48 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



it, but a little fleet of eight vessels having met together at the southern edge of the ice, all of the 

 skippers went on board of the schooner Augusta H. Johnson to talk over the situation. After 

 deliberating a while, each returned to his own vessel, aud while some of us ran to the southward 

 others lay by waiting for the ice to recede to the northward. Just after this, the schooner Noon- 

 day, which was one of the fleet referred to, caught 30,000 pounds of halibut in CO fathoms of water 

 on the western edge of the Bank in latitude 43 40'. The ice did not drift so far south on the 

 western edge as in the middle of the Bank, and she was not troubled by it. After the consulta- 

 tion referred to above, we ran down to latitude 43 30' N. and longitude 50 30' W., but could 

 fiud no fish. We were there some days before the weather permitted us to try, and after we hauled 

 our gear and found no fish on it we got under way, with a southerly wind, and ran for the western 

 edge of the Bank, intending to strike it north of latitude 44 N. A careful lookout for ice was 

 kept. That evening we spoke the schooner Edwin C. Dolliver, at anchor in 70 fathoms, and lay 

 by her for the night. The next morning we made sail, spoke the Dolliver again, and also the 

 schooners Chester E. Lawrence and Eestless. The first two were lying at anchor in 60 to 70 

 fathoms of water and the Eestless lay in 49 fathoms. Neither of them caught any halibut. 



The ice, driven by the southerly wind, had at this time drifted back to about 45 N. latitude, 

 and we worked to the westward, in company with several other schooners, among which were the 

 Eestless, Edwin 0. Dolliver, Alfred Walen, N. H. Phillips, and John S. Presson, all of them 

 setting trawls under sail in the day and anchoring and setting their gear at night. In this man- 

 ner the fleet beat slowly to the westward against a moderate breeze for several days, trying for 

 halibut in water varying from 48 to 70 fathoms in depth, but catching nothing. The water was 

 so intensely cold that the frzen baits on the trawls would scarcely thaw when set in 50 fathoms 

 of water, or less, and we were almost compelled to believe that the fish had been driven entirely 

 off the Bank by the great ice-field and straggling icebergs. The latter were occasionally seen in 

 the deep water off the edge of the Bank. 



One day we passed by a large berg, about one-third of a mile distant from us. On one end ot 

 it a sharp pinnacle, resembling the spire of a church, ran up to a height of 75 or 80 feet; the middle 

 was quite low, but the other end rose in a bunch or hummock about 20 feet above the water. The 

 sunlight, playing on this huge mass of ice, throwing lights and shadows here and there, causing 

 the peaks to glitter and gleam for a moment, then darken to a greenish tint, and its constantly 

 changing aspect, as we sailed by it, made it an interesting aud impressive sight. But the thought 

 that it or some of its fellows might drive down on us some foggy and windy night, when we were at 

 anchor, caused us to look upon it with a sense of dread and apprehension instead of the admira- 

 tion we might have felt in watching such an object under different circumstances. 



On the last day of March we all set our trawls as usual some of the vessels being at anchor 

 and others under sail but no fish were caught by any of the fleet, and before dark all of the 

 schooners which had been at anchor got under way. The wind was north-northeast, blowing a 

 fresh breeze, and knowing the ice was not far off in a northerly direction no one would have cared 

 to remain anchored, even had there been greater inducement to do so. We were then on nearly 

 the extreme northwest peak of the Grand Bank, and the question was where to go next, for I do 

 not think it occurred to any one then to try in deeper water than we had previously set in. The 

 schooner Edwin C. Dolliver went back to the eastward again, but others of the fleet lay by 

 speaking with each other, the skippers evidently uncertain in what direction to steer. 



Having spoken the schooner Carrie P. Morton, which came driving along from the eastward 

 just at dark, and learned that no fish had been caught by the vessels farther east, I decided to 

 "hold our ground" till morning. We accordingly hove to alongside of the Alfred Waleu, -vhich 



