ON CERTAIN HUMANITIES 289 



ness. One can often see down several feet, to 

 the sandy bottom through the clear water. 



When fish are sighted, the watch calls to the 

 skipper who at once slows down the engine. 

 Sometimes a few herring are seen, sometimes im- 

 mense numbers of them, all swimming forward to- 

 wards the light. The dip-net, with a hoop about 

 three feet in diameter, is quickly plunged just be- 

 low the surface, as near the bow as may be, swept 

 rapidly aft, and, with the help of the ''turner" 

 who seizes the hoop, it is pulled up and its con- 

 tents emptied into the boat. Sometimes the net 

 contains only two or three, sometimes it is tilled 

 with herring from a few inches in length — sar- 

 dines — up to fishes a foot long. Fifteen barrels 

 of herring is a heavy load to dip out in one night, 

 but the fisherman is well repaid. 



The life a light-keeper tends to independence 

 and originality of character. Many of the 

 keepers have followed the sea at one time or an- 

 other and the sea exerts a broadening iniiuence 

 in life. In the old days at Ipswich, Captain 

 Ellsworth held sway for nearly half a century, 

 and his daughter tended the range light when the 



