318 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Mackerel vessels on the New England coast are always prepared for swordfisb when cruising 

 among mackerel schools. I am not aware that they are ever seeii on the mackerel grounds of the 

 Gulf of Saint Lawrence. 



2. THE VESSELS. 



The vessels engaged in swordflshing are sloops and small schooners of generally less that 50 

 tons. The crew is also small, consisting of two or sometimes three men besides the cook and a 

 boy. Although many vessels are employed in this fishery for several successive years, there are 

 many others which fit out for a single season or for a part of a season. Others, on the south coast 

 of New England, divide their time between fishing for sea-bass and hunting for swordfisli, all 

 warm and quiet days being devoted to the latter pursuit. Six or eight vessels from New London 

 are thus employed, as well as others from Noank and Bridgeport. On the coast of Maine, as has 

 already been mentioned, many of the smaller fishing vessels fitted for the capture of mackerel and 

 cod devote a part of the season to taking swordfish. Other vessels, among them occasionally a gen- 

 tleman's yacht, enter the field for a cruise or two in the course of a summer. To do this is a favorite 

 recreation for old swordfishermen engaged in other work. Numerous mackerel schooners carry 

 the swordfish "pulpit" on their bows, and so do various coasters and packets. 



It has therefore not been thought desirable to attempt to make a list of the vessels engaged 

 in this fishery, or even an exact enumeration of them. In 1879 estimates by careful men engaged 

 in the business fixed the number belonging in different ports as follows: 



New York (hailing from New London) 2 



Grcenport sloops 2 



New London 8 



Newport 1 



Fall River 2 



Ciitt.vlmiik 3 



Westport 2 



New Bedford l'-i 



Dartmouth 2 



South side of Cape Cod 5 



Gloucester 1 



Total 41 



In 1874, according to Mr. Thompson, New Bedford had twelve vessels in this fishery. In 1877 

 the estimates of total number of vessels made by different men varied between thirty and forty. 



To show how uncertain the continuance of vessels in this fishery may be I will refer to the 

 annals of Gloucester. In 1876, one schooner, the Meteor, was engaged; in 1877, the schooner 

 Champion; in 1878, the schooner Northern Eagle; while in 1879 and 1880 the field was abandoned 

 by this port. 



3. APPARATUS OF CAPTUBE. 



The apparatus ordinarily employed for the capture of the swordfish is simple in the extreme. 

 It is a harpoon with detachable head. When the fish is struck the head of the harpoon remains 

 in the body of the fish, and carries with it a light rope, which is either made fast or held by a man 

 in a small boat, or is attached to some kind of a buoy, which is towed through the water by the 

 struggling fish, and which marks its whereabouts after death. 



The harpoon consists of a pole 15 or 16 feet in length, usually of hickory or some other hard 

 wood, upon which the bark has been left, so that the harpoouer may have a firmer hand-grip. This 

 pole is from an inch and a half to two inches in diameter, and at one end is provided with an iron 

 rod, or "shank," about 2 feet long and five-eighths of an inch in diameter. This "shank" is fast- 

 ened to the pole by means of a conical or elongated cup-like expansion at one end, which fits over 



