the top of about a dozen each. The wood of the tree is made into boats, rafters, the frames of houses, and gutters to convey water. The leaves are used for thatching buildings; and are wrought into mats, baskets, and many other things, for which osiers are employed in Europe; so that every part of it is applied to some useful purpose. If the body of the tree be bored, there exudes from the wound a white liquor, called palm wine or toddy. It is very sweet when fresh; kept a few hours, it becomes more poignant and agreeable; but next day it begins to grow sour, and in the space of 24 hours is changed into vinegar. When distilled, it produces the best species of Indian arrack; it also yields a great deal of sugar. Toddy is obtained from several species of palms, but that of the Cocos nucifera is the best. (See Ainslie's Materia Indica Rees's Cyclopædia, &c.) An improvement has recently been effected in the preparation of cocoa oil, which promises to be of much importance in the arts, by making it available in the manufacture of candles and soap, and for various purposes to which it was not previously applicable. The palm oil met with in the market is not obtained from the Cocos nucifera, but from another species of palm. It is chiefly imported from the coast of Guinea. (See PALM OIL.) Cocoa nuts are produced in immense quantities in Ceylon, forming, with their products, - oil, arrack, and coir, the principal articles of export from that island. They are also very abundant in the Maldive Islands, Siam, and on several places of the coast of Brazil. Cocoa oil is in very extensive use all over India, and large quantities are manufactured in the lower provinces of Bengal. This latter is said to be superior to that imported from Ceylon. The duty on cocoa nuts, which is imposed by tale, was judiciously reduced in 1832, from 5s. per 120 on those from a British possession to 1s. per 1,200; those from a foreign country pay 20 per cent. ad valorem. COD (Ger. Kabljau, Bakalau; Du. Kabeljaauw, Baukaelja; Da. Kabliau, Skreitorsk, Bakelau; Sw. Kabeljo, Bakelau; Fr. Morue, Cabillaud; It. Baccala, Baccalare; Sp. Bacalao; Port. Bacalhão; Lat. Gadus), a species of fish, too well known to require any description. "It is amazingly prolific. Leewenhoek counted 9,384,000 eggs in a cod-fish of a middling size; a number that will baffle all the efforts of man to exterminate. In our seas they begin to spawn in January, and deposit their eggs in rough ground, among rocks. Some continue in roe till the beginning of April. "The cod is only found in the northern parts of the world; it is an ocean fish, and never met with in the Mediterranean. The great rendezvous of the cod-fish is on the banks of Newfoundland, and the other sand banks that lie off the coasts of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and New England. They prefer those situations, by reason of the quantity of worms produced in these sandy bottoms, which tempt them to resort there for food. But another cause of the particular attachment the fish have to these spots is their vicinity to the polar seas, where they return to spawn: there they deposit their roes in full security; but want of food forces them, as soon as the more southern seas are open, to repair thither for subsistence. Few are taken to the north of Iceland, but they abound on its south and west coasts. They are also found to swarm on the coasts of Norway, in the Baltic, and off the Orkney and Western Isles; after which their numbers decrease in proportion as they advance towards the south, when they seem quite to cease before they reach the mouth of the Straits of Gibraltar. "Before the discovery of Newfoundland, the greater fisheries of cod were on the seas of Iceland, and off our Western Isles, which were the grand resort of ships from all the commercial nations; but it seems that the greatest plenty was met with near Iceland. The English resorted thither before the year 1415; for we find that Henry V. was disposed to give satisfaction to the King of Denmark for certain irregularities committed by his subjects on those seas. In the reign of Edward IV. the English were excluded from the fishery, by treaty. In later times, we find Queen Elizabeth condescending to ask permission to fish in those seas, from Christian IV. of Denmark. In the reign of her successor, however, no fewer than 150 English ships were employed in the Iceland fishery; which indulgence might arise from the marriage of James with a princess of Denmark."