[77] OPERATIONS OF SCHOONER GRAMPUS. 567 



west side of the bay, between the Rappahannock aud Fortress Monroe. 

 Yon will, of course, time your movements so as to reacli Hampton Roads 

 on Friday, in order that we may meet you there. 



If you find it impracticable to fully carry out your inquiry of the fish- 

 eries along the Chesapeake, or if you arrive too late to enter upon the 

 inquiry before Friday, you will, of course, be governed accordingly, 

 bearing in mind that you should be at Fortress Monroe when we arrive 

 there on Saturday morning. 



I shall plan to take with me any apparatus which it is necessary to 

 send you from here. 



Very respectfully, 



J. W. Collins, 

 Assistant, U. S. Fish Commission. 



Capt. D. E. Collins, 



U. S. Fish Commission Schooner Grampus, 



Fortress Monroe, Va. 



2. REPORT UPON INQUIRY. 



The foregoing orders to make a reconnaissance of the pound-net fish- 

 eries of Chesapeake Bay were carried out as fully as circumstances 

 would permit, and, in accordance with instructions, we returned to 

 Hampton Roads on the evening of Friday, April 13. The results of the 

 inquiry are summarized in the following report: 



U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, 

 Schooner Grampus, Hampton Roads, Va., April 17, 1888. 



Sir : I have to report that we arrived in Hampton Roads on the 

 morning of April 10, and soon after anchoring I sent ashore to get the 

 vessel's mail and telegraph my arrival. 1 waited nearly two hours, 

 thiuking it possible that I would receive a reply to my telegram, but 

 none came. During the latter part of the day the wind blew a gale from 

 the southeast and made a landing at Old Point Comfort impracticable. 

 The following morning, the wind and weather being suitable for carry- 

 ing out the instructions sent me to make inquiries concerning the trap 

 fisheries along the Chesapeake Bay, as far as Tangier Island and the 

 mouth of the Rappahannock River, I was anxious to get under way, 

 feeling that the time was short for doing the work assigned. I sent a 

 boat on shore, however, at 8 a. m., and found that the telegraph office 

 would not be opened until some time later. It was, therefore, imprac- 

 ticable for me to notify you by wire of my departure, and deeming it 

 unnecessary and undesirable to wait any longer I got under way and 

 started up the bay.* 



The wind was fresh from the westward, and it would have been im- 



* Our inability to receive or send telegrams, as indicated, prevented me from receiv- 

 ing orders that were sent from Washington, and which would have materially influ- 

 enced the movements of the vessel. 



