4g6 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Deo. 80, 1887. 



THE CANADIAN CANOE. 



THE Canadian canoe floats alone among civilized craft that 

 are sharp at both ends and are propelled by a paddle, in this 

 that it was not invented but evolved by a process of natural 

 selection, in strict accordance with its environment and several 

 other things, from aboriginal types. The devout believers m the 

 evolutionary theory can, in fact, find in the Canadian canoe, and 

 its gradual growth from a simple log, not only the healthy recre- 

 ation they, as a general rule, sadly require, but a direct proof by 

 analogy, that mankind once wore tails as a permanent attach- 

 ment to their immovable dress coats of fur, and if they pursue 

 their studies in this direction with a, de\ outness of mind and 

 singleness of purpose that prevents them from learning the tricks 

 of their craft,, they may come to the conclusion that webbed teet 

 would be developed by that section of the descendants of the an- 

 thropoid ape who survived a protracted attempt to analyze this 

 craft from a purely evolutionary standpoint. Not only has the 

 Canadian canoe been deprived of all the advantages resulting 

 from the efforts ot a single inspired and gifted inventor, but it 

 has never been blessed with a prophet, In this respect at least, it 

 is far behind its compeer, the British-American canoe, which has 

 been endowed with an abundance of prophets, who have not been 

 at all backward in testifying in the most eloquent manner to the 

 merits of the canoes of their heart. In fact it is undeniable that 

 the pen, as much as the paddle, is responsible for the popularity 

 of this type of canoe. 



If Rob Roy McGregor had not been able to transform his no 

 doubt verv ordinary cruises on the Baltic, the Elbe, the Danube, 

 the Rhine" and the Jordan, into one of the most delightful series 

 of books of travel in the English language, would his civilized 

 kavak, by her own merits, have ever become the most famous of 

 small boats, or produced the school of English canoeists! 1 



If "Shadow" Alden had not enshrined the Shadow in words 

 that, once read, will always be remembered with at least an 

 inward smile, and decanted upon the charms of canoeing in a 

 Shadow with mingled eloquence and humor, would there ever 

 have been an American Canoe Association or a Peeowsic? Not 

 only has the Canadian canoe been compelled to make its way 

 under sail and paddle alone, but it has suffered not, a little at the 

 hands of the prophets of other types. Mr. Alden was particularly 

 hard upon it in that widely read article in which he immortalized 

 the Shadow, not through malice, but because he did not under- 

 stand the craft. For instance, in that marvellous table wherein 

 he proves, by figures, that the untried Shadow was the perfect 

 canoe, he gives his invention forty points of superiority over the 

 Herald, because she was decked, but he carefully omits to state 

 that the Herald can be decked as easily as any other build of 

 canoe, and that for hunting, fishing and general paddling an open 

 canoe is much superior to a decked one. In spite of its lack of 

 inventors who were prophets, and its bad treatment by those who 

 were— as f ar a s its true merits are concerned— false prophets, the 

 Canadian canoe has a ttained a very considerable amount of popu- 

 larity", and what is more important still, of perfection. It is not 

 by any means the perfect canoe, but it is certainly the most per- 

 fect hunting canoe in existence, and ss a paddling canoe it has 

 few, if any, superiors. In the future the Canadian canoe inav be 

 expected to progress rather in the direction taken by the Ainei loan 

 canoe than in that which, in times past, it fixed for itself ( was not 

 every race at the last meet of the. Canadian canoeists paddled 

 with double blades, and what was the Ramona, the fastest Cana- 

 dian canoe at Bow Arrow Point, but a mate to Vesper and Notus?) 

 as the conditions under which it was developed have changed; 

 but it may confidently be expected that the type will never 

 entirely vanish. 



