HISTORY OF THE FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 57 



in stormy nights, hang up a bell in their rigging, which is kept ringing by the motion of 

 the boat. About daylight in the morning the fishermen draw their nets, and one man 

 continues to free them of the fishes they contain, during the whole time the boat is sail- 

 ing homeward, while the other manages the boat. Frequently but small numbers of 

 other species are taken besides the mackerel, while at other times the nets will contain 

 three or four times as many whiting as mackerel, and, as the former are worthless, the 

 duty of the fisherman is very laborious and irksome. The boats arrive early in the morn- 

 ing at the Point, and all is life and excitement. ' How many fish have you caught ? ' 

 is the universal salutation ; and, before they sail again in the afternoon, every boat's crew 

 knows exactly how many have been taken by each boat during the previous night. As 

 soon as the boats arrive, the fishermen at once draw their nets upon the shore, free them 

 of the fish caught, unless it has already been done, and, spreading them upon the sand, or 

 winding them upon a reel, leave them until the latter part of the afternoon to dry, when 

 they again roll them up carefully and put them on board of their boats. Such quantities 

 of whiting are sometimes contained in the nets that they cannot be freed for hours, not 

 even until the middle of the day. Should only a few mackerel be taken during a night, 

 they are sent at once to Boston in some one of the fishing-smacks which are in waiting 

 to take them, and the carriers receive a part of the proceeds of the sale ; or they are 

 sold outright, for from three fourths of a cent to a cent and a half apiece, to the smacks. 

 If many are caught, only a few are sent, and the rest are split and salted, and sold after- 

 wards, to be sent in various directions. On the 26th, from twenty to twenty-three boats 

 returned, while I was on the Point, from the previous night's fishing, and averaged about 

 one thousand mackerel apiece ; such a quantity could not be disposed of, fresh. Captain 

 Atwood sold only one hundred of the largest, for two cents apiece, and was obliged to 

 salt the remainder. It is very exciting to be on the shore and watch the fishermen as 

 they empty their nets, — throwing out whiting, menhaden, sheep's-head, grunters, ki- 

 ucks, blue-backs, goose-fish, and dog-fish." 



To give an idea of this seining of mackerel, which continues only from a month to six 

 weeks, I subjoin the following tables, furnished me by Captain Nathaniel E. Atwood, of 

 his two years' fishing, including the seasons of 1846 and 1847, assisted by one person, in 

 his beautiful little boat, the " Scomber vernalis." 



