88 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



basis of these industries, the ever-present article of trade 

 with the West Indies, Africa, Southern Europe and Lon- 

 don, the corner-stone of New England prosperity. Per- 

 haps no better opportunity is afforded for learning of the 

 cosmopolitan character of the New England cod and its 

 influence in shaping trade and commerce at home and 

 abroad than is to be found in the writings, correspondence 

 and business activities of Peter Fanueil. 1 



The schooner type of vessel which had its advent at 

 Gloucester in 1713 rapidly superseded the old-time shallop 

 as a fishing vessel. At Gloucester a few schooners had 

 been added to the fleet by 1720, many of them being of 

 a burden of fifty tons and suitable for trips to the Grand 

 Bank of Newfoundland and other distant offshore banks. 

 They were two-masted, with short high-pointed bowsprit, 

 a low bow, straight keel and high sterns. About seventy 

 schooners belonged at Gloucester in 1741, being engaged 

 principally in the Grand Bank fishery. The crews of ves- 

 sels were then accustomed to "go on their own hook,' 

 which meant that an account was kept daily of the number 

 of fish caught by each member of the crew. At the end 

 of the voyage each man was paid according to the number 

 of fish he had caught. 2 



At this time Marblehead owned 160 vessels of an average 

 of fifty tons. The whole number of fishing vessels in 

 Massachusetts was not less than four hundred, with an 

 equal number of ketches, shallops and undecked boats. 3 

 The outbreak of another war with France, in 1744, checked 

 the colonial fisheries for a brief time and turned the atten- 

 tion to the more exciting experiences of foreign conquest 

 and military campaigns. 



After the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, the French lost no 



1 Weeden, II, pp. 614-615. 



2 Fisheries of Gloucester, pp. 22-24. 

 s Sabine, p. 131. 



