diameter. There is no lead-line, properly speaking, though light weights are placed upon the bottom line of the seine, near the ends, about 2 ounces in weight, about 60 pounds in all, four inches apart at the sides, and farther apart near the middle. Sometimes twelve rings are strung close together so that they touch. The rings through which the pursing rope passes are almost heavy enough to render other weights unnecessary. The lower edge of the seine is hung on six-thread manilla rope; to this is attached a series of so-called bridles, these bridles being 3 fathoms in length and placed 3 fathoms apart. Upon each of these bridles slides an iron ring weighing 1 to 24 pounds and 31 inches in diameter; through these rings runs the purse-line. The average weight thus placed upon the bottom of the mackerel-seine is about 220 pounds; this, however, includes special leads put on at the ends of the seine, 55 to 80 pounds of lead being thus distributed in leads of one-eighth to one-quarter to one. sixth of a pound in weight. Upon the menhaden-seine about 35 pounds of lead is considered sufficient. In operating this seine a large heavy weight, called by the fishermen of Gloucester a purse-weight, by those of Southern New England" Long Tom," is used, which is placed upon the vertical ropes at the end of the seine by the use of snatch-blocks, and is allowed to run down to the bottom of these ropes, thus fastening securely together the ends of the so-called lead-line before the operation of pursing begins. The mackerel-seine is usually arranged so that when it is pursed there are large triangular flaps of netting hanging at the end and closing the opening. This is accomplished by allowing the purse-lines to pass obliquely from the last purse-rings, which are placed at the distance of about six feet from the ends of the lead-line. In mackerel-seining these are not, by all fishermen, considered necessary, as the mackerel do not, like the menhaden, strike for the bottom of the net when they find themselves inclosed. This weight weighs from 60 to 120 pounds, and varies somewhat in shape; the usual form is figured in plate XIV. Some seiners now use two smaller weights, one upon each line. The best fishermen prefer to use the weight, and by this method the largest fares of fish are taken.

The seines used by the menhaden vessels are smaller than mackerel seines, although the latter are frequently used in this fishery, especially near Gloucester.

From the letters of our correspondents it appears that the length of menhaden seines varies from 100 to 300 fathoms, and their depth from 10 to 25 fathoms. Some seines, 50 fathoms long and 5 fathoms deep, are mentioned, but these must have been exceptionally small.

In early days, it is said, a mesh of 4 inches was used. In 1873 Maine fishermen preferred a mesh of 34 inches. From 1875 to 1877 a still smaller mesh was employed. The seines now in use in Connecticut have a mesh of 24 inches (that is, 11 inches square, or 14 "bar"); they are 130 fathoms long when "hung," or 200 fathoms "straight twine" or stretched as they leave the factory, and 15 fathoms deep. They are made

of small cotton twine (No. 20 to No. 12 thread), except in the middle, or "bunt," which is knit of stronger twine (No. 14 to No. 9 thread), to hold the fish when they are gathered into a small compass. They weigh 600 or 700 pounds, and cost not far from $1,000 when ready for use. On the coast of Maine they are larger, being commonly from 225 to 275 fathoms long and 20 fathoms deep in the middle, tapering to 14 fathoms at each end.*

The American Net and Twine Company supplies the Maine fishermen with seines usually 250 fathoms long and 20 or 25 fathoms deep, those of Southern New England and New York with shorter ones, usually 150 fathoms long and 15 to 20 fathoms deep.

The steamers of the Pemaquid Oil Company carry each two seines; a long one and a short one. The long seines are about 9,500 meshes long and 650 meshes deep (size of mesh 34 inches), and when rigged are from 280 to 300 fathoms long, and 15 to 17 fathoms deep. The shallow-water seines are from 7,000 to 7,500 meshes long and 500 to 550 meshes deep (size of mesh 2 inches), and when rigged are from 170 to 180 fathoms long, and 8 to 10 fathoms deep. Each steamer employs from 12 to 15 men, including captain, mate, engineer, fireman, cook, and sharesmen, and is supplied with two large working boats from 22 to 82 feet long, as well as two small boats,-"drive boats,"-which are rowed by the men who drive the fish into the seine.

The three sloops of Gurdon S. Allyn & Co. carry seines 200 fathoms long and 580 meshes (23-inch mesh) deep.

Gallup & Holmes use seines of 3-inch mesh, 9,200 meshes in length and 600 meshes deep, with shallower seines for shoal water.

