Pay REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [34] 
eat at a time. As for the captain and cook, who were exempted from 
fishing, the captain ate with the first set, while the cook waited until the 
second. 
Another important matter attended to this evening was the setting of 
the watches. On leaving the wharf at Gloucester, the captain had taken 
the helm and kept it until we were well out of the harbor and on our 
course, when the watches were divided. ‘Two men stand on watch at a 
time. Each watch is two hours long, and each man is at the wheel half 
of this time and forward the other half. The captain and cook, having 
no watching to do, this falls upon the other twelve of the crew, who each 
have, out of the twenty-four, four hours of watching, two of which are 
spent at the wheel. In order to prevent each man’s watch coming the’ 
same hour each succeeding day, one man, each day, omits his watch. 
and by this means all the watches are pushed backward every twenty- 
four hours. The man who omits his watch is the one who, otherwise, 
would have his wheel between six and seven in the evening. 
12-lp.m.ja 4b (e¢ 
1-2 p.m. \ b d 
2-3 p.m.(c jd je 
3-4 p. m. d ' e ¥, 
4-5 p.m.je (f fg 
5-6 p. m. if Vg \ h 
; 6-7 p.m.(h (t (9 
7-8 p.m.ti ij Ve 
8-9 p.m.4j7 fk gl 
9-10 p.m. Uk l \ a 
10-11 p.m.jl ja §b 
11-12 p.m. i @ Vb { C 
Thus, for instance, in the table just given, if /’s wheel was between 5 
and 6 p.m., g’s wheel would naturally come between 6 and 7, but g omits 
his watch and h, taking his place, has the wheel an hour earlier than the 
preceding day. The next day g has the wheel, between 5 and 6, and h 
omitting, 7 takes the wheel from 6 to 7. 
The watches were arranged so that dorymates watched together every 
other day. Thus in the table, suppose that e and f are dorymates. The 
first day e and f watch together, the second day f and g, while the third 
day eand f are together again. Hach watch dalled the next watch. The 
order of the watches was decided in the following manner: A hat was 
held crown down, one man from each dory putting a finger upon the 
border of the opening, while one of the others, commencing at random, 
counted the fingers in succession, until he reached the number nine. 
Finger number nine being withdrawn, the counting commenced again 
with one and continued to nine, which was also withdrawn. © This con- 
tinued until no fingers were in the hat. The owner of the first finger 
withdrawn, together with his dorymate, had the first watch, the owner 
of second finger withdrawn, with his dorymate, the second watch, and 
so on through the whole. — 
