104 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



contributed much to the comfort and safety of the fishermen as well as 

 to the success of the fisheries, it will, perhaps, suffice for the present 

 purpose to allude very briefly to the vessels of former days, some of 

 which may yet be occasionally seen, particularly in the shore fleet of 

 Eastern Maine. 



The "bankers" of the last century and the beginning of this were 

 narrow, straight-sided, square-sterned schooners, with high quarter- 

 decks, and very bluff — nearly square — bows. They were short- masted, 

 consequently having but a small spread of canvas, and were extremely 

 slow sailers. These vessels were usually from 40 to 75 tons, carpenters' 

 measurement. The Ohebacco boats, or u ram's-head boats," as they were 

 sometimes called, which at that time were employed in the shore fish- 

 eries, were of small size, 10 to 20 tons, and were generally sharp aft, with 

 two masts and no bowsprit. Xext came the pinkie and the square-stern 

 schooner with low quarter.* About 1845 the "half sharp" schooner 

 made its appearance, and from this date rapid changes were made, and 

 a few years later, about 1850, the " sharp-shooter" (as the clipper 

 schooner was at first called) was introduced. 



The fishing vessel of the present time is the embodiment of the com- 

 bined and intelligent efforts of fishermen and builders through a long 

 period of years, and as a result we now have the schooner- rigged clipper, 

 with broad beam, a large spread of canvas, and possessing excellent 

 sailing and sea-going qualities. Although there is a general resem- 

 blance to each other among the vessels composing the fishing fleet, cer- 

 tain changes in the rig and slight differences in the model are sometimes 

 rendered necessary for their better adaptation to certain branches of the 

 fisheries. Nearly all of the larger class of vessels are, however, con- 

 structed on a model which is well adapted for any fishery, and it is only 

 the so-called market boats, which are usually of smaller size, and a very 

 few vessels built for the mackerel fishery alone that differ from the rest; 

 these are usually very sharp, and sometimes not so deep as the others, 

 large deck room and swift sailing being the qualities most desired. There 

 are, however, considerable differences in the rig. These are rendered 

 uecessary by the changes in the seasons, it being evident that in some 

 brauches of the fishery where speed is a special object a larger number 

 of sails can be carried in the summer, when light winds are prevalent, 

 than during the winter months, when heavy gales are frequent. The win- 

 ter rig of the vessels employed in the George's cod-fishery is the light- 

 est of any. To fit them for a winter trip the maintopmast is sent down, 

 and they then carry but three sails, namely, mainsail, foresail, and jib. 

 In the spring, when there is no longer a probability of meeting heavy 

 gales, the topmast is replaced, and they then carry a staysail, and some 

 have also a gaff -topsail. 



* Although sloop-rigged vessels have been and are still employed in the fisheries, 

 these form hut a comparatively small part of the fishing fleet, the schoouer rig having 

 always heen a favorite one with our fishermen. 



