THE BANK TRAWL LINE COD FISHERY. 177 



spray from our oars, for it was my habit to go out with the dories nearly always in order to watch 

 the men, to hear their talk, and to enjoy the excitement of a row iu the little dory so far from any 

 vessel and from land. In case of fog, however, and this was very often the case, the prospect 

 was vastly different. At that distance nothing could be seen and nothing could be heard, but the 

 men seemed to know just where they were, and, in the most perfect confidence, pulled lustily into 

 the thick fog-bank. During this time the skipper, on board, has been ringing a huge fog-bell. 

 As the dory drew near the vessel, within a distance of one or two tubs of trawl, this was heard as 

 a dull and very distant muffled sound ; by degrees, as they drew nearer, the sound became better 

 defined, and finally the outlines of the vessel loomed dimly upward. At the first hearing of the 

 fog-bell the men were much puzzled to know from what point the sound proceeded, but by listen- 

 ing intently they were finally able to guess nearly, and by further rowing to take the right direc- 

 tion. When once alongside, the dory Mas hauled on board by tackles, hooked at each end, and 

 deposited in its place for the night. After this had been done the men took the bearing of the 

 outside buoy, not by seeing where it was, for at that distance the black ball was absolutely invis- 

 ible, but by an inference from the direction in which they had returned to the vessel. The 

 necessity of this is apparent, as during the night, with changes of wind and tide, the vessel may 

 alter her position and by morning point to some other quarter. Then he, who on the evening 

 previous pulled away from the bow to set his trawl, may in the morning have to pull out from 

 the stern in order to find it. 



The time spent in setting the trawl and getting back to the schooner was usually one hour, 

 and on clear nights the dories came in and were hauled on board just as the sun was dropping 

 out of sight in the western ocean. 



METHOD or UNDEJKRUNNING. In the Eeport of the U. S. Fish Commission for 1871-'72 a 

 method of trawling is described which is not the one ordinarily followed on the Grand Bank, but 

 a variation from it used because of its convenience in certain cases. This method is termed 

 " under running," and its advantage is that it permits the removal of the fish from the hooks and 

 the baiting up of the hooks in a single operation, thus saving a good deal of labor. But a very 

 slight change in the form of the apparatus is necessary for use in underrunning, and the set is 

 made in the same way as the set for hauling. Instead of fastening the ground-line to the anchor- 

 ring the fisherman fastens it to a stone and this stone to a line running some distance and then 

 joined to the buoy-line. In hauling, the buoy-line is pulled up until this line running to the stone 

 is reached. This is then pulled and the anchor is not disturbed. Finally, when the trawl begins 

 to come iu it is hauled over the side of the dory by one man who removes the fish and the hooks 

 baited up and thrown over by the other man. In this way they haul, bait up, and set the trawl in 

 one single operation. Underruuuing is used when the fish are abundant, but as this was not the 

 case dining any part of the trip last summer, I never saw it employed and describe it only from 

 hearsay. 



MODE OF HAULING THE TRAWL. At an early hour in the morning the men turned out to 

 their breakfast and at sunrise hoisted their dories over the side and prepared for hauling. The 

 thwarts were fixed and the oars laid across them, the five empty tubs were placed in the stern, the 

 dory-knife and the roller and the nippers were looked to, also the gaff, the gob-stick, and the 

 bailer, and when all these were found to be present the men tumbled into their dories and pulled 

 away in various directions, according to the bearings of their outer buoys. After pulling about 

 one mile they usually began to look for the black ball, on a clear day, yet, even if it did not appear, 

 they continued to row in the same direction until it came in sight. Having reached the buoy the 

 bowman hauled it in, and, catching the buoy line, allowed the buoy to tow alongside. Throwing the 

 SEC v 12 



