FEE^H HALIBUT FISHERY. 51 



back to the Walen. The dory was nearly three miles from the Walen when picked up, and such a 

 timely rescue must have been gratefully appreciated by men fatigued, hungry, and chilled to the 

 marrow. 



After the Clark reached the Walen she made fast to the stern of the latter with a long warp 

 for the night; the only instance of one vessel lying fast to another on the Grand Bank I ever knew 

 of, and I think the only one on record. 



We kept under sail during the night succeeding the day of which I have been writing, and 

 hold our position by observing the riding lights of the other vessels. The following morning we 

 anchored. We had foggy weather after this for the three days we staid there, which made 

 trawling somewhat dangerous; for, although the main floe had passed by, detached pieces and 

 long narrow streaks of ice kept coming along, and, oftentimes, when the dories were caught to 

 loo ward of these the men had great difficulty in working their way through or over them. Fre- 

 quently the boats had to be hauled over the ice for a distance of one or two hundred yards. This 

 trouble was increased by the denscness of the fog, which shut out from view all but the nearest 

 objects, and the fisherman leaving the side of his vessel felt that the thick mist, which hung like 

 a pall over the face of the sea, rendered his task more perilous and uncertain than ever before, 

 hiding as it might a vast floe of ice which would carry him away with it to drift helplessly until 

 lie succumbed to cold and hunger. Fortunately, however, no more serious adventure occurred 

 than that already mentioned, though the men comprising the crews of the entire fleet did not 

 hesitate to brave the perils incident to the occasion. 



All of the vessels secured good fares of halibut and some made large stocks. The rough expe- 

 rionce of some of the fleet in the ice was apparent on their return home, when it could be seen that 

 the planking at the water's edge was badly chafed and cut, in some cases necessitating repairs. 

 The ground-lines of our trawls, being only 24 pounds to the dozen, were too small to stand the 

 severe strain of this deep-water fishing, especially where so many vessels were lying close together, 

 and setting their gear afoul of each other. We lost so much of our gear that, after fishing four 

 days, we could not muster enough for a set, and, all things considered, I thought best to start for 

 home with a fare of 22,000 pounds of halibut. As I had anticipated, few halibut had arrived in 

 Gloucester for the two weeks previous, and for ours we got 8 and 14J cents per pound for gray and 

 white. The "hawkers" were so anxious to obtain our halibut that they came aboard while we 

 \voro sailing into the harbor, and after our anchor was down they bid on the fish, the highest 

 bidder taking the trip. We shared between $79 and $80 to each man. 



We did not go after halibut any more that year; but the trip of which I have given such a long 

 account may be said to have been the beginning of deep-water fishing for halibut, for it was the 

 first time, to my knowledge, that fresh-halibut vessels tried in more than 90 fathoms, on the Banks. 

 All of the spring and summer of 1875 halibut were found very plenty along the edge of the ground 

 between Grau:l Bank and Green Bank in CO to 200 fathoms. Capt. Nathaniel Greenleaf got 18,000 

 pounds from one set as late as October, but the fish were evidently moving fast, for when he set again 

 they had left. 



In January, 1876, I was again engaged in fresh-halibut fishing on the Grand Bank, and tried 

 from 51 35/ to 510 51 w. longitude and in about 44 10' to 44 15' N. latitude for the first week 

 on the Bank ; made several sets, but found few halibut, and finally started in company with the 

 schooner Edwin C. Dolliver, Capt. Nathaniel Greeuleaf, and worked southward to 43 41' N. lati- 

 tude and 50 52' W. longitude. The wind was southeast and breezing up smart when we anchored 

 and set our trawls, and the weather was so rough that they were out four days before we hadfi 

 chance to get them. We lost two trawls and set again in hopes to recover them, but another gale 



