AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2V>3 



Q. Did you ever examine the fish ? A. I have examined the fUU ami 

 seen a membrane partly over_ the eyes, but I did not tbink that wan tin- 

 reason why they did not bite. 



Q. I only want to know whether they are blind in that manner ? A. 

 I don't believe they are blind. 



Q. Would you undertake to swear they are not blind ! A. I would 

 not swear so, but the evidence of what I have seen con vim-en me that 

 they are not blind. If you will allow me to explain: We put netn out 

 and drift with them iu the bay. A vessel may try witli hook nnil line 

 and may not catch any, and therefore saj the mackerel are blind lnvaiiH* 

 of a membrane partially over their eyes. I have cast nets out, and by 

 and by we have seen mackerel rise to the top of the water, and have 

 not got any ; but after it begins to grow dark they run right into the 

 nets. 



By Mr. Foster: 



Q. Is it a gill-net? A. Yes. It looks to me as if at first they saw 

 the net. 



By Mr. Thomson : 



Q. Then you swear that the film does not blind the fish ? A. I don't 

 think it makes them blind. 



Q. It moves off in course of time ? A. It moves oft' some. I never 

 noticed how much. 



Q. If you have not examined them closely you would not put your 

 opinion against the opinions of those who have examined them f A. 

 No. If any one has examined them closely, and I presum > s >rm? have. 

 and been convinced that such is the fact, that the nmsnbrane goes off, I 

 would say nothing against it. 



Q. In speaking of the bluefish before the senate committee of the 

 Rhode Island legislature, at its January session in 1872, you are reported 

 to have said : 



Iu Provincetown Harbor, from a very early period until the horso-mackerel made ila 

 appearance, the fish called "whiting" was immensely abundant. Sinoe the hor>- 

 mackerel has appeared they have been gradually driven out, and now a spciaiu i* 

 hardly ever seen. The horse-mackerel has driven out a great many kinds of ftb, fi 

 it is the avowed enemy of everv species it can master. Tliesn fish first p|>*art<l nouth 

 of Cape Cod about the year idM. I was thirty years old before I *aw a |Hcinieu. 

 Finally they found their way into our barb.ir, and completely destroyed tho nitoker 

 fishery for a time, and even now render it nearly unprofitable. 



Q. Did you not make that statement?.!. I did not make any such 

 statement. The fish called bluefish in 1704 disappeared from there 

 after the Indians all died. We call it bluHish at Provtneetowu ; 

 formerly had little or no marketable value. It is known lv dinVreul I 

 names in different places. It is called bluelish in M.issaclum- 

 along Connecticut shore. It is known as horse- mackerel on the * 

 of Rhode Island, and the bluefisli is horse-mackerel. 

 reporting what I said they put instead of bluefish horse m<-k 

 never said horse-mackerel drove the whiting away. If yon p> down t 



Chesapeake Bay you will find they call it tailor. 



Q. I am not asking you about the nature of the fish, but 

 made use of the language reported. A. I said blue fish < 

 away, and they have reported me as saying horse mack 

 they call bluefish horse-mackerel there; it is the saint- I 



Q. Then the only trouble is that the reporter has put 

 saying that horse-mackerel drove the whiting away, w 

 you said it was bluefish ? A. I said it wasbluetish, and bin 



