BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 355 
man being provided with oue of these, that he carries in his pocket 
when not using it, and which he employs for various other purposes 
for which a knife may be required, such as filling his pipe, cutting rope, 
etc. Dressing fish, so far as we have had an opportunity of observing 
! it, is carried on in a primitive way, differing very much from the elab- 
i orate methods employed by American fishermen. The men either stand 
in a stooping position, picking the fish up from the deck, or else sit 
down and grab whatever comes first to their hands as the fish are car- 
!i ried back and forth when the vessel rolls. The fish are simply evis- 
cerated, such as are dressed, for it often happens that, when “ boxing,” 
certain species are not even gutted. If it be a round fish (that is, a 
j cod, haddock, etc.), a slit is made in the belly, the viscera pulled out, 
and the “poke” cut off where it joins the gills. If a flat fish, it is 
! cut across on the upper or dark side of the abdominal cavity, and the 
intestines are pulled out with the right hand, the operator holding 
the fish by its head in his left hand. The fish are packed in the boxes 
! with the white or belly side up, and the slit does not show, while any 
i blood or water that may be in it will escape. As the fish are dressed 
they are sometimes, though not always, roughly sorted into the grades 
of prime and offal, but more attention is paid to the culling after the 
; whole have been washed. Up to this point there is little difference 
| in the methods employed on board of either the single-boaters or ves- 
sels that are fleeting, except it maybe on trawlers like those from 
Brixliam, the catch of which is rarely dressed at all, but taken in and 
landed in small baskets. 
If the vessel is single-boating the fish are, as previously mentioned, 
stowed in bulk in pens or “pounds” made in the hold by shifting or 
j! adjustable bulkheads. The prime fish are generally kept separate. 
If, however, the vessel is fleeting, the fish are disposed of in a very dif- 
ferent manner. As soon as th ey are dressed and washed, a number of 
empty boxes or “ trunks” are taken on deck (each smack always has a 
supply of these), and the fish are carefully packed in them, according to 
grade, after which a string is tied across the top opening, to prevent 
the contents from falling out while being transshipped. Each box is la- 
beled with a wooden tag, on which is the name of the vessel and that 
of the salesman on shore to whom it is consigned, while a note or dupli- 
cate bill of lading, showing the number of boxes of each kind of fish 
1 going from the smack, is made out to send with the shipment. The 
fish are now read} 7 to be taken on board of the carrier, near which the 
whole fleet of smacks has gathered in the mean time, numbering, if it be 
a “steamer” fleet, anywhere from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty 
vessels. The operation of “boarding” or “ferrying” the fish from the 
j catcher to a steam carrier has been so graphically described by a cor- 
j respondent of “Land and Water,” that I can do no better than to quote 
j it here : 
“The boat is then launched over the side, no matter how heavy the 
