NATIONALITY AND GENERAL OHAEAOTEEISTICS. 11 



When at home the fisherman of this class passes most of his time in lounging about with his 

 companions, relating personal adventures and talking superficially over the outlook. Not possess- 

 ing a "business head," he does not carry these speculations further than to " hope for better luck." 

 The same time spent in hunting for bait, scarce as it is, might better serve to realize his hopes. 

 He may, despite his failings, be considered as honest, good-hearted, and contented with his lot, 

 or perhaps we may better express it, resigned to fate. 



Education. — Education is not in anadvanced state. There are schools in almost all of the 

 fishing towns, where winter and summer sessions are held, attended by the young of both sexes. 

 The boys are taken away permanently from school as soon as they are considered useful, leaving the 

 inference a fair one that the girls are better educated when they leave school than the boys. The 

 means of supplying food for the boys' minds being so limited it is not strange that their heads are 

 undisturbed by constant planning of great schemes having for their end the accumulation of wealth. 



Financial condition. — The fishermen of the present time have lost the privilege of obtain- 

 ing on credit articles of food, &c., from the storekeepers, who, on account of the tendency on the 

 part of the former to avoid the payment of their bills, have in the past lost heavily. Formerly the 

 fishermen were good customers, buying extensively and making exertions to fulfill their obligations. 



A fair average return per annum to the fisherman, since 1875, when bait began to be scarce and 

 the price of fish to diminish, is estimated at $175; in 1879, however, the majority did not realize 

 $100 apiece. 



FisHEEMEN AT GeoeGtETOWN. — The shore-fishermcn of the Kennebec side of Georgetown 

 are mostly engaged in pound fishing, but a few are interested in boat fishing for cod, haddock, 

 hake, and pollock. They are almost wholly dependent for their support upon the money obtained 

 by the sale of their fish. In summer, however, a few weeks are spent in picking and shipping 

 berries, and in digging clams or cutting ice in winter. They do not engage in any one particu- 

 lar kind of fishing, but turn their attention to that which they believe to be the most profitable 

 at the time. Some of these men always return at night; others, known as "campers," start in the 

 spring with a small stove, blankets, and some cooking utensils, staying away until some necessity 

 compels them to leave for home. The returns earned in this way used to equal the average 

 returns of the deep-sea fishermen, but for the past three or four years the case has been very 

 different. 



BoAT-FiSHEEMEN OF PoETLAND. — The boat- fishermen of Portland live, for the most part, on 

 the islands in the vicinity of the city and at Cape Elizabeth, both for economy and for convenience 

 in getting to and from the fishing grounds. This class represents the better element, being very 

 largely composed of married men, who prefer to undergo lonesome hardship in their little boats 

 remaining near home to being separated from those dear to them in large vessels for a long time. 

 It is estimated that the married boat-fishermen of Portland number one hundred and ten, and that 

 they possess an average of about three children each. 



3. THE VESSEL-FISHERMEU OE MAINE. 



Geneeal chakacteeistics. — The fishing vessels of Maine are largely manned by men of 

 American birth, most of them natives of this State, who have followed the 'fisheries from their youth. 

 Their habits of life are in many respects the same as those of the shore-fishermen. They have, as a 

 class, all the enterprise and daring of the fishermen at the larger ports in Massachusetts. They are, 

 however, more conservative and contented, and do not care to risk the great dangers attending the 

 winter fisheries on the Banks, preferring rather to follow the fisheries during the summer months, 

 and to remain idle or engage in other pursuits during the winter. Many of them, however, foUow 

 the shore fisheries in winter and the vessel fisheries in summer. 



