THE CAPE FEAR RIVER, NORTH CAROLINA. 625 
it was packed in ice and shipped by steamer to Charleston, thence to New York. The boats em- 
ployed for “gilling” were the ordinary Whitehall boats. Two men fish a net. These average 
about one hundred fathoms in length. The sturgeon which are taken at each drift are transferred 
to floating pens made with slatted sides and bottom, so as to permit a free circulation of water. 
The pens, or live-boxes, containing the male sturgeon, or “bucks,” are kept tied close up to the 
scow. It is, however, necessary to anchor the pens containing the female or “roe,” sturgeon out 
in the bay, remote from shore; otherwise the eels, which are abundant in the creeks and along 
shore, would enter their vents and eat out the roes, and thus destroy the most valuable part of 
the fish, which is prepared as caviare for market. 
Twice a week the fish that have been taken in the interval are slaughtered on the scow, the 
heads and tails being first cut off. While the fish are still alive their belly is ripped open and the 
roe taken out, placed in buckets, and handed over to the expert who is charged with the prepara- 
tion of the caviare. The fish are then skinned and split down the backbone, divided longitudinally 
into two halves, and stacked up until the slaughtering is completed, when they are transported to 
the schooner and shipped to Georgetown. 
A great deal of mystery enshrouds the preparation of the caviare. In fact, however, it seems 
to consist simply in passing the roe through sieves, in order to separate the fibrous matter which 
adheres to it, and then salting it down in barrels capable of holding 100 pounds each. The quan- 
tity and kind of salt used could not be ascertained. 
Statistical summary of the fisheries of Winyah Bay and its tributaries for 1880. 
Number of men employed. .... cae cece oe nn ne ne en ne ee ne ee ne ee ne ee ne ee eee ne eee ences 97 
Amount of capital employed .-.. 2... 02 ne ew ee ee ee ce ee ee ee ee ee eee ee nee ace ee «$4,050 
Product of the fisheries: 
Shaded seieese sca cae piswus cede cacsweulsenic cauGes ceca cuser eumsees Gens osm cue pounds.. 78,400 
Sturgeon - 2... 202 cee scene cece coe ne cee an co we cowe cone cow eee ence cane nnee-GO.-2- 224, 000 
Mixed flab: apsiccecc cieicia'oye aie aseruisete '<japeias ate minig odie 5 Weis sinatSuiwaysie de siecle ais oe viv si=siecOne 2 300,000 
Value of the products. ....2- 220. cece nocn cons cone sec cen sec ces cnee cone rane cons cc cesecces $23, 028 
2—THE RIVERS AND SOUNDS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
By MARSHALL MoDONALD. 
1. OAPE FEAR RIVER. 
The basin of this river and its tributaries lies wholly within the State of North Carolina. I+ 
is navigable for steamers up to Fayetteville, N. C.; a short distance above this point are the first 
falls of the river. Here a dam has been erected in connection with the slack-water navigation of 
Deep River, the main tributary of the Cape Fear. This obstruction, of course, prevents the fur- 
ther upward migration of the shad. From Fayetteville to the mouth of the Cape Fear River 
organized fisheries are prosecuted for the capture of shad. In 1880, when the examination of the 
river was made, the importance of these fisheries had decreased very much, the product at that 
time not exceeding 45,500 in number for the whole river. This entire quantity of fish found a 
local market on the river at good prices, the average being about 30 cents apiece. 
Drift-nets, skim-nets, and haul-seines are operated on this river, the different kinds of appa- 
ratus for capture being adapted to the locality. In the vicinty of Fayetteville several haul-seines 
are in use; there is also another at the mouth of thegiver in the vicinity of New Inlet. 
SEo. v——40 
