e Saturday August 8^th. 4 P.M.
Last night our fishing tackle was all arranged and as we were to
reach the Point du Monte (where the river St Lawrence loses itself
in the great gulf of the same name) at 3 this morning we stipula-
ted to be called at that hour – Unnecessary precautions. At
3 and at 4 I was on deck but Point du Monte was for all
practical purposes as far off as the Pillars of Hercules. At
six when we all arose it was to a painful experience – We were
becalmed, dead and languid within six miles of the Point before
us and two miles of the Goodbut a famous fishing ground on the
North side of the river, not a breath visited our sails. They flopped
on the masts and the waves formed troughs in which the schooner
rocked uneasily and wearily. Breakfast We threw out our
lines but the water was 100 fathoms deep and not a fish
of any kind grabbed at the tempting bait. Breakfast as
usual was served on the deck, but the uneasy motion of the
vessel sufficed to take Away the appetities to which the
morning meal was to animate – Presently rain fell and
we were driven to the Cabin, an alternative which we did
not long prefer to drenching on the deck – Our sailors were
bewildered. They could not make the vessel move either way

nor yet did they dare ( as they could not anchor) her to
put us on the fishing ground with the small boat. Thus the time
dragged heavily on till noon, when the men summoned courage
to convey Frederick and myself two miles over the waves to a
fishing schooner. It hailed from Dorchester, had been lying here
a month. One hundred barrels of mackerel crowded the deck
the small boat lay alongside filled with Mackerel newly
caught, and the seine doubtless filled with the same fish was
in the act of being drawn in. A small sum of silver secured
to us as many as we can keep fed for two or three days
and we returned to our schooner having a New luxury for our
simple table. Hardly had we dined when we were called on
deck to witness the playing of a whale who had appeared
to introduce us to the Gulf and to [ was in our
voyage to the now nearing coast of Labrador – We have at
last a slight breeze and are passing the long delayed Point Du
Monte – a rocky promontory covered with evergreens which
have never been smitten by human hands.