70 FISHERMEN'S MEMOEIAL AND RECORD BOOK. 



are now two hundred and fifty sail engaged in the business, whose 

 average valuation is $6,000. The trips brought in during the best part 

 of the season will average $700, and stocks of from $1,500 to $2,000 

 are not unfrequent ; while the Grand Bank fishery, comparatively a 

 new branch of the business, often discounts from $3,000 to $4,000 on 

 a single trip ; the result of the energy and pluck of our fishermen. 



Previous to 1846 the vessels did not carry ice, but many of them 

 were made into " smacks," so called, which was done by building a 

 water-tight compartment amidships, and boring holes in the bottom 

 to admit the salt water, and thus the halibut were kept alive. The 

 other vessels were obliged to risk the keeping of their fish, and made 

 trips as speedily as possible. The "smacks" did not give much sat- 

 isfaction, as oftentimes the wells would leak, which made consider- 

 able work for the pumps, and such work is not relished by either sail- 

 ors or fishermen. Then again, when in Boston harbor, the water be- 

 ing so different from that outside, would often have a bad effect on 

 the halibut. In 1848, when the Halibut Company was formed in 

 town, ice was introduced, and " smacks " were no longer necessary. 



