[73] OPERATIONS OF SCHOONER GRAMPUS. 563 



during the spring months, and among which the mackerel, menhaden, 

 and bluefish are especially noteworthy. 



I will first say that you will take on board at Fortress Monroe cer- 

 tain apparatus which has been sent you from Washington. Among 

 this material are two shad gill-nets that you will use as circumstances 

 may dictate. There is also a device for developing eggs which you may 

 obtain from surface dredging or otherwise, and the use of which will 

 be shown either to you or the expert who may accompany you on the 

 voyage. 



Your cruising ground will be, generally, north of Cape Hatteras, 

 though, if occasion seems to demand it, you will feel at liberty to go 

 southward of Hatteras, if by so doing you think you can obtain fuller 

 information in regard to the more important species of migratory fishes. 



There will not, as you know, be any mackerel fleet cruising in those, 

 waters this year, and, in the absence of fishing vessels, it will be desir- 

 able that you should get as much information as practicable from com- 

 municating with passing merchant vessels. Should you meet with such, 

 and have the opportunity, you will make inquiries of the masters of the 

 vessels as to whether they have observed fish schooling or not. 



In general, your work will be carried on in a manner similar to that 

 pursued by you last year when making observations in the same locali- 

 ties, and you must depend largely upon your own judgment as to the 

 region to be cruised over, and the methods and appliances to be used 

 for the capture of fish or other specimens. I will suggest, however, 

 that during the month of April it is probable that the best results may 

 be obtaiued between Hatteras and the capes of the Delaware j and, as 

 the season advances, you will probably find it necessary to work farther 

 north in order to keep track of the advancing schools of fish. 



In carrying on your work it is important that you should observe, so 

 far as practicable, the following methods : 



(1) Make trials with toll-bait during the day, when the weather per- 

 mits, and as frequently as may seem desirable, say at distances of 15 

 or 25 miles apart. 



(2) Efforts should be made to collect young fish, fish eggs, and other 

 material which can be taken near the surface of the water by the use of 

 towing nets. These should be quite constantly employed during the 

 day, whenever the conditions are favorable. 



(3) Gill-nets of various kinds, and with different sizes of mesh, should 

 be set at night whenever practicable. 



I send you, herewith, a drawing showing what, in my opinion, is the 

 best method of setting gill-nets. This method is extensively used in 

 Europe, and has this advantage, that if the nets are set from the port 

 side or from the bow, you can, if the weather is too rough to go out in 

 the boats, take them in by passing the warp through a snatch-block 

 and heave them in by means of the windlass, thus relieving your men 

 from the great labor of hauling them in by hand. 



