APPEiroix. 159 



wouldn't sell. I went to Boston in March, expecting to have that vessel. About the last of March 

 the schooner Mary arrived from the West Indies and I took her and fitted for the Grand Bank. 

 "We sailed from here the 11th of April for the cod fishery. We depended at that time more par- 

 ticularly on mackerel fishiijg. All the Provincetown Bankers came in early so as to be ready for 

 the mackerel fishery. This was not the case with Plymouth and Marblehead, which were engaged 

 exclusively in the cod fishery. That April, May, June, and half of July were spent on the Banks 

 fishing for codfish, and on the return the vessels fitted for mackerel fishing, and in the fall at the 

 close of the mackerel fishery they put in the remainder of the four inonths in cod fishing in order 

 to secure the bounty. We had eight men and a cook, so that we fished half and half, having four 

 for a dress gang ; one to throat, one to head, one to split, and one to salt. They exchanged places 

 every watch of two hours. The fishing was all carried on from the deck of the vessel. We carried 

 salt clams for bait and generally took about 20 barrels. We returned home about the middle of 

 July ; after which we engaged in mackerel fishing on the coast of New England from Cape Cod 

 to Mount Desert. During the summer we caught 400 barrels of mackerel. We quit fishing in the 

 early part of November, 1831, to make out the rest of our time to obtain the bounty. We made 

 $163 to a share. We could live very well with a family then on that, if the family wasn't too big. 

 I staid ashore that winter and didn't go fishing. 



On the 2d of February, 1832, 1 sailed for the West Indies as captain of the Mary, although 

 I had never been engaged in the coasting trade and knew nothing about it. We were bound for 

 Ponce, Porto Eico. After landing the cargo we engaged a freight of molasses for New York. We 

 arrived there about the first of April, and from there we went to Murfreesborough, North Carolina, 

 in ballast, after a cargo of white-oak pipe staves for Boston. We arrived in Boston with our cargo 

 and then proceeded to fit for the mackerel fishery. That year the mackerel were poor and scarce 

 and we made a small voyage, only making $10 apiece. We left the vessel in the fall. 



In January, 1833, 1 had a new schooner called the Caroline. We loaded on the owner's 

 account and went to Ponce again. After discharging our cargo we loaded with sugar and molasses 

 for New York and returned without incident. Then we chartered to go to North Carolina and load 

 with red-oak hogshead staves for Palmouth, Jamaica. After discharging cargo we went up the 

 river to Tobasco, Mexico, in ballast and loaded logwood for New York. After having an ordinary 

 passage to New York we took in ballast for Boston. This year it was so late that all the good men 

 were employed, and I preferred to leave the vessel and go fishing with my brother, who was then 

 on a cod-fishing voyage. So I went with him mackerel fishing on the schooner Nelson. We sailed 

 about the middle of July and ended about the first of November. We made $120 to a share. 

 There were seven men in the crew, but three of them were hired. These were paid about $10 or 

 $12 a month. The owner wanted me to take a schooner called the Lucretia, on shares, and go to 

 North Carolina and get freight, and I took charge of her. She was a vessel of 77 tons. I sailed 

 the 26th of December. I started to go to Ponce again with red-oak staves and cypress shingles, 

 and then I agreed to return with a cargo of molasses for the same parties. I staid at Ponce 

 twenty-nine days, and subsequently loaded with molasses and returned to Edenton, North Caro- 

 lina. On my return I received instructions from my owners to purchase a cargo of red-oak hogs- 

 head staves, which I did, and returned to Boston for the fishery. I gave up the vessel in Boston. 

 It was an unprofitable voyage. I lost my time and $50. 



Then I shipped again with my brother to go mackereling on a schooner called the Lucy Mary. 

 We had five on shares and the rest were hired. After going out and spending some three weeks, 

 and being off the coast of Grand Manau, my brother W0S taken sick with fever and we brought 

 him home. We only got half a dozen barrels of mackerel. On our arrival home I then took 