The Canadian canoe is the victim of a goodly number of popular 

 fallacies, and none are more popular, or have as little foundation 

 in fact, as the assertions that it is merely an improved birch, and 

 tnat as the Indian had perfected, the white man had nothing to 

 do bat devise improved systems of construction. The original 

 germ of the Canadian canoe was not the romantic birch hark 

 canoe, hut the decidedly commonplace and ugly dugout, which 

 during the first half of this century was used as frequently on a 

 southern bavou as a Canadian lake, audit: was an Indian log at 

 that. No Indian ever yet, except by accident, produced a shapely 

 craft, and an Indian dugout is, generally speaking, as lopsided as 

 a bean, and as misshaped as a grapevine joint. The development 

 of this barbarous craft into the shapely, skilfully moulded and 



in fact the great difference which exists between the history 

 the nature of the Canadian canoe and that of its compeer. 



The English- American type of canoe was invented and has been 

 improved upon by canoeists, that is by canoe-users who found 

 their pleasure in the craft, itself, and the Canadian canoe was 

 developed in one locality, to provide a means by which the slaugh- 

 ter of wild things might be enjoyed. Indeed there never was a 

 school of Canadian canoeists, in the modern sense of the word, 

 until after the establishment of the American school. The birth- 

 place and the true home of the Canadian canoe was and is the 

 valley of Trent, the largest river in midland, Ontario, and in fact 

 every improvement in either model or details of construction, was 

 made on the banks of the Rice Lake— the largest body of water of 

 the system— and its main feeder, the River Otonobee. During the 

 first half of this century the waters of the Trent, system, particu- 

 larly of Rice Lake, whore there are very large beds of wild rice, 

 swarmed with all manner of finned and feathered game; and 

 owing to the natural characteristics of the lake, the dugout was 

 far superior to any skiff or shooting boat for the use of the 

 gunner. 



When the first white settlors reached this lake they found two 

 bands of Mississaguas comfortably established on its shores. As 

 far as I can learn these Indians never built birch bark canoes for 

 use on Rice Lake, and there were several good reasons for this. 

 In the first place the paper birch, the only tree, yielding bark fit 

 for canoe building, is somewhat scarce in that locality, and the 

 proper material for building the bark canoe could only be obtained 

 by the expenditure of a considerable amount of energy, some- 

 thing uo Indian is disposed to waste. On the other hand, a mag- 

 nificent pine forest, covered the northern shore of the. lake, and 

 every swale was full of splendid white cedar. In the second 

 place, many as are the virtues of the birch, handiness in a choppy 

 sea is not among them, and a choppy sea that becomes something 

 worse with the slightest encouragement from a squall is the 

 normal condition of a ffairs on Rice" Lake. The dugout was there- 

 fore not only much more easily constructed than the birch be- 

 cause the materials— a big pine log and plenty of time— was with 

 these Indians in practically unlimited supply, but it was better 

 suited for use on the waters in question than the birch. 



Naturally, after learning to use the single paddle, the wiiite 

 gunners who had adopted the dugout set, themselves the task of 

 improving upon the Indians' ideas of what a dugout canoe should 

 be. What they require in order to pursue ducks, which were the 

 game principally sought, was a craft that while big enough to 

 carry two men with their guns and game over broad stretches of 

 rough water, would be small enough to penetrate with ease the 

 narrow channels in the rice beds and swamps, and which would 

 moreover be easily propelled by the paddle. One great defect of 

 the Indian dugout is that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it 

 is, when small enough to be of use to the gunner, too cranky to 

 shoot out of, because its bottom is frequent round; and the flat- 

 bottom, still a feature of the Canadian canoo, was one of the first 

 improvement^ made by white Canadians. The introduction of 

 the round-headed adze greatly facilitated the work of hollowinj- 

 out the interior of the log, and by fits and starts other decider 

 improvements were made, not only in the lines of the craft, but 

 in the methods of construction. 



