176 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
ANCHORS, BUOYS, &C.—In order to make the trawl complete it was now provided with an - 
anchor for each end, with a line running from the anchor to the surface, and with a buoy to float 
there and mark the position of this line. The anchor was of iron one inch in diameter, and pro- 
vided with two flukes and the ordinary stock of iron belonging to small anchors. The buoy-line, 
of strong tarred manila, was usually 10 or 20 fathoms longer than the depth of water in which 
they were fishing, or from 40 to 50 fathoms in length. The buoys, of which there was one for each 
end of the trawl, were kegs made for the purpose, of small size, and pierced by a staff that extended 
two or three feet beyond the buoy on each side. To one end of the staff was usually attached 
either a small flag of canvas or a “black ball,” made of a circular hoop of iron or wood, covered with 
canvas and painted plack. Each trawl] had one buoy thus marked with a black ball, and this was 
called the outside buoy. The other, furnished with a flag, was called the inside buoy. Of this 
trawl the crew, by industriously working, prepared in two or three days 7,500 fathoms, or over 8 
niles of trawl-lines. 
MODE OF SETTING TRAWL.—The trawls were set in the evening, provided the sea was not 
excessively rough, and left during the night to catch what fish they could. In addition to the 
night set, the fishermen, when fish are plenty and the supply of bait good, often make a set during 
the day-time, or some times, too, by a process called underrunning. In our case, however, lack 
of bait and scarcity of fish prevented day sets from being feasible oftener than on one or two 
occasions. 
Every night, immediately after all hands had finished their suppers, the dories were loosed 
from the davits, whence they had been towing astern, and hauled alongside. They were held 
there by the cook and skipper, while the two men belonging to each dory put into it the five 
tubs of trawl, the anchors, buoys, and buoy-lines. Then, watching their chance, for the schooner 
and dory both rock, and in opposite directions—one rising as the other falls—they tumbled into 
the dory and grasped their oars. They now pulled straight away from the vessel, each one in a 
given ‘berth,” which he draws by lot. These berths were in lines running from the vessel as a 
center in five different directions. When they had pulled a certain distance, far enough, they said, 
80 that their buoy-line wouldn’t get “ afoul of the cable,” one man, the one in the after part of the 
dory, shipped in his oars and fastened the line of the inside buoy to its buoy, then threw the buoy 
overboard into the sea. The bowman rowed steadily away from the vessel, directing his course by 
the direction of the wind or sun if it were clear, or in a fog by an instinct, or a knowledge gained 
by long experience, which seems to guide the fishermen on the sea as a hunter is guided on the 
prairie. The buoy-line is now thrown over as fast as possible, but at the same time carefully over- 
hauled to guard against any “snarls” that might be in it. The end of this line was fastened to 
an anchor, and the end of one tub of trawl was at the same time “bent on” the anchor. The 
anchor was now thrown over and the trawl overhauled hook by hook and thrown after it. No two 
hooks were allowed to “foul” or to catch into one another, and if they did they were hauled aboard 
and separated. I was told that this was to prevent the ground-line from being parted. Two 
hooks so caught must lic against the ground-line, and any shark or other animal in biting at the 
hooks would be almost certain of snapping the trawl in two. At the end of each tub another 
tub was bent on and finally the anchor and buoy-line. Last of all the black ball was fastened to 
the staff of the outside buoy and then the buoy thrown over to mark the outer end of the trawl. 
By the time all this had been done the dory was about two miles distant from the vessel. If 
the night were a clear one the vessel could be seen low down in the horizon, her hull almost out 
of sight. In this case the row would be a delightful one. Very often I used to lie in the dory’s 
stern and watch the tossing blue water, and the play of colors reflected from the sunset on the 
