[61] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



The work of "pursing up" is now to be performed with all possible 

 speed. Until this is begun the seine is in the form of a hollow cylinder, 

 and the fish, in order to escape, have only to dive down and swim away 

 under the lead line. In pursing, the bottom of the seine is to be closed 

 up, and in this operation the saying of the men, " A man who won't pull 

 every pound he can and an ounce more, is not fit to be a fisherman," is 

 fully exemplified. 



The men staud six in one end of the seine-boat and seven in the other 

 end, holding the two ends of the purse-line, which, having passed through 

 the rings in the bridles on the lead-line of the seine, pass round the two 

 blocks of the purse-davit and through the snatch-blocks on the opposite 

 side of the seine-boat, one of which is forward and the other aft. One 

 of the uses of the bridles now appears. As soon as the men in the 

 seine-boat commence pursing up the seine the rings, which before this 

 have been hanging downward below the lead-line, now extend the same 

 distance laterally from this line. We have only to remember that they 

 all extend toward each other to see that they considerably diminish 

 the open area at the bottom of the seine. To be sure, the spaces between 

 the bridles are open, but the fish are not likely to escape through these, 

 for in such an attempt many of them would strike the bridles and find- 

 ing such obstacles would turn, hoping to find an outlet in some other 

 direction. 



The men stand, as has been said, when pursing up the seine, six in one 

 end of the boat and seven in the other. They are divided into three rows 

 of three and one of four men. On the side of the boat next to the seine 

 are two rows of men facing each other and pulling ; one row on the end 

 of the first line that passes over the blocks in the purse-davit nearest 

 theai, the other on the other end of the purse-line passing over the other 

 block of the davit. Each end of the purse-line passes around another 

 block, which changes the direction of the line, and two rows of men on 

 the side of the boat away from the seine stand back to back, pulling on 

 the purse-line, its direction having been changed by the pulleys. 



As previously remarked, the seine before being pursed up is in the 

 shape of a hollow cylinder. A strong tide may make it take the form of 

 a hollow frustrum with a slit in the side. Its longer area is at the bottom. 

 In such a case the slit is wider at the bottom and grows narrower toward 

 the top, until it vanishes at a point where the two ends of the purse line 

 bring the seine together at the purse-davit. Then the purse-weight 

 comes into play. This is "reeved out" to the two end lines, and its 

 weight brings the i wo ends of the seine together, closing up the slit and 



having the oars is an expert (and as a rule only old hands do the rowing), he will 

 quickly and dexterously turn the dory as the seine-boat approaches " close to," so 

 that the latter may shoot alongside of the former in such a manner that the purse-line 

 held by the man in the stern of the dory may be easily transferred to the larger boat. 

 As soon as this is done both of the dorymen jump aboard the seine-boat and assist in 

 " pumug up " the seine. 