(Pennant's British Zoology.) Cod is prepared in two different ways; that is, it is either gutted, salted, and then barrelled in which state it is denominated green or pickled cod, - or it is dried and cured — in which state it is called dried cod. Ready access to the shore is indispensable to the prosecution of the latter species of fishery. Cod Fishery, British. This fishery, including under the term not only that of common cod, but of haddock, ling, hake, torsk, &c., is of very considerable value and importance. It consists of two grand departments, which may be respectively termed the home, and the distant or colonial fishery. The first is carried on in a great variety of places contiguous to the shores of the British islands; but the most productive and valuable of the adjacent fisheries are those in the neighbourhood of the Shetland and Orkney islands, and off the shores of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincoln, &c. Formerly the principal part of the cod brought to London was taken round the edges of the Dogger-bank, or rather in the hollows between it and the Well-bank; and the finest is still brought from thence. But within the last few years the London market has been in great part supplied with cod taken between Yarmouth and the Nore; and in conse quence of its being procured so much nearer home, the average price of cod has fallen from 30 to 50 per cent. below what it was from 1815 to 1820.-(Report on the Channel Fisheries, p. 85.) This change has occasioned a great increase in the number of fishing smacks belonging to Barking, Gravesend, and other ports on the Thames; while those belonging to Harwich and the more distant ports have been materially reduced. The cod taken by the fishermen of Shetland and the Western Isles is mostly cured dried, but it is partially, also, cured green or in pickle; and it is sometimes, though much seldomer now than formerly, conveyed alive in welled vessels to London. The hadcocks taken on the Aberdeenshire coast, and cured at the village of Finnan, near Aberdeen, are held in the highest estimation. The haddocks taken in Dublin bay are the largest of any taken on the British coasts. There are no means by which to form any estimate either of the number of fishing vessels, or of the quantity or value of the fish annually taken in the home cod fishery; by far the larger portion being landed without account or notice of any kind, and disposed of fresh. The following account contains such particulars only as have been brought under the notice of the commissioners for the improvement of the British fish eries. Account of the Total Quantity of Cod, Ling, or Hake, cured, punched, or branded, and exported, since 1826, in so far as the same has been brought under the Cognizance of the Officers of the Fishery N.B.-The books of this department do not exhibit the total quantity of cod, ling, or hake cured till the year commencing 5th of April, 1825. The bounty from the commencement of this abstract to the 5th of April, 1830, was near 4s. per cwt. for fish cured dried, and 2s. 6d. per barrel for fish cured in pickle, taken by the crews of vessels or boats not on the tonnage bounty; while the bounty vessels licensed for cod, ling, or hake fishery, on the tonnage bounty, was 50s. per ton for tonnage and cargo to the 5th of July, 1826; 45s, from thence to the 5th of July, 1827; 40s. to the 5th of July, 1828; and 35s. to the 5th of April, 1830; when the bounties ceased altogether, and have not since been renewed. Distant Cod Fishery. The great bank of Newfoundland, discovered by John or Sebastian Cabot in 1497, was long, and perhaps still is, the principal seat of the distant cod fishery. The extraordinary_ abundance of cod-fish on its banks having been speedily ascertained, the French, Portuguese, and Spaniards soon after engaged in the fishery. The English were later in coming into the field. In 1578, France had on the banks of Newfoundland 150 vessels, Spain 120 or 130, Portugal 50, and England from 30 to 50. During the first half of last century, the fishery was principally carried on by the English, including the Anglo-Americans, and the French; but the capture of Cape Breton, and of their other possessions in America, gave a severe blow to the fishery of the latter. The American war divided the British fishery; that portion of it which had previously been carried on from New England being thereafter merged in that of the United States. Still, however, we contrived to preserve the largest share. At an average of the 3 years ending with 1789, we are said to have