THE NEUSE RIVER, NORTH CAROLINA. 629 
Below is a statistical summary showing the number and value of the haul-seines and boats 
tending the same in operation on this river, and the number of men employed: 
- 
Designation of fishery. Namber and description of seines.| Value. peebeng a Value. 
Your seines below New Berne, crews of 10 men. $1, 000 9160 
Lewis Fishery .... 15 % 
‘Wood's Beach .... 5 1 
Canady’s Beach... 15 75 
Lewis's Beach .... 50 50 
Nelson’s Beach ... 15 100 
Gatlin’s Beach.... 100 15 
Parish’s Beach sete ee en ee ceegsereeneeseeseeenes 100 60 
G. Nelson's Beach ....-...00-le2e--ceeeee cence 2 seines, 150 yards ........--.----- 120 55 
Watson & Lane........ 22-000. encen eee neneeeeee 1 seine, 150 yards 100 70 
Ly Ose ViGheky <cccisieeaciontecavedescdeeedicens 1 seine, 120 yards ............-..-- 90 70 
Spring Gard oni: gsc ca cawsoivsdecwsieawmads vxeess 1 seine, 150 yards ..............--- 100 60 
Watson’s Beach ..... Minanebnalamauia diay Pana AO scumdcun cde san casnammia aa! 90 60 
Dolly Gut Fishery.............-220se-eeceseene|eneeee OG scncviecsevaieveminsenannedd 100 60 
Ewell’s Lower Beach ...........-...-++ seckwee lseine, 80 yards ........-..-----5- 80 30 
Ewell’s Upper Beach .........--2eeeseeeeneee-- 1 seine, 100 yards .........-.....-- 90 35 
Cohart’s Beach 1 seine, 80 yarda ..............---- 15 25 
Jackson's Beach ......-...-.2..00 ++ ee eeee eee e eel eeeees OU centsn idssev dex cseeeneedens 15 25 
Caraway & Wiggins .......--+-.00---2ee ence nee 1 seine, 150 yards .....-........... 15 25 
Watson's Beach 1 seine, 80 yards ............-...2- 65 25 
Anderson BOGOW occas wesc) once nc nte dems doe nee OG se jodvictetemeebeaskaodteiet 65 35 
Mud Seine Beach 1 seine, 90 yards 70 30 
Kitchen Landing wcccccccvinsccsascvenauscndaw sn 1 seine, 100 yards ...............-. 75 25 
Pitch KCttle,.ccceccssn sivas ees seenecewsiwce ese 1 neine, 125 yards ............-.--. 15 25 
From Pitch Kettle to Kinston, 10 small seines...| 10 seice, 60 yards 240 100 
LOA ioreicsiseticismiiceinicsemeule-reesaaseseee os 41 geines ..-.. See Seiecscem ea eeasess 3, 135 1,415 
SKIM OR BOW NETS.—On the Neuse, and many other southern rivers, “ skimming” is a common 
and very effective mode of fishing, especially in the upper reaches of the river where on account 
of the contraction of the banks the fish are compelled to ascend in almost single file. The frame of 
the skim-net is a bow of tough, light wood, bent and secured. 
The shape of the bow is a long oval, the longest diameter of which is 10 to 12 feet. The mesh 
is of hemp twine, about No. 60. The cost of the net complete is from $2 to $2.25, and the canoe 
costs about $5, making a fishing outfit complete, $7. 
Two men are required to fish each net; one sits in the stern of the boat and guides its motion ; 
the other stands in the bow holding the net in a vertical position, the shoulder-block resting 
on the thwarts of the boat. A trip-string, attached to the bag of the net and held in the hand, 
signals to the bow-man the slightest touch of any foreign object in the net. A dexterous twisting 
motion secures the fish (if it be a fish) and delivers it in reach of the freehand. At dusk the boat, 
equipped for fishing, paddles out into the current and drifts noiselessly with the bow down-stream. 
The man in the stern uses the paddles only to guide the boat. When several boats fish in the 
same reach they follow each other in single file. Sometimes as many as five or six may be seen 
in a line. ; 
Skim-nets are used to the best advantage when the river is running high, at which stage the 
seiners are driven from their beaches, and the fish, by reason of the turbid waters, are easily netted. 
During the season 1878~79 one boat and skim-net at Cowpens took eight hundred shad, and 
catches of three hundred and four hundred to the net for a season were by no means uncommon. 
In the estimates, however, one hundred has been used as the average catch for each net. Skim- 
