YARROW ON SHAD RIVERS SOUTH OF THE POTOMAC. 399 



may be had for 50 cents per 1,000. They appear early ia April, at which 

 time the spawn is well advanced. I learned from the fishermen that it 

 was the cnstom of the herring to deposit its eggs near the head-waters 

 of rivers and creeks. 



It may not be nninteresting to mention that, according to Mr. 

 W. W. Nutt, of Wilmington, mackerel appeared in the Cape Fear 

 Eiver for the first time in the fall of 1872 ; bnt the people knowing 

 nothing about them declined to use them as an article of food; bunches 

 of from six to eight found few purchasers at twenty-five cents the bunch. 

 Sturgeon are so numerous in the Cape Fear as almost to i^reclude the 

 possibility of drift-fishing in the month of April. 



I next proceeded to New Berne, N. C, which is situated at the conflu- 

 ence of the Trent and Neuse Rivers. The latter of these rivers has for 

 years been celebrated not only for the fine quality of its shad, but for 

 the very great number taken annually. In this river the decrease in the 

 supply, if there is any, is hardly perceptible ; although I was informed 

 by trustworthy observers that, notwithstanding double the number of 

 men are now engaged in fishing, no more fish are brought to market 

 than was usual ten years ago ; from which it might be inferred that the 

 supply is not as great as formerly. Most of the fishing is by means of 

 drift-nets, although a certain number of draw-seines are also employed. 

 From what I could gather. Goose Island, a short distance above Xew 

 Berne, is the locality aftbrding the greatest number of fisli. At this 

 place Messrs. Pettiford, Brinson, Vincent, and others own extensive 

 fisheries. These gentlemen estimated the daily catch as varying from 50 

 to 250 fish, 100 probably being a fair average. At this point there is a 

 number of small islands, with narrow channels between, of a depth of 

 20 feet, wherein the shad appear to resort for the purpose of spawning, 

 as their eggs are frequently found floating in the water, and, at this 

 date, running out of the fish when netted. 



Mr. Parish, who owns a fishery on the Trent, just opposite the city, 

 (but whose specialty is herring-fishing,) caught 199 shad at one haul 

 last year. Up to the present time, this year, his largest haul is 128. 

 He uses a net 500 yards in length and 125 meshes deep, the meshes 

 being IJ inches in size. The first shad of the season, in any number, at 

 this point, were taken February 14, since which time the supply has 

 been steadily increasing. The season will close the latter part of April. 

 At the r>resent time no fewer than 2,000 nets of different kinds are in 

 operation between the mouth of the Neuse Eiver and Goldsboro, N 

 C, and if this industry is continued we must expect, in a short time, the 

 same deplorable scarcity of shad here as in the rivers farther south. 



Mr. B. B. Lane, another intelligent fisherman, and also for many 

 years a dealer, informs me as follows : " Shad generally make their first 

 appearance in the Neuse in the middle of January, the first one of this 

 year being caught January 9. During the present season, from the 