had 402 ships, 1,911 boats, and 16,856 men, engaged in the American fisheries. During last war, the French being excluded from the fisheries, those of England attained to an extraordinary degree of prosperity; the total value of the produce of the Newfoundland fishery in 1814 having exceeded 2,800,000l. But since the peace, the British fishery on the Newfoundland banks has rapidly declined; and can hardly, indeed, be said, at this moment, to exist. It is now carried on almost entirely by the French and the Americans; the facilities enjoyed by the latter for its prosecution being greater than those of any other people, and the former being tempted to engage in it by the extraordinary encouragements afforded by government. At present, the British fishery carried on by the inhabitants of Newfoundland is confined entirely to the shore or boat fishery. But this, though probably not so good a nursery of sailors as the bank fishery, is admitted to be "the most productive of merchantable fish and oil."— (M' Gregor's British America, 2d ed. vol. i. p. 206.) The average annual produce of the fisheries of all sorts, including seal, salmon, &c., exported from Newfoundland, during the 3 years ended with 1832, is stated by Mr. M'Gregor to have amounted to 516,4174. — (Vol. i. p. 161.) A considerable fishery is also carried on from the ports and harbours of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, New Brunswick, &c. But next to that of Newfoundland, the principal British fishery is carried on along the coast of Labrador. We borrow from the valuable work now referred to, the following statements with respect to it : — "During the fishing season, from 280 to 300 schooners proceed from Newfoundland to the different fishing stations on the coast of Labrador, where about 20,000 British subjects are employed for the season. About one third of the schooners make two voyages, loaded with dry fish, back to Newfoundland during the summer, and several merchant vessels proceed from Labrador with their cargoes direct to Europe, leaving, generally, full cargoes for the fishing vessels to carry to Newfoundland. A considerable part of the fish of the second voyage is in a green or pickled state, and dried afterwards at Newfoundland. Eight or nine schooners from Quebec frequent the coast, having on board about 80 seamen and 100 fishermen. Some of the fish caught by them is sent to Europe, and the rest to Quebec; besides which, they carry annually about 6,000 worth of furs, oil, and salmon to Canada. "From Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but chiefly from the former, 100 to 120 vessels resort to Labrador. The burden of these vessels may amount to 6,000 or 7,000 tons, carrying about 1,200 seamen and fishermen. They generally carry the principal part of their cargoes home in a green state. "One third of the resident inhabitants are English, Irish, or Jersey servants, left in charge of the property in the fishing rooms, and who also employ themselves, in the spring and fall, catching seals in nets. The other two thirds live constantly at Labrador, as furriers and seal-catchers on their own account, but chiefly in the former capacity, during winter, and all are engaged in the fisheries during summer. Half of these people are Jerseymen and Canadians, most of whom have families. "From 16,000 to 18,000 seals are taken at Labrador in the beginning of winter and in spring. They are very large; and the Canadians, and other winter residents, are said to feast and fatten on their flesh. About 4.000 of these seals are killed by the Esquimaux. The whole number caught produce about 350 tuns of oil, value about 8,000Z."-(Vol. i. p. 185.) The total produce of the Labrador fishery in 1832 was estimated by Mr. M'Gregor at 302,050.; and he farther estimated the total produce of the British fisheries in the various seas and rivers of America, including seal oil and skins, at an average of the 5 years ending with 1832, at 857,2107. a year. - (Vol. ii. p. 596.) We subjoin An Account of the Quantities and Value of each kind of Fish taken in the Newfoundland Fishery (including that carried on at Labrador by Boats from Newfoundland) in 1837, 1838, and 1839. Note. The number of ships employed in the fisheries cannot be ascertained; the number of boats was 6,159. About eight tenths of the dried fish exported from Newfoundland by British subjects are sent to Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other Continental nations; the rest goes to the West Indies and to Great Britain. The act 5 