THE COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES 417 



realizing his ideal of the public museum he wished to 

 bring together. He went into the subject with his usual 

 energy and system. His monographic work increased 

 his interest still further, and his two summers on the coast 

 of New Jersey led his mind toward the problems connected 

 with the fisheries. In the Summer of 1863, the first 

 visit to Wood's Hole was made, and every year he more 

 and more realized the importance of a thorough investi- 

 gation into the causes of the decrease of the food fishes 

 along our coast. 



"In the Summer of 1870, Professor Henry set apart 

 from the Smithsonian funds the sum of one hundred 

 dollars to aid in the investigations which were being made, 

 and the Treasury Department granted the use of the 

 Mazeppa, a sloop yacht about thirty feet in length (part 

 of the outfit of the New Bedford Custom House), for 

 my father's use in prosecuting his work. The next year 

 (1871) the first appropriation was made by Congress, 

 and Mr. Henry Ensign Rockwell became attached to the 

 Fish Commission as stenographer, ultimately becoming 

 my father's regular secretary. 



"The first plan of the Fish Commission did not con- 

 template anything but an exhaustive investigation of the 

 fisheries and the reasons for their decrease. Senator 

 George F. Edmunds and my father together drew up 

 the bill; and, upon Mr. Edmunds' representation of the 

 case to President Grant, my father was appointed, to 

 serve without salary. The clause in the bill in regard to 

 the salary was a point upon which my father insisted, 

 receiving during his life time no compensation beyond 

 his own personal expenses during the summer, or when 

 absent on Fish Commission business. The bill as drawn 



and passed required that the Commissioner should be 

 27 



