302 



HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



1837. 



"A small party of fishermen from Squam captured a school of thirty-six blackfish measuring 

 from 12 to 20 feet in length. They were seen near shore, and the fishermen surrounded them in 

 their wherries and drove them ashore, where they killed them with knives, pitchforks, &c. The oil 

 worth $300 to $400." * 



1843. 



"July 20 about one hundred blackfish entered this harbor. Captain Baxter, keeper ot 

 light, discovered them. They were driven into shoal water by the splashing of the oars. Dei.th 

 blows were inflicted with all sorts of implements from a bowie knife to a rake handle, including 

 rusty bayonets, blades of scythes, &c. Seventy-five barrels of oil were obtained. Some of the 

 fish were from 20 to 25 feet long and 15 feet in circumference. If one of the school is lanced so as 

 to bring blood the whole school will follow the track of the wounded fish, hence the first wounded 

 must be driven toward the shore in order to capture the school." t 



1850-1852. 



" About one hundred and fifty blackfish were captured on Truro beach on Friday week, and 

 one hundred and eighty at Eastham on Monday ."f 



" Saturday night a school of blackfish was driven ashore at North Eastham, and twenty-eight 



were captured." 



1853. 



"The Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror of the 4th August gives an account of the capture of 

 blackfish on the 30th ultimo. They took ninety-one in all the entire school. They attacked these 

 fish in water up to their waists. They are from 10 to 20 feet in length and average half a ton each. 



The yield will be 150 barrels." 



1855. 



"On Saturday evening, 31st March, some gentlemen at Little Beach captured a blackfish 18 

 feet in length. The blubber produced 2 barrels of oil." || 



"Ninety blackfish, the product of which was valued at $1,500, 'were driven ashore at Well- 

 fleet on Cape Cod, in June,' 1855, by a number of boats and vessels that happened to be in the 

 neighborhood. It is unusual for this sp'ecies to be driven ashore before August, and their appear- 

 ance so early would indicate their great abundance. Another school was sighted in Provincetown 

 harbor in the same month but the people would not attack them on Sunday." fl 



" BLACKFISH. On Sunday week a large school of very large blackfish were driven ashore at 

 East Brewster and various other points in Orleans and Eastham, where they were nearly all 

 captured. Another school came ashore Monday and were discovered by some fishermen near 

 Wellfleet. The whole number taken was about two hundred and thirty. They were very large, 

 and their oil is valued at $4,000 or $5,000." ** 



"BLACKFISH. As the Orleans packet was on her way to Boston Monday she encountered a 

 school of blackfish in the bay and drove them on shore, where they were nearly all captured. They 

 were about fifty in number, and were not probably worth less than $1,000. * * * Fishermen say 

 that they always come in large numbers when mackerel are plenty in the bay, as they subsist on 

 the same food as mackerel. Once in the bay and they are pretty sure to be captured, as they keep 

 close into the shore, in shoal water, and have not the sagacity to find their way out again. 



* Gloucester Telegraph, October 14, 1837. 

 t Barnstablo Patriot, July 26, 1843. 

 t Gloucester Telegraph, September 11, 1850. 

 $ Barnstable Patriot, August 24, 1852. 



|| Lewis &, Newhall's History of Lynn, p. 443. 



H Yarmouth Register. 



'* Barnstable Patriot, July 10, 1885. 



