878 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
All arrangements for the cruise having previously been made, I went 
on board the Willie and Ada , Capt. Henry Tidder, on Monday morning. 
June 28, and at 9 o’clock a. m., soon after the dock gates were opened, 
our smack was shoved out beyond the pier heads, all sail was set, and, 
with a moderate southwest breeze and fine weather, we left the Hum- 
ber’s mouth, passed Spurn Point, and headed away from the land to- 
ward that famous fishing ground of the North Sea, the Dogger Bank, 
where we expected to meet with the fleet we were to join, and where 
our fishing operations were to be carried on. The Willie and Ada was 
73.68 tons register, ketch or “ dandy ” rigged, and manned by a crew of 
five, three of whom were men, the other two — the “ fourth ” hand or 
deck hand and cook — being boys of respectively seventeen and four- 
teen years of age. 1 The crew slept and ate in the cabin, which, consid- 
ering the number to be accommodated, was roomy and comfortable, being 
painted and grained, but differing from the cabins of modern American 
fishing schooners in being under deck, and in some details of arrange- 
ment. 
The wind died entirely away during the afternoon, and we lay be- 
calmed until evening, when a moderate breeze again sprang up from 
the southwest. The day was fine throughout, and was spent by me in 
gathering information concerning the construction of the beam-trawl, 
the peculiarities of the vessel — so far as speed, ability in a gale, etc., 
were concerned— and in making sketches. 
Tuesday , June 29.— The wind continued moderate during the night, 
but, as it was fair, the vessel slipped along easily through the water, 
which was so smooth that scarcely any motion could be noticed unless 
one glanced over the side and saw the scintillating, phosphorescent 
sparkle of the sea go by as we glided through it. At 5 a. m. the cap- 
tain sounded and u struck the rough ” on the Dogger Bank. ’Two hours 
later we spoke a homeward-bound cutter. Our skipper inquired the 
whereabouts of “ Bascomb’s lot,” meaning the fleet we were to join, of 
which a captain by the name of Bascomb was “ admiral.” He was 
told that they were some three hours’ sail— 15 or 16 miles — distant in 
the direction we had been going. We then resumed our course, and at 
9 o’clock a. m. the captain, who had been aloft at the masthead looking 
oat for “ Bascomb’s lot,” came on deck and reported seeing two fleets 
nearly ahead. We steered for the nearest fleet, which, however, did 
not prove to be the one we were in search of, but the skipper of one of 
the smacks which we hailed pointed to leeward and said: “That’s 
Bascomb’s lot, down there, I think.” This proved to be the case, and 
soon after the order was given to our crew to : “ Get up the trawl bridles 
and shackle them on,” our skipper remarking, at the same time, “ They 
have their gear down and I don’t know how long it’s been out.” As 
1 Details will be avoided, since many facts that were originally included in these 
notes have been given elsewhere, and also because more or less details are shown in 
the illustrations. 
