NATIONALITY AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 11 



When at Lome the fisherman of tins class passes most of bis time in lounging about with bis 

 companions, relating personal ail ventures and talking superficially over the outlook. Not possess- 

 ing a " business bead," be does not carry these speculations farther than to " bope for better luck." 

 Tbe same time spent in bunting for bait, scarce as it is, might better serve to realize bis hopes. 

 He may, despite bis failings, bo considered as honest, good-hearted, and contented witb bis lot, 

 or perhaps we may better express it, resigned to fate. 



Education. — Education is not in an advanced state. There are schools iu almost all of the. 

 fisbing towns, where winter and summer sessions are held, attended by tbe young of botb sexes. 

 Tbe boys are taken away permanently from school as soon as they are considered useful, leaving the 

 inference a fair one tbat tbe girls are better educated when tbey leave school than the boys. The 

 means of supplying food for the boys' minds being so limited it is not strange that their beads are 

 undisturbed by constant planning of great schemes having for their end the accumulation of wealth. 



Financial condition. — The fishermeu of the present time have lost the privilege of obtain 

 iug on credit articles of food, &c, from tbe storekeepers, who, on account of tbe tendency on the 

 part of the former to avoid the payment of their bills, have in the past lost heavily. Formerly the 

 fishermen were good customers, buying extensively and making exertions to fulfill their obligations. 



A fair average return per annum to tbe fisherman, since 1S75, when bait began to be scarce and 

 the price of fish to diminish, is estimated at $175; in 1879, however, the majority did not realize 

 $100 apiece. 



Fishermen at Georgetown. — The shore- fishermen of the Kennebec side of Georgetown 

 are mostly engaged iu pound fishing, but a few are interested in boat fishing for cod, haddock, 

 hake, and pollock. They are almost wholly dependent for their support upon the money obtained 

 by the sale of their fish. Iu summer, however, a few weeks are spent in picking and shipping 

 berries, and in digging clams or cutting ice in winter. They do not engage in any one particu- 

 lar kind of fishing, but turn their attention to that which they believe to be the most profitable 

 at tbe time. Some of tbese men always return at night; others, known as "campers," start in the 

 spring with a small stove, blankets, and some cooking utensils, staying away until some necessity 

 compels them to leave for home. The returns earned in this way used to equal the average 

 returns of the deep sea fishermen, but for the past three or four years tbe case has been very 

 different. 



BoAT-FlsnERMEN OF PORTLAND. — The boat ■fishermen of Portland live, for the most part, on 

 tbe islands in tbe vicinity of the city and at Cape Elizabeth, both for economy and for convenience 

 in getting to and from the fishing grounds. This class represents the better element, being very 

 largely composed of married men, who prefer to undergo lonesome hardship iu their little boats 

 remaining near home to being separated from those dear to them in large vessels for a long time. 

 It is estimated that the married boat-fishermen of Portland number one hundred and ten, and that 

 they possess an average of about three children each. 



3. THE VESSEL-FISHERMEN OF MAINE. 



General characteristics. — The fishing vessels of Maine are largely manned by men of 

 American birth, most of them natives of this State, who have followed the fisheries from their youth. 

 Their habits of life are in many respects the same as those of the shore -fishermen. They have, as a 

 class, all the enterprise and daring of the fishermen at the larger ports in Massachusetts. They are, 

 however, more conservative and contented, and do not care to risk the great dangers attending the 

 winter fisheiies on the Banks, preferring rather to follow the fisheries during the summer months, 

 and to remain idle or engage iu other pursuits during the winter. Many of them, however, follow 

 the shore fisheries in winter and tbe vessel fisheries in summer. 