Geo. 4. c. 51. contains several regulations with respect to the Newfoundland fisheries. Aliens are prohibited from fishing on the coasts, or in the bays or rivers of Newfoundland, excepting, however, the rights and privileges granted by treaty to foreign states at amity with his Majesty. All British subjects may take, cure, and dry fish, occupy vacant places, cut down trees for building, and do other things useful for the trade. - §3. Certificates shall be granted to vessels clearing out for the fishery; and on arrival at Newfoundland a report shall be made of such certificate, and registered; and on leaving the fishery the usual clearance shall be obtained. Vessels having on board any goods other than fish, &c. to forfeit the fishing certificate, - §4. Persons throwing out ballast, &c. to the prejudice of the harbours in Newfoundland, shall be subject to a penalty. - § 5. A contract in writing, specifying wages, and how to be paid, must be entered into with seamen and fishermen. §7. A fisherman is prohibited receiving more than three fourths of his wages during service; but the balance due to him is to be paid immediately upon the expiration of the covenanted time of service. No fisherman to be turned off, except for wilful neglect of duty, or other sufficient cause, under a penalty, for each offence, of not less than 57. nor more than 50L In order to fulfil the conditions in any treaty with a foreign state, his Majesty may empower the governor of Newfoundland to remove any works erected by British subjects for the purpose of carrying on the fishery between Cape St. John and Cape Ray, and to compel them to depart to another place.-§1. Every person so refusing to depart shall forfeit 50. — § 13. The governor is empowered to sell or lease places within the island called Ship-rooms. — § 14. For the regulations, &c. as to the importation of fish into Great Britain, see FISH. It is doubtful whether the distant cod fishery may not have passed its zenith. Spain, Italy, and other Catholic countries, have always been the great markets for dried fish : but the observance of Lent is every day becoming less strict; and the demand for dried fish will, it is most likely, sustain a corresponding decline. The relaxed observance of Lent in the Netherlands and elsewhere has done more than any thing else to injure the herring fishery of Holland. Cod Fishery, American. The Americans have at all times prosecuted the cod fishery with great vigour and success. Their fishermen are remarkable for their activity and enterprise, sobriety, and frugality; and their proximity to the fishing grounds, and the other facilities they possess for carrying on the fishery, give them advantages with which it is very difficult to contend. In 1795, the Americans employed in the cod fishery about 31,000 tons of shipping; in 1807, they are said to have employed 70,306 tons: but it subsequently declined for several years, and was almost entirely suspended during the late war. According to the official returns (laid before Congress the 21st of July, 1842), the Americans had in the year ending the 30th of September, 1841, 66,556 tons shipping engaged in the cod fishery. During the same year they exported 252,199 quintals of dried, and 36,508 barrels of pickled cod; their aggregate value being 751,783 dollars. "The Americans follow two or more modes of fitting out for the fisheries. The first is accomplished by 6 or 7 farmers, or their sons, building a schooner during winter, which they man themselves (as all the Americans on the sea coast are more or less seamen as well as farmers); and after fitting the vessel with necessary stores, they proceed to the banks, Gulf of St. Lawrence, or Labrador; and, loading their vessel with fish, make a voyage between spring and harvest. The proceeds they divide, after paying any balance they may owe for outfit. They remain at home to assist in gathering their crops, and proceed again for another cargo, which is salted down, and not afterwards dried: this is termed mud-fish, and kept for home consumption. The other plan is, when a merchant, or any other, owning a vessel, lets her to 10 or 15 men on shares. He finds the vessel and nets. The men pay for all the provisions, books and lines, and for the salt necessary to cure their proportion of the fish. One of the number is acknow ledged master; but he has to catch fish as well as the others, and receives only about 20s, per month for navigating the vessel: the crew have five eighths of the fish caught, and the owners three eighths of the whole. "The first spring voyage is made to the banks; the second either to the banks, Gulf of St. Lawrence, or the coast of Labrador; the third or fall voyage, is again to the banks; and a fourth, or second fall voyage, is also made, sometimes, to the banks."