The greatest improvement in the log canoe was made in the 

 fifties, and as it waB during this period that the model of the 

 Canadian canoe was developed and the type fixed; and that too at 

 a time Avhen both the increase in the value of lumber and 

 the growing scarcity of suitable logs, was driving the dugout from 

 the waters of other localities; this is the most interesting period 

 in the history of the craft. Unfortunately it is impossible, to as- 

 certain when or by whom the most important improvements were 

 made. As early as 1855 the Stricklands, of Lakefield, a family of 

 keen sportsmen and devoted canoe users, had produced some 

 most beautiful butternut canoes, which were not only seaworthy 

 and steady, but fast and highly finished: but there were many 

 others who paddled fine canoes. Each canoe user and maker at 

 that time worked out his own ideas, with little knowledge of what, 

 his neighbor was doing, and the peculiar lines of the Canadian 

 canoes, giving as they do, speed with great steadiness, small 

 dimensions with great seaworthiness and carrying capacity, was 

 slowly evolved from many men's minds. Although strength, 

 staunchness and seaworthiness can be secured in a canoe hollowt d 

 out of a singlo log, lightness cannot, and toward the end of this 

 period some boat builders about the lake began to build light 

 shooting skiffs, about 14ft. in length by 8ft. in width, in which the 

 paddle was to be used. As these boats were built of very thin 

 material, battens were nailed on to strengthen the weak lap- 

 streak joints, and in time the planks were butted, not lapped, 

 and the battens were depended on to make all tight. 



The gradual improvement of the model of the log canoe and the 

 invention of the rib and batten system of boat building, prepared 

 the way for the invention of the true Canadian eanoe, and the 



two elements, the model and the system of construction, were 

 brought together by a regatta. In 1857 a grand regatta was held 

 at Little Lake— an enlargement of the Otonobee, near the town of 

 Peterborough— and canoe paddling races which were all won by 

 the Stricklands, formed the most interesting part of the pro- 

 gramme. Mr. John Stevenson, a local boat builder, at this regatta 

 conceived the idea of building a canoe on the rib and batten 

 system, and the Canadian canoe was born, with not only a dis- 

 tinctive model, but a distinctive system of construction. Mr. 

 Stevenson selected basswood as his material and a very suitable 

 one it is, although soft and liable to decay if not well protected; 

 it is a wood leathery in texture, and which bends easily. During 

 the next two or three years quite a number of the rib and batten 

 canoes were turned out, not only by the inventor, but by 

 other builders, and they became very popular. They did not 

 drive the log entirely out of favor among the gunners, how- 

 ever, for although they had many decided virtues they were 

 not as well suited as the improved dugout for shooting from. For 

 one thing they lacked strength, that is strength enough to satisfy 

 those accustomed to use the log, they were rather cranky, and 

 worse than all it was extremely hard to keep their interiors even 

 moderately clean. Any boat into which game is thrown to die 

 must soon become extremely dirty, and as the hunter has not 

 access to a hydrant, a hose and an Irishman on every occasion 

 that he finds it necessary to clean the inside of liis canoe, it is a 

 serious matter if this operation is a difficult one. As the log 

 canoes the sportsmen were using were as smooth inside as out, 

 and could therefore be cleaned out very easily, they were none too 

 readv to adopt the lighter, prettier rib and batten, but demanded 

 this virtue of the dugout m the built eanoe. 



About 18(53 this demand was met by the construction of a canoe 

 of two thicknesses of white cedar, which was not only as strong as 

 the log, but was perfectly smooth inside as well as out, but owing 

 to the fact that with the appliances then at the disposal of the 

 builders these canoes were hard to build, and their lines were 

 more a matter of chance than of cunning designing, very few of 

 these canoes were built, and they did not become popular. 



In 1865 a regatta was held at Gore's Landing, a village which 

 was then the sporting center of Rice Lake, and the canoe races 

 were the principal events. The Stricklands brought down a fine 

 fleet of canoes,but on this occasion they did not carry off the honors. 

 Whollor Armstrong, a Back Lake man, had several very fine log 

 canoes at the regatta, and one of them, the Flying Cloud, won all 

 the races. This canoe was as far as model goes the archotype of 

 the Canadian canoe. She had the sharp lines, the broad flat floor, 

 the slight tumble home of the topsides that are to this day the 

 chief characteristics of the Canadian eanoe. Mr. Dan Herald, 

 an ingenious and skillful boatbuilder of Gore's Landing, who had 

 built quite a number of canoes during the preceding five or six 

 years, recognized the superiority of the Flying Cloud's lines, be- 

 came the owner of the canoe, which by the way is still in his 

 possession, and began building canoes after her model. 



Since the adoption of the Flying Cloud model there has been 

 but little change in the lines of the Canadian cauoe. The Rice 

 Lake model is in fact that of theFlying Cloud with some improve- 

 ments dictated by experience and certain modifications of dimen- 

 sions to adapt special sizes to special purposes. The Peterborough 

 canoe builders have adopted finer lines, which make their canoes 

 smaller for their inches than the Rice Lakers, pure and simple, 

 and each builder has introduced certain modifications of sheer, 

 spread of topsides, etc.. that give their canoes a distinctive in- 

 dividuality, but the type is substantially the same. The Canadian 

 canoe was therefore perfected, as far as lines go, about the same 

 time that McGregor launched the first, imperfect Bob Roy. 



The next stage in the history of the Canadian canoe was the de- 

 velopment and invention of improved processes of construction. 

 In 1871 Mr. Danl. Herald invented a process for building double 

 skin cedar canoes trne to any model, which greatly expedited 

 their construction. The canoes, which bear his name, built by 

 this system, are the strongest craft for their weight that float; 

 they ha ve a smooth skin inside auid out, are perfectly tight under 

 all circumstances, and their lasting powers are as groat as their 

 strength. 1 am personally aware of one double skin cedar which 

 is now twenty years old, and which is as staunch as need be. It 

 can he said of these canoes that they were and are the perfect 

 hunting canoe, and they hold their own well with any of the 

 modern types either under sail or paddle. 



Some years after Mr. Herald had patented his invention, Mr. 

 John Stevenson invented a process for building canoes out of 

 narrow strips of tongued and grooved cedar. The Ontario canoes 

 built on this system are of two descriptions, the cross rib in which 

 the strips run athwartship, and the only fore and aft pieces' in the 

 boat are the keel aDd keelson, the gunwales and one or two braces 

 on a side; and the longitudinal rib in which the tongued and 

 grooved strips run fore and aft, and are made fast to internal ribs 

 in the ordinary manner. These canoes are wonderfully pretty, 

 and are much stronger than any other boat built of a single thick- 

 ness of cedar. 



In spite of the very decided structural advantages of the Herald 

 and Ontario systems, the popular canoe in Canadian waters is still 

 the rib and batten basswood canoe. It is as now built a cheap, 

 strong, light and capable craft, which the average Canadian 

 canoeist and canoe user evidently thinks is quite good enough for 

 human nature's daily paddle, and he is not far wrong. _ 



The old school of Canadian canoe users, while not canoeists in 

 the modern sense of the wcrd, loved their canoes well, and 

 although they used the sail little and the single paddle much, 

 they were expert canoemen and could make their craft do any- 

 thing but speak. I think it can be fairly claimed for them that 

 they were the first of all canoe users to beat to windward in a 

 canoe. The first recorded use of sail in a canoe is in connection 

 with that mournful legend of the old Indian who had stuck a big 

 bush in the bow of a small canoe and was caught in a gale. He 

 dared not leave the stein to shorten sail for fear of broaching to. 

 and so sped onward into the dim unknown, dolefully howling. 

 '•Too much bush, too much bush, too much bush for little canoe." 

 a cry that many a modern canoeist even in these days of reefing 

 gears has sadlv re-echoed. When the first Canadian canoe user 

 became dissatisfied with the primitive birch, and stole a sheet or 

 used his blanket for a sail no man knoweth. Before the days of 

 the board canoe, however, the double leeboard had been adopted 

 in the log canoe from the skiff, and the spritsail was largely used 

 as an auxiliary to the paddle. All sorts of jury rigs such as a 

 piece of board lashed to gunwale and thwart, or a couple of 

 paddles, one on each side, were used, however, much more com- 

 monly than the regular leeboards. 



In 1865 Herald invented the "Rice Lake" or "pin and ring" 

 lateen, which in those days had not a ring, a loop of leather beiug 

 used to attach it to the mast, and the use of this sail became well 

 nigh universal. A good Canadian canoenian with this sail did 

 not need a leeboard or a keel to enable him to beat to windward. 

 He jammed his paddle down to leeward about the center of his 

 canoe, held on to it with one hand, while he helQ the sheet with 

 the other or in his teeth, and hung out to windward like a man. 

 I have been beaten, and that right well, in a thrash to windward, 

 while sailing a lug-rigged decked cauoe with a standing keel, 

 rudder, deck tiller and all the rest of it, by a fellow who did not 

 know the first principle of sailing, for he had nothing but a big 

 canoe, a big lateen sail and a big single-bladed paddle. 



The lateen sail was first introduced into tin.' un i ted States in 

 1879, when Mr. Nicholas Longworth, Mr. W. F. Dominiek and 

 other Cincinnati canoeists were furnished with an outfit thereof 



haps for a somewhat similar reason. It is a singularly safe and 

 handy sail as long as its spars are not more than nine or ten feet 

 in length, but when that limit is passed the result is not un- 

 frequently a wetting. 



with a quick turn at the bilge, and her topsides generally fall in 

 a little. Her lines are, while long, full enough to give her great 

 carrying capacity, and she will rise to a choppy sea without wait- 

 ing to be expostulated with. Decks she has none, excepting a 

 pretense thereat, at bow and stern, which is purely ornamental, 

 and her stem is peculiar to herself alone, as are the peculiar 

 curves of her stem and stern piece. Her internal fittings are of 

 the simplest description. If she is a rib and batten, floor boards 

 are buttoned to Her bottom, if she has a smooth interior, there is 

 nothing but the thwarts, solid pieces of timber that not only 

 prevent the whole craft from spreading, but that serve as kneel- 

 ing rests. Her outfit consists of a pair of leeboards, that can be 

 strapped to a thwart when in use and when idle lold into small 

 compass, a lateen mainsail, occasionally a jigger, and a couple of 

 singh -bladed paddles. 



The Canadian canoeist is a sociable mortal, and as ms canoe 

 will carry from two to half a dozen as easily as one, he gonerally 

 is not without either a passenger or crew. The "one man one 

 canoe" rule is in fact much more honored in the breach than the 

 observance, by the Canadian canoeist. The Canadian canoeist 

 can, and in fact does, do about as much hard sailing, paddling and 

 cruising on all manner of waters from the Lacbine rapids to Lake 

 Ontario, with this simple outfit, which if he is content, as he gen- 

 erally is, with paint instead of varnish, costs him less than 835, as 

 any other school of canoeists. The decked sailing canoe is, how- 



ver. steadily gaining ground in Canada, and the racing mania 

 has unfortunately caused the introduction of the double-bladed 

 paddle. 



Even if it be admitted that the double blade is faster for a mile 

 spurt than the single, the latter has a sufficient number of points 

 of superiority over its rival to at lea*t justify i»s continued use in 

 an open canoe. The single blade is in the first place lighter than 

 the double, and it is infinitely drier, particularly in a seaway; it 

 is a much handier instrument than its rival, the stroke with it is 

 freer and more enjoyable, and the action of using it is much more 

 graceful. As a portion of the outfit of the hunter's canoe, there 

 can be no comparison between the two systems of paddling, as in 

 the hands of an expert the single paddle can be so used as to pro- 

 duce not a single sound, and even the ruuskrat. the most wary of 

 swimmers, can be paddled down b.v it. 



Although it would be a hard matter to prove that it is the case, 

 I believe that the single blade will go further in a long day's 

 paddle than the double, with the same expenditure of force. 

 There can be no doubt that there is less slip with the single blads, 

 that the weight of the paddle is less, and the strain of the work is 

 more evenly distributed over the whole body. Even the kneeling 

 position, although very hard at first on the tender knee, has its 

 advantages, particularly in running rapids, as it allows of a 

 better lookout than a sitting position, and the command of the 

 paddler over his craft is more complete. The virtues of the single 

 paddle arc, in fact, the virtues of the Canadian canoe, simplicity, 

 strength and beauty: they are the natural complements of each 

 other, and the racing mania should not be allowed to separate 

 two such close allies. Rktaw. 



\nxwev8 to @>am8pondmt£. 



No Notice Taken of Anonymous Correspondents. 



A. R. V., Penn Yan.— For your rifle use Eaton's rust preven- 

 tive. 



E. L. M.— The address is A. P. Riddick, and that region is as 

 good as any we know of. 



Inquirer. — You can import the rooks through the firm of Reiche 

 & Bros., Park Row, New York. 



C. E. B.— Yon can get the concentrators, if they are in market 

 from any of the dealers in sportsmen's supplies. 



G. E. L., Holmesville, N. Y.— We do not know what dealer would 

 make the exchange, but yon migh t address any of the firms whose 

 names you will find in our columns. 



D. M.— 1. The gun is not too heavy, 3. Your only way to get a 

 pedigree of your spaniel is by applying to the person from whom 

 you obtained the dog. If you cannot get it, of him, nor learn any- 

 thing of it from him, send us names of sire and dam, and we may 

 help you. 



T. M. S., Dansville, N. Y.— Walking along a wooded ridge, Nov. 

 31, 1 scared a partridge from beneath a sumach {RiwtupMnum), 

 where it had beeu feeding on the crimson plume (or fruit) of this 

 tree, and so hearty must have been its appetite for this fare that 

 nothing remained on the stem; and only a few fragments were 

 visible in the snow underneath. Is it an unusual occurrence for 

 a partridge to feed on the fruit of the sumach? Ans. No. 



Anonymous, Brooklyn.— I and a friend are to strike the wilds 

 of the Northwest, in the spring; are both ten derfeet but have plenty 

 of sand. Please advise us: I. How to treat skins, after taken 

 from the animals, so that they will remain unspoiled for 60 days. 

 2. A good salve for healing wounds. 3. A friend advises me to 

 get a^'Nessnvuk" hatchot (double-edged pocket axe). Please tell 

 me where 1 can get one. Ans. 1. Just dry them thoroughly. 2. 

 Vaseline. 3. We do not know. 



Citizens' Club, Syracuse, N. Y.— Will you inform me through 

 your paper, how Calcutta bamboo poles are colored, as we receive 

 them in this country? How Japan poles are colored as used by 

 bamboo furn iture manufacturers? Ans. This subject was inves- 

 tigated by Mr. Henry P. Wells, in the preparation of his book on 

 "Flv Rods." The reasons given him by various authorities were 

 that the bamboos were burned (1) as a religious ceremony, (2) to 

 kill the larvse of insects, (3) for ornamental purposes, (4) to kill 

 the matted and tenacious vines in the jungle, so that the poles 

 could be out out, (5) to burn off the leaves, (6) to strengthen the 

 poles. 



D. G. R., Kentucky.— I am a small man, weighing only 1301bs., 

 with an unusually long neck, and I want to order a gun that will 

 fit me. I have been experimenting with several guns in order to 

 get the exact amount of drop which should be given to the stock. 