The three steamers of E. T. De Blois carry seines 300 fathoms long and 17 fathoms deep.

The two sloop-yachts of William T. Fithian & Co., Napeague, N. Y., carry seines about 160 fathoms long and 15 fathoms deep.

The three sloop-yachts and two steamers of Hawkins Brothers, Jamesport, N. Y., carry seines from 100 to 130 fathoms in length and of 21⁄2-inch mesh.

Luce Brothers, of East Lyme, Conn., use seines 150 fathoms long and 18 fathoms deep.

The seines used by the Sterling Company of Greenport, N. Y., are 125 to 150 fathoms long and 80 to 100 feet deep.

The seine-boats.

169. The boats used by the Gloucester fleet in the purse-seine fishery are built after a peculiar model and solely for this purpose. The present form of the seine-boat was devised, about the year 1857, by Messrs. Higgins & Gifford, boat-builders, Gloucester, Mass. The seines had previously been set from square-sterned lap-streak boats, about 28 feet in length, and resembling in shape an ordinary ship's yawl.

* Boardman and Atkins, op. cit., p. 23.

The seine-boat as now in use resembles the well-known whale-boat, differing from it, however, in some important particulars.

The seine-boat, according to Mr. Gifford, must have three qualities: (1.) It should tow well; consequently it is made sharpest forward; a whaleboat, on the other hand, is sharpest aft, to facilitate backing after the whale has been struck. (2.) It should row well, and this quality also is obtained by the sharp bow; the whale-boat also should row well, but in this case it has been found desirable to sacrifice speed in part to the additional safety attained by having the stern sharper than the bow. (3.) It should be stiff or steady in the water, since the operation of shooting the seine necessitates much moving about in the boat.

The Gloucester seine-boat of the present day is a modification of the old-fashioned whale-boat, combining the qualities mentioned above. The average length of such a boat is about 34 feet, its width 7 feet 5 inches, its depth amidship 33 inches. At the stern is a platform, measing about 4 feet, fore and aft, on which the captain stands to steer: this is 6 to 8 inches below the gunwale. Another platform extends the whole length of the boat's bottom, from the after part of which the seine is set. In the bow is still another platform, on which stands the man who hauls the cork-line. There are four thwarts or seats, a large space being left clear behind the middle of the boat for the stowage of the seines. Upon the starboard side of the boat, near the middle, is arranged an upright iron support, about 18 inches in height, to which are attached two iron snatch-blocks used in the working of the purse ropes. Upon the opposite side of the boat, generally near the bow and / stern, but with position varied according to the fancies of the fisherman, are fixed in the gunwale two staples, to which are attached other snatchblocks used to secure additional purchase upon the purse-ropes. In the center of the platform at the stern of the boat is placed a large wooden pump, used to draw out the water which accumulates in large quantities during the hauling of the seine. The steering rowlocks, with the peculiar attachment for the tow rope and the metallic fixtures described above, are manufactured especially for seine-boats by Messrs. Wilcox & Crittenden Middletown, Conn.*

Until 1872 the seine-boats were always built in the lap-streak style; since, that time an improved form of smooth-bottomed boats, built with battened seam set-work, sheathed inside with pine, and with oak frame. and pine platform, has been growing in popularity. The advantages claimed for this boat by the builders are: (1.) Increased speed; (2.) greater durability, on account of the more solid character of the woodwork and tighter seams; and, (3.) less liability to catch the twine of the nets by reason of the smooth sides. It is not so stiff as a lap-streaked boat of same width, but in other respects superior.

Since the general adoption of the purse-seine, in the menhaden and mackerel fisheries, an account of which is given elsewhere, there has

* The Cape Ann seine-boat, with all its attachments, is illustrated in Plate XV.

been a gradual increase from year to year in the size of the seine-boats, keeping pace with a corresponding increase in the size of the seines.

In 1857 all boats were 28 feet in length. In 1872 the length had increased to 30 feet, and in the summer and fall of the same year an additional foot was added to the length. In 1873 almost all boats which were built had a length of 31 feet; a few of 32 and 33. In 1874 almost all were 33 feet, as they were during 1875 and 1876, although some were made 35 and 36 feet. In 1877, 34 feet is the most popular length, though one or two 38-foot boats have been built. Seven, eight, or nine oars, usually 13 or 14 feet in length, are used in these boats, besides a steering-oar of 16 or 17 feet.

