352 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



obtained a supply of specimens and preserved them in alcohol. We were 

 hospitably entertained for the night at Mr. Chapman's house. 



We went again on board in the morning and proceeded down the 

 river to Stony Point, Va., before landing. The large seine, belonging to 

 the Gibson heirs, is worked here. This is over 1,G00 fathoms, or 9,600 

 feet, in length, and the linear extent of seine and lines is nearly five 

 miles. A steam-engine is employed at either end, one of fourteen horse- 

 power and one of eight. But two hauls are made in twenty-four hours, 

 one on each ebb of tide. The haul wkich should have come on shore 

 while we were there was prevented by the stubborn churlishness of the 

 captain of a little vessel, who anchored within the circuit of the seine 

 while it was being laid down, and refused to move his vessel out of the 

 way, though Gibson proposed to send his men on board to lift the anchor. 

 Calculating the time lost by eighty men, the lost trip of the tug char- 

 tered for the season, and the sustenance of the men during the lost 

 time, which is by no means the whole outlay, the amount would be 

 about $83. 



Mr. Ferguson and I crossed over to High Point, Va., one of the larger 

 fisheries, where we found the ordinary 1,000 fathoms seine managed 

 with one eight horse-power engine. Proceeding to the Occoquan-Bay 

 side of the point, we examined the shores, hoping to find a locality, shel- 

 tered from the winds and sea, that might answer as a shad-hatching 

 station, We found a cove, landlocked from all points save southwest. 

 Prom this direction the wind had a sweep of the entire width of the 

 Potomac for' fifteen miles, and the bars near by, that might cut off the 

 action of the waves, were not shoal enough to prevent a sea sufficient to 

 affect our hatching-boxes. 



We returned to the steamer with additions to our collections, and 

 steamed for Quantico, Va. Mr. Goode, Mr. Moseley, and Dr. Chapman 

 left us at this point. We came to anchor for the night off Blackistone 

 Island. 



On the morning of the 29th we were early under way, and entered 

 Chesapeake Bay, keeping close along the west shore. The Maryland 

 State steamer "Lela" was seen near the mouth. At Mr. Ferguson's 

 request, the captain consented that we should obtain a pilot for the 

 Patuxent from the oyster police boat, a short distance up the river. 



We found the State oyster- boat at Drum Point, some distance up the 

 Patuxent Bay, and took on board Captain Forrest, who was to pilot us 

 to the head of navigation at Bristol, if the draught of our steamer would 

 permit her to ascend so far. 



At the lower end of the river, numerous oyster-dredging schooners 

 were seen, occasionally of considerable size. They were all busily en- 

 gaged, as it was near the end of the season. The law prohibiting taking 

 oysters after April 30, the entire fleet had to make their cargoes by the 

 next night, when they would all set sail for market. 



As we got higher up the river, no dredgers were seen, the tongs- men 



