150 REPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [60] 



jump from an apple tree when the indignant owner appears, so eleven 

 men leap into the seine-boat one over another, as if they had meant to 

 jump overboard but by accident had reached the seine-boat instead. 

 The captain takes his place at the steering-oar. Two men sit on the 

 forward part of the seine and one at the cork-line, ready to " throw out 

 the twine" when the captain gives the word of command. The remaining 

 seven row swiftly and silently until the fish disappear or the captain 

 orders them to "stop rowing." All the while the captain is eagerly 

 watching the fish, noticing which way they move and how fast. He 

 wants, before beginning to put out his twine, to get near enough to en- 

 able him to make the wings of the seine meet around the school. He 

 must, therefore, keep far enough away to prevent the head of the school 

 from striking the seine until it is nearly pursed up. He calculates the 

 speed of the fish, and sets the seine in such a manner that by the time 

 the school gets thoroughly within the circle of the net he will be able to 

 come round to the starting point and completely encircle them. If he 

 fails in this, the wings of the seine must be towed together before it can 

 be pursed up, and in the time thus occupied there is a chance of losing 

 the fish. A skillful skipper rarely fails in making the ends of the seine 

 meet. In seining on George's, or any other -place where there is a strong 

 tide, it requires much skill and judgment to set the seine in such a manner 

 that it shall not be tripped and thrown out upon the surface of the wa- 

 ter. Under these circumstances, to prevent " tripping," the seine should 

 be so set that the bunt of it will be in the direction from which the tide 

 runs; the force of the tide then aiding the act of pursing the net. 



When the skipper is near enough to satisfy the conditions of the 

 above problems he orders the men at the seine to " Put out the twine.'' 

 They begin their work, the oarsmen in the mean time rowing as fast as 

 possible. The skipper steers the boat around the school in such a man- 

 ner that when the seine is fully out the cork-line approximates more or 

 less closely to the form of a circle. Two of the men who did not get in 

 the seine-boat now appear on the scene of action in the dory in which 

 they have closely followed in the wake of the seine-boat until the act of 

 setting begins. As soon as the first end of the seine has been thrown 

 overboard they row up to it and seize the buoy at the end of the cork- 

 line, which they hold until the seine-boat has made a circle, merely rowing 

 fast enough to keep the end of the seine in its place and to prevent it 

 from swagging. When the seine-boat has completed its circle, it ap- 

 proaches the dory, which is holding fast to the buoy. When the two 

 ends of the seine meet, the men in the dory get into the seine-boat to 

 assist in pursing; sometimes, however, the ends do not meet, and in this 

 case they are brought together by means of a line, about 20 fathoms in 

 length, which is always taken in the dory and is fastened by the men 

 in the dory to the buoy and carried to the seine-boat.* 



* Capt. Nelson A. Kenney, of Gloucester, states that two men usually go in a dory, 

 one of whom pulls a little while the other holds to the end of the seine. If the one 



