196 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
which works the reeling drum. It is then swung over until 
poised above the deck inside the rail when the men pick off the 
fish caught by their gills on the outside and the puckering string 
at the bottom is untied or cut and the whole mass dumped on the 
deck almost amidship. The fish flounder and flap around at a 
great rate. Then big baskets, each large enough to contain ap- 
proximately one hundred pounds of fish, are brought up from the 
hold through the hatch, the larger fish are thrown in by hand and 
the smaller ones scooped up with huge shovels. The inedible fish, 
such as sharks, poreupine fish and others that do not command a 
worth-while price on the market are thrown overboard, the filled 
baskets are lowered into the hold and the deck washed down. 
The trawl is then overhauled to see if there are any breaks or 
tears, which if small, are mended at once; the larger ones make 
it necessary to bend on a new trawl so that the work is not 
delayed. Again the net is lowered and all hands have a period of 
rest, or perhaps time for a meal, while the trawl is slowly drag- 
ging over the bottom for another haul. 
These New Zealand trawlers work nearly all of the time. Once 
in about five days they run into Auckland by night, arriving there 
early in the morning, discharge their cargo of fish and in three 
or four hours are off for another five days’ cruise. There is no 
Sunday rest for them as for nearly all other workers in New 
Zealand, although I believe they occasionally get a day or two 
in port. 
Their life is one of severe work and constant discomfort; it is 
hard on the hands especially in cold weather, but they seem a 
fairly contented lot, taking their hardships as all in a day’s work, 
having enough good food and earning a reasonable wage. I under- 
stand that the work is practically on a profit-sharing basis and 
so they are all interested in the success of each catch. 
I noticed one thing on the Cowan which was unique in all my 
experiences with sailors. No matter how hard the work, how 
great the discomfort or how extreme the physical strain when the 
net was hung up, not a single oath did I hear from them during 
the cruise; I told the captain that this was the most extraordinary 
thing that I had as yet noted in New Zealand, that wonderland 
of the South. He said that swearing was not allowed on his ves- 
sel, that he and. his engineer would not permit it and the men 
knew it. 
My own life during this trawling trip was full of interest and 
