MASSACHUSETTS: BOSTON DISTRICT. 195 



colonial Railway. They are packed in large wooden boxes holding- from 200 to 300 pounds, aud 

 during the last part of the season are frozen in large numbers for preservation until the next 

 season's catch is obtained. Nearly all are taken by gill-nets, as the Canadian law forbids the cap- 

 ture of salmon in weirs and pounds, although the law is far from being strictly complied with. 

 The amount usually received here is large, often in excess of the demand, at prices that are not 

 remunerative to the shippers, 



Bluefish, once almost unknown in this market, arc sent here in large numbers. Their first 

 appearance in Boston Bay in this century was in the year 1837, when the fishermen, finding them- 

 selves forced to fish in dories among the rocks for mackerel, "scow-banking" as it was called, dis- 

 covered that the blue-fish invasion had drawn the mackerel to the shelter of the rocks and ledges. 

 This fish is taken by hand-lines from Ipswich Bay to Sandy Hook, but principally in weirs on both 

 sides of Cape Cod and along the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Like the salmon it is 

 preserved by being frozen, and can be procured the year round. 



Bass are not a plentiful fish in this region, but some arc shipped here from New Market, N. 

 H., from either shore of Cape Cod, and from points south. They were formerly taken in great 

 abundance along the shores of the old Plymouth colony and Cape Cod, principally by means of 

 small seines, thrown from boats aud hauled ashore. 



Shad are supplied to the Boston market from almost every river and shore from the Potomac 

 to the Saint Lawrence, some of the finest coming from the Bay of Fundy and Saint John River. 



Flounders are caught by the smallest boats of the market-fishermen. They are little valued, 

 and are chiefly sold to the poorer aud foreign class ; but the aggregate catch is quite large. 



Eels are mainly supplied from various parts of Boston Harbor, and are chiefly taken in pots 

 baited with broken clams, or chopped-up fish heads. When ascending the rivers and small streams 

 in the fall, or leaving them in the early spring, large quantities are sometimes taken by obstructing 

 the flow of water, aud placing in the center of the stream a strong barrel pierced with auger holes, 

 into which the eels creep, but out of which, curiously enough, they seem unwilling to stir. The 

 barrels have been so filled at times as to suffocate a large part of the catch before morning. Very 

 large and fat eels are sent here in winter from certain towns in Maine, as well as from various 

 other points, but the eel is not valued as in Europe, aud the market is easily overstocked. 



Smelts arc brought from Maine, Nova Scotia, aud New Brunswick, where, during the winter 

 mouths, they are seined under the ice in large quantities. The Massachusetts law forbids the- 

 seining of them, and but a small part of the market supply is of home catch. Over half a million 

 pounds of eastern smelts come to this market yearly, and retail from 3 to 6 cents a pound. They 

 often sell, in quantities, from 1 to 1 cents per pound, and afford a cheap food-fish to the poorer 

 classes, though these frozen smelts seldom retain the peculiar and delicate flavor of the recently 

 caught fish. During the past winter, for the first time, quite a large amount were canned, being 

 cooked in butter. They met with a ready sale, and a large business will probably be done in that 

 line hereafter. 



Previous to 1817 mackerel were caught with hook aud line when under sail, or, as it was 

 called, "drailing." Vessels usually carried twelve men, six being stationed on each side, and each 

 man tended a pole from which three lines with hooks were suspended. The pole was made fast to 

 the side of the vessel. This way of fishing always required a good breeze, and if the breeze died 

 away no fish could be caught, although the vessel might be surrounded with them. In 1817, accord- 

 ing to Rev. Elisha Kellogg, of Harpswell, Me., Captain Pote, of Freeport, Me., observed that the hake 

 fishermen, by throwing the refuse overboard, called the mackerel around. From this hint he began 

 chopping up mackerel with a hatchet and throwing it over to attract the fish to the side of the 



