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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



had been sufficiently discussed, real 

 stories exchanged, and all, save the 

 watch, turned in. 



The next morning all signs of land had 

 disappeared and we were gliding over a 

 long ocean swell before a fresh breeze. 

 At eight o'clock, Captain Hahn took an 

 observation. Soundings showed about 

 fifty fathoms and the clear blue water 

 indicated that we were near the edge of 

 the Gulf Stream. The particular pur- 

 pose of this trip was to determine how 

 far inshore the tilefish had moved. 

 Previous catches had been made in 

 sixty to eighty fathoms and it had been 

 decided to try for them in fifty to sixty 

 fathoms. 



Tilefish, like cod, halibut, and other 

 deep-water fishes, are caught on what is 

 called a ground-trawl line. This con- 

 sists of a long heavy cord or line, one 

 thousand feet or more in length, to which 

 is attached, at intervals of six feet, short 

 lines three or four feet in length with a 

 fishhook on the end of each line. The 

 trawl line is carefully coiled in a tub, and 

 each hook baited as it is placed in the 

 tub. To set a trawl, one end of the 

 ground line is attached to a small anchor, 

 which is lowered to the bottom by a 

 small buoy line. To this buoy line a 

 buoy is fastened, which floats on the sur- 

 face and thus marks the position of the 

 anchor and the beginning of the trawl 

 line. As the anchor sinks, the ground 

 line in the tub is carefully payed out, so 

 as not to entangle the short baited lines. 

 When the anchor is fastened in the bot- 

 tom, one of the men rows the dory from 

 the buoy at right angles to the current or 

 tide and the other man pays out the 

 trawl line from the tub. A second trawl 

 line is fastened to the end of the first line 

 and the process of setting continues. 

 Thus, finally, several tubs of trawl are 

 fastened together and stretched along 

 the bottom, making one continuous Ime 



a mile or more in length, with a short 

 baited line every six feet. By setting 

 the ground line at right angles to the 

 current the short lines float out free and 

 do not become entangled with their 

 neighbors. It takes an hour or two to 

 set such a trawl and it may take three 

 hours to haul it. For tilefish, the hooks 

 are baited with pieces of squid or men- 

 haden and a trawl is left down for three 

 to eight hours. 



While the sailors were setting the 

 trawls, the "Grampus" was close-hauled 

 and Captain Hahn jogged back and forth 

 in their vicinity. The scientists, in the 

 meantime, busied themselves with dip 

 nets and towing nets, investigating the 

 sea water, which was found to be teeming 

 with invertebrate life. Long chains of 

 transparent Salpa, shaped like miniature 

 barrels, went floating by. Sometimes 

 these would be in the form of rings. ^ 

 Every bunch of seaweed was alive with 

 small crabs, copepods, and other Crusta- 

 cea, and often concealed fish eggs or 

 even tropical fish themselves. Here and 

 there porpoises broke the surface and 

 occasionally a whale was seen spoutmg 

 in the distance. 



By noon the first trawl of four tubs 

 had been set and the fishermen returned 

 to the "Grampus." Soon after lunch- 

 eon, Captain Hahn decided to haul in 

 the trawl and the "Grampus" was sailed 

 up to the buoy. A dory, manned by 

 two sailors, was swung over the side and 

 pulled away. First the buoy line was 

 hauled in and neatly coiled in the bow: 

 then the trawl line itself was taken in. 

 Almost the first hook that appeared had 

 a tilefish on it, and watching from the 

 deck of the "Grampus," which was 

 drifting a quarter of a mile distant, we 



1 Till! Suli)a is one of those animals wliich in adult 

 form resembles some of the lowest invertebrates, 

 while in its embryonic form it is closely vertebrata in 

 character. 



