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of the previous day's work. But the means which were so successfaS 

 then fail now, and perhaps for days to come ; for the capricious crea- 

 tures will not take the hook, nor can all the art of the most sagacious- 

 and experienced induce them to bite. 



Repeating, however, essentially the operations which I have describeelj 

 from time to time, and until a cargo has been obtairsed, or until the 

 master becomes discouraged, or his provisions have been consumed; 

 the vessel returns to port and hauls in at the inspector's wharf, where 

 the fish, many or few, are landed, sorted into three qu^alities, weighed, 

 repacked, resalted, and repickled. In two or three days she is refittedv 

 and on her way to the fishing ground for a second fase-. Meantime the 

 owner, and all others who inquire "what luck?" learn from some wise 

 "old salt" (and there is always a Sir Oracle on board) how nouch fmoivl- 

 tdge the mackerel have acquired since the previous season. Having 

 been thus employed until the cold weather approaches, tlae smaller 

 vessels haul up, and their "skippers" pass the winter in cracking nuts, 

 relating stories, and accounting for bad voyages or boasting of good 

 ones ; while the lai-ger vessels go south, and engage in freighting. 



' The bait, which I have said is thrown overboard to attract the fish 

 to the surface, is usually composed of small mackerel or sjilted herrings 

 cut in small pieces. As economy and success alike require a careful 

 use of it, the master seldom allows other hands than his own to dispose 

 of it. It was formerly the duly of the man who kept the watch on deck 

 in the night to cut the bait on a block; but the bait-mill has taken place 

 of this noisy and tedious process. Nothing, certainly, in the time of any 

 fisherman now living, has occasioned so much joy as its introduction. 

 This labor-saving, sleep-promoting machine, as constructed at first, was 

 extremely simple. It was a box which was made to stand on end, and 

 had a crank projecting through its side ; while internally it had a wooden 

 roller armed with smaJl knives, in rows, so arranged that when the 

 roller was turned, the fisli to be ground or cut up should undergo the oper- 

 ation by coming between these rows of knives and others which were 

 arranged along a board that sloped towards the bottom. It has been 

 improved in form and efficiency, and is in common use. 



The superiority of sound, strong, and well-furnished vessels over 

 those of opposite qualities, may seem too apparent to require a word of 

 notice. Many poor ones are nevertheless employed, and so are poor 

 masters ; but the misplaced economy of trusting either is becoming so 

 perceptible, that their number is rapidly diminishing. Yet I may be 

 pardoned for relating a single fact, illustrative of the folly of retaining 

 in use a solitary vessel that ought to be, or one master that seeks to be, 

 in a harbor during any of the gales which occur on our coast before 

 the equinox. A few years ago, between Mount Desert and Cape Sable, 

 there were one day three hundred vessels in sight of each other ; and, 

 as was judged, they were mostly mackerel catchers, meeting with more 

 than the average success. The moderate breeze of the morning fresh- 

 ened towards noon, and as night approached there were strong indica- 

 tions of a storm. A movement was soon perceptible throughout the 

 fleet, and it finally scattered and sailed away. The staunch vessels 

 which were controlled by stout hearts sought an offing; but the rest, 

 the shelter of the nearest havens. Two thousand men, probably, were 



