90 FISHEEMEN OP THE UMTBD STATES. 



vessels fared far better, since, fishing upon grounds closer to the shore, they had more frequent 

 chances of obtaining fresh provisions." 



In former years fishermen did not fare so well as at present. Capt. Gideon Bowley, of Prov- 

 incetown, made his first trip to the Grand Bank about the year 1828, in the schooner Plant. He 

 gives the following account of the provisions carried by the vessel, and the routine of life on board 

 while fishing on the Bank : " The schooner Plant was a topsail schooner of 63 tons O. M., carrying 

 eight men and a boy-cook. The provisions for three months consisted chiefly of the following arti- 

 cles : 1 barrel of flour, 1 barrel of beef, J barrel of pork, 20 bushels of meal, 16 bushels of potatoes; 

 beans, dried apples, 1 barrel of molasses, 1 barrel of rum, 2 cords of wood for use in the fireplace, 

 and 40 barrels of water. Sometimes they carried no flour, and then the larder was always supple- 

 mented by two or three barrels of rum. The vessel had a large open fireplace in the forecastle, 

 in which over a wood-fire the cooking was done. 



" The daily routine of meals was as follows : Breakfast at 7.30 a. m., consisting of brown bread, 

 fish chowder, and tea and coffee, sweetened with molasses. When there was no fish the chowder was 

 replaced by a dish called ' smotheration,' composed of potatoes and salt beef. Dinner at 12. We had 

 sometimes soup, either made of salt beef with rice in it, pea soup or bean soup. Nothing under 

 heaven but boiled beans. Brown bread, boiled potatoes, boiled beef twice a week, Wednesdays 

 and Sundays (when there was beef enough). When there was no fish on the table there was some- 

 thing else, such as corned fish and potatoes, or fried fish. Supper at 6: brown bread and the fish 

 or whatever else was left over from dinner." 



Capt. Chester Marr gives the following description of the fare on board the fishing vessels of 

 Gloucester about the year 1830 : "The Gloucester fleet numbered about fifty boats, most of them 

 'Chebacco boats' or 'dog-bodies' and pinkies. The manner of living on board of the vessels 

 was very simple ; the food was mdtetly fish, no meat at aU, and no soft bread; no butter nor sugar, 

 nor knife or fork unless we carried them ourselves. Each man had a pan and a mug. We had 

 black tea boiled in an iron kettle. We had our food in one tin pan, and each man had a spoon 

 and we'd all sit 'round and eat our victuals out of it. We used to make our own matches out of 

 pine wood and sulphur. I shall never forget the first time I went to the Bay of Saint Lawrence. 

 A'ter I went on board I asked the skipper how long he had taken stores for ; he answered, for 

 about four months. When I got a chance I went down into the hold to see what he had, and this 

 was what I found: 2^ barrels of molasses, 16 barrels of hard bread, J barrel of salt beef, J barrel 

 of pork ; rice, potatoes, beans, pepper, and chocolate. 



" This was for four months. We used to boil our chocolate with rice, in a sort of pudding. I 

 never saw a bit of sugar on vessels for years — nothing but molasses. The whole outfit did not 

 cost $200. We lived jist so to home as we did on board of the vessels, pretty much." 



The fishermen of former days employed, as cook, a boy of from twelve to sixteen years, whose 

 pay was almost nothing. On European fishing vessels the practice of having a boy for cook is still 

 universal. The cook of New England vessels at the present day, on the contrary, is one of the 

 most important men on board ; with the single exception of the captain, he is the best paid man on 

 the vessel, and is often given a "lay" that makes his remuneration quite equal to that of the skip- 

 per. He is therefore expected to be a skillful cook and a generally capable and reliable man, and 

 to him is usually intrusted the responsible duty of naming the quantity of the provisions which he 

 which he selects and takes on board for any given cruise. 



All the members of a schooner's crew, from the captain to the smallest boy (if any boys are 

 carried), cat at the one table, and fare precisely alike. The cook almost always decides what he 



