Stewart MacDonald, M.D.

tree and held up by the roots). The boat was on the in- side of a sandbank and would rock in the waves. I never heard of a boat filling or sinking in a storm, although it would have no shelter from the south wind. I have gone out fishing with Alex, fishing codfish when he was fishing lobsters. He was quite strong and could heave the traps over the side of the boat. I was quite young and quite gullible. I remember him taking down the line saying “catch onto that hook.” No doubt he felt the middle and up he would pull a codfish. I would get terribly seasick but when my feet struck the land, no more sickness.

All the fishermen went over to Pictou at the end of the fishing season and I used to go for the drive. I visited Pictou years before I got to Charlottetown. I recall one trip, we had with us Johnnie Blue, a seaman all his life. He had taken the old car ferry to Russia during the first World War. The day of our trip to Pictou turned out to be very foggy. When we got to where we thought we might turn into Pictou harbour, Alex stopped the engine and we could hear a fishing boat in the distance. Johnnie Blue called out, “Where is Pictou harbour?” and the call came back, “Is that you Johnnie Blue?” “Yes,” he said, “and is that you MacMasters?” They were both on the Russian trip.

When Alex finished his business we started for home. It was so foggy that the last thing we saw was the wharf - not seeing the banks of the harbour. Alex steered due East for an hour on his dollar watch and then turned due North. He had an old box compass. At that time I did not know that the variation from North was about 23 degrees. They went slowly until they were sure we missed Pictou Island. When they thought that we were getting close to the Island shore, Alex would stop the one cylinder engine and call out, and he continued by the

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