THE GEORGE'S BANK COD FISHERY. ceo A) 
1n the corners of these, so that water can run from one to the other or out upon the deck. These 
gurry-pens are fastened to the deck by lashings, the surface of the deck forming the bottom. 
The gurry-pen forward of the house is usually the largest. Another is placed between the 
main and fore hatches, while in the larger vessels a third is generally fastened forward of the 
break of the quarter and between that and the main hatch. Planks placed on their edges run 
between the gurry-pens, dividing that portion of the deck into little pens for the reception of fish. 
Bait-boards are arranged on the side of the house as in the halibut schooner, also upon tle 
ends of the gurry-pens. : 
The George’s-men carry no dories upon the deck, but a single dory hoisted to the davits at the 
stern. Formerly they carried square-sterned yawl-boats, but this custom is no longer in vogue, 
though occasionally boats of this class are taken. The reefing-plank is arranged as on the halibat 
schooner. 
These vessels also carry a peculiar arrangement upon their vessels by which they are distin- 
guishable from other vessels. These are the fishing-rails, consisting of joists, 3 by 4, nailed upon 
the rail of the vessel, and extending from the fore rigging to the quarter-rail and from the after 
side of the main rigging to the davit on each side. Holes are bored at intervals of about 4 feet 
in the fishing-rails, and in these are set hard-wood pins three-quarters of an inch to an inch in 
diameter and 5 or 6 inches high, called “sogers,” and used by the fishermen to prevent their lines 
from slipping on the rail when the tide is running strong. 
The arrangement in the hold is as follows: The quantity of ballast carried is usually large, 
about 20 or 30 tons of stone or iron* for a vessel of 60 tons in burden. This ballast is planked 
over as on the halibut schooner. The forward part of the hold is occupied, as usual, by the store- 
room, and separated by a bulkhead from the ice-house. The ice-house is smaller than in the hali- 
but schooners, generally consisting ef two pens on each side and a double compartment in the 
“slaughter-house,” which is in the middle, and arranged to carry 12 to 15 tons of ice, though ves- 
sels ordinarily carry only from 7 to 10 tons in the summer season and in winter not more than 3 
or 4 tons. The ice-house is accessible from the main hatch. The after hold, which is reached 
through the after hatch, contains the salt-pen—a bin placed against the cabin bulkhead and ex- 
tending from side to side the whole width of the vessel. This bin occupies about 4 or 5 feet of the 
length of the vessel and reaches nearly up to the deck. It is divided into two parts by longitu- 
dinal partitions in the middle, and is sometimes still further subdivided. Doors from the after 
hold upon either side of the center partition are closed by planks, which slide in grooves, and are 
removed as the supply of salt diminishes. The salt-bin will hold from 300 to 400 bushels of salt. 
The remainder of the after hold is left free for the packing of fish, which are also stowed in the 
compartments of the ice-house. The after hold is first partially filled, then fislt are salted away 
in the ice-house to keep the vessel in trim, and as a last resort, if the catch is a large one, the 
salt-pen is also filled with salted fish. 
5. APPARATUS AND METHODS OF FISHING. 
FISHING GEAR.—The George’s fishermen always fish with hand-lines from the vessel’s deck, one 
line to each man. Consequently no boats are carried, except the dory at the stern, and no trawls 
are used. 
The George’s hand-line, with its appliances of sinkers and hooks, is peculiar to this fishery. 
It may be described as follows: The line is 900 feet in length, composed of six 25-fathom lines, 
= But comparatively little iron is used, the ballast generally being cobble-stones and shingle. 
