lie 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
with some cork fastened to its center, a brick 
attached to its submerged end and a distinctive 
flag to the other. 
Due to the fact that many of the men dur¬ 
ing a part of the season at least, set their pots 
well out of sight of land, it has been necessary 
to develop a sturdy, seaworthy boat, speedy, 
roomy and reliable. These boats known as Sea- 
bright skiffs or dories, have become famous the 
length of the coast. They are open, clinker 
built with a comparatively high bow and square 
stern. The engine is set amidships, boxed in, 
and a removable canvas hood, covering the bow 
is used to keep out some of the spray. The 
dimensions of the boats are about as follows:— 
Length, twenty to thirty feet; beam, five to six 
and a half; depth (from gunwhale to keel) four 
to four and a half; draught, one to one and a 
half. A great variety of engines is in use, 
Palmer, Peerless, Frisbie and Ford Marine, 
with from five to fifteen horse power being the 
commonest types. 
In general these engines run about six miles 
to a gallon of gasoline and have a cruising radius 
of from sixty to one hundred miles. Many of 
these boats are locally built, often by their 
owners who are naturally very proud of them. 
In order not to waste time running to their sets 
—sometimes twelve miles or more from the home 
port—speed has become a prime requisite in 
so far, of course, as it does not detract from 
seaworthiness. All these boats seem to be able 
to make ten knots, some even as high as twenty 
knots an hour. When travelling at full speed 
the bow rises and so much water is thrown to 
each side, that in a choppy sea one lias an im¬ 
pression of whizzing along between solid walls 
of water. Some of these boats are equipped with 
a well for transporting lobsters which can be 
closed by a valve and pumped dry. On the 
gunwhale of eacli boat, near the bow is fastened 
a large wooden pulley, the use of which will be 
explained later. A grapnel with a length of 
rope, a wire brush to clean the pots, a small 
compass, a jug of drinking water, a bilge pump, 
broom, boat-hook, and perhaps a barrel for bait 
completes the boat equipment. Such a boat as 
just described is valued at from five to fifteen 
hundred dollars, depending on condition, make 
and power of engine, etc. 
From May to August the lobsters seem to be 
fairly plentiful inside the bay making the work 
for the time being much lighter, as the depth 
averages little more than six fathoms, and bad 
weather is not so much to be feared. Later in 
the season the lobsters move off shore and the 
more industrious fishermen follow them out. 
The lobstermen run out from—say Highlands, 
N. J.—about five o’clock in the morning to the 
pound nets near Sandy Hook for bait. It is a 
case of first come, first served, and it is a com¬ 
mon sight to see five or six boats waiting pati¬ 
ently for the pound net men to put in an appear¬ 
ance. Some take only enough bait for a single 
set, others living farther away or desiring to 
save time on subsequent mornings take quite a 
load at once, which they salt down. Six bushels 
of menhaden at twenty-five cents a bushel are 
needed for two hundred pots. They then head 
for their fishing grounds, guiding themselves 
in an almost uncanny fashion to the exact loca¬ 
tion of their pots by means of ranges while 
working inshore. 
When they move out to sea in autumn out of 
sight of land, they place entire reliance upon 
their compass and an accurate knowledge of the 
boat’s speed, together with the drift of the cur¬ 
rents. Even so it is no mean feat of seamanship 
to find a handkerchief fluttering five feet or so 
above the water, on a foggy morning, five or ten 
miles off shore amid an endless succession of 
ground swells. Passing steamers and storms 
frequently break the buoys adrift. It is then 
necessary to use the grapple, and by cruising in 
circles above the general location of the pots 
endeavor to pick them up. This is of course, 
not always successful, and many pots are an¬ 
nually lost in this way. 
As soon as the pots have been reached the 
main line is hauled on board and passed over 
the pulley previously mentioned. The boat is 
then pulled along with the rope passing over 
the pulley thus raising the pots from the bot¬ 
tom with the minimum effort. As the pots come 
along side they are raised to the gunwhale, the 
four cleated slats are removed, and such lob¬ 
sters as have been foolish enough to be trapped 
are dumped into the bottom of the boat. The 
pot is rebaited witli three menhaden, which be¬ 
cause of their oily nature make an excellent lure. 
If the pots are very foul with sea weed or other 
marine growth, they are cleaned, the removable 
slats are slipped into place again and then they 
are dumped overboard where their weight, as 
they sink, helps to raise the others. When one 
set of forty pots or more has been attended to, 
the boat moves on to the next until all of the 
two or three hundred pots have been lifted. 
The boats then run back to their respective ports 
and dispose of their catch to local dealers, or 
take them to Fulton Market direct. 
As this is quite a trip from the Lower Bay, 
the usual procedure is to keep the lobsters in 
a live-car until a sufficient number have been 
