58 



his trawls, remove his fish, rebait and reset the lines, and take care 

 of the day's catch. Tossed on the waves in his frail dory, at great- 

 er or less distance from his vessel, he is subject to perils unknown 

 to the fisherman of the olden time. His frail boat rides like a shell 

 upon the surface of the sea, but in experienced hands no description 

 of small sea craft is safer. Yet a moment of carelessness or inat- 

 tention, or a slight miscalculation, may cost him his life. And a 

 greater foe than carelessness lies in wait for its prey. The stealthy- 

 fog enwraps him in its folds, blinds his vision, cuts off all marks to 

 guide his course, and leaves him afloat on a measureless void. In- 

 stances are on record of many a wearisome trip, of da3*s and nights 

 without food or water, spent in weary labor at the oars, at last to 

 find succor from some chance vessel or l>y reaching a distant port ; 

 and imagination revolts from the contemplation of the hardships ex- 

 perienced, the hopes awakened and dispelled, and the torturing fate 

 of the many " lost in the fog," of whose trying experiences nothing 

 is ever known. The product of this fishery is divided on the same 

 plan as that of the Georges fishery. 



- As the Georges fishery wanes in the closing Spring months,* the 

 sportive mackerel puts in an appearance at the far South, and works 

 northward as the season advances. A large portion of the fleet en- 

 gage at once in the pursuit of this delectable fish, and follow his de- 

 vious wanderings until he disappears to an unknown haunt as win- 

 ter approaches. The fleet fit away in April, going as far South as 

 Virginia, but gradually working towards the waters of Rhode Island, 

 and marketing their catch for the most part at New York. During 

 the Summer months there are two divisions of the mackerel fleet, 

 one fishing off the shores of Massachusetts and Maine, and the other 

 making voyages to the Bay St. Lawrence. The Southern and Shore 

 fleets have practically abandoned the old style hook and line fishing, 

 and are fitted with expensive seines and boats for the capture of 



MODEL OF A SEINE BOAT. 



mackerel on a wholesale scale. The success of this department is 

 greatly dependent on the dexterity with which a school of fish can 

 be surrounded and captured, and the employment is an exciting 

 one. The business is an uncertain one, as the mackerel is a ca- 

 pricious fish, and but little calculation can be made of their move- 



