FOREST AND STREAM. 



73 



CODFISH. FROM FULTON MARKET TO 

 NANTUCKET SHOALS AND BACK. 



[conclusion.] 



IF the daily consumption of fish in New York is estima- 

 ted to be 300,000 pounds, it is some satisfaction for us 

 to know that our cutch of cod on the Blackford represents 

 a small percentage of the quantity required, especially as 

 Captain Redmond assures us that the fish are running large, 

 though he tells us that when packed in ice there will be 

 shrinkage of fully B third in the weight, of the cod; so we 

 have still plenty of Work before us. 



All our fish having being put away, and the decks of the 

 vessel having been made as clean and neat as a housewife's 

 drosset, wre take supper and prepare to turn in. Our fare 

 is excellent. The sea gives a huge appetite. There is a 

 hearty welcome. If the conversation is not exactly Ohes- 

 tertieldiun, it has at least an honest Rabellaisiau smack 

 about if. Supper over, gears are mended, new books are 

 gansed, and (ben Jack— great, big, lusty Jack— tells yarns 

 on yarns with an exuberance of spirits, and a lavish 

 amount of exaggeration. Then he sings, and we hear old 

 nautical sougs of seventy-live years ago: how the "Night- 

 iugale" went to sea in the British channel, and never was 

 heard of again, and how the Press gang carried off poor 

 Jack, and left a disconsolate maiden lo deplore his loss. 

 Then we all turn in and sleep the sleep of the tired and the 

 blesl. We are at anchor, and though we roll about much 

 and pitch no little, the writer and amateur cod fisherman 

 knowing not what sea-sickness is, sleeps without waking 

 until four o'clock uext morning, when ihe voice of the 

 skipper rouses all hands. We heave up the anchor and 

 fishing recommences. Having struck deep sonudiugs, we 

 try our luck and catch very large fish. We now have an 

 opportunity of examining the catch more critically. We 

 readily appreciate two varieties of cod. The smaller arc 

 the muscle cod, distinguishable by their dusky brown 

 color, while the shoal cod are larger fish, and are of a rus- 

 set color, with distinct yellow spots, something the shade 

 of humau freckles. We catch now some of the largest 

 cods on trie trip: some will weigh fully fifty pounds. When 

 a large one is pulled up now and then, l lie hold On the fish 

 being slight, a gaff is used to bring the fish on deck. Now 

 I see Jack has something taut which he can barely pull in. 

 Captain Redmond sees it and goes to his aid, and tells us 

 from the nature of the pull it is a halibut. The fish is 

 humored, and the line is kept taut on him all the time: 

 Gradually the, fish is brought to the surface — he is gaffed, 

 and a handsome seventy-five pound halibut flops on the 

 deck. We. look at it critically, and are struck by the para- 

 sites, the sea lice, that run round in circles on the white 

 side of the fish. We are delighted at the catch, ieihyolo- 

 gieally, because if is the first live halibut we have seen, 

 aud are pleased commercially, because a halibut is worth 

 certainly eighteen cents a pound, while all a cod will bring 

 is five cents, for we are fishing for business. It is a queer 

 feeling, but not an unsatisfactory one to know that we are 

 hauling up twenty-five cents or one dollar at every haul 

 from thiny fathoms below. Halibut are caught in deeper 

 water, however, than we are now fishing in, aud earlier in 

 tlie season. W r e ask Captain Redmond about the size of 

 the very largest codfish he has ever heard of. He says lie 

 has no reason to doubt, the fact of the Goliah of cods hav- 

 ing been caught off Cape Cod, which, when dressed, 

 weighed 113 pouuds. We noticj the food disgorged by the 

 cod, consisting of crabs, star fish aud a small narrow fish 

 the men call "stripers." Some of the cod throw up squids. 

 One of the crew takes a squid cast up by a defunct cod and 

 catches a half dozen fresh fish with it. We observe that 

 many of the middle-sized fish, those of from eight to 

 twelve pounds, show scars and traces of recent contests. 

 Some of the wounds are fresh, others arc so old as to be 

 almost obliterated. A fish must have wonderful plastic or 

 recuperative powers, and has perhaps the power of grow- 

 ing fresh scales, just, as humau beings remake the epider- 

 mis. The question arises, "With what other fish had the 

 cod been quarreling?" In some fish we notice that the 

 bladders expanding suddenly — the pressure of the deep 

 water having been removed — choke the fish. It strikes us, 

 too, that whenever we move our fishing grounds haddocks 

 are caught more plentifully for a while. Then the cod 

 come in, aud Ave catch no more haddocks. We do our best 

 to strike a balance between the cod and haddock, and think 

 the latter are in about the proportion of ten per cent. We 

 watch the movements of each particular fisherman and 

 make up our mind that after Captain Redmond, Clark, the 

 Nantucket man, is the most expert of all the crew. We 

 recall old Oppian's lines descriptive of the model fisher- 

 man:— 



'•First be tbe fisher's limbs compact, and dound, 

 Witb solid flesh and well-braced sinews bound; 

 Let dne proportion every part commend, 

 Nor leanness shrink too much, nor fat distend." 

 VVe do not mean to say that our Nantucket fisherman fol- 

 lows exactly Oppian's wjunlmeid, but his movements are 

 worth noticing. His action is automatic. Overboard goes 

 his gear, and while tile lead sinks he opeus his half dozen 

 .inii,;.. Then he clutches the line with bis left hand, see- 

 saws a little, feels the nibble, gives the jerk, fastens the 

 fish, brings in the line swiftly baud over hand, unhooks 

 the fish, slings him in the bin, rebaits, aud so over and 

 over again, with a kind of military one, two, three motion, 

 and never moves an inch out of his tracks. Frequently 

 two iisli come on deck. Notwithstanding sore fingers, we 

 go for cod once more, caich a dozen or so fine fish, inter- 

 spersed with an occasional dog fish, then we give it up, 

 with an elegant blister on the index linger of the right 



hand, and a cushion-like puffy swelling of the ligatures on 

 the back of the left hand. We are not singular in this re- 

 spect. Our companion from Syracuse, though game, gives 

 up cod-fishing for that day, after a noble struggle. Cap- 

 tain Redmond, imperturbable, keeps onpullingTn the cod, 

 remarking, however, that "his hands will be sure to be 

 sore and stiff before he is through with the fish." 



While we. fish, the mist thickens, and we are in a bauk 

 of fog. Foggy weather is a constant element on the banks. 

 All the winds coming from the south bring fogs, though 

 the northerly breezes disperse them. We hear yelling in 

 the distance, and presently the noise coming from a 

 spirited performaiiee on a tin pan. Evidently there are 

 other fishermen in the neighborhood; one loves to have 

 company on the high seas. By aud by the fog drifts, and 

 we see some four fishing crafts around us, all hard at work. 

 Just as Captain Redmond is about telling us who they are, 

 and where from, the fog curtain drops once more, and we 

 cannot see a boat's length before us. Twice on the second 

 day we fill the fish bin three quarters full, and then cease 

 fishing for the day. We plunge our hand into the belly of 

 a fish, just eviscerated, while almost alive, and are amazed 

 to find how cold it is, and we regret not having a Hipr- 

 nuimcler Willi Ufi. As the entrails and livers are thrown 

 overboard Mocks of gulls swoop into the water after them, 

 aud chatter, squawk and quarrel over the food, and drive oil 

 the stormy petrels. Strange sea-weeds float past the craft; 

 one kind particularly attracts our attention. It is shaped 

 like an elongated oak leaf, arid is russet in color, but what 

 is curious alum! it is, that it is ornamented with bosses 

 placed at regular intervals. Now and then we pull up 

 from the depths below those strauge organisms called sea 

 potatoes, or man-beads, so well described by the. wise men 

 al NToank, and our correspondent "Piseco." Sometimes 

 we find this curious growth of the seas inside the cod. 



We fish with very good luck for three days, until we catch 

 some 3.200 fish. When the fishiug is very lively we call 

 up the cook, who gives his valuable aid. Now a cook on 

 a fishing craft, to nautical and fisherman qualities, must 

 combine the highest culinary attributes. While we eat 

 dinner he must steer. At some stage of their lives all fish- 

 ermen are cooks on smacks. 



At last all our four ice-houses are full, and we heave up 

 anchor once more, and with a cracking breeze make for 

 old Sankaty Light and Nantucket, where we come to out- 

 side of the bell which booms on the bar, and land our Nan- 

 tucket hand. 



It is worth while to mention here the thorough discipline 

 aud attention to all details which are found on a smack 

 like the Blackford. The captains of all of the fishing 

 crafts have to be thorough seamen, and to be acquainted 

 with every nook and corner of the coast, and the hands 

 have to be fully up lo the mark. Sails are frequently 

 trimmed, and every square foot of canvas made to do its 

 work when occasion requires it. The craft we sail on is 

 the fastest of the New York Meet, of which Messrs. II. C. 

 Rogers <fc QOi own a Utile flotilla of at least a dozen, aud these 

 gentlemen pride themselves on the sailing qualities of the 

 Blackford. We easily Overhaul anything that sails, save 

 the high flying yachts. Sometimes a knot or so made in a 

 day's sail makes two cents or more difference lo the advan- 

 tage of the skipper in the price of his load. 



Wages on the smacks are $30 a mouth for the ordinary 

 hands, $45 for the mate and $-10 forthe cook. What with 

 Interest ■m ilu-. cost of the vessel and wages and incidental 

 expenses, such as of ice, bail, &c, it must cost to run the 

 Blackford fully SloO a month, The duration of atrip to 

 Nantucket shoals aud back being somewhat over two weeks, 

 the margin of profit, even with cod at five cents a pound, 

 when commissions for selling are considered, is not large.. 

 When off Sandy Hook in the winter, cruises are longer, oc- 

 cupying three weeks. The fish then caught are put in the 

 wells and brought alive to market. For this purpose the 

 Blackford has a well running across her at midships from 

 side to side. The sides of the vessel being bored with holes 

 allows the water free entrance and exit. 



From Nantucket bar we take an eight knot breeze 

 at sundown; by day break next day make the Little Gull 

 Island, and by ten o'clock are through Plum Gut, Then 

 comes a dead calm on the sound, and we float along in a. 

 lazy lotus-eating style for fifty hours, until in the evening, 

 just off Glen Cove, conies a pleasant breeze. We hoist all 

 sail, tackle everything, pass sloops, schooners and brigs, 

 nor does a rain storm stop us at Hell Gate, which Captain 

 Redmond gets through as neatly as if it was a straight and 

 easy channel. By eleven o'clock we drop anchor off the 

 slip of Fulton market, and in a. half hour more are snugly 

 moored stern and stern in our berth ready for market. We 

 bid our gallant Captain good-bye just as old Trinity strikes 

 midnight, and leave the Wallace Blackford with regret, for 

 we have had two weeks of the purest enjoyment, and have 

 made some kind friends. When returning now to the city 

 for our day's work we always cast a longing look into the 

 Fulton ferry slip to see if , our dashing little schooner is 

 back again. When wo found her gone one morning, once 

 more for the shoals, it seemed to us that something was 

 wanting, so much had a fortnight's or cod-fishing with 

 Captain Michael Redmond endeared the Blackford to us. 

 Codfish may be very prosaic tilings, but in pleasant com- 

 pany there is nothing more enjoyable. We trust some of 

 our readers next season will try the pleasures of atrip from 

 Fulton Market to Nantucket shoals and back after cod. 



•*<+ ■ 



—The New Fork State Agricultural Societv will hold 

 the thirty-fourth annual Caltle Show and Fair at Rochester 

 on September 15th, 10th, 17th, and 18th. We thank James 

 Gcddes, Esq. , for courtesies. 



DEATH OF DR. J. H. SLACK. 



IN the last number of our paper we reproduced what had 

 come lo us as "a painful rumor— the report of the deaih 

 of Dr. Slack. It is with regret that we announce his de- 

 mise. Dr. Slack died at Bloomsbury, N. J., on Thurs- 

 day, August 37th. 



Conspicuous by attainments enriched by travel, Di. 

 Slack was among the first to seize on the general natural 

 facts which underlie the science of pisciculture, and, when 

 it was almost unknown in the United States, labored long 

 fttld diligently to introduce it into this country. Gifted 

 with literary talents, and a scientific knowledge of the 

 highest order, numerous contributions from his pen have 



death Dr. Slack filled the important position of Fish Com- 

 missioner of the State of New Jersey. One who admired 

 and appreciated Dr. Slack writes to us thus feelingly about 

 him: — 



Dr. .I.iiui llauiiltun sjluek. ata'd abmu thirty-eight ortliini i.inc y-.n-. 

 died at his residence, Tronldale, near Hloomshury. N. .1.. on I ■■■ ,;c, ,.',.. 



mall s 



nislry. b latter 



: pn. (.--,,[■ in uiu' :il 



thePcunsylviin 



which he e.vccll 

 BCiCllCe he afti i 



the phUfidelphi 

 tie mined his at 

 twenty ho whs i 

 H,,i„>..'- aud go 

 gOofl anlilli-ur p 

 photographer, 1 

 for the bcueut ( 



were wonderful. Hew,., a member of various Important zoologii il ■ • i. 



tulttees, and he made a comprehensive catalogue uf the muse 



no other member would undertake, delighting In organizing and art . ; 



fug in any way. He was the first librarian of the Philadelphia Colli 

 Physicians., ilu wu> a good linguist, both in ancient and niyauri' • n> 

 ue, ^'-. w:..- • i (.inno;s-.:iir ami collector or old books, and befqn I 

 twenty-five had been an observing traveller in Europe and Africa, tpenii 

 mg more than a year in Turkey. Egypt and tiic Holy Land. His In t I op 

 abroad was to study monkeys al Paris, which occupied neurl; . itur. 

 Since l«iT lie hug Mm-cI al Truutdnie. being 6hgas&J in pTaclfciiltuiv, 

 "ichtlvyoteehny," as he called it. disliking the sound of the Latin :■; |.i II 

 li.in for i ixi- ,1-icnci ■. During ih.uinnr of 1873-4 lie rendered iuipn '■ 



tribttting the fry itmougst the waters of the Middle and adjoining .->■. it-H- 

 nii Sia:.... TbC Doctor was given to controversy, verbal and in i..v. - 

 papers, hut bis amiability, originality, and his cccentriciti,-, precluded . In 

 possibility of any man becoming his enemy. His deaih comas a ll I 

 shock to all who knew him. and all regret dial so brilliant a mind si On I 

 have gone out when the laper of Iff e appeared bui half burnt, in d tli 

 was formally announced at a mcetlng-of the Philadelphia Atademj uf 

 Natural Sciences on the evening id the l-i of the presort month, u)\d 

 resolutions of regret and condolence wiih bis family were passed- N. 



—We call particular attention to the Pigy.'U SJiootittg 

 Tournament, to commence at Toronto on Tuesday September 

 the 22d, under the auspices of the Toronto Gun Club at.. I 

 the Junior Gun Club. Over $1,000 will be given in prizes. 

 The attractions will be numerous, the Canadian Grand 

 Provincial Fair being held at Toronto on the same day. 



THE EVE OF ST. PARTRIDGE. 



'pHE sportsmen in the North have had to put up with 

 1 cold and stormy weather, small bags ami wild grouse. 

 The. ravages of disease and the bad effects of driving birds 

 are almost universally apparent. I notice, however, on the 

 Castle Carr moors near Halifax, that there was a pleasing 

 exception to this distressing rule, and had it not been for 

 the wet and boisterous weather, no doubt 400 brace would 

 have been killed on the first and consequently best day. 

 As it was, a party of fourteen guns, including LordLilford, 

 Lieut-Col. Sir II. Edwards, Col. Egerton Leigh and Sir 

 Henry Wilmot, bagged 287Ji brace, and in the first five 

 days the total amount killed was 005 brace, notwithstand- 

 ing wind, rain and fog. Black cock shooting began 

 on the 30th, but I have not heard that any extraordinary 

 number have been killed. They are of course much 

 scarcer than grouse, and the hens or heath pullets lie 

 closer, though an old black cock is a very crafty customer 

 to deal with, and taxes both dogs and sportsmen to the 

 utmost. In the South of England, on the heath country, I 

 have seen a considerable number of these moor game 

 killed, aud undoubtedly we should have the grouse there 

 too if we. only had enough of the Scotch heather, on which 

 they feed. The Dorsetshire heath is far prettier and of a 

 richer purple color, but though I go into raptures about it 

 when I am sketching in water-colors, yet I would willingly 

 exchange it for its more sober tinted rival, when I am be- 

 hind Hie poiulers. But after all the whiskey and driviug, 

 kilts and tartans, gillies and scenery of the moors, give me 

 a day amongst. English turnips and partridges, aud I shall 

 be better pleased than if I bad Shot my gun red hot in the 

 North. 



We have had out file team twice a. week for tlie Insl 

 mouths, besides giving them there drilling in the spring, 

 aud though we don't enter them at field trials and pull' 

 litem in the papers, I know that they can find birds, atarnJ 

 lothem and go at a raltling pace, and more I don'l require. 

 To please me a dog must be fast and range tolerably wide. 

 I. don't like a "pothunter's companion," who is afraid to 

 gallop for fear of putting up his game, I would ralliei see 



