feULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 37 ( J 
we drew nearer the fleet the captain exclaimed : “Ah, there’s the Clara 
with her craydon [a small flag for signaling] over her stern,” and a 
moment later he said: “There’s the admiral’s flag; we’ll steer for 
him.” It may be explained that in this instance the admiral’s vessel 
was distinguished by a flag flying on a stay extending from her bow- 
sprit end to the main-topmast head. 
After the usual hail of, “ What cheer? oh, what cheer, my hearty?” 
our skipper shouted the inquiry, “ How long you’re going to tow?” to 
which the admiral replied: “ Oh, till about 4 o’clock.” 
It was then shortly after noon. A moderately brisk southwest breeze 
was blowing, which continued with little change during the day. After 
receiving Admiral Bascomb’s answer we tacked and ran back to the 
Clara , which belonged to the same owner as the Willie and Ada , and 
the skipper of which had hoisted his flag at the mizzen peak as a signal 
that be wished our captain to speak with him. We had brought out 
letters, outfits, etc., for this vessel, which had been absent from port 
several weeks, and her captain was naturally desirous of learning the 
news from home, as well as to obtain some additions to his food sup- 
ply. However, w r e did not stop to go on board of her at this time, for 
immediately after speaking with the admiral and learning that he 
would “ tow till 4 o’clock,” our skipper remarked : “Then we’ve got 
four hours ; we’ll put it out,” meaning the trawl, of course. All hands 
were busy at work in the mean time getting ready to shoot the trawl. 
The bridles had been shackled to the trawl heads, and now the towing 
hawser was got up and shackled to the bridles; the dandy bridle 
hauled off the winch, made ready for running, and bent on to the trawl- 
warp. While this was being done we had reached the Clara , and as 
we passed under her lee our skipper shouted: “What cheer? what 
cheer, my boy ? I’ve got something for you.” It seemed to be under- 
stood by the Clara’s crew that they must wait for a more favorable 
opportunity to get what we had for them, and the assurance that we 
had “ something ” seemed to satisfy them for the time being. 
Being curious to know if there was any choice in selecting a berth 
for fishing among the various vessels which formed the fleet, I asked 
our skipper the question: “ Where will you shoot the trawl ?” He re- 
plied : “ Oh, any place where we can get it out.” The inference is that 
no judgment is exercised beyond that of getting sufficient room (or far 
enough from other vessels) to tow the gear without danger of collision. 
Accordingly, a few minutes after speaking with the Clara , the trawl 
was shot from the port side. After it was down, the warp parceled and 
put in its proper place, so that the vessel, with tiller swinging, headed 
about at right angles with the wind, all hands went below and turned 
in for a nap except the oldest boy — commonly called the “ deck hand,” 
or “fourth hand ’’--who staid on deck to look out for the vessel, note 
the working of the trawl, and watch for the admiral’s signals. 
A little after 3 o’clock p. m. the boy on deck shouted that the ad- 
