248 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [12] 



to 450 miles, during the winter season, it certainly ^Yonld be feasible to 

 bring fresh Tile-fish to market over a much shorter distance. That they 

 can be smoked and thus be made an excellent article of food, and that 

 the presence of a certain amount of fat or oily matter in the flesh tends 

 to make them very desirable when prepared in this manner, is a suffi- 

 cient guarantee that any surplus, however large or small, may be prof- 

 itably disposed of. Should the Tile-fish ever visit our coast in the fu- 

 ture in as great abundance as heretofore, it is more than probable that 

 the fishery for it might be prosecuted with profit to the fishermen, and 

 also that the New York and Philadelphia markets might be supplied at 

 all seasons of the year with this additional and excellent food -fish. 



C— HISTORY OF ITS DISCOVEEY AiS^D SUBSEQUENT OAP- 



TUEE. 



6. — ACCOUNT OF ITS DISCOVERY BY CAPTAIN KIRBY. 



The first capture of Tile-fish, as has been stated, was made by Captain 

 Kirby, in May, 1879, while trawling for cod to the southward of the 

 South Shoal of Nantucket, and to him, therefore, belongs the honor of 

 obtaining and presenting to the United States Fish Commission the in- 

 dividual specimen which forms the type of this species. In the descrip- 

 tion of Lopholatilus, already quoted, reference is made to this circum- 

 stance, but for obvious reasons it is deemed unnecessary to repeat it 

 here. A more detailed account of this capture of the Tile-fish, together 

 with the causes which led thereto, may, however, prove of interest, and 

 is therefore given on data furnished by Captain Kirby. 



In the spring of 1879, one of the halibut schooners that had been 

 fishing in the deep water to the southward of the South Channel and 

 George's Bank, reported an abundance of hake {Phycis cJiuss and P. tenuis) 

 in that region. Captain Kirby heard of this rumor, but his informant 

 told him that the locality where these hake were taken was to the 

 southward of the South Shoal of Nantucket. The reported abundance 

 of these fish received at that time more than ordinary attention from 

 the fishermen, since the extreme high price then paid for hake sounds — 

 swim bladders — together with the large yield of oil obtained from the 

 livers, added to the worth of the fish for food purposes, rendered its 

 l)ursuit and capture an object of unusual imi^ortance. Influenced by 

 these considerations. Captain Kirby, who had been engaged in cod- 

 fishing on the banks north of Cape Cod during tbe spring, decided to 

 investigate the matter and to learn by actual trial whether or not the 

 rumor was based on fact. Accordingly he proceeded to Greenport, Long 

 Island, and having obtained there a good supply of fresh menhaden for 

 bait, he started for the fishing-ground. 



Passing out between Montauk Point and Block Island he ran off' on 

 a south soutlieast course about 68 miles, where a depth of 80 fathoms 

 was obtained, the position being lat. 40° 07' N., long. 70° 59' W. 



