49 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
water fronts of San Francisco and Seattle, or men of practically no 
acquaintance with the sea even, let alone any fishing knowledge. 
The reason for this is that the salmon and halibut fisheries offer 
more congenial employment to the more intelligent and progressive 
of the fishermen. At the end of the salmon season in Alaska quite a 
few of the better class go to the shore stations and work there until 
the opening of the salmon season the following spring, when they 
take up the salmon work once more. 
The natives generally are among the best of the station fishermen, 
as they are usually well acquainted with the locations of the many 
isolated spots which, while rich in cod, yet cover sometimes but a 
few feet or yards in extent and are difficult to find without certain 
landmarks being well fixed in the mind. They are persistent and 
skillful fishermen and generally are among the high-line fishermen 
unless handicapped through age, disease, or bodily infirmity. They 
are very apt to quit when the whim seizes them, but the author’s 
experience with cod fishermen generally is that both whites and 
natives are apt to quit on very slight or no provocation at all, the 
desire for a change of scene at frequent intervals seeming, in their 
eyes at least, to be one of the essentials of the industry. 
Quite a few of the white fishermen have married squaws, and for 
their accommodation the companies generally have small cottages or 
shacks scattered over the station grounds. 
The use of nicknames by fishermen in order to distinguish each 
other is very common, and in many instances it is difficult to find 
out the real name of a man without having recourse to the station 
or ship records, and even here the records frequently show the nick- 
name as part of his cognomen. ‘These nicknames are derived in 
various ways, some being based upon the personal appearance or 
habits of the person so designated, while others are due to some 
incident connected with his life, still others to his place of birth, 
etc. Some are complimentary, while others are the reverse. Among 
the more prominent may be mentioned “ Whiskey Jack,” “ Whiskey 
Bill” (in the first instance the excessive indulgence in this fluid led 
to the imposition of the name, while in the latter instance constant 
preaching of the merits of temperance caused it), “ Dirty Dick,” 
“Gentleman Gust,” “Growling Pete,” “Gloomy Gus,” “ Halibut 
Pete,” “ Northwest Bill,” “ Rolling Gus,” “ Redwood Gus,” “ Russian 
Bill,” “ Contrary Gus,” “ Stavanger,” ete. 
VESSELS AND BOATS. 
Fishing vessels—Unlike the vessels used in the New England 
fisheries, there is no distinctive type employed in the Pacific cod 
fishery. Not a single vessel now used exclusively in fishing was built 
especially for the purpose. All of them were at one time brigs, 
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