94 THAT S IT; 



able spot until the young ones 

 come forth. Young salmon, 

 when they emerge from the egg, 

 present a singular appearance. 

 When about eight hours old, the 

 young fry, 2, appears looking out 



367. 



of the egg. In a few hours more, 

 the shell is thrown off, 3, and the 

 young creature lies inanimate 

 upon the surface of the sand. 

 After a little while, its heart be- 

 gins to act more energetically, 

 making from sixty to sixty -Jive 

 beats in a minute. Then the 

 young fry, 4, acquires strength 

 and activity, swims about, and 

 begins to grow rapidly. As 

 they grow, they venture into the 

 middle of the stream, and play 

 about in the deeper parts. When 

 the spring rains set in, they are 

 carried, by the swollen streams, 

 down to the junction of the river 

 with the sea, where they keep 

 near the estuary until they be- 

 come accustomed to salt-water, 

 when they venture into the sea, 

 and grow rapidly. 



* Among the Ancients and 

 during the middle ages, in 

 Western Europe, fisheries con 

 stituted a valuable branch of 

 industry. But the discovery, 

 at the end of the 15th century, 



of Newfoundland and its fish- 

 eries, that to this day surpass 

 all others in magnitude and 

 value, gave the greatest im- 

 pulse to the business. The cod, 

 mackerel, and herring, are the 

 chief objects of pursuit, and 

 their range is not limited to 

 the neighborhood of Newfound- 

 land, but are caught in vast 

 numbers on the coast of New 

 England. The French were 

 the first Europeans who en-, 

 gaged in the American cod- 

 fishery. They visited New- 

 foundland as early as 1504. 

 Sebastian Cabot, on his return 

 from his voyage of discovery 

 in 1497, first called the atten- 

 tion of the English to the 

 American fisheries, by pointing 

 out the abundance of fish in 

 the seas around Newfoundland 

 and Labrador. The first Eng- 

 lish voyages in quest of fish, 

 however, of which we have an 

 account, were in 1517. In 1583, 

 Sir Humphrey Gilbert took pos- 

 session of Newfoundland under 

 the first charter granted in En- 

 gland for colonization in Amer- 

 ica, and from this act of Sir 

 Humphrey, and from the dis- 

 covery by Cabot, in 1497, En- 

 gland derives her right to New- 

 foundland and fishing grounds. 

 The great sea-fisheries of the 

 United States are mostly car- 

 ried on from New England. 

 They date from the earliest set- 

 tlement of the country. Very 

 soon after their arrival at Ply- 

 mouth, the Pilgrims engaged 

 in the fisheries. In 1624, they 

 sent to England a ship laden 



