82 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



structed. In 1713, Captain Andrew Robinson, the father 

 of the schooner, contrived a new rig for sailing vessels. 

 Up to that time the square rig was the characteristic sail 

 of all vessels with more than one mast. Even with the 

 fishing ketches, square-rigged sails were the most in use. 

 Captain Robinson built a two-masted vessel and rigged 

 her with fore-and-aft sails on booms, with a jib forward. 

 At the launching of the craft, a bystander exclaimed as 

 she left the stocks, ' ' Oh, how she scoons ! " To which Cap- 

 tain Robinson replied, * * A schooner let her be. " 1 The 

 schooner was destined to become the most efficient vessel 

 of its size for the practical mastery of the seas. A popular 

 variation from the Robinson model for many years was the 

 topsail schooner, which carried on the foremast a lower, 

 a topsail and sometimes a topgallant yard; otherwise, it 

 was rigged in the regular fore-and-aft style. Captain 

 Robinson possessed at least two of the qualities that have 

 distinguished New England fishermen, ingenuity in con- 

 triving apparatus to better their condition, and activity 

 while aboard ship. He is said to have been so industrious 

 on the banks when fish were plentiful that he would not 

 leave his place on deck even to eat. When hungry, he 

 had ship-biseuit brought to him which he contrived to eat 

 by working it around in his mouth with his lips and teeth, 

 while he attended to hook and line with his hands. 



With the return of peace, in 1713, a new wave of settle- 

 ment advanced northeasterly. The old towns in Maine that 

 had been abandoned were rebuilt, new ones were founded, 

 and the frontier pushed farther to the east and deeper into 

 the forest. From Cape Porpoise to the Kennebec River 

 these settlements went on. Brunswick, Topham, George- 

 town and Augusta were begun. The fisheries were set 

 forward by the ingenuous Dr. Oliver Noyes, of Boston. 

 This generous man also built a stone garrison for soldiers 



i Sabine, p. 130; Babson, p. 250. 



