about 50 fathoms and which constitute the larger of the fishing grounds.
In addition to these, many smaller banks and "fishing spots" are found
nearer the land where they lie a along the 50-fathom curve.

In general this curve lies at a distance of about 16 miles from the
coast line, but in many instances it approaches much neared to the
mainland. From this 50-fathom depth the soundings decrease very
gradually to the 20 and 10 fathom marks.

These latter soundings are often held far in toward the coast line, even
carrying the deep water well into the river mouths, so that in deeply
indented hays, in long inlets running far into land, in the river
mouths, the deep water behind the rocky headlands, or in the lee of the
thousands of surf-washed islands that line the coast, are found
innumerable safe anchorages within easy run of the fishing grounds,
where the fleets may take shelter from a sudden blow or await the
arrival of a "fish day," when conditions may permit "making a set" under
the hardships of winter fishing.

If the marine features of this region are radically different from those
of other coastal bodies of the eastern United States, so, too, the shore
land, battered as it has been by sea and storm or worn by glacial action
or Arctic currents, is no less remarkable.

No other section of the eastern United States has a similar coast, so
serrated, indented, and rugged, as has this shore line of the Gulf of
Maine. Here the battering by the forces of nature has resulted in making
thousands of safe harbors and havens for the navigator. All along shore
are strewn hundreds of islands, a characteristic feature of the region
and one noted with wonder by every early explorer. [6] These islands, if