These boats last, with ordinary usage, six or seven years. At the close of the fishing season they are always taken ashore and laid up for the winter, in a shed or under trees, and are.completely refitted at the beginning of another season.

The seine-boats, carried by the "menhaden catchers" south of Cape Cod and by all the steamers, are shaped like ships' yawls, square-sterned, smooth-bottomed, and batten-seamed, 22 to 26 feet long and 63 feet beam; they are built at New, Bedford, New London, Greenport, and at Mystic River, and cost about $125 each, the finest $185. The New Bedford boats are preferred by many fishermen.

When boats of this model are used every gang has two, each carrying three men and half of the seine; this arrangement leaves one of the crew upon the sloop and two in the lighter. On the coast of Maine, a man is usually sent out in a dory to drive the fish.

The Cape Ann fishermen stow their seines in one boat, and in shooting the seine one end of it is carried in a dory.

The Cape Ann dory is 15 feet long on the bottom, 19 on top, 5 feet 2 inches beam amidshipe, 21.5 inches deep, 36 inches high at the stem, 34 inches at the stern, 2 feet 10 inches wide at bottom of stern. These dories are built with considerable difference in their "sheer," those used on the shore having a straighter bottom than those used in the Bank fisheries. The boats used on the seine fisheries are generally of an intermediate form.

Messrs. Higgins & Gifford manufacture an improved pattern of dory (patented January 2, 1877), for which they claim the same advantages already mentioned under the description of the seine-boat. They are built of pine, with oak-timber gunwales, stem and stern. There are four boards upon each side fastened in battened set-work. The gunwales are whole instead of being bent and capped. They have no projecting stem-head, in this respect also differing from the old form.

The sailing-vessels and steamers.

170. Small schooners and sloops were used in the early stage of the business, these succeeded by larger, and these to a great extent by The Cape Ann dory is illustrated in Plate XVI, fig. 1.

steamers, of which there are now about sixty, each from 60 to 150 feet in length, and costing from $7,000 to $40,000. The advantages of steam are too obvious to need special notice, such as dispatch, economy of time and labor, etc. With the advent of steam-vessels, larger factories with more ample equipment become a necessity in order to utilize the augmented supply. The first factory had the capacity to work up 500 barrels per day. The larger factories can now take 3,000 to 4,000 barrels daily. At the outset 4,000 barrels per steamer was a large catch to each fishing "gang." Now the average catch per steamer is 10,000 barrels, and 20,000 barrels are not unprecedented.* The Pemaquid Oil Company employs several vessels in shipping oil, and in carrying the dried scrap to England.t

Description of steamers.

171. The average burden of the menhaden-steamers is about 60 tons. They are built of hard pine, with white-oak frames, with a water-tight tank in the middle in which the fish are stowed. This tank is said to make the vessels exceedingly safe, enabling them to float when their planking is badly injured. The steamer "Jemima Boomer," owned by Joseph Church & Co., while at sea in rough weather had 50 feet of her keel knocked out, together with eleven of the bottom planks. She was taken upon a marine dock without sinking. Each steamer carries from twelve to fifteen men, who live in the forecastle. ‡

Mr. George Devoll, of Fall River, Mass., describes his steamer, the "Chance Shot." It is 39 tons in burden, 68 feet long, and 18 feet wide, and 5 feet in depth of hold. Its carrying capacity is about 700 barrels of fish. The consumption of coal is about one ton daily. The cost of running is about $8 per day, including coal, oil, and the wages of the engineer. The crew are employed on shares, each man paying his own. board and running his chance. The boat and seine draw one-half of the profits, and the gang half-the gang paying provision-bills and cook's wages. There are seven men in the gang besides the cook and the engineer.

A model of the fishing steamer "Leonard Brightman," owned by Joseph Church & Co., of Round Pond, Me., was exhibited in the United States Government building in Philadelphia and is now deposited in the National Museum. The steamer "Seven Brothers," also owned by Joseph Church & Co., was the first steamer built for and used in this fishery.

31.-CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS OF PURSE-SEINE FISHING.

Methods of handling the net.

172. Much care and expedition are necessary in handling a purseseine full of fish. In the event of a very large draught, if the fish are

*Maddock's Menhaden Fishery of Maine, p. 15.

Appendix I, contains a partial list of vessels employed in the menhaden fishery. Plates XVII and XVIII show the menhaden-steamer and its plan of arrangement.