130 



THE AQUARIUM, OCTOBER, 1894. 



across the ocean and the fish he caught 

 near the shore. 



Although the weather was very beau- 

 tiful and the surface of ''old ocean" only 

 slightly disturbed, four of our party, 

 a,mong them a lady, had to pay tribute 

 to Neptune as soon as we had passed 

 Sandy Hook. They were not able to 

 leujoy the gambols of the porpoises as 

 they played immediately in front of our 

 bow, shooting hither and thither and 

 turning summersaults, showing their 

 white bellies in the bright sunshine. 



white china dishes of various sizes, 

 while covered glass jars (Mason's jars) 

 of assorted sizes and in liberal number, 

 were set on an elevated place in the 

 middle of the ship ; vessels containing 

 preserving fluid and buckets filled with 

 fresh and others with sea water were 

 placed handy. 



This all having been attended to, to 

 the satisfaction of the officer in charge 

 of this deck, the men were ordered on 

 the uj)per deck to join their comrades. 

 Here, personally directed by the captain 



United States Fish Commission Steamer "Fish Hawk" (From U. S. F. C. Report 1881.) 



At noon we passed Sandy Hook light- 

 ship, and now the preparations were 

 begun for the work before us. Below 

 deck, in the fore part of the vessel, 

 eight of the crew — the entire crew of 

 the " Fish Hawk " numbers thirty- five, 

 dressed in the regulation summer attire 

 of the United States Navy — got two long 

 swinging tables in readiness. These 

 Avere on the right side of the vessel this 

 time, because the wind came from that 

 direction, and the big opening, the 

 ''port," (see illustration) on this side 

 was to be used to haul in the trawl. 

 On each of these were placed several 



and his officers, they got the trawling 

 apparatus in readiness. The " trawl- 

 beam" was first put in position. This 

 is a strong wooden pole, projecting from 

 the first mast forward (towards the bow), 

 with wheels inserted in each end, over 

 which a steel cable runs. It works 

 in double pivots, so that it can be 

 moved in many directions. (See illus- 

 tration.) The machine that works the 

 cable was adjusted and the "trawl" 

 fastened to the cable. The trawl is a 

 net, shajDed like a bag but without a 

 bottom to it. At its mouth it fits an 

 iron frame seven feet wide and two feet 



