fishermen's memorial axd record book. 75 



lie aflSrmed, especially of the Grand Bankers, that they were indebted 

 in those days for an occasional taste of the most delicious smoked 

 halibut. The curing of halibut was not then, as now, a branch of the 

 fishing business. Occasionally one would take the hook, and if it 

 proved a particularly fine fish, the best cuts were taken off and sus- 

 pended to the beams in the cabin, and by the end of the voyage would 

 become thoroughly cured by the smoke, and being divided among the 

 crew, were taken home to their families, for their own use, and given 

 as very acceptable presents to friends. 



These little vessels from their extreme buoj'^ancy and their offer- 

 ing so little resistance to the power of the ocean waves, would make 

 comparatively good weather at times when large ships would be la- 

 boring, plunging, and straining every plank and timber to its utmost 

 capacity of endurance. They would mount almost upon even keel, 

 upon the crest of the highest seas, and settle into the hollows with 

 the ease and grace of a wild duck, and such a thing as " shipping a 

 sea" was not thought of. 



The manner of mooring the boats in those days was peculiar. As 

 there were but few wharves, -the fleet were kept moored in the harbor. 

 The mooring consisted of a large flat stone, weighing from three to 

 four tons, with a hole in the centre about eight inches in diameter, 

 into which a straight white-oak butt, about seventeen feet long, was 

 inserted, so that at high tide some three or four feet of the stump was 

 visible above the water. Upon the stump was a " crab," made of a 

 large log eighteen inches long, with a hole in the centre large enough 

 for the stump to go through ; this played up and down, and was pre- 

 vented from slipping off by means of a strong " fid." A piece of six- 

 inch cable, about five fathoms long, was attached to the " crab," and 

 on the other end an eye was spliced large enough to slip over the 

 stem of the pinkey. This was kept afloat by means of a small buoy, 

 so that when a boat was running in she would make for her mooring, 

 and a man gaffed the buoy, slipped the collar over the stem, and the 

 boat was safely moored. A few of these old mooring-stumps are now 

 visible at low water in some of the coves, but most of them have dis- 

 appeared. 



Of the square stern fleet he remembered the Accumulator, Dele- 

 gate, Helen Marr, Forest, and Mount Vernon. They were full, 

 square-bowed vessels, with short, chunky cutwaters, the head and 

 trail boards being painted in bright chrome yellow, and occasionally 

 one would secure an extra touch of gold leaf. The bottom was paint- 

 ed green up to the bends, and the upper- works black, with a broad 



