8o TOURING QUEBEC AND THE MARITIMES

from the fleet, which are fitted out for the coasting trade, after their fishing operations for the season have been completed. Returning, these vessels bring cargoes of salt for use in the industry during the following season.

The fishing season extends over a period from the first of March until the end of September. During this time, three trips are made. The first, called the frozen baiting trip, from the fact that the bait used has been in cold storage during the winter, no fresh bait being avail- able so early in the year, lasts about four weeks. This is immediately followed by the spring trip. On these two trips, the fishing operations are carried on both on the Banks off Nova Scotia and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The fleet returning home some time about the first of June, catches are landed, and the vessels refitted for the summer trip on the Grand Banks, off Newfoundland. At the end of September, on their return home, the schooners are stripped of their sails and all loose equipment, and are anchored in the harbour during the winter months.

The working day of the fisherman is a long and stren- uous one. Before the first faint streaks of sunlight in the eastern sky herald the dawn of a new day, the fisherman is up and about, seeing that his trawl is baited and in proper shape for the firstset which is made about four o’clock. If the fish are at all plentiful, four sets will be made

and the last fish landed on the schooner, his labours have not been completed. There is no rest for any one until the last fish has been properly dressed, salted and placed in the hold of the vessel. If the day’s catch is up to the average, this will keep them occupied until well after mid— night. Then and not till then is he at liberty to turn in and enjoy his three or four hours’ sleep, till awakened by the cook’s call to another day of arduous toil.