—(M'Gregor, vol. i. p. 220.) It is stipulated in the first article of a convention between Great Britain and the United States, signed at London, 20th of October, 1818, that the subjects of the United States shall have liberty to take all sorts of fish" on that part of the coast of Newfoundland from Cape Ray to the Rameau Islands, on the western and northern coasts of Newfoundland from Cape Ray to the Quirpon Islands, on the Magdalen Islands, and also on the coasts, bays, harbours, and creeks, from Mount Joly, on the southern coast of Labrador, to and through the Straits of Belleisle, and thence northwardly indefinitely along the coast, without prejudice, however, to any of the exclusive rights of the Hudson's Bay Company; and that the American fishermen shall also have liberty, for ever, to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours, and creeks of the southern parts of the coast of Newfoundland here above described, and of the coast of Labrador; but so soon as the same, or any portion thereof, shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish without previous agreement for such purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors of the ground. And the United States hereby renounce for ever any iberty heretofore enjoyed or claimed by the inhabitants thereof, to take, dry, or cure fish on or within 3 marite miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America not included within the above mentioned limits." The American fishermen are, however, admitted into all bays, &c. for the purpose of shelter, of repairing damages, of purchasing wood, and of obtaining water, and for no other purpose whatever; and when there, they are to be placed under such restrictions as may be necessary to prevent their abusing the privileges hereby reserved to them. Cod Fishery, French. France has always enjoyed a considerable share of the cod fishery. The following Table shows the extent so which she has carried it since the peace. Account of the Number of Ships, with their Tonnage, Crews, and Cargoes, that have entered the different Ports of France from the Cod Fishery during the under-mentioned Years. The quantities of oil are exclusive of draches (huiles non epurés); there are also sounds, &c. Marseilles, Granville, Dunkirk, Bordeaux, La Rochelle, and Nantes, are the principal ports whence ships are fitted out for the fishery. But notwithstanding the apparent prosperity of this branch of industry, it may be doubted whether it be really so beneficial to France as would at first sight appear. It depends more upon artificial regulations than upon any thing else Foreign cod is excluded from the French markets by the oppressive duty with which it is loaded; and the comparatively great demand for dried fish in Catholic countries renders this a very great boon to the French fishermen. But it is admitted that this would not be enough to sustain the fishery; and high bounties are paid to those engaged in it. These, however, have been reduced of late years; and they will probably, in no long time, undergo still further alterations. St. Pierre and Miquelon, small islands on the coast of Newfoundland, belong to the French. Their right of fishing upon the shores of that island, and upon the great bank, was replaced, in 1814, upon the footing on which it stood in 1792. This concession has been much objected to by Mr. M'Gregor and others: we believe, however, that they have materially over-rated its influence. CHART OF THE MOUTHS Prestatyn T HO 43 4 4 4 00 L E 13 ME B 3 5 H1B. R&W: 6 8 S 1 A N K R&W 10 33 8 R&W 4 9 4 SER 3 Sal.Mid" 11⁄2 10D 10 Lit Helbrel. The Eye, 5th M N B 7 نارید me Wharf Salisbury Flats Bank 3 42 E4 Salisbury's Gut MIB Mo sat yon D Deep Mi ug Bugs 12 Spit rkgat dd 1 Cate e wash2 Deep R. M.3 R Flint De E Brombro Pool a AND CE ST Childer Hornton R RA Bridge Tington RIVER MERSEY Woodside odside Basin Cornist Bach Pertre Pelyn croest d Ellesmere Port دی Great Stanney Ince Banks Stanlow House Ince Marshes Thornton Lit.Stanney Stoke LIVERPOOL DOCKS FROM A SURVEY BY J. M. RENDEL F.R.S. I 51 49 Dunham 45 Lane Manley 46 18 14 15 19 38 30 34 50 54 Mouldsworth Ashton Brook Middle Lit Upton Mollington Upton Word Plemshall 47 51 45 Lit.Soughall Guilden Bache Great Barrow 21 London, Longman & Co. |