NEWFOUNDLAND. 2 letters, Caen 1830 and Havre de Carouge 1833 - Lot 542

Lot n° 542
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400 - 500 EUR
NEWFOUNDLAND. 2 letters, Caen 1830 and Havre de Carouge 1833 - Lot 542
NEWFOUNDLAND. 2 letters, Caen 1830 and Havre de Carouge 1833; 1 and 2 pages, in-4 format, with addresses and postmarks. On the cod fishery in Newfoundland. Caen, February 28, 1830. L. CAPITAINE, “medical student,” to Mr. Magonné [Mengnonnet?], shipowner in Granville, requesting to serve as a medical officer on one of the shipowner’s vessels departing for Newfoundland. Carouge Harbor [Newfoundland], August 3, 1833. Lieutenant LE BRETON, to Sebert the Elder, merchant in Saint-Brieuc. “I took advantage of the departure of the brig L’espiègle to inform you of our meager fishing success so far: we have 900 to 1,000 quintals of cod, four barrels of cod liver oil, and about seven barrels in the hold”… Upon his arrival on the coast, the weather was bad, and it got worse. “On July 31, we were hit by a very violent gale […] This storm claimed many victims; since then, I have had no news of François Lequyer, along with Ruen and Troquer—all three from the town of Pordic—and four boats from Le Havre are still missing. This morning six were missing, which still gives me hope […] Since the 27th of last month, I have received no news from Bel-Isle; at that time, the Paix had about 500 quintals of cod, and they were catching between 50 and 70 quintals of cod per day. Boutitou [Newfoundland] was doing a little better than us at that time. All the northern ports are doing very poorly; the Canary Islands are only catching half their usual catch. […] The further south we go, the better the fishing gets. If the bad weather would just let up, I think that, like last year, we would be catching cod with the seine until the 20th of next month—provided, of course, that the fish come close enough to the coast, since our very strict regulations for nets limit our fishing depth, especially when the weather is as bad as it has been this year, which causes the fish to stay in deeper water. Since the fishing season has started so late, combined with the rough seas that prevent us from washing the cod, we find ourselves unable to make the first catch with the Concorde. Today our seines caught about 60 qaux of cod. The strong northwesterly wind prevented the boats from returning from the islands”…
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