 As it is impossible for me to find one crooked enough, I have 

 measured the drop by taking a gun and loosening it at the breech 

 and lowering the muzzle uutil the sight was on an exact line with 

 my eye, when the gun was thrown to my shoulder in an easy, 

 natural manner, and aimed on a level with my head. After 

 trying the gun this way until I was fully satisfied that the drop 

 was right, I took a straight-edge and laid it on the rib perfectly 

 flat and level, and measured the distance accurately from the 

 extreme end of the stock from the top edge, to the bottom edge of 

 the straight-edge, and the distance of drop was 4>£in. Now this 

 is a very unusual amount of drop, but I have tried a number of 

 guns with less drop and they don't fit me, aU of them beiug too 

 high at the muzzle when brought naturally to my shoulder, com- 

 pelling me to drop my head several inches in order to get correct 

 aim with them, which makes me feel cramped. Now, would you 

 advise me to have a gun mado with 4^n. drop? Ans. Yes, if you 

 are certain that that is the drop that fits. 



The Pilchard Fisheries.— Falmouth and Penzance are 

 the largest modern seaports; but even these, now that the 

 railway and telegraph have come into operation, are begin- 

 ning to decline. Yet the fisheries continue to nourish, 

 though they are very fluctuating in their aunual harvest. 

 It is unnecessary to advert in detail to the capture of mack- 

 erel and other ordinary fish, but the delicate, luscious pil- 

 chard (Clupea pilchardnm, which is almost essentially a 

 Cornish fish, demands a few words, not only on account of 

 the important bearing which it has upon the welfare of 

 the poorer inhabitants, but also because of the myste- 

 rious habits of the fish itself, notwithstanding the many 

 attempts which have been made by naturalists to inves- 

 tigate its history. It was known at least so long ago as 

 Shakespeare's days, who, in his "Twelfth Night," thus 

 aptly describes it: '"And fools are as like husbands as 

 pilchards are to herrings; the husband'^ the bigger." To 

 this it may be added that the scales of the pilchard are 

 much the larger, and its dorsal fin is placed much further 

 forward than the herring's. The chief homes of the pil- 

 chard fishery are St. Ives, the Mount's Bay and Newquay. 

 The fish make their appearance off the shore in the early 

 autumn, and retire during the winter months to the deep, 

 warm waters of the Atlantic. When they make their appear- 

 anoe (on one occasion, Mr. Couch tells its, in a shoal 100 miles 

 long), there is joy on the Cornish cliffs. Of times the mines 

 and fields are deserted by the laborers, who are now required 

 to man the boats. An. anxious interval of suspense occurs, 

 lest the valuable fish should escape the nets of the seiners; 

 but practice has made perfect. Directed by signs from ex- 

 perienced fishermen on the cliffs (called "huers"), the boat- 

 men seldom fail in casting the long seine net round the 

 "school," as it is termed, and then, unless indeed rough 

 weather intervenes, it is an easy matter to remove the spoil 

 from the sea by tuck nets, and carry it in smaller boats to 

 the land. Here a busy scene ensues: some of tbe pilchards 

 are carted off at once to the inland towns, villages and 

 farms; others are pressed and dried for the Mediterranean 

 market; hence the fish are sometimes called the Spanish 

 capon, and the offal is used for manure; nay, sometines 

 the catch is so unmanageably large that the fish themselves 

 are necessarily used in that capacity. It is said, for in- 

 stance, that in one day, in the year 1846, 75,000,000, or 3,000 

 hogsheads (worth about £2 per hogshead) were caught off 

 St. Ives. The capital invested in the Cornish fisheries may 

 bo r-whly stated at about a quarter of a million sterling, 

 and they afford employment for upward of 4,000 people. It 

 is difficult to explain why the pilchard is scarcely ever met 

 with far beyond the limits of the Cornish cost, but its most 

 probable cause is its love for the high temperature of the 

 waters of the Gulf Stream, which, after impinging upon 

 our western shores, cool somewhat rapidly.— Nineteenth 

 Centwy. 



