obtain by estimation. When circumstances permit- 

 ted, which was the case for Newfoundland and the banks, one would place 

 himself on the latitude of the destination, then sail east or west, sometimes 

 tacking when the winds were unfavorable, and maintain this direction until 

 reaching the destination or recognizing the vicinity. 



Besides the results of "estimation", corrected or not by the observed 

 latitude, the pilots held great count in "signs", to which their experience 

 gave very often a real practical value: flights of different birds which an- 

 nounced the proximity of land or of certain oceanic regions and, in partic- 

 ular, the Newfoundland banks; the presence of diverse shoals of fish and 

 the direction of their migration; changes in the color of the water; sudden 

 changes in climate, typically characteristic of arrival in the neighborhood 

 of Newfoundland. 



Information on the composition of the crews on these first boats engaged 

 in the shore fishery is very vague. One can sometimes estimate their num- 

 bers as about 20 men, including the captain and pilot. On the large Npr- 

 mand caravels there was, without doubt, a somewhat larger number. Hir- 

 ing was done by "the share", a method of payment always practiced, since 

 way back, on the sailing ships of the great fishery, and which resulted in 

 a true association of the owner and the fishermen. 



The formula of "the fifth" seems to have applied at the origin of the 

 Newfoundland fishery. It worked as follows: on return of the boat to its 

 port of outfitting, the net value of the fish was established by deducting ex- 

 penses from the gross value. This value was divided into five parts, four 

 of which went to the outfitter or owner, one to the crew. The last fifth was 

 itself divided in a certain number of parts which were divided among the 

 crew according to a proportion determined by the importance of their func- 

 tions, the captain receiving three or four parts and, sometimes, a supple- 

 mentary commission on the sale. The cabin boys, on the other end of the 

 scale, were generally given only a half share. 



17 



