THE MULLET FISHERY. 563 



FISHING WITH SEINES. Seines are perhaps more generally used than any other apparatus. 

 These vary endlessly in size and arrangement, and the fishermen of the different localities have 

 peculiar methods of shooting and hauling them. Some are but a few yards in length, and are 

 easily handled by two or three men, while the largest are 300 or 400 yards long, requiring a crew 

 of twenty or thirty men to handle the net and care for the catch. Most of the fishermen purchase 

 their twine from some local dealer, and tie their own nets during their leisure hours, which, by the 

 way, are very numerous. Others send to Boston and New York for the prepared webbing, hanging 

 the nets and supplying them with such floats and sinkers as they may think proper. 



As has already been stated, the mullet fishermen are mostly farmers, who devote a greater 

 portion of the year to agricultural pursuits, turning their attention to fishing for a short time only. 

 Many of the farmers interested in the fall fishery live some miles from the salt water; but when 

 the fishing season arrives they leave their homes and proceed in gangs of four to thirty men to 

 the seashore under the leadership of a " captain," who controls their movements. A seine 75 to 100 

 fathoms long, two or three boats, material for splitting tables, barrels, salt, and a limited amount 

 of provisions, with the necessary cooking utensils, constitute the outfit. On reaching the shore 

 they at once build rude huts or cabins, in which they eat and sleep until the close of the season. 

 The most rigid economy is practiced during their stay on the beach, and no outlay of money is 

 made unless absolutely necessary. This economy is especially noticeable in the style of buildings 

 which are erected for their own use as well as in those used for salting and storing the fish. It is 

 again noticeable in the food with which the men are supplied, the average fisherman bringing 

 simply a few pounds of meal, some salt pork, and a supply of sweet-potatoes, his chief food during 

 his stay at tlie shore being composed of fish caught from day to day. 



When n suitable location for the fishing station has been selected, which, as a rule, is on some 

 sandy beach, or at some prominent point where the fish are known to pass in considerable numbers, 

 all hands turn their attention to erecting the necessary shanties or huts. These differ considerably, 

 according to the locality. In the vicinity of Beaufort, N. C., they are usually built of rushes and 

 poles, and are, indeed, strange-looking pieces of architecture. When a building site has been 

 selected, some of the men start for the woods in search of poles, which are to answer as a frame- 

 work, while others go to the marsh to gather rushes, which are to serve as a covering. The 

 ridge-pole is first placed in position, its front end resting in the crotch of a forked stick, while the 

 other is supported by two poles that cross each other at the proper height, their bases being 

 imbedded in the grouud, to locate the corners of the building. Smaller poles are now placed in 

 rows at an equal distance on either side of the ridge-pole. These answer the purpose of studding, 

 each being notched at the point where the eaves should come, that they may be easily bent inward to 

 the ridge-pole to support the roof. In some cases spikes are used to fasten the ends of the poles, but. 

 owing to their cost or to the difficulty of obtaining, they are frequently dispensed with, strings of bear- 

 grass being substituted in their stead. l( Laths," consisting of small poles or sticks, are now tied to 

 the studding in horizontal rows about 18 to 24 inches apart, and the framework is complete. A ditch 

 is then dug along the outside of the frame, into which the base of a thick layer of rushes, is placed- 

 Other long sticks, called "liggers," are now placed on the ontside of the rushes, directly opposite 

 the laths, the two being sewed or fastened together by means of threads of bear-grass, in order 

 that the rushes may be held in position. When the bottom tier has been fastened another row of 

 rushes is placed higher up, overlapping the first like shingles on a roof. These in turn are fastened 

 to the laths in the same manner, care being taken that the line formed by their lower ends may be 

 even. The same process is continued until the ridge-pole is reached and the entire structure has 

 been inclosed. The layers of rushes are sufficiently thick to shed water and to break the force of 



