416 GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



ermeu, ami eveii here there is no real fishery for them. If a man desires to obtain a few lobsters 

 for his own table he can usually do this by setting a trap about the breakwater, arid occasionally 

 one or more of these crustaceans are hauled ashore in the drag-seines and gill-nets. Capt. W. M. 

 Fowler, of Lewes, says that about 1873 a pound was built for the capture of the Spanish mackerel 

 (Scombcromorus mactilutits) just below where the wooden pier now stands. This, however, did not 

 prove a success, for though large quantities of other fish were taken, but few Spanish mackerel 

 were caught, and after being kept up for about two seasons the net was removed and no pounds 

 have since been constructed in this locality. 



154. THE FISHING TOWNS SOUTH OF CAPE HENLOPEN. 



REHOBOTH BEACH. Rehoboth Beach, GJ miles distant from Lewes in a southeasterly direc- 

 tion, is a small watering-place facing the Atlantic Ocean on the one side and Rehoboth Bay on 

 the other. Here have been constructed about twenty-five cottages and two hotels for the accom- 

 modation of summer residents, many of whom come to this place to attend camp-meeting as well 

 as to be benefited by the ocean breezes. The resident population is about sixty, all of whom 

 depend mainly on farming and mechanical pursuits, as well as upon catering to the wants of the 

 summer residents. There is, properly speaking, no fishing carried on by the men of this place, 

 though occasionally the fishermen of Lewes resort to this locality to fish in the waters of Rehoboth 

 Bay. The statistics, therefore, of the catch, as well as of the men and apparatus employed, have 

 been incorporated with those of Lewes. 



ANGOLA. The next town south of Lewes, at which any fisheries are carried on, is Angola, 

 situated on the west side of Rehoboth Bay, and having a scattered population of about 500. It is 

 about 9 miles distant in a southerly direction from Lewes, lying nearly midway between the latter 

 town and Millsbourough, ou Indian River. The principal occupation of the people is farming, 

 though a considerable number of the men engage in fishing during the spring and winter months, 

 following their agricultural pursuits at other times. There are fifty-five men in this town employed 

 in the fisheries, two of whom depend wholly upon this industry for a livelihood. The apparatus 

 includes sixteen boats, valued at $320; eight gill-nets, worth $40; fourteen haul-seines, worth 

 8420; and one hundred and twenty eel-pots, valued at 860. 



The fisheries are carried on in the waters of Rehoboth Bay aud the streams which empty into 

 it. The products of this fishery are 135,300 pounds of auadroinous and sea fish, 3,000 pounds of 

 fresh-water fish, 108 terrapin, and 4,992 crabs. The most important fishery in regard to the 

 amount of fish taken is that for herring, of which 50,000 pounds were caught in 1880, but in point 

 of value this is exceeded both by the fishery for rock and perch, of each of which it is estimated 

 28,000 pounds were taken in the same year. A portion of this catch is shipped by rail to Phila- 

 delphia aud other markets. A large percentage of the fish taken are consumed locally or sold to 

 farmers from the interior towns. 



MILLSBOBOTJGH. The village of Millsborough, situated on Indian River, is 8 or 10 miles dis- 

 tant in a southwesterly direction from Angola, and has a population of about 300. As a rule 

 people depend largely on agricultural pursuits; though, owing to the fact of the railroad pass- 

 ing through this village, and its convenience to the excellent fishing grounds of Indian River and 

 Bay, it is a. center of a considerable fishery, the most important to be found in the State south of 

 Cape Heulopeu. There are one hundred and eighty-eight fishermen employed here, ten of them 

 depending wholly on the fisheries for a livelihood, while the remainder divide their time between 

 fishing and farming. An important feature of this place is the number of people employed in the 

 summer season in catching soft crabs, which are shipped to the markets of New York and Phila- 



