APPENDIX. 163 



our shores. I knew all about it. I supposed, having been a fisherman so long, I knew a good deal. 

 He was a doctor of physic, and I thought I would aid him without any pecuniary pay, and ho 

 accepted. After I had answered questions about thirty-two kinds of fish he sent me his report, 

 and said that was all they knew about fish and anything I could do would be important. I looked 

 over it and found that I could do a good deal, and this was the beginning of my acquaintance with 

 scientific men. 



In 1842 1 was fishing for halibut and cod on the backside of the cape, but left off soon enough 

 to go shadding again, a second time, at Monomoy, from the last of May to the 20th of June. We 

 had our nets already made and could go without any additional cost of outfit. We were unsuc- 

 cessful and made only about $20 to a man, the crew consisting of eight men. There were probably 

 fifty sail of vessels off Chatham fishing for shad. After this was over we commenced mackerel 

 dragging in the bay, and continued it until the middle of July. d?hen we fitted for the Gulf of 

 Saint Lawrence, sailing the latter part of July. We fished altogether at the Magdalens and got 

 only 60 barrels; but this was a good share compared with other vessels. There were very few 

 Provincetown vessels in the mackerel fishery that year, they being engaged mainly in the cod and 

 whale fishery. There were a few from Cape Ann in the gulf with us. We returned home late in 

 the fall, and our profits were very small. 



In the winter, from the 1st of February, 1843, to May, we fished as usual in the gully for 

 halibut, and went to Boston eight or nine times, sometimes carrying 5,000 or 6,000 pounds of fish 

 sometimes not more than 2,000. About this year we began setting trawls for halibut, as has been 

 described elsewhere. Before we began trawling we carried ten dories and eleven men, one man 

 staying on board while every other one of the crew took a dory and went out to fish with hand-lines 

 at various points within sight of the vessel. After trawling began we carried only five dories and 

 sent two men out in each of them. When we first began fishing for halibut in the gully the fish 

 would weigh on an average about 135 pounds. This was in 1838 ; but after we had fished there 

 three or four years they didn't average more than 75 pounds. We used haddock for bait. After 

 we got through halibut fishing there was no encouragement to fit for mackereling. Our vessel 

 was old and would not pay for' repairing, so I went to Saint Pierre and sold her to the French for 

 $600. I ballasted her with brick, which also brought a good price. That wound up the old Lucy 

 Mary. 



In the spring of 1844 I commenced to fish in a little old sloop which my brother had bought. 

 It wasn't good for anything, and was called the Mars. We had a crew of two men and a boy. 

 We fished on what we called Mill Ledge, not more than a mile from Highland light, in from 14 to 

 25 fathoms of water. We caught about 500 or 600 weight the first day out, and as we couldn't get 

 them into the well alive we struck them with a club as big around as my arm, and then put them 

 into the well dead. The wind sprung up and the next morning it was still blowing fresh. We 

 started to haul our dead halibut up to dress them when to our surprise every one of them was 

 alive! We hit them as hard as we could. On this trip we made $100 to a share. 



After the spring fishing was over we then engaged in the mackerel net fishery for the season. 

 The mackerel came in here to spawn the latter part of May and through the month of June. We 

 didn't use the sloop in this fishery, but had a boat. 



The plaice, Platessa oblonga of Storer, was extremely abundant here then. At that time there 

 were a great many squid, and the plaice fed on them. We caught 2,000 plaice in one afternoon. 

 We sold them in Boston for turbot. Here and there we could find a marketman who would buy 

 150 or 200 pounds, but generally there was no demand for them. So we gave them away very 

 frequently. After we went two or three times to Boston with plaice we found it wouldn't pay at 



