346 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
in comparison with the east coast boats. Our smacks here fish a 56-foot 
beam of greenheart, and the boat is only 56 foot keel measurement. 
But we turn out when we haul the net and haul by the bow, and when 
we have got the bridle on the winch we take the 1 dandy 7 or span bridle, 
or, as they call it here, the head rope, which is now made of steel wire 
rope, to a wink or Spanish windlass aft, between the cabin companion 
and the bulwarks, and get the after end of the net up. Afterwards, 
we winch the forward bridle up and let the after rope bridle surge until 
we have the forward trawl-bead almost up, and then hook the fish-tackle 
into a becket on the forward bridle, and take the fall to the winch barrel 
and coil it on until the iron of the trawl is clear of the rail. Then one 
of the crew gets hold of the winch barrel under his arm, and, the pawls 
being lifted up, he watches the roll of the boat and lets the iron come 
inboard by letting the winch at liberty. 
“ In the boat I was in there are only four men in the crew, and they 
made all the nets required. 77 
The time requisite for heaving up a trawl varies a great deal, depend- 
ing chiefly on the state of the weather, roughness of the sea, depth of 
water, direction and strength of the tide, as well as upon whether the 
capstan is worked by hand or by steam. Captains who have used 
steam say that, under favorable conditions, they have got a trawl up — 
heaving in 120 fathoms of warp — in the short space of fifteen to twenty 
minutes, while some claim that from twenty to twenty-five minutes is 
sufficient to heave in the whole warp, even in rough weather. 
Heaving a trawl up by hand is not only hard work, but the process 
is tedious to a degree, rarely occupying less than forty-five to fifty min- 
utes, and sometimes, when the weather is rough and the vessel knock- 
ing about, taking between two and three hours. 
It will be obvious that when steam trawlers are employed the con- 
ditions are quite different from those which obtain on board of a sailing 
vessel, since a steamer can go in any direction which it may be neces- 
sary for her to proceed, and consequently many of the various evolu- 
tions which have been described would not be performed. The shooting 
and hauling of the trawl is done in much the same way, except per- 
haps that some, if not all, steamers use a derrick for hoisting one end 
of the trawl and a davit for the other, and that there may be some 
difference in the minor details of the method of working. It will be 
readily understood that, owing to the fact that a steamer is always 
able to tow in any desired direction, so as to take the utmost advan- 
tage of tide and the “lay 77 of the ground, as well as to go at the requi- 
site speed in calms as well as at any other time, vessels of this class 
are much more effective for working a beam-trawl than those which 
depend solely on sails. 
The following account of a trial trip of the new steamer Caller- Ou y 
of Granton, Scotland, clipped from the Scotsman of December 18, 1883, 
may be of interest in this connection : “One of these exceptional days 
