Celerity on the surface of the ocean.
The schooners are from twenty to fifty tons, carry six or seven men, and
one or two boys. When they make a tolerable voyage, they bring over five
or six hundred quintals of fish, salted and stowed in bulk. At their
arrival, the fish is rinced in salt water, and spread on hurdles composed
of brush-wood, and raised on stakes three or four feet from the ground.
They are kept carefully preserved from the rain: they should not be wet
from the time they are first spread on the hurdle till they are boiled for
the table.
"This fishery has not of late years been prosecuted with the same spirit
it was fifty or sixty years ago, when the shores were covered with
fish-flakes, and seven or eight ships were annually loaded for Spain or
Portugal, beside what was carried to the West Indies. Afterward they found
it more convenient to cure the fish at Corscaw, which was nearer to the
banks. It was continued there to great advantage till 1744, when it was
broken up by the french war. After the peace it revived, but not in so
great a degree as before. Fish was frequently cured in the summer on the
eastern shores and islands, and in the spring and fall at home.
"Previously to the late revolution the greater part of remittances were
made to Europe by the fishery; but it has not yet recovered from the shock
which it received by the war with Britain: it is however in the power of
the Americans to make more advantage of the cod-fishery perhaps than, any
of the european nations. We can fit out vessels at less expense, and by
reason of the westerly winds, which prevail on our coasts in February and
March, can go to the banks earlier in the season than the Europeans, and
take the best fish. We can dry it in a clearer air than the foggy shores
of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. We can supply every necessary from among
ourselves; vessels, spars, sails, cordage, anchors, lines, hooks, and
provision. Salt can be imported from abroad cheaper than it can be made at
home, if it be not too much loaded with duties. Men can always be had to
go on shares, which is by far the most profitable way, both to the
employer and fisherman. The fishing banks are an inexhaustible source of
wealth; and the fishing business is a most excellent nursery for seamen;
it therefore deserves every encouragement and indulgence from an
enlightened and rational legislature."
_Boston, March 4th, 1797._
DEAR FRIEND,
Being very busy in making preparation for my voyage to England, I have not
leisure to write you a long epistle, but enclose you one I sent to an
american friend in the south. - Farewell.
This will most likely be the last letter you will receive from me on this
side of the Atlantic. The French have already taken two hundred sail of
american vessels. I hope my next may not be dated from _Brest_.
_To Mr. - - - - ,_
_State of - - - - ._
DEAR SIR,
In consequence of my promise at parting, I sit down to give you some
account of _Yankee Land_. You were perfectly right in telling me I
should find the New England states very different from your part of
America.
The first object that would strike you is the population of the country.
In one day's journey through Connecticut, I saw as many towns, villages,
and houses, as I ever remember seeing, when travelling the same distance
in England; a prospect you _Buck-skins_ can have no idea of.
The next is the beauty of the women, (I beg their pardon; that would be
the _first_ object that would strike _you!_) Their great superiority in
that respect may be accounted for, from their being of _engllsh_ descent.
Your women have not all that _advantage_, ('True english prejudice this!'
methinks I hear you mutter): great part are of _dutch_, or _german_
descent. The close iron stoves they have introduced among you are terrible
enemies to beauty. Why you so obstinately persist in a custom so
prejudicial to health, I cannot imagine. Your plea, that the coldness of
the climate makes them indispensable, I can-not admit of; you know, that
we are here three degrees to the north of you, and that the present is the
coldest winter since the year 1780-81; and yet I have not seen a close
stove since I left New York. The tavern bills in these states are
near one hundred per cent under yours. The exorbitant charges of your
tavern-keepers are a disgrace to the country: I could never account for
your submitting so quietly to their impositions.
Whether it be owing to the abolition of negro slavery, and the sale of
irish, and german redemptioners, (which, by the by, is nearly as bad, and
ought not to be tolerated in a free country,) or to the great population,
or to the produce of the land being of less value than in the south: I say
whether it be owing to any, or to all of these causes, I know not; but
certain it is, a greater strain of industry runs through all ranks of
people than with you; and it is equally certain, that the lower order of
citizens receive a better education, and of course are more intelligent,
and better informed. This you will not wonder at, when I tell you there
are seven free schools in Boston, containing about nine hundred scholars,
and that in the country schools are in a still greater proportion. They
are maintained by a tax on every class of citizens, therefore education
may be claimed by _all_ as a _right_.
This climate is much colder, compared with yours, than I can account for
geographically; but it may perhaps be owing to our having a greater
proportion of easterly winds, which, coming immediately from the banks of
Newfoundland, are attended with a cloudy sky, and thick atmosphere.
