After this period the British trade in fish and the knowledge of the arts of capture expanded rapidly. It is said, as I have already stated, that during our early pursuit of the fishery the Dutch learned much from us, and that, in fact, while we were away founding the Greenland whale-fishery, the people of Holland came upon our seas and robbed us of our fish, and so obtained a supremacy in the art that lasted for many years. At any rate, whatever the Dutch accomplished, we were particularly industrious in fishing. Our seas were covered with busses of considerable tonnage—the average being vessels of fifty tons, with a complement of fourteen men and a master. The mode of fishing then was to sail with the ship into the deep sea, and then, leaving the vessel as a rendezvous, take to the small boats, and fish with them, returning to the large vessel to carry on the cure. The same mode of fishing, with slight modifications, is still pursued at Yarmouth and some other places in England.

The following note of the cost of building and sailing one of the old Scottish herring-busses will illustrate the fishery of the last century:—

Expenses of a Vessel of 60 Tons Burden fitted out for the Herring-Fishery.

To shipbuilder’s account for hull£3450 0
To joiners’ account21100
To blockmaker’s account (paint, etc.)1800
To rope-work account (sails, etc.)16000
To smith’s account (anchors, etc.)22100
To spars, 3 fishing-boats, compasses, etc.5600
Cost of Vessel (forward)£62300
Outfit.
To 462 bushels of salt4500
To 32 lasts herring barrels8000
To 15,000 square yards netting7850
To buoys, etc.840
To provisions for 14 men for 3 months42100
To spirits for men when at work500
To wages, 13 men at 27s. per month52130
To shipmaster’s wages1000
To custom-house clearing0150
Cost of Outfit£94570

Supposing the above vessel to make one-half of her cargo of herrings yearly, which has not been the case for seven years back on an average, the state of account will stand as under:—

Voyage to Herring Fishers and Owners.Dr.
To one-half of salt carried out£2210 0
To one-half of barrels used4800
To tear and wear on nets (one-third worn)2613
To provisions and spirits47100
To wages, including skipper62130
To tear and wear of rigging and vessel, 5 per cent per month30112
To insurance on £957 for 3 months at 2½ per cent27160
To interest on £957 for 3 months11180
To waste on salt, etc., at 10 per cent3100
To freight of herrings to Cork, at 2s. per barrel, 192 barrels1940
To duty on herrings in Ireland, at 1s. per barrel9120
£30555

Contra.Cr.
By 192 barrels herrings at 20s.£1920 0
By debenture on herrings at 2s. 8d.25120
By bounty on 60 tons9000
307120
Gain on home fishery£267
Extra Expenses on such Busses as go to the Irish Fishery—
To duty of 17¾ tons salt in Ireland£101911
To duty on barrels4160
To fees on 3 boats at 42s.660
22111
Loss if upon Irish fishery£19154

Much has also been written from time to time about the great cod-fishery of Newfoundland: it has been the subject of innumerable treatises, Acts of Parliament, and other negotiations, and various travellers have illustrated the natural products and industrial capabilities of these North American seas. The cod-fishery of Newfoundland is undoubtedly one of the greatest fishing industries the world has ever seen, and has been more or less worked for three hundred and sixty years. Occasionally there is a whisper of the cod grounds of Newfoundland being exhausted, and it would be no wonder if they were, considering the enormous capture of that fish that has constantly been going on during the period indicated, not only by means of various shore fisheries, but by the active American and French crews that are always on the grounds capturing and curing. Since the time when the Red Indian lay over the rocks and transfixed the codfish with his spear, till now, when thousands of ships are spreading their sails in the bays and surrounding seas, taking the fish with ingenious instruments of capture, myriads upon myriads of valuable cod have been taken from the waters, although to the ordinary eye the supply seems as abundant as it was a century ago. When my readers learn that the great bank from whence is obtained the chief supply of codfish is nearly six hundred miles long and over two hundred miles in breadth, it will afford a slight index to the vast total of our sea wealth and to the enormous numbers of the finny population of this part of our seas, and the population of which, before it was discovered, must have been growing and gathering for centuries; but when it is further stated—and this by way of index to the extent of this great food-wealth—that Catholic countries alone give something like half a million sterling every year for the produce of these North American seas, the enormous money value of a well-regulated fishery must become apparent even to the most superficial observer of facts and figures.

It is much to be regretted that we are not in possession of reliable annual statistics of the fisheries of Newfoundland, but there are so many conflicting interests connected with these fisheries as to render it difficult to obtain accurate statistics. Mr. Hind, in his recent work on Labrador, gives us a few figures about the fisheries of Nova Scotia and Canada, for which we are thankful. From this work we learn that the fish exported from Nova Scotia in 1860 reached the large sum of $2,956,788, and that 3258 vessels were engaged in the fishery; and Mr. Hind thinks that if we include the fish and fish-oil consumed by the inhabitants, the present annual value of the fisheries to British America must be above $15,000,000, and this estimate even does not include much of the fish that goes directly to Britain. The value of the Labrador fisheries alone has been estimated at one million sterling per annum, and the total value of the fisheries of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the coast of Labrador may be set down as four millions sterling per annum, and the Canadian fisheries, Mr. Hind informs us, are yet in their infancy!