68 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
" pounds; nearly all of these fish he has caught quite recently. He said that the Oity of Gloucester, 
which lays a berth south of him, has got a fair trip, and will probably go home to-morrow. We 
gave the Williams a dory-load of ice, then we went a berth northward of her and anchored in 56 
fathoms, and set twelve tubs of trawl after dark. The barometer has risen to 29.90, and the 
weather is fine; wind W. by N. 
Friday, March 1, 1878.—It was calm in the first part of the day. We got 3,000 pounds of 
halibut on the morning haul, and a large part of them were white. We baited up our trawls, and 
as it still remained calm we set them again at10a.m. The Mary F. Ohisholm lays a berth WSW. 
and the Bessie W. Somes a berth to the NW. of us. The City of Gloucester got underway at 
noon and shifted to the westward into deeper water. At 2 p.m. there was a moderate breeze from 
the westward. The Williams was under way at this time, standing to the northward under whole 
sail. While our men were out hauling this afternoon we had a smart and very sudden squall. 
Some of our dories were to leeward, and for a while I was afraid they would not get aboard; but 
fortunately the tide set strong to windward, which assisted them very much, and after a hard pull 
they all succeeded in reaching the vessel. The Williams was under whole sail when the squall 
struck, and I think she went down pretty low before her crew lowered the mainsail. She was not 
far from us at the time, and Captain Murphy, seeing that some of our men were to leeward, ran 
down and kindly offered to assist them. In his quiet way he said to them, “ Well, boys, do you 
think you can pull up? “Yes, I guess so,” they replied. “I'll keep watch of you, and if you 
need it will give you a tow,” he shouted out as he passed by the dories. We got all our trawls but 
one. That one parted on the outside end, and just as the men began to haul the inside end the 
squall struck. We got only 1,000 pounds of halibut. The Williams kept on for home. Our posi- 
tion is latitude 43° 52’ N., longitude 52° 25’ W. , 
Saturday, March 2, 1878.—This day began with a fresh and cold northerly gale, so that some 
ice was making on deck. We set the dories amidships and cleared the decks, putting the gear 
below and securing everything which was liable to be washed overboard. We had a smart gale 
all day, with frequent heavy snow squalls. The barometer was on 30.10 at 8 p. m. 
Sunday, March 3, 1878.—There was not more than a moderate whole sail breeze at daylight 
this morning, so, while one dory went to haul the trawl that was out, the rest of us hove short and 
beat the ice off the deck, rigging, and sails. We lost one trawl-anchor, buoy, buoy-line, and two 
lines of trawl, and got about 500 pounds of halibut. The northwest wind died away in the fore- 
noon, and in the afternoon the wind breezed up from the southward. We hove up our anchor and 
ran to the NNW., where we fell in with and I went aboard of the Ada K. Damon. Afterwards we 
ran 4 or 5 miles NNW. of her and anchored in 65 fathoms, and set eighteen skates of trawl. The 
Damon broke her anchor out and ran this way, and anchored a short berth ESE. of us. The Bessie 
‘W. Somes spoke us at 4 p. m., and ran to the NNW. a long berth,* where she anchored. 
Monday, March 4, 1878.—At 2 p. m. I began to write the record of this day, which has been 
arather eventful and exciting one for us, and which came very near having a tragical ending 
for two of our crew, James Abbott and George Mathews. The day began with a strong SSW. 
breeze, and the sky had a ‘“‘smurry,” windy look. I did not intend to send our dories out, 
but as we soon saw the Ada K. Damon’s boats out our men thought it was rather daring them, 
and they declared that they could go if the Damon’s crowd could. The competition in this busi- 
*A “long berth” in halibut trawl-line fishing is between 3 and 4 miles. The distance between two vessels is gen- 
erally spoken of as a ‘‘short berth,” which may be anywhere from three-fourths of a mile to double that distance; a 
“fair berth,” generally 2 to 24 miles, and a ‘‘long berth,” 3 to 4 miles. The position where a vessel lies fishing is 
called a berth, and though she may drift some distance, as in mackereling, she is said to be in her berth. Alsoif a 
vessel moves from one place to another it is called ‘‘ making a berth.” 
