THE LOBSTEE FISHERY. 671 



are well adapted both for rowing and sailing, and all but the smallest usually carry one or more 

 sprit-sails. 



THE MARTHA'S VINEYARD CAT-BOATS. These boats, which are extensively employed in the 

 lobster fisheries of southern New England, have a sharp bow, round, flat bottom, broad beam, and 

 square heart-shaped stern, with center-board. They range in length from 15 to 30 feet, and carry, 

 as a rule, one gaif and boom sail of very large size. The mast is placed nearly in the eyes of 

 the boat. 



Some of the boats are nearly decked over, leaving only a small open space or cockpit in the 

 after part ; others, however, are more open, with the cockpit occupying nearly the entire -boat. 

 The cuddy is, therefore, sometimes so small as to answer only for storage, and again it may be 

 large enough to serve as sleeping quarters for the men. Boats of this model occasionally measure 

 as much as 5 tons. 



THE PROVIDENCE EIVER CAT-BOATS, employed in the lobster and hook and line fisheries 

 of southern New England, are sharp-bowed, round-bilged, deep-keeled, lap-streak boats, with 

 square heart-shaped stern, and measure from 14 to 20 feet in length. One of these boats, measur- 

 ing 20 feet in length over all, has an extreme breadth of 7 feet 8 inches, and a width at stern of 

 5 feet; the draught of water is about 2 feet 9 inches aft. They are open above, though having wash- 

 boards, and are provided with a small well amidships for keeping lobsters and fish alive, while at 

 the sides of the well are small, dry compartments, with covers, for the storage of lobsters when 

 necessary. They carry one mast with a single large sail. 



THE " TWO-SAIL " LOBSTER BOATS OF MAINE AND MASSACHUSETTS resemble, in the shape 

 and construction of the hull, the Providence Eiver cat-boats, but differ from them mainly in the 

 arrangement of their sails, which are two in number, a foresail and a mainsail. The latter is about 

 two-thirds the size of the former, and is provided with a boom, while the former is a lug-sail, having 

 no boom. This is a common style of lobster boat on the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts. 



Another form of these boats, which is also extensively used, retains the same arrangement 

 of sails, but differs in the construction of the hull, which is more shapely, and resembles in minia- 

 ture the celebrated sharp fishing schooners employed in the off-shore fisheries. The forward and 

 after parts of the boat are also decked over, and wide washboards run along the sides, so as to 

 leave an oval-shaped open space in the center, which is divided into two compartments, the for- 

 ward one for fish and ballast, the after one for the fishermen. 



These boats are provided with the means of rowing in calm weather. They vary in length 

 from 16 to 20 feet on top, and are employed in the shore as well as the lobster fisheries. When 

 lobstering they are usually managed by one man, who generally removes the main mast and 

 leaves only the foresail set while hauling his pots. 



THE DOUBLE-ENDER OR PEAPOD. This is a small canoe-shaped boat, generally arranged for 

 rowing only, although occasionally furnished with a sprit-sail and center-board. It has been intro- 

 duced only recently into the region where it is used, and is said to have originated at North Haven, 

 Me., about 1870. It is now very extensively employed in the lobster fishery of the coast of Maine, 

 especially by the fishermen of the islands in Penobscot Bay. These boats are mainly built lap- 

 streak, but a few are " set work." Both ends are exactly alike ; the sides are rounded and the 

 bottom is flat, being, however, only 4 or 5 inches wide in the center, and tapering toward each end, at 

 the same time bending slightly upwards, so as to make the boat shallower at the ends than in the 

 middle. This kind of bottom is called a " rocker bottom," and this style of boat rows easily in either 

 direction, is safe, and can be quickly turned over ; it is also capable of carrying quite a load. An 

 average boat of tbis pattern measures about 15J feet long, 4J feet broad, and 1J feet deep. 



