BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 347 
in December, when there is a clear sky overhead, a sharp breeze off the 
land just sufficient to give a fair trial to a vessel under canvas, and when 
there has just been restored comparative calm to a sea which had been 
angry during the storms of a whole week before the Caller-Ou sailed 
down the Firth from Granton with a considerable number of gentlemen 
on board interested in. trawling and deep-sea fishing. It was not until 
the vessel was off Craigleith, 18 or 19 miles down the Firth, that the 
trawl was put out. The depth of water was from 14 to 15 fathoms. Of 
course, the experiments were conducted more with a desire to test the 
w T orking of the trawl and its appointments than to secure a large haul 
of fish; and therefore the trawl was kept out during an hour only. 
When at work under ordinary circumstances, these steamers trawl dur- 
ing, on an average, four hours. Ponderous as the trawl is — the heavy 
beam, the great net, and the massive iron hoop like structures which 
at each end of the beam keep the month of the bag or net open as it 
sweeps along the bottom of the sea — the working of it by the machin- 
ery available was a matter of comparative simplicity and ease. Once 
cast into the sea, the trawl is dragged along at a speed of between 2 
and 3 miles an hour, being attached to the ship by a great wire rope,, 
which on Saturday was run out to a length of 75 fathoms. The most 
interesting part of the trial was when, after the lapse of an hour, the 
trawl was drawn on board. Here, again, the steam machinery appeared 
to work satisfactorily, and in the course of a few minutes the beam and 
the iron structures were lifted over the side of the ship. The net or bag 
was still in the sea, and as the crew hauled it on deck its contents were 
watched with much interest. Soon it was thrown on the deck, contain- 
ing a couple of hundred weights of white fish — whiting chiefly, with 
three or four cod and codlings, a couple of skate, a few haddocks, some 
ray, a few flounders, a young turbot, and two crabs. This catch, it is 
obvious, was not a large one for a great trawl such as that described. 
But the brief period during which it was at work, and the fact that the 
ground covered was not considered good, or the ordinary fishing ground, 
were said to account for the catch being so small. The fish, however, 
were taken up in splendid condition— full of life and in as cleanly a 
state as might be desired. Whether the short period during which the 
trawl was at work accounted for it, or whether it was that the condi- 
tion of the sea-bottom was exceptionably favorable, the trawl was laid 
on the deck wonderfully clean — clear of mud, or of any perceptibly 
objectionable matter ; and it was stated that this is the condition in 
which the trawls are usually taken on board in ordinary weather in the 
Firth of Forth. Attention was also directed to the quality — the inter- 
mixture of immature with mature fish. There were, it was admitted, 
very few immature fish. There was one codling only 10 inches long, 
but the other specimens were excellent. There were, probably, half a 
dozen very small whitings, one small skate, and one small, but not 
apparently immature, flounder. On the whole, however, the apparently 
