246 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



are caught with sweep-seines in a pond at the Lead of the river. Fishing is allowed on four 

 days only of each week. In 1879, 140,500 alewives were taken. Each citizen of Dennis and Yar- 

 mouth has the privilege of buying 400 alewives at 40 cents per hundred. About 75 barrels of 

 white perch are also caught annually in the river. Each citizen of the two towns may buy a peck 

 of them for 85 cents. A few smelts, torn-cod, and flatfish are also caught in the river. 



BAENSTABLE. The village of Barnstable is built mainly upon one long street running par- 

 allel to and about a half mile distant from the south shore of Barnstable Harbo'r. It contains the 

 court-house and custom-house for the county and the residences of many wealthy citizens. It can- 

 not at the present day be classed with fishing villages, properly speaking, although until I860 sev- 

 eral fishing vessels were owned here and sailed from this port. The village is now, seemingly, 

 principally supported by the capital which the retired captains of whaling and merchant vessels 

 who make their residence here have brought with them. The wharves, which, in large measure, 

 are in decay, are located at some distance from the mouths of two creeks in an extensive salt 

 marsh. The sand has washed in, almost filling the creeks and making it difficult for even small 

 boats to go in and out. 



The only vessel at present owned in Barnstable is the Pontiac. a schooner of about 15 tons. 

 She is employed by her owners, Messrs. James & George Smith, in a variety of fisheries. In 

 spring and fall she has been used in setting mackerel nets, and in summer in lobster fishing in 

 Buzzard's Bay or in bluefish fishing with nets on the outside of the cape. 



A weir belonging to Capt. Benjamin Lovell, of Yarmouth, and a partner, is located in a cove 

 near Sandy Neck light-house, on the north side of Barnstable Harbor. It has riot proved very 

 successful. During the present year (1880) no fish have been shipped for want of ice. 



A cod and pollock fishery has been carried on by four or five men for a number of years from 

 March to June at the edge of the bar which closes the mouth of the harbor. This fishery has been 

 quite successful, yielding about 15,000 pounds of cod, and 5,000 pounds of pollock annually, until 

 the present year, when it proved an almost absolute failure. 



Since 1878 two men have done a considerable business in catching and shipping eels. In the 

 year 1878 they shipped about 5,400 pounds, and in 1879 about 5,800 pounds. The fishing begins 

 about the middle of May, and lasts until the middle of September. 



For three or four years a fisherman belonging in Barnstable, with the aid of a partner from 

 Yarmouth, has set a few lobster pots in the harbor. In 1879 eight pots were set during July, and 

 200 or 300 lobsters taken. In 1880 twelve or fourteen pots were set, but the catch was about the 

 same as that of the previous year. 



Scallops arc abundant along the shores of the harbor, and in 187G a party of men from 

 Hyannis established themselves here for the purpose of gathering them. In 1877 the price of 

 scallops declined very greatly, forcing these men to abandon their enterprise. The fishery was 

 continued, however, by two men of Barnstable. In the winter of 1877-'7S the latter shipped 40 

 half-barrels of -'eyes," and during the winter of 187S-'79 only G half-barrels. They were sent 

 to Boston and New York. 



A shoal-water weir was built on the shore of the bay, west of Beach Point, in 1870, for the 

 purpose of catching bass and bluefish. It was not successful and was abandoned in 1870. In the 

 spring of the latter year a deep-water weir was erected off Beach Point; 20 or 30 barrels of mack- " 

 ercl were taken in it, but it was soon broken down by the waves, and has not been replaced. 



Several fishing vessels were owned in Barnstable prior to I860 by N. & W. Scudder and one 

 other firm. Among the last employed here were tho Emma G. Latham and the Flying Fish. 



Hyannis is a flourishing village situated in the southern part of Barnstable Township. Its 



