We walked ten miles to Portland, and took passage on the steamboat Bangor, which carried us to Owl's Head, where we went on board of a sloop which landed us on North Fox Island at 2 o'clock, a.m., on the 20th.
CHAPTER X.
DESCRIPTION OF VINAL HAVEN—POPULATION AND PURSUIT OF THE PEOPLE—GREAT VARIETY OF FISH—THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL.
The town of Vinal Haven includes both North and South Fox Islands, in lat. 44° north, and long. 69° 10' east. The population numbered, at the time of my visit, about 1,800. The inhabitants were intelligent and industrious, and hospitable to strangers. They got most of their wealth and living by fishing. The town fitted out over one hundred licensed sailing vessels, besides smaller craft.
North Fox Island is nine miles long by two miles in width and had a population of 800. They had a post office, one store, a Baptist church and meeting-house, four school-houses, and a tide grist mill.
The land was rather poor, yet there were some good farms. The products were wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and grass. The principal timber was fir, spruce, hemlock and birch. Raspberries and gooseberries grew in great abundance, and some up-land cranberries were raised. The principal stock of the island were sheep.
South Fox Island comes as near being without any definite form as any spot on earth I ever saw. It would be difficult for any person to describe it. It is about ten miles in length by five in width, and is one universal mass of rocks, formed into shelves, hills, and valleys, and cut up into necks and points to make room for the coves and harbors that run through and through the island.
The population was 1,000. The inhabitants got their living entirely by fishing. There is no chance for farming upon the island, and but a few garden patches, which are cultivated at great expense. Some few sheep are raised there.
Many of the inhabitants fish in the region of Newfoundland, and bring their fish home and cure them on flakes and prepare them for the market. They supply the market with great quantities of cod, mackerel and boxed herring.