[15] HISTORY OF THE TILE-FISH. 251 



^' trying" for cod 50 miles south by east of Roman's Land, in lat. 40° 10' 

 2^., long. 70° 55' W., 75 fathoms, on very hard clay bottom. Two miles 

 inside of this bottom there is nothing but green ooze, on which no fish 

 will live. 



" ' Two of the nine fish were spent females. The few remaining eggs of 

 these two were not so large as those of the herring, and resemble the 

 eggs of the ^Jforway haddock. The other seven had nothing to deter- 

 mine whether they were male or female.' "* 



Tlie following additional details concerning the taking of the Tile-fish 

 by Captain Dempsey are given on the authority of statements made by 

 him : 



Being engaged in the George's hand-line codfishery for which men- 

 haden is the most desirable bait, in summer. Captain Dempsey, in July, 

 1879, visited ]S"ewport, E. I., for the purpose of securing a supply of this 

 needful article. Th:s having been obtained, he ran off from Beaver 

 Tail on a south-southeast course, a distance of about 140 miles, where he 

 sounded, but got no bottom. Feeling desirous of " trying the ground" 

 in order to ascertain if any cod, hake, «&c., could be taken in this little 

 known region, he stood back to the northwest until he sounded in 87 

 fathoms, his position being lat. 40° 02' K, long. 70° 07' W. The vessel 

 was hove to and three of the crew put out their hand-lines to '^ try" for 

 cod.t 



*Proc. U. S. National Museum, Vol. II., pp. 208, 209. 



It seems desirable to call attention here to the discrepancy that appears (in giving the 

 locality where these fish were caught) bet »veen the position indicated by the latitude 

 and longitude given, and that which the course and distance from Noman's Land 

 would place the vessel in. The two statements, though evidently intended to point 

 to the same place, give us two positions which are separated at least 30 miles. This 

 is, without doubt, due to an error of information, and would, perhaps, hardly deserve 

 particular notice, were it not that a careful investigation of the matter, together 

 with the advantage of consulting a chart used at the time, by Captain Dempsey, con- 

 vinces me that both of these positions are erroneous to a greater or less extent. Of 

 course, in forming this opinion, I depend wholly on the information furnished by Cap- 

 tain Dempsey, who has, in my i>resence, carefully laid out the course and distance 

 which he ran after taking his departure from the land, and has marked the position 

 where he found the Tile-lish so abundant. 



A difference will also be noticed between the depth of water (75 fathoms) given in 

 the published statement, aud that (87 fathoms) which Captain Dempsey now remem- 

 bers to have taken the Lopholatilus in. Captain Dempsey is positive that he took 

 the fish in the greatest depth mentioned, and this seems all the more probable, since 

 it agrees with the observations made by Captain Kirby, and also by the United States 

 Fish Commission, neither of them having been able to find Tile-fish in water as 

 ehoal as 75 fathoms. 



t Under such circumstances a "trial" is made in the following manner, namely: 

 The main-sheet is eased off aud the boom hauled out by a tackle, the jib is then 

 hauled down, the fore-sheet slacked away as required, and the helm put hard down. 

 Unlike the mackerel schooner, which always lays to on the starboard tack, the cod 

 hooker is hove to on whichever tack she happens to be on, or on which she will head 

 the current and make the best drift. 



As soon as the headway of the vessel stops the lines are baited and put out, the fish- 

 ermen alwavs standing at the rail on the weather side of the deck. 



