THE BLACKFISH AND PORPOISE FISHERIES. 309 



dropped and a smaller net, made of heavy rope, was used to drag them upon the shore. The outer 

 nets were usually made with 11-inch mesh, while the inner was but 9 inches. Though the porpoise 

 seldom tried to break through the net they often jumped over the cork line, and it is said that if 

 one jumped it was difficult to keep the rest from following, and that they would often jump 4 to fi 

 feet out of the water. 



An average catch in former years was from four to five hundred porpoise to the season, 

 requiring from five to six for a barrel of oil. The crews usually numbered from fifteen to eighteen 

 men, and the season lasted from the latter part of December to the 1st of April, some fishing as 

 late as the 15th of April. There seems to be a growing disposition on the part of the fishermen 

 to resume this fishery, but it requires an outlay of about $400 for nets and boats, and few have 

 the money to invest in this way. During April, 1880, the porpoise were very abundant, and it 

 was a common occurrence to see droves of fifty to a hundred together, while the fishermen say 

 that they were even more abundant earlier in the season. 



WATCH OIL FROM PORPOISE AND BLACKFISH. "About the year 1816," says Caleb Cook, of 

 Provincetown, ''sailors and fishermen having caught a porpoise on their voyage, would sometimes 

 extract the oil from the jaw-bone and give it to carpenters and those who used oil stones for sharp- 

 ening their tools. Finding in this way that it did not gum or glue, suggested the idea that it was 

 just what was wanted for a nice lubricator. It was noticed that the weather at zero would not 

 congeal it, neither would it corrode on brass. 



"Watchmakers were then using olive oil as the only fitting oil for watches; but by experi- 

 menting with the porpoise-jaw oil they found it superior to the olive or any other oil, consequently 

 the sailors and fishermen found a ready market for all they were able to obtain. 



" This state of things continued until the year 1829, when a shoal of blackfish, about forty in 

 number, was taken at Provincetown, Mass., being the first for many years. Solomon Cook of that 

 town took from the jaws of these blackfish a few gallons of oil and sent it to Ezra Kelley, of New 

 Bedford, Mass., a skillful watchmaker, to be tested for watch oil. Mr. Kelley soon found that 

 this oil was superior to the porpoise oil, as it had more substance and less chill. He contracted 

 with Mr. Cook to supply him from year to year until 1840, when the latter died, and his son sup- 

 plied Mr. Kelley until the demand was so great that the jaws of the blackfish were not sufficient 

 to supply the market. 



" Porpoise-jaw oil can be refined a little by exposure to the cold at zero, and in that state, 

 with the atmosphere at zero, it is strained through a cotton-flannel strainer made in the shape of 

 a cone, but when filtered through paper it is so limpid that it has no lubricating properties what- 

 ever, and becomes useless. This oil is called porpoise-jaw oil, but is taken from the blackfish, 

 belonging in the family of whales, by a method known only to myself. It is warranted not to 

 congeal at zero, though it will thicken and turn a little milky in appearance. It is warranted not 

 to corrode on brass or rust on steel, and it will not glue on the finest watch. Ezra Kelley, of New 

 Bedford, has made it a business for years to put it up for watch use, and has led in the market, 

 while B. H. Tisdale, of Newport, R. I., and I. M. Bachelder, of Boston, are getting quite popular in 

 the European market. 



" Caleb Cook, youngest sou of Solomon, from scientific experiments, did discover, about the year 

 1832, that the melon oil of the blackfish was far superior to the jaw oil in every respect, so much 

 so, that Mr. Kelley, who had about this time become very popular in preparing this oil for the trade, 

 would not buy it until he was told what it was produced from, and from that time to the present 

 (1870) Caleb Cook's blackfish-melou (watch) oil has been refined by Kelley, of New Bedford, Batchel- 

 der, of Boston, Tisdale, of Newport, and many others on a smaller scale, for the world's use. Since 



