6 FISHERMEN'S OWN BOOK. 



stern, and presented the strongest possible contrast to the swift clipper fleet 

 of our own day. The model on the preceding page of a Grand Banker of 

 1 7 41 will give a good idea of the appearance of these old-time craft. 



There was one of these craft in existence in 1878, the Manchester, 

 which was then owned in York, Me., and was nearly one hundred years old. 

 She was formerly of this port, being owned by Mr. Daniel Gaffney and 

 others. She was 63.95 tons, built in Duxbury, Mass., in 1784. We do not 

 know whether she is in existence now or not. 



About seventy of these vessels were owned in Gloucester in 1741, nearly 

 all of which were probably employed in the Grand Bank fishery for codfish. 

 Each of the crew kept an account of the number of fish he caught, and the 

 proceeds of the voyage were distributed accordingly. That their earnings 

 were far from uniform is shown by an account of three trips of sch. Abigail, 

 Capt. Paul Hughes, to Grand Bank in 1757 ; the three trips occupied about 

 six months, in which were included sixty-seven days fishing, the skipper 

 being "high line " with a catch of 6643 fish, the "low line" taking 3435, the 

 average catch of the crew of six men being 4506. From 1770 to 1775 

 between seventy and eighty Gloucester vessels resorted yearly to the Grand 

 Bank, and about seventy boats fished for cod, hake and pollock on the 

 ledges near our own coast. These latter boats were mostly built at Essex, 

 then the Chebacco parish of Ipswich, and from that fact received the name 

 of "Chebacco boats," their model being shown in the following engraving. 

 There was a large fleet of them owned here and in Rockport at the com- 

 mencement of the present century, but they have all disappeared. 



The tonnage employed in the Cape Ann Fisheries at the outbreak of the 

 Revolution could not have been far from forty-eight hundred tons, repre- 

 sented by one hundred and fifty schooners and boats, and employing about 

 six hundred men. The yearly product may be estimated at forty-eight 

 thousand quintals, of a value of one hundred thousand dollars. 



The Revolution, of course, put an embargo on Bank fishing, as well as 

 an end to the exportation of fish, and the business soon dwindled to insig- 

 nificant figures. After peace had been declared the business was resumed, 



