THE yOUNG SCIENTIST. 
117 
through this pleasant little hamlet, at the 
sight of the tarred netting hanging on 
every fence, and 1 felt that success would 
be mine. 1 found Ed Morris, who sent out 
runners to all the eel pot fishermen to se- 
cure every eel. After hiring a man and a 
boat, and instructing him to secure all the 
lafayettes and codlings from the three 
nearest fish traps, and telling them to fill 
the boats with water to keep the fish alive 
till reaching the shore, Morris and I 
started for the fourth " pound "or " trap," 
with an extra boat to bring m all the 
live fish obtainable. I had never seen a 
"pound" lifted before, and when 1 saw 
the great solid moving masses of many 
varieties of fish I became silent. It 
would be difficult to exaggerate the effect 
produced on my mind. It was not merely 
respectful attention — it was the passionate 
enthusiasm which a sensitive person 
shows when brought in contact with the 
new, strange, and irresistible influence 
produced by Nature's great works. 
Keturning to the shore I began to ar- 
range the boats for the voj^age to New 
York. Four boats were hired to trans- 
port the live fish in, and five small boys 
to sit at the bow of each boat to bail water 
in and out. I and the fifth boy were ex- 
tras to relieve the others when tired. 
I had much trouble to obtain the tin 
cans, there being no tin store in the vil- 
lage, and the fishermen's wives disliking 
to part with their tinware ; but by offer- 
ing double the value, I managed to ob- 
tain six pails. This gave me two extra 
ones, in case my bailers lost any over- 
board. 
All the boats were now in with their 
cargoes of live fish in excellent condi- 
tion. These boats were connected to- 
gether with strong towing ropes, some 
twelve feet apart, and these were to be at- 
tached to the towing sail boats. 
The tide by this time w^as rolling in 
fast ; and noticing that one of the boats 
was in danger of being swamped, I dashed 
into the water, clothes and all, and by 
rapid swimming reached the boat before 
the fish escaped. Up to this time the 
many fishermen assembled on the beach, 
watching this curious exhibition, had 
fought shy of me, evidently thinking I was 
a Broadway fisherman ; but when they 
saw those stylish pants and boots swim 
out, they seemed to accept me as a true 
water dog. The package of passes were 
well soaked, so I distributed them to the 
fishermen as peace offerings. The previ- 
ous .jesting remarks that the young fisher- 
men had indulged in ceased after this, 
and strong brown arms were ever ready 
to haul, pull, and help in every v/ay. 
The boats containing the live fish were 
covered over with netting, except at the 
bow, where a small space was left for the 
boy to sit, who was to bail water in and 
out. Each boy was instructed that in 
case his boat filled, he was to jump over- 
board, and relieve the boat, until she 
could be lightened, by bailing out water. 
All was now ready for the start. Two 
of the largest market sail boats were hired 
to tow the four boats of fish, which, when 
strung out in line, presented a very odd 
appearance, with a boy sitting in each 
boat bailing water. It took me some time 
to find part of my clothing, as I could not 
remember where I had thrown them 
off during the excitement, but I recovered 
all but my kid gloves, handkerchief, and 
necktie. 
It was now late in the afternoon. The 
tide being in our favor, and a fair wind, 
we ought to reach the city in good sea- 
son. So, going on board of one of the sail 
boats, we sailed out of the bay amid cheers 
and showers of dead fish. All went well 
till we got past Fort Hamilton, w^hen a 
tug boat suddenly crossed our bows, and 
we were forced to take her swash. One 
of the boats filled immediately, but the 
bailer was overboard in an instant, and 
she righted. Jumping over])oard, I passed 
down to the boat that had filled, and 
helped the bailer to lighten her up. All the 
I fish were doing well, showing no signs of 
' distress. 
I It now being about tea time, each boy 
was relieved to come aboard the sail boats 
and take ii hearty meal which I had pro- 
vided. While I was taking my tea, one 
of the boys filled his boat too full, and 
she swamped ; and the boy, in jumping, 
nearly turned her over on top of him, on 
account of his holding on to the gunwale 
, of the boat, when he ought to have grasped 
