302 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
where the cook usually receives the highest pay of any one of the crew, 
the captain excepted, and must be a capable and active man. 
The “ deck hand 77 or “fourth hand 77 is generally a lad who has served 
as cook, and has been promoted a grade; therefore, he is supposed to be 
able to do all that the cook can do, besides the special duties belonging 
to his new position. The deck hand must know how to steer and keep 
a watch in fine weather when sailing or trawling. To do this, he must 
be able to manage a vessel under ordinary conditions of wind and 
weather. 
“ He should be able to manage a boat in fine weather, know the 
marks of the lead-line, and take soundings, splice small ropes and whip 
them, make nettles, gaskets or sennet, braid a cod-end, and learn to 
mend small holes in the net. He ought to tend the trawl in fine weather, 
keep the hold and forecastle clean and in proper order, know the sails 
by the marks [the sails are known by pieces of twine with knots on the 
end ] 1 2 in the dark, and keep them in their proper places, make thole- 
pins for the trawl-warp rail and boat, help to prepare fish for the 
market, assist the cook to trim lights, and obey all lawful commands . 772 
The “third hand 77 rates as an ordinary seamau, and usually has 
passed through the two lower grades. He should have sufficient ex- 
perience to manage a vessel when her trawl is out as well as at other 
times, must be capable of keeping the ordinary long watches, which 
on a trawler may be six or eight hours on deck, and he must understand 
the “rules of the road , 77 so as to avoid collision. It is required that 
he should learn the set of the tides, take soundings, understand how 
to make, mend, rig, and prepare a trawl for shooting; also it is a 
part of his duty to go in the boat when fish are to be “boarded 77 or 
taken to the carrier, while he is expected to have a care for the rigging, 
put on chafing gear, etc., besides assisting in the care of the fish. 
The mate or “ second hand 77 should be an able seaman, and be more 
thoroughly conversant with the general work than the third hand. It 
is important that he should have a very comprehensive knowledge of 
all that pertains to making a trawl, preparing the bridles, shooting the 
gear, managing the smack under all conditions of wind and weather, 
either sailing or fishing; while he ought to be familiar with the char- 
acteristics of the different fishing grounds, understand the tides on each, 
and also be proficient in the use of a sounding-lead. He is responsible 
1 This applies to the head-sails and gaff-topsails. A trawler usually carries two or 
three sets of top-sails of different sizes, to be used according to the strength of the 
wind — a jib-header in strong or fresh winds, a large square-headed sail in light winds, 
and frequently an intermediate size, with a short yard. As many different sizes of 
stay-foresails and jibs are carried, these being set as circumstances demand, while 
the “ spare sails” are stowed away below. Frequently, of course, it is necessary to 
change the sails at night, and it is therefore important that the members of a smack's 
crew should be able to determine at once what sail they put their hands on, since this 
knowledge obviates much work and difficulty. 
2 Fisherman’s Seamanship, by O. T. Olsen, p. 33. 
