From 12 years old until he was forced by age to give up the sea, he had been a fisherman in both the States and Nova Scotia.

There was his share of bad fortune.

He was aboard the Louis J. Hamelin, of Marblehead, Mass, which, on 10 July 1887, was cut in half by the boat "Hibernian" off Cape Breton.

The crew had just enough time to board the foreign ship before theirs disappeared.

They landed at a small village near the North Cape.

They were given a small sailing boat, with which, after four days of travel, they could go to Sydney.

Once he stayed on land, he was busy doing a little carpentry and masonry in the village.