In past times of outfitting for Newfoundland, the crews came from the 

 Basque country, from the coast of Normandy, from the Britanny coast of 

 the Channel, and from Cancale near Paimpal. 



The Basque country first disappeared as a center of recruiting crews 

 when the ports of Saint- Jean- de-Luz, Bayonne, and Cape Breton abandoned 



this fishery in the 17th century. 



Later the Norman ports were resorted to, in some measure, with the 

 Breton region to complete the crews of these vessels. The Fecamp sailing 

 ships, the most numerous after those of Saint-Malo-Saint-Servan until the 

 advent of steam trawlers which led within a few years to their complete dis- 

 appearance, embarked around four-fifths of their crews from local sailors, 

 the other fifth being recruited from Granville, Saint-Malo, Dinon, andSaint- 

 Brieuc. 



The region of Ille-et-Vilaine and Cotes-du-Nord has always been anurs- 

 ery ground for the hardy breed of cod fishermen. On the other hand, the 

 sea-faring men from Finistere have stayed away from the great cod fishery, 

 providing to the sailing vessels only an occasional doryman and, to the steam 

 trawlers, firemen, or bunker hands, and net-menders. 



One cannot improvise on the Newfoundland banks. This hard and diffi- 

 cult life exacts presence of mind, endurance, and fortitude which are the 

 fruits of family tradition and a severe apprenticeship. Thus it is that re- 

 cruitment of the crews comes from the same villages and hamlets, from the 

 same families, year after year, in a time-honored ritual. 



The hiring comprises two distinct phases: the preliminaries, involving 

 debate and agreement between the fisherman and the outfitter on wages and 

 working conditions while fishing; and the actual hiring, concluded at the Of- 

 fice of Maritime Inscription before representatives of that administration. 



Since the conditions of employment are uniformly regulated by the Charte- 

 Partie, all debate on pay allowed the fishermen would appear superfluous. In 

 reality, the practical application of the Charte-Partie is only theoretical. 

 For the sailing vessel fishery, in which the quality of the crew is extremely 

 important, each outfitter has a great interest in hiring the best men; and as 

 it is logical that one gets what one pays for, the agreement is modified by a 



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