HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 125 



is evident from the two loug boats wbicb are towed astern, carrying 

 the purse-seine, wbicb looks like a bale of brown bay stowed in tbe 

 middle of eacb boat. A man stands at every mast-bead watcbing for 

 tbe well-known ripple. A scbool passes under tbe bows of our yacbt 

 and rises to tbe surface at a short distance, the bright sides of the fishes 

 glistening in tbe sun and their tails flipping the surface noisily. The 

 sharp eyes of the " lookout " of tbe nearest vessel soon detects their 

 presence. Tbe sloop comes about and sails to tbe leeward of the scbool. 

 As soon as they are near, three men jump into eacb boat. Two man 

 tbe oars, a third stands in tbe stern and pays out the net, while the 

 boats, rapidly diverging, are rowed around the fish, eacb describing a 

 semicircular course. Now their courses converge and the men row 

 faster. They come together and pass, thus closing the circle of net- 

 work. The men all jump into one boat, tbe purse- weight, or " long Tom," 

 as they call it, is booked to tbe two lead lines, and a splash of water 

 announces that it has been thrown overboard to slide down the ropes 

 and draw the lower ends of the net together. Now they begin hauling 

 at the bottom lines, and in ten minutes they have drawn the bottom of 

 the net into a purse and the fish are secured. Tbe " lighter," or trans- 

 porting boat, now sails up. Tbe men on board heave a line to tbe seine- 

 boats and they are brought alongside. A large dip-net, three feet in 

 diameter, is now suspended by a block and tackle in the rigging of 

 the lighter, and tbe fish are rapidly transferred from tbe seine to its 

 bold. The silvery masses of fish are hoisted into the air and dropped 

 into the vessel, settling in the bins with a flapping noise like tbe sound 

 of distant thunder or the hand-clapping of a large audience. 



In August, 1876, when on the steamer from Saybrook to Greenport, 

 I saw a fleet of sixty vessels busily plying their nets in tbe sound near 

 the mouth of the Connecticut. In the evening a gale sprang up from 

 tbe southwest, and as the steamer entered Peconic Bay tbe little sloops 

 were .seen scudding to harbor under low reefed sails. Every wave 

 swept the decks, but they floated like sea-birds. Some of them were 

 loaded to tbe rail with fares of fish. 



Menhaden fishing about Cape Ann. 



175. We are indebted to Captain Babson for facts about tbe fisheries 

 at Cape Ann, which are carried on for the purpose of securing bait for 

 tbe codfish and mackerel fleets. Vessels for this business are fitted out 

 from tbe port of Gloucester on the same basis as those for other fisheries. 

 The owners furnish the vessel-outfits, seine and boats, tbe crew going 

 " on the halves" ; that is, taking for their share half of the entire ''catch" 

 while tbe other half is claimed by tbe owners. A good vessel with 

 boats costs about $5,000. A seine costs about $1,000, and with fair 

 usage lasts through two seasons ; it is made of cotton twine and pre- 

 served by the use of salt and tar. Tbe seine is carried on a small deck 

 at the stern of the seine-boat, wbicb is about 30 feet long and 8 feet 



