FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 39 



you can see the remains of an old wharf, Josh. Riggs went in an old pinkey 

 called the Blaney. It is about sixty years since she last left the cove. She 

 went out under her foresail, with a fresh sou'west wind. Uncle Josh., 

 leaning over the mainboom, said, * Looks dreadful squally, don't it ? Guess 

 we had better go back.' Back they went, and there she laid her bones, that 

 being the last cruise of the Blaney" 



All this and much more interesting information "Uncle Ben" imparted 

 freely, but we shall omit the rest, as there are other veterans of the fishing 

 grounds to be heard from. 



We were desirous of learning something concerning the old Bankers, that 

 are said to have sailed from these ancient fishing establishments, and felt 

 that we should be most likely to obtain the information we desired by inter- 

 viewing "Uncle Joe." What we gathered from this source will now be 

 given, not as he told it, for that would take a more graphic pen than ours. 

 But we will "puss" it up together, as the fishermen do the schools of 

 mackerel. 



" I remember, when a boy, four score years ago, of hearing Capt. William 

 Babson, then an old man, tell about the old Bankers. Capt. Babson, Capt. 

 Gee and Joseph Baker, sometimes called Master Baker, were among the 

 fitters. Capt. Babson's place of business was at Babson's Point. Master 

 Baker's was at Baker's Point, now known as Pleasant Point, and the house 

 in which he resided is the one now occupied by Prof. Hyatt as a Summer 

 residence. The old warehouse, which used to stand so conspicuously on 

 the Point, was owned and used by him. Capt. Gee's place of business was 

 at Gee's Point, now known as Wheeler's Point. His wharf may yet be 

 seen, so far decayed as to be covered at half tide, I think. There were 

 fourteen sail in all. I cannot remember now, even if I ever knew, the 

 names of any other fitters ; but as there were fourteen vessels, and as it was 

 not usual for one establishment to fit more than one or two Bankers, there 

 were probably other places where they fitted out, and the old sites at Done 

 Fudging, Mill Creek and other places where ruined wharves remain, prob- 

 ably had their share. 



"The Revolution put a stop to the business. Some of the vessels were 

 captured and burned, and others sold or otherwise disposed of, as a Bank 

 fishing voyage was deemed hazardous. 



"The vessels were for the most part built upon the Merrimac river. They 

 had never heard of a chronometer in those days, and not many of them 

 carried a quadrant. They used to depend on the compass, soundings, and 

 personal judgment. It is probable that as a rule the skippers were ac- 

 quainted only with the most simple and practical rules of navigation, yet 

 they were very successful on their voyages. It is related of Capt. Babson, 

 that, having secured the services of Capt. David Sargent as skipper, in 



