36 FISHERMEN OP THE UNITED STATES, 



they have sailed or fished upon the Mediterranean. They are mostly Italians, but among them 

 are Portuguese, Slavonians, Greeks, and Austrians. They all understand and can converse in 

 Italian. Although many of them belong to benevolent societies pertaining to their different races, 

 they are all bonnd together in what might be called the Fishermen's Union. It is a protective 

 association. Each boat has certain rights and privileges not to be infringed upon by others. Each 

 man contributes toward a common fund for the purpose of protecting the fishermen's interests, and 

 to aid the families of deceased members. The association has regular attorneys, who are supposed 

 to look after its interests. They have a place of meeting at No. 32 Clay street, called_ the Fisher- 

 men's House. Here is a cheap restaurant, where the single fishermen board, an indispensable bar, 

 card tables, a billiard table, and a few beds. When anything unusual occurs among them they 

 assemble here and hold a grand pow-pow. 



" There are about two hundred boats and nearly 1,000 men engaged in the business. The 

 great number of their boats now lie in a slip near the Front-street wharf, their old place at the foot 

 of Clay street having been recently improved for a steamer landing. Each boat pays $1 per week 

 for wharfage. Their present quarters satisfies them very well now, but they are fearful that the 

 winter northers sweeping in from the Golden Gate wiH destroy their boats. Their attorneys are 

 endeavoring to have their quarters improved. Many of the fishermen are married and have fam- 

 ilies here, but the majority are single men, who intend some time to return to their native country, 

 of course, rich. The married men live on Telegraph Hill, in houses perched like gulls' nests on the 

 heights above the water. The houses, though small, are kept very neat. The fishermen's wives 

 are usually bright-eyed, little Italian women, but some have become cosmopolitan in their tastes 

 and taken to wife whatever offered itself. The boats, as a general thing, make one fishing trip per 

 day, and the profits per boat are from $10 to $30, and even $100 is sometimes realized from a 

 single trip. 



"About forty boats are engaged in fishing without the bay, and go as far as the FaraUone 

 Islands. These boats, of course, make longer trips, and the receipts per trip, if not the profits per 

 day, are greater. The boats which fish in the bay use the seine almost exclusively, but outside it 

 is used but little, the hook taking its place. The men are very reckless, and their lateen sails are 

 often seen beating against a wind when our pleasure yachts are glad to find a harbor. It is not 

 infrequently that one of these boats sails out early in the morning and never returns nor is heard 

 from again. They are a very industrious people, and some of them are at work at all hours of the 

 day and night. Some put out in the small hours of the morning and return at night; others put 

 out in the evening and return when the sun is well up. Sundays they mend their nets and rig 

 their boats. They are nearly all nominally Catholics, but their religion does not interfere with 

 secular duties in the least. If you wish to see the whole set forget their English in an instant and 

 appear as inscrutable as the sphinx, go among them as a missionary and inquire as to their spiritual 

 condition. They make considerable money and live well. Macaroni, they find, is not an all-suffi- 

 cient in this climate, and they take very kindly to pork and beef. As is usually the case with 

 fishermen, they have a great contempt for fish and never eat it when anything better is to be had. 

 They use a great deal of tobacco, chewing and smoking, and a great deal of liquor. 



" They are the heaviest consumers of our California wines, although on extra occasions they 

 indulge in imported articles. In spite of this liberal use of wine and whisky, one rarely sees a 

 drunkard or a noisy man among them. Around the dock and upon the water they have a business- 

 like air and say but little, but at the fishermen's house they appear very different. At the latter 

 place they are noisy and merry and often drunk. Few of them, except the masters of the larger 

 boats which cruise outside of the bay, are citizens. The boats are registered, and, according to 



