420 
BULLETIN OP THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
serious descriptions of the phenomenon as something with a . 
probable fact basis. The best account of the latter type that I 1 
have seen, written apparently by Mr. A. M. Belding, appeared , 
some years ago in the St. John Sun. It reads in part as 
follows - 
The extent to which a visitor may be impressed by the story of the 
phantom ship depends a good deal on the source of the information. Hon. 
Robert Young [of Caraquet] will tell you, for example, that frequently at 
night before ia storm a large light may be seen on the surface of the bay. 
It may be seen in winter, when the ice has formed, as well as in summer, 
and ilt is not confined to any one portion of the bay. Sometimes it is much 
brighter than at other times and appears to dance along the surface. 
Joseph Poirier said he had seen it so bright that the reflection would 
appear on the houses at Grande Anise. Rev. Father Allard said he had seen 
it several times this iseason. Ini fact it appears to be quite a common 
phenomenon, though nobody is able to explain its cause Those who 
decline to place full reliance in this interesting story [viz. the fanciful 
legend] nevertheless admit that sometimes the mysterious light emits rays 
that shoot inlto and athwart the gloom, and might by a particularly well- 
nourished imagination be likened to the flame-lit rigging of a ship. 
The information I have myself been able to collect from those 
who have seen the light is as follows. Of course I have sifted 
all testimony to the best of my ability, eliminating all exaggera- 
tions and embellishments, whether these be due to the habit of all 
humanity to make a story as big and good as possible, or to the 
common tendency to gull an impressionable stranger, or to mere 
ignorance, superstition or mendacity. 
Four years ago Captain Turner of Riverside, Albert County, 
a clear-headed sea captain, told me, in answer to my mention of 
the fire-ship as a freak of the imagination, that he had himself 
seen it and hence knew it to exist. Later, on my first visit to 
Caraquet, I was told by a lady in whose word I have absolute 
confidence, that her attention was attracted one night by a light 
off Caraquet, which looked so much like a vessel afire that she 
supposed it to be one of her husband’s schooners, and called him 
in alarm, only to find that it was the fire-ship. A prominent resi- I 
dent of Miscou, Mr. James Harper, told me he has seen it but 
once, in the winter on the ice off Clifton. It was seemingly some 
