SAILOR FISHEEMEN OF NEW ENGLAND. 57 



attained a national reputation as observers: men like Capt. N. E. At wood, of Provincetown, the 

 success of whose course of twelve lectures ou ichthyology before the Lowell Institute, of Boston, is 

 a matter of record; Capt. U. S. Treat, of Eastport, Me., wbo was for several years employed by 

 the Japanese Government to instruct their people in the methods of Ashing; Simeon Chaney, of 

 Grand Manan, N. B., and others whose powers of observation are no less remarkable, although they 

 have not come so prominently into notice. In the investigation the results of which are detailed 

 in the present volume, as well as in the previous work of the United States Fish Commission, cir- 

 culars containing from fifty to eighty questions have been sent out to fishermen all along the coast, 

 and in this manner information has been sought regarding the general character of the fisheries of 

 the coast, the natural history and methods of capture of the cod, the mackerel, the mullet, the 

 menhaden, the lobster, and several other species. In few instances have the circulars failed to 

 receive answers, and in the. archives of the Fish Commission may be found many thousands of pages 

 of manuscript, written by the hands of fishermen, in which are given probably more important and 

 previously unobserved facts concerning the natural history of these species than had ever hitherto 

 been brought to light by the labors of all the traiued naturalists of America, The Fish Commis- 

 sion has published a report of over five hundred pages upon the natural history of the menhaden 

 and the, menhaden fisheries, the material for which was supplied in large part by men engaged 

 directly iu the fisheries. A similar report, the material for which was obtained in the same 

 manner, has recently been published. In preparing the chapter on the whale fishery for this 

 report it has beeu necessary to correspond with many retired whalers, and the answers have been 

 explicit and satisfactory iu the extreme, far more so than answers to circulars relating to another 

 subject which were sent out to sportsmen and professional men throughout the interior of the 

 country. In fact, it is hardly possible to praise in sufficiently high terms the intelligent interest 

 and the valuable cooperation which our fishermen have everywhere shown in the preparation of 

 this report upon the fisheries. They rarely withhold information, and almost without exception, 

 even at great inconvenience to themselves, render every aid in their power. If space would allow, 

 an interesting illustration of the intelligence of the men engaged in the American fisheries might be 

 given by printing in full some of the letters in response to circulars. Not only do they convey in 

 a very concise and intelligible manner the information which was sought for, but the language 

 is strong, idiomatic English, the grammar and orthography are faultless, and the handwriting 

 graceful and legible. 



In response to the invitation of the Commissioner of Fisheries, many fishermen of Gloucester 

 and some from other ports have kept journals of their voyages, noting down the movements of 

 their vessels, the locations of the fishing grounds as thej change from day to day. and the peculiar- 

 ities iu the movements of the fish which. fall under their observation. 



There are before us at least thirty journals of this description, some of them covering a period 

 of three or four years, and, in addition to discussing the points already mentioned, describing the 

 peculiar methods of fishing employed by them. Many of these men. and many of the men on the 

 menhaden steamers, have voluntarily kept records of the temperature of the water three times a 



day during the entire fishing season, appreciating the importance of placing ii] record iuforma 



tiou of this sort for the use of those who are studying the habits of the fishes and methods for 

 improving the fisheries. The records received have, as a rule, beeu kept in an accurate and satis 

 factory manner. 



Three or four representatives of the Fish Commission have been sent out upon long trips on 

 board of fishing vessels to study the methods of the fisheries and the natural history of the regions 



