382 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
with a will, the skipper tacked the vessel back and forth, “ working up 
over the gear,” while the clank, clank, clank of the capstan told that 
the trawl- warp was being rapidly got on board. 
The catch on this occasion did not exceed over 200 pounds weight of 
marketable fish, though nearly everything was saved, including skate, 
dabs, and cattish. As in this case, however, the net had not been torn, 
the skipper offered, as a reasonable explanation of the small catch, the 
statement that there was little or no wind during much of the past 
night, consequently the vessel could not tow the trawl fast enough over 
the bottom to catch any fish — in fact, for much of the time, we had been 
doing little else than drifting with the tide in a calm. In the morning 
the wind breezed up quite briskly, and continued fresh throughout the 
day. 
After the trawl was up, all sail was set and the smack worked to 
windward to join the rest of the fleet, which had not drifted quite so 
much to leeward during the night. Meanwhile, the fish were “boxed,” 
and it was announced that one of the smacks, which had her “craydon” 
flying, would leave the fleet this morning for home, after the catch of 
the other vessels for the previous day and night had been put on board 
of her. 
It is difficult to imagine a more lively and inspiriting nautical scene 
than was presented on this summer’s morning by the little fleet to which 
our cutter belonged, and the center of which was the homeward-bound 
craft, lying to, with her flag flying. All around her were collected 
the other vessels of the fleet, standing back and forth under all sail, 
their heavy square-headed gaff-topsails aloft to catch the breeze; boats 
passing to and fro going to the “carrier” to take their fish, to send 
letters, etc., visiting other vessels of the fleet, recently out from the 
land (one of which was our smack), to hear the news from home, obtain 
letters, and secure supplies that had been sent to them. The picturesque 
tanned sails, gleaming blood red in the sunlight, the shouting back and 
forth between the crews of the different vessels as they came within 
hail, were additional interesting characteristics of the scene. 
On our own vessel the boat had been launched stern foremost over 
the lee side. As soon as she struck the water one man sprang into her, 
and to him were passed the few “ trunks” of fish we had caught, thes.e 
being dropped or roughly stowed in the middle of the boat. A second 
man then jumped into the boat, and when the proper time arrived she 
was cast off and pulled away for the carrier smack to discharge the fish. 
“Boarding the fish,” as it is called, on this occasion, when the sea was 
smooth and only a moderate breeze blowing, was a very tame affair com- 
pared with such work when the weather is rough.' Many wonderful 
tales are told by the fishermen of hair-breadth escapes from drowning 
while engaged in transporting their fish from their vessels to the carrier, 
and considering that this work is done in almost all kinds of weather^ 
one can easily believe that it is extremely hazardous, to say the least, 
