THE RACE IS TO THE SWIFT. 365 



the return of warm weather; others suppose that 

 they emigrate to warmer latitudes, wLere they 

 ewin. deep beneath the surface, in order to keep 

 themselves in a temperature suited to their nature; 

 and many old fishermen devoutly believe that 

 after leaving us they are, somehow, changed into 

 fish of an entirely different species, and are met, 

 with in the tropical seas as albicores, bonita, etc. 

 All that is known on the subject is, that those 

 which leave the coast at the beginning of winter 

 are of moderate size, but very fat; while those 

 which return in the spring are large, extremely 

 poor, and ravenously hungry. 



The vessels in which the fish are pursued and 

 caught, are small, but stoutly built, formed to resist 

 some degree of bad weather, and having, almost 

 invariably, excellent sailing qualities. The latter, 

 indeed, is a necessary qualification in a vessel 

 intended for this business, as the success of a voy- 

 age, in many instances, depends on a vessel get- 

 ting to a certain place, where fish have been 

 discovered, an hour sooner or later. 



Thus, it once happened that the entire fleet took 

 shelter in Cape Ann harbor, on occasion of a 

 storm. After lying in port two days the weather 

 moderated. Early the following morning the 

 fleet got under way. The first little squad of 

 about a dozen vessels, manned probably by the 

 most eager fishermen, but consisting also of the 

 fastest sailing schooners, had about forty minutes 

 start of the balance. It was a beaut tful